The Vagrancy Problem. / The Case for Measures of Restraint for Tramps, Loafers, and Unemployables: With a Study of Continental Detention Colonies and Labour Houses

CHAPTER IV.

THE BELGIAN BEGGARS' DEPOTS.

The legislation of Belgium for the treatment of vagrants and mendicants experimented in many directions before it established forced Labour Houses and Colonies for the detention of these offenders. As early as 1793, during the Dutch connection, a Decree (October 15) was issued, making vagrancy and mendicancy misdemeanours punishable by detention in a house of correction for one year, while vagrants on a second conviction, and beggars on a third, were liable to transportation. A law of July 5, 1808, again formally prohibited begging, and provided for the detention of offenders in forced Labour Houses; and the Penal Code of October 12, 1810, awarded imprisonment, followed by Labour House detention, to loafers generally. The last-named law does not appear to have been stringently enforced, and it was relaxed in 1848, in consequence of which act vagrancy and begging increased. The result was a new law of March 6, 1866, imposing heavier penalties on able-bodied loafers of all kinds, though vagrancy was punished more severely than simple mendicancy. By reason of this law some of the old Labour Houses were abolished, and a large central institution was established at Merxplas, in the Province of Flanders, for the detention of all classes of offenders for disciplinary treatment. A little later the penalties for vagrancy and begging were reduced, and a more radical amendment of the law took place in 1891, the effect of which was to take away from these offences a penal character.

Under this law, the beggar, the tramp, and the loafer are dealt with at the present time. The great difference between the original Belgian Labour Houses and the Beggars' Depots of to-day lies in the fact that the earlier institutions were managed by philanthropic associations, while those existing to-day are State establishments, and form part of the judicial system of the country.

The law of November 27, 1891[54] (which came into force on January 4, 1892), for the repression of vagrancy and mendicity required the Government to organise correctional institutions of three kinds, viz.: (a) Beggars' Depots (dÉpÔts de mendicitÉ); (b) Houses of Refuge (maisons de refuge), and Reformatory Schools (Écoles de bienfaisance). The institutions of the first two kinds are commonly spoken of as Labour Houses or Colonies in Belgium. There are two Beggars' Depots, the central one for men at Merxplas, near Antwerp, and a small one for women at Bruges; and there are three Houses of Refuge, viz., Wortel and Hoogstraeten (managed as one establishment) for men, and one at Bruges for women.

The law states that the Beggars' Depots shall be "exclusively devoted to the confinement of persons whom the Judicial Authority shall place at the disposal of the Government" for that purpose. Such persons are of the following classes: (a) Able-bodied persons who, instead of working for their living, depend upon charity as professional beggars; (b) persons who, owing to idleness, drunkenness, or immorality, live in a state of vagrancy; and (c) souteneurs. These persons may be committed by the magistrates for a period not less than two nor more than seven years. Moreover, vagrants and beggars who have been sentenced by a Correctional Court to imprisonment for less than a year, may be ordered to undergo detention in a Depot at the end of the sentence for not less than one year or more than seven years, just as offenders of the same kind are sent to Labour Houses in Germany and Austria after undergoing imprisonment. It is provided, however, that the Minister of Justice may, at any time, order the release of persons confined in a Depot, should he be of opinion that their further confinement is unnecessary. In order to give the loafer a chance of voluntary reformation, he is on a first conviction sent to a House of Refuge by way of probation for a period not exceeding one year, or until he shall have earned 12s. On re-conviction, his certain destination is the Depot of Merxplas, with its severer discipline. The House of Refuge is provided for the reception of (a) persons handed over by a Judicial Authority to the Government for simple detention, and (b) persons whose restraint may be asked for by a Communal Authority, though those of the latter class must enter of their own free will if over eighteen years of age. In general, the House of Refuge is intended for vagrants, mendicants, loafers, and dissolute persons who are not thought to deserve the treatment of incorrigible offenders. The voluntary inmates correspond very closely to the typical unemployed person who applies for task work in our English workhouses. In no case may detention exceed a year, unless with the detainee's acquiescence, and as in the case of the Beggars' Depots, the Minister of Justice may order the immediate discharge of any person whose further confinement may appear to him unnecessary.

