The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-07-09
TO LESSEN STREET BEGGING.
Work by the Society the Duke Of
wellington Organized.
From the TonIOn Times

WOIA ny bue oOCleLy In0 LUKE OF
wellington Organized,
From the London Times.
The 74th annual meeting of the Mendicity
Society was held on Saturday after
noon at Derby house, st. James square.
From the report read by the secretary, Mr.
Buchanan, it appeared that the receipts for
the year 1891 slightly exceeded the expendi~
lures (E1 ,455), this being the first time for
nearly fifteen years that the society had
been able to pay its way without the aid of
a legacy.
One part of the work consisted In the EN-
ploymsnt OF a body of constables to arrest
professional mendicants, who, on their dis
charge from prison, were assisted to earn an
honest living. The constables also put in
force the industrial schools act by having
child beggars committed to Industrial
schools, whers they are Taught trade.
In 1891 the Society was instrumental in
rescuing forty-two children in this way.
When such children were too young to be
sent to an Industrial school the case was
reported TO the society for the Prevention Of
Cruelty to Children. The number OF cases
registered in the begging letter department
during 1891 was l 1858. OF this total 430
had been left for relief at the discretion of
the committee by subscribers, who, deposit
ing funds al the Office for that purpose, thus
not only protected themselves from imposi~
ton, but secured the application of their
bounty most effectually to the real needs
and merits Of the cases in which they were
interested.
The committee strongly dissuaded their
subscribers from assisting cases at their own
doors. even when the applicants produced
what appeared to be genuine and authentic
testimonials TO their character or TO the
truth of the statements they made. There
was no form OF forgery and decent in this
class Of evidence which the habitual and
practiced begging letter writer did not
bring to bear upon the benevolent. The
managers had no hesitation In stating that
street begging had certainly considerably
decreased during the last two or three years,
and they attributed this in no small meas
ure to their new mendicity food tickets.
which were the horror OF the professional
mendicaDt, who only wanted money and
desplsed both food and work when they
were offered him, while, on the other hand,
the food tickets were very much appre-
ciated by the really deserving poor.
For seventy-four years the society had
considerably diminished mendicancy, hay -
ing apprehended $4,000 beggars and street
impostors. Its register of beggars was
found so valuable that nearly every police
magistrate in London, when beggar was
brought before him, usually remanded the
prisoner until mendlcancy officer could
Gttend, as the society had frequently records
OF more than thirty convictions against one
person. Lord Norton moved the adoption
of the report, dwelling in detail upon the
nature of the society's work. He added
that the queen had voluntarily increased
her subscription to the funds as a mark of
her appreciation Of the services done to her
by the begging-letter department. Among
many others who had recourse to the So
clety to save themselves from imposition
we're the Empress Eugene and the Duke of
Wellington The latter name reminded
him of the fact that the great duke origin~
ated the society, owing to the swarm of
| beggars that came round him after tho
peace of 1915, on the pretense that they
were old soldiers