The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-12-30
Clearing The
Streets Of
. Panhand.'ers
Why The Police Allow Beg
gars To Flourish.
Annoyance Caused BY Them
Works Harm to a City
Clever Schemes Of Some
1mpostors.
(By James Forbes.)

Secretary OF the National Society for
the Prevention OF Mendicancy.
zone OF the many beggars that now
make the public thoroughfares un-
pleasant for honest men was arrested
on Tuesday and arraigned In court,
where he displayed $6i which he had
collected In two days appealing to
the passerby. Whether he observed
the eiSht hour day this parasite did
not divulge, but his income amount
ed to an average OF $3.50 an hour for
the whole day. The magistrate coll
lected from him SIS or considerably
ana this win be duly turned in to the
city treasury as itslshare OF his loot"
A news item similar to this may be
noticed from tine to time In the pa
pers OF almost any large oity. In
most places what amounts to IL
cense fee for beggars Is levied in oc-
incident happened in New York.
Sometimes unpleasant insinuations are
made. "Of course nobody Is so stu
pid or unsoph sticated as to believe
that these parasites conduct their OPP
erations without official connivance,
and nobody Is SO inexperienced as to
think that the essential blindness and
inaction OF the police are the results
OF mere laziness or inattent on. The
privilege OF begging In the streets Of
a rich and careless city Is worth mon
ev. and there Is no doubt that money
Is paid for It." sa d the New York Sun
not very long ago.
tolerated? Let those who are so
foolish give IL they WISH" some may
say. Others moved by pity ask "How
are the poor cripples to live, II they
are forbidden to beg?" Those who
need help should be aided by organ
ICED public or private charity. Usual
ly those who beg know that their ca
ses would not be considered worthy.
Generally they get from the careless
public much more than they ever
could legit!mately ask for on the
ground Of charity. Many beggars
are mpostors. some outright pick
pockets and thieves.
A city whose streets are over-run
by beggars suffers commercially.
Outsiders come to believe that it is
not prospecting. that 1t is too careless
and indulgent. Visitors dislike to do
their shopping in places where they
are unpleasantly accosted. The Ital an
in such cities as Naples, which was
notorious for this evil, had marked
lettering effect upon the volume of
tourist traffic. So the government
for commercial reasons has for years
been do ng it's utmost to stop the
practice throughout the kingdom.
Vigorous action in each community
But the beggar is not stationary.
When one city becomes too strict for
his comfort, he moves to another.
Concerted effort is the only way to
cope with him. Charity officials in
different cities have found that they
.x~E1 a.
tect their funds. and prevent the
abuse Of free transportation.
Though the offic ais of charitable
societies incidentally learn much
about beggars these quick witted
workers ordinarily steer as far as pos
sible from the regular channels for
relief. But is 1t not for the police
and impostors? They do much to
check begging but they tend to de-
vote most of their attention to more
agrees We evils and allow mendican-
cy to flourish most of the time.
The police have some excuse for
they do apprehend fragrant fmpos-
tor. fi,e magistrate allows him to go
on probation as an "object of pity.
A common practice is to rely upon
the sympathy caused by real or ap-
parent deformity. In one great city
notorious beggar commonly Fnown
as "Shivers'' gained comfortable
livelihood by Stimulating epilepsy. Sc
lect 'ng busy thoroughfare at an ap-
propriate time he was taken with a
severe epileptic seizure. After having
secured a generous reward the i'm
postor strolled away. Owing to the
activity of a squad of mendicancy po-
lice in plain clothes. "Shivers' became
a junkman. When the special squad
was abolished, he resumed his old
trick. the effect of which is heighten-
I'd by the fact that his nose has been
nartly eaten away by disease. which
also destroyed his palate making his