In the institutions of both types small daily wages are paid, except when withdrawn as a measure of discipline, and a portion of every man's earnings is put away as a leaving fund (masse de sortie), to be paid out to him in cash, clothing and tools. In no case is a well behaving colonist allowed to leave penniless. A minimum sum of 4s. is given to every such man, whether he has earned it or not; those guilty of misconduct or idleness take away their savings, however small, and no more. The Minister of Justice approves the scale of payment for every class of work in the two institutions.

The cost of maintenance of persons sent by a judicial authority to the Depot or House of Refuge is borne, in equal shares, by the State, the Provinces, and the Communes in which the persons have their settlement, but infirm persons are maintained altogether by their settlement communes, which likewise bear the whole cost in the case of persons detained in a House of Refuge at their own request. Where a person, detained by judicial decision, has no settlement, the costs of maintenance fall on the province in which he was arrested or brought before the Court; in the case of souteneurs the cost is borne by the Communes in which they pursued their practices. Costs of maintenance can, however, be recovered from the persons concerned, or those legally liable for their support.

The following were the admissions in the Beggars' Depots and the Houses of Refuge for the first fifteen years after the Act came into force:—

Admissions to Beggars' Depots.

Year.	Number of Admissions.			Mean Number of Inmates.
	Male.	Female.	Total.
1892	6,147	666	6,813	3,564
1893	3,482	352	3,834	4,324
1894	4,141	393	4,534	4,193
1895	3,722	333	4,055	4,592
1896	3,224	292	3,516	4,430
1897	3,115	266	3,381	4,076
1898	3,339	284	3,623	4,208
1899	3,018	215	3,233	4,248
1900	3,547	253	3,800	4,058
1901	4,348	275	4,623	4,542
1902	4,514	252	4,776	4,865
1903	4,649	386	5,035	5,054
1904	4,615	275	4,890	5,132
1905	4,624	260	4,884	5,450
1906	4,246	268	4,694	5,351

Admissions to Houses of Refuge.

Year.	Number of Admissions.			Mean Number of Inmates.
	Male.	Female.	Total.
1892	6,139	775	6,914	2,043
1893	4,411	942	5,353	2,145
1894	4,593	519	5,112	2,902
1895	4,559	414	4,973	2,766
1896	3,805	360	4,165	2,314
1897	3,745	323	4,068	1,876
1898	3,770	343	4,113	1,983
1899	3,398	258	3,656	1,823
1900	3,586	266	3,852	1,691
1901	4,174	261	4,435	1,761
1902	4,389	252	4,614	1,876
1903	3,428	278	3,706	1,733
1904	3,546	221	3,767	1,620
1905	3,057	194	3,252	1,352
1904	2,505	184	2,289	1,176

The Labour Colony of Merxplas is unique as a centralised State reformatory for loafers, and, owing to its large extent, the excellence of its arrangements, and not least, the rational principles upon which it is administered, it fully deserves the study and the praise which have been bestowed upon it by foreign observers. On the whole, it would seem to correspond more nearly than any other Continental institution for forced labour to the special needs of this country.

The buildings of Merxplas are grouped together in convenient positions, and are of a very substantial kind. The principal blocks contain the offices, the several classes of dormitories, the workshops, the stores, the exercise wings, the dining hall, the church, the hospital, the prison, and the barracks, for a small guard of 150 men is stationed on the premises for cases of emergency. Well-made roads intersect the grounds in various directions, and there is a large amount of open space.

The inmates of Merxplas are divided into six classes: (1) Men sentenced for offences against morality and for arson; (2) men sentenced to Colony life as a sequel to a term of imprisonment of less than one year, and men whose past history shows them to be dangerous to the community; (3) habitual vagabonds, mendicants, inebriates, and men generally unable to support themselves; (4) men under twenty-one years of age; (5) infirm and incurable persons; and (6) first offenders. In December, 1907, the inmates were divided amongst these classes in the following proportions: (1) 169; (2) 328; (3) 3,033; (4) 20; (5) 1,425; (6) 40; total, 5,015.

The men in Classes (1) and (2) are detained in special quarters, and under special supervision, and work apart from the rest, with whom they have no intercourse whatever, being, in fact, treated as criminals. The only difference between Classes (3) and (4) in regard to treatment is that the younger men are kept separate from the older, and that a portion of their time is devoted to school. The infirm in Class (5) are able to do light work, while the incurables do none. Class (6) explains itself. All the offenders, except those in Class (5), are allowed to earn wages on the scale applying to their employment; those in Class (6) are given canteen money of 3 centimes per day for the purchase of small luxuries. As has been explained, the minimum sentence of detention is two years, but owing to the exercise of the Minister's prerogative of pardon, the average term of confinement is about sixteen months.

The small staff of eighty warders (with the military guard to fall back upon), under a chief director and two deputy directors, is found sufficient to control the movements of this great army of "irregulars"; in addition, there are one doctor, two priests, five teachers, nineteen clerks, one manufacturing manager, and six sisters of mercy. Many reliable men are, however, chosen from the ranks of the prisoners to assist in the superintendence of work.

The offenders dealt with during the seven years 1902 to 1908 were as follows:—

Merxplas Beggars' Depot (Men).

	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908
Admitted	4,514	4,649	4,615	4,624	4,426	4,212	4,431
Discharged	2,847	2,922	2,827	2,666	2,935	2,792	2,282
Transferred	501	452	514	439	504	464	478
Absconded	879	1,004	1,066	1,243	1,031	919	1,055
Died	125	108	112	94	136	134	139
Total	4,352	4,486	4,519	4,442	4,606	4,309	3,954
Detained on December 31	4,851	5,014	5,110	5,292	5,112	5,015	5,492

The admissions shown above included the reinstatements (of inmates escaped) after capture, and the admissions by transfer from other institutions. The direct admissions, the admissions by transfer, and the reinstatements after escape are here shown separately for the years 1901 to 1908:—

	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906
Admitted direct	3,280	3,390	3,460	3,316	3,186	3,071
Discharged owing to expiration of sentence and Ministerial decision, conducted to the frontier, and deceased	2,436	2,972	3,030	2,939	2,760	3,071
Admitted by transfer	391	353	305	366	341	431
Discharged by transfer	530	501	452	514	439	504
Reinstated after escape	677	771	884	933	1,097	924
Escaped	769	879	1,004	1,066	1,243	1,031

Those "placed at the disposition of the Government" (for commitment to the Merxplas Depot) under the law of November 27, 1891, during the years 1901 to 1906 belonged to the following classes:—

	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906
Able-bodied beggars and vagrants (Article 13)	4,314	4,509	4,637	4,614	4,618	4,419
Able-bodied beggars and vagrants for detention supplementary to imprisonment (Article 14)	14	5	12	1	6	7
	4,348	4,514	4,649	4,615	4,624	4,426
Deduct reinstatements after escape	677	771	884	933	1,097	924

The following further table shows the frequency of commitment during a series of years:—

Number of Times Committed.	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908
For the first time	674	668	558	517	547	519	720
For the second time	546	585	552	595	522	442	561
For the third time	493	472	582	516	488	433	465
For the fourth time	446	470	455	406	420	406	425
For the fifth time or oftener	2,355	2,454	2,468	2,590	2,449	2,412	2,260
Total number of admissions	4,514	4,649	4,615	4,624	4,426	4,212	4,431

The whole of the men capable of working, either much or little, are employed according to their aptitudes and physical capacity, either in farm and land work, in the workshops, in domestic work in and around the establishment, or in the service of outside employers. On a given day in 1907, 1,279 men were engaged on the farm and land, 1,970 in industrial work for the profit of the Colony, 811 in domestic work, and 525 were lent to other institutions.

The men engaged in the fields work in gangs of between fifty and sixty, each under a single overseer. Shelters exist for their accommodation in wet weather, and when it is impossible to do outside work they are employed in the workshops.

The trades and occupations are very numerous, but the principal are brick, pipe and tile making, iron founding, button making, wood-working, mat, boot, and shoe making, weaving, tanning, tailoring, carpentering, and printing.

Several years ago, a Committee appointed by the Lindsey (Lincoln) Quarter Sessions visited Merxplas and reported as follows upon what they saw of the workshops:—[55]

"Each shop was under a trade instructor. The men appeared to be working cheerfully and diligently. As wages were higher in the shops, we were told that it was made a privilege to work there. All the shops were large and airy, and the following were the principal industries being carried on at the time of our visit.
"In the ironfoundry they were making their own patterns, doing their own casting, turning, and finishing for everything in the way of metal used in the establishment, from cast iron window frames to brass pumps.
"Next to this was a very large shop for making cement tiles, working for outside firms on a recently invented system of employing hydraulic cement and colours to furnish tiles of elaborate colouring and patterns. This shop was on a large scale, and doing remunerative work, and impressed us very much.
"The mat making shop was of the ordinary kind, but on a very large scale. Every description of mat, from the sennet to the thick pile mat worked in patterns, was made.
"The weaving shop presented an interesting industry, which could be easily learned by the unskilled, namely that of making yarn of cowhair, which is afterwards worked into carpets. Other men were busy spinning the thread for the warp of the cloth used for the colonists' clothes. A large portion of this shop was also occupied by hand-looms in full work, where the cloth itself was being woven.
"The button shop, for making mother of pearl buttons for the outside trade, has been newly started. This shop formed an exception, in that all the lathes were bought from outside, none being made at Merxplas.
"In the carpenters' shop was a prison van which was made entirely by colonist labour, with the one exception of the springs. There was an order on hand for 1,100 window frames for a new prison. We also saw there some excellent furniture, large numbers of chairs, travelling trunks, and cabinet work of all kinds.
"The cobblers were busy on boots for the Army, which were hand-made throughout. Here they were also making hospital shoes from the selvage of cloth woven on a block; a very ingenious method of utilising waste material.
"All the printing required for the colonies is also done in a printing shop.
"In another small shop about twenty men were employed in making fine chains for sham jewellery.
"The brick works were large, employing thirty-six men at brick-making, exclusive of those employed at the furnaces, and the clay-getters. The usual number of bricks made was about 70,000 daily, the men being paid 15 centimes (1·4d.) per 1,000.
"On an equally large scale was the making of cement conduit pipes. The cement is made at a factory in the neighbourhood, and the white sand is also bought.
"After visiting the brickworks we passed through small shops of stone-masons and sculptors to the pottery and the tannery. The last had a large number of hides in preparation, and uses bark from the trees of the estate, but not exclusively.
"To the north of the workshops the three-winged building is a store. Here we saw a quantity of bar iron, one of the few materials that Merxplas cannot itself produce.
"Here was also the clothing store. The cloth is made throughout by the colonists, with the one exception of the 'fulling' process, which requires special machinery. The material was of several different kinds, including two varieties for officers' uniform, and all that is required for the winter and summer clothing of the colonists. Civilian clothes and tools, also made in the colony, can be purchased by the colonists when they are liberated. In the centre were several large rooms full of the private clothes and other belongings of the colonists, each in their own bag, and all remarkably free from any offensive odour.
"The farming seemed to be carried on on the same excellent principles as the workshops. The crops of maize and hemp were remarkably tall (the latter supplies the raw material for rope making), and the fields generally seemed thoroughly worked and tilled. The cowhouse and piggeries were very clean, and all the buildings were of excellent design and well-built. A large number of horses and oxen are kept for farm work, as not much spade cultivation is used. There is a large herd of milking cows to supply the hospital, and a considerable number of young stock and sheep are also kept, the latter being housed and hand-fed in winter. The whole of the products are consumed in the colony, and, as is the practice in the shops, very little machinery is used, whilst a large amount of labour is employed in bringing fresh ground under cultivation. The sandy top-soil is first removed and immense quantities of Antwerp street sweepings and clay rubbish are put on. Large gangs are also employed in hand-weeding, and all the advantages of farming with abundance of cheap labour are conspicuous."

The accounts of a recent year show proceeds of trades as follows: Mat making, £4,200; weaving, £5,753; shoe making, £1,324; brick paving, £1,266; forge and foundry, £1,847; tobacco, £1,671; tanning, £1,852; tailoring, £3,600; furniture, £1,346, and brick making, £1,913. The profits on twenty-six trades in 1907 were said to be £4,072.

The usual work-day consists of about ten hours in summer, and between seven and nine in winter, broken by three intervals for meals and rest. The day's routine is as follows:—

SUMMER
Week-days.	April 1 to September 15.		September 16 to October 31.
Rise	4.30	a.m.	5.0	a.m.
Distribution of bread	5.0	"	5.30	"
Work	5.45	"	6.15	"
Doctor's visit	7.0	"	7.0	"
First meal and rest	8.0	"	8.0	"
Work	8.30	"	8.30	"
Director's report	8.30	"	8.30	"
Director's report	10.0	"	10.0	"
Second meal—in two parties	10.40 11.40	"	10.40 11.40	"
Work	1.15	p.m.	1.15	p.m.
Rest	4.0	"	4.0	"
Work	4.30	"	4.30	"
Third meal	6.45	"	6.45	"
Bed	7.0	"	7.0	"
Sunday.
General medical inspection	After mass.		After mass.
Mass	7.0 and 8.0 a.m.		7.0 and 8.0 a.m.
Vespers	2.30	p.m.	2.30	p.m.

WINTER
Week-days.		April 1 to November 1 to February 15.			February 16 to March 31
Rise		6.0	a.m.		5.30	a.m.
Distribution of bread and coffee		6.30	"		6.00	"
Work		7.15	"		6.45	"
Doctor's visit		8.0	"		8.0	"
Director's report		10.0	"		10.0	"
Second meal—in two parties		10.40 11.40	"		10.40 11.40	"
Work		1.15	p.m.		1.15	p.m.
Third meal		4.0	"		5.0	"
Bed		4.30	"		5.30	"
Sunday.
General medical inspection		After mass.			After mass.
Mass		8.0 and 9.0 a.m.			8.0 and 9.0 a.m.
Vespers		2.0	p.m.		2.0	p.m.
Sunday.
General medical inspection	After mass.	After mass.
Mass	8.0 and 9.0 a.m.	8.0 and 9.0 a.m.
Vespers	2.0	p.m.	2.0	p.m.

It may be noted that the diet of the colonists, while varied, is almost exclusively vegetarian, but the inmates may supplement their ordinary food by extras purchasable at the canteen at cost price.

There is no doubt that great organising ability is shown in the industrial management of Merxplas. The ruling principles are the following:—

(1) Machinery is used as little as possible. The lathes in the workshops are driven by hand-power. The weaving is done by hand looms. Even the grinding is done by a large capstan wheel worked by two relays of sixty men each.

(2) The raw material is, as far as possible, produced in the Colony. Tobacco, flax, and chicory are grown on the farm; the leather comes from the farm cattle, and is tanned on the spot by bark obtained from the woods; and the hair of the same cattle is spun by the inmates for carpet making.

(3) Every effort is directed towards making the Colony self-contained. As far as possible, the buildings, with their fittings and furniture, are done by the colonists. The lathes and tools are made from raw metal. The boots and shoes, cloth, tobacco, and a multitude of other articles are from first to last produced on the spot.

The earnings of the inmates depend upon the character of the work done. The existing scale for able-bodied men, as sanctioned by the Minister of Justice in 1903, is as follows (10½ centimes = 1d.):—

	Centimes Per Day.
Industrial work	15 to 25
Farm work	12 to 21
Domestic, garden, and other work	12 to 18
Offices of trust (writers, porters, hospital and store assistants, shepherds, dairy and stablemen, butchers, etc.)	20 to 30
Punishment and disciplinary sections	10 to 15

The rule is to pay the inmates, at first, the minimum rates which apply to their class of work. Small bonuses and gratuities are given in special cases. Extra duties, such as reading aloud fiction in the dormitories (to prevent conversation), singing in church, and service in the bugle squad, are paid for. Non-able-bodied men receive "canteen money" of 3 centimes per day.

The men are paid monthly one half of their earnings to spend as they wish, and the balance goes to their leaving fund, and is paid only on discharge. As a rule, the instalments paid go in the purchase of supplementary food and luxuries, but many frugal workers deposit the whole of their earnings in the leaving fund. The result is that some men, who have been detained a long time, have been known to take away as much as £8 in cash, clothes, and tools.

The Colony's chief sources of revenue are; (1) The maintenance charges of 66 centimes (6½d.) per head per day for able-bodied colonists, and 1 franc 50 centimes (1s. 3d.) for non-able-bodied colonists needing special food, paid in equal shares by the State, the Provinces, and the Communes; (2) the proceeds of the colonists' labour, both on the farm and in the workshops; and (3) the profits of the canteen.

An estimate of revenue and expenditure for the year 1905, prepared by the Director of Merxplas for the Departmental Vagrancy Committee, contained the following principal items:—

Revenue.	£
Maintenance grants (3,500 able-bodied inmates at 66 centimes per day, and 1,000 not able-bodied inmates at 1 franc 50 centimes per day) sheep, pigs, etc.) to private persons	55,626
Sale of farm produce (milk, vegetables, butter,	800
Produce of workshops (sold to private persons, prisons, charitable institutions, and discharged inmates)	15,000
Canteen	3,800
Miscellaneous	399
Total	£75,625

Expenditure.	£
Salaries and allowances, permanent staff, etc.	9,329
Office, library, and school	220
Buildings and furniture	2,400
Maintenance and clothing	23,254
Colonists' earnings	11,720
Canteen (goods purchased)	1,960
Workshops (tools, raw materials, etc.)	14,181
Farm and estate (plants, seeds, manures, live stock, straw and fodder, etc.)	2,047
Miscellaneous	1,020
Total	£66,131

It will be seen that a credit balance of £9,494 is shown, but this is obviously a paper balance, inasmuch as no allowance is made for rent, interest on capital, or depreciation. On the other hand, in any full balance sheet a large accretion of capital value through improvements would be shown.

On this subject Monsieur Stroobant writes to me:—

"The property of Merxplas belongs to the State, and its value increases every year because of the new buildings erected, the plantations, and the improvements made to the land. In 1870, there were only several small farms, heath and fir woods. The land had an area of about 650 hectares, and as the land was poor, its value was probably £12 per hectare."[56] The present value has never been accurately appraised, but I place it at £200,000. The increased value of the estate has been produced entirely by the labour of the detainees, Parliament having made no further grant for new buildings. The whole of the buildings were progressively erected between 1870 and 1895, according to the resources at disposal, but after a fixed plan conceived in a large spirit by the architect, Monsieur Besme."

Taking the accounts as published, the cost of the inmates during the years 1901 to 1906 was as follows:—

	1901.		1902.		1903.		1904.		1905.		1906.
Number of able-bodied detainees		3,702		3,799		3,842		3,716		3,645	3,440
Number of infirm detainees		987		1,052		1,172		1,394		1,647	1,672
Number of days' maintenance		1,505,393		1,619,176		1,685,076		1,714,064		1,825,798	1,801,170
Cost of maintenance		1,253,029 fr.		1,367,005 fr.		1,427,771 fr.		1,508,178 fr.		1,669,169 fr.	1,689,778 fr.
Average per head per day		83 c.		84 c.		85 c.		88 c.		91 c.	94 c.

Grouping the infirm with the able-bodied, therefore, the cost ranged from 8d. to 9d. per day during these years.

The cost of all inmates together, in 1905, worked out to £14 13s. 11d. per head, but the value of work done was equal to £5 7s. 5d., reducing the cost of the 3,500 able-bodied to £9 6s. 6d., or about 6d. per day. Of this, £3 7s. or 2½d. per day was paid in wages. By way of comparison it may be stated that, according to the Prison Commissioners, the cost of maintenance in English local prisons, after deducting the value of work done, is £22 11s., and that in convict prisons £28, but in these amounts no charge for buildings is included.

Perhaps the most remarkable feature of Merxplas is the facility of escape offered to the inmates and the frequency with which this facility is used. The escapes during the ten years 1898 to 1907 were as follows:—

1898	592
1899	565
1900	517
1901	769
1902	879
1903	1,004
1904	1,066
1905	1,243
1906	1,031
1907	919

As the figures already quoted show, a considerable proportion of the men who abscond are captured and sent back—though the number of escapes exceeded the recaptures by 112 in 1901, by 108 in 1902, by 120 in 1903, by 133 in 1904, by 146 in 1905, and by 107 in 1906—but those just given suggest plainly that a definite theory lies at the basis of the Director's usage in this matter. Escape is, in fact, judged very indulgently, and provided the man who gets away is found to have settled down to regular work no attempt is made to recapture him. In such a case it is the practice of the police to report to the Director, and if, during a period of six months, there is no fault to find with the absconder's conduct, he is pardoned; if otherwise, he is sent back to complete his sentence. This apparent laxity of administration is, after all, strictly in keeping with the object of the Colony, which is less to punish than to restrain under discipline, until that discipline has achieved its purpose, and the man is fit to regain his liberty—in the Director's favourite term, to be "reclassed" in society. If such reinstatement is expedited by act of the inmate's will, the aim of the establishment is no less served. I cannot do better than quote from an interesting letter upon this subject which Monsieur Stroobant has been kind enough to send me.

"The inconveniences caused by the escape of prisoners," writes Monsieur Stroobant, "are in reality less than they might appear to be. Escapes take place in periods, and at certain epochs—for example, at the beginning of a new year, at carnival, at the return of the busy season, at the beginning of the month when wages have been paid. The gang which intends to escape exchanges paper money for coin which circulates clandestinely in the court yard; thus 1.50 franc paper money is only worth 1 franc outside. The exchange is higher according as the searches ordered by the administration are more frequent.
"Most escapes take place amongst the agricultural labourers. About twenty-three gangs, each composed of from 60 to 100 men, work daily in the fields and the fir woods, everywhere a league away from the establishment. Each gang is accompanied by one warder and a sentinel only, hence these agricultural labourers have the greatest possible facility for escaping. Mainly, however, to the signals which are immediately given to the gendarmes, and to the special watch organised by the brigade of gendarmerie in the vicinity of the Colony, a large number of fugitives, recognised by clothing belonging to the establishment which they wear, are quickly recaptured. One may say, in general, that the fugitives of Merxplas are, as a rule, recaptured within fifteen hours of their escape. The men thus recaptured are punished with a fortnight's interment in cell, and are afterwards kept in closed quarters, from which it is impossible to escape again, for a number of months proportionate to their attempts to abscond. Persons guilty of repeated attempts, who are confined in these closed quarters, receive reduced wages.
"The virtual certainty that they will be recaptured after a brief interval, the salutary fear of the punishment which awaits them, and the lack of proper clothing are reasons why the number of escapes is not far greater than is the case.
"Those who escape are the energetic men who, influenced by some ruling idea—it may be of a family in distress or other motives less laudable—seek to reclass themselves. They are not always, by any means, the most corrupt, and often when I learn, from a police report, that a fugitive is following regular work, I ask the Minister (of Justice) to suspend the order for his recapture.
"From the standpoint of the general security of the establishment, the facility of escape constitutes a valuable safety valve, which it is expedient to recognise. In truth, the latent energies which impel a man, at all costs, to seek emancipation from the bondage which he has to endure in the Beggars' Depot are exhausted by flight. If that alternative did not exist, the elements of frequent revolts would exist, and these would compel the administration to increase greatly the existing number of warders."

Probably owing to the fact that the yoke of bondage sits lightly on the inmates, serious insubordination is said to be exceptional. The following scale of punishments applies according to the gravity of the offence: (1) three to sixty days' simple cell detention with ordinary diet; (2) three days' detention in punishment cells with ordinary diet; (3) three days' ordinary cell detention with bread and water diet; (4) three days' detention in punishment cells with bread and water diet; (5) confinement in the punishment quarters for serious insubordination. Offenders may also be transferred to inferior classes of work. The punishments awarded in 1907 related to the following offences: Escapes and attempts to escape, 919; refusal to work or idleness at work, 250; malingering, 9; brawling, 60; rebellion against warders, 72; theft and complicity, 57; misconduct, 407; and drunkenness, 18. The small military guard is always at hand to quell disturbance, should it occur, but its services are never needed for this purpose.

The fact that between 80 and 90 per cent. of the inmates are habitual offenders proves that Merxplas does not repress vagrancy and mendicity, though that was the purpose in the mind of the authors of the law of 1891; it does, however, relieve the country, at all times, of the fairly constant number of 4,000 loafers, and while public order and morality benefit, the cost to the community is very small. For the discipline of Merxplas proves that the loafer can work, and work well, if he chooses. Some words, on this subject, written by the Lindsey Committee deserve to be quoted:—

"The men at Merxplas have retained a large proportion of whatever manual and technical skill they possessed when they first began to slip out of employment in the outside world. They have entered the colony before the rapid deterioration, which is the inevitable result of the tramp life, has had time to take effect, and the opportunity afforded them to practice their trades has, in most cases, prevented their ever sinking to the level of the average English tramp. In every shop the keen interest the men take in their work is most noticeable; only one foreman and one warder are employed in each shop, and without coercion the men seemed all working with remarkable energy and real interest. This is, in our opinion, perhaps the most striking feature of the whole establishment....
"Inside, away from temptation, they work well, and as long as the sentence does not exceed two or three years, seem content to remain.... Even if permanent re-establishment in society is not frequently secured, this large class of the inefficients, which would otherwise form the great recruiting ground for the criminal classes, is prevented from sinking any lower. Its members are also prevented from propagating their kind, to prey upon the next generation. They have a decent and fairly comfortable life, which is largely self-supporting, and the cost is certainly far less than that of keeping them outside by the agency of charitable doles, interspersed with costly periods of residence in workhouse or gaol.
"The workman slipping out of employment is there treated as a patient requiring care, not as a criminal requiring punishment, and his downward career is arrested before his technical skill is lost. The large amount of highly-skilled labour found there, compared to the utter incapacity of the average English prisoner committed for vagrancy, indicates the measure of the difference between the tramp at the commencement of his career and the same man after any lengthy period of life on the road. This skill may not indeed be sufficient to maintain the man outside, especially in face of the drink difficulty, but it is undoubtedly sufficient, inside and in the aggregate, to make him nearly self-supporting and to give a real interest to his life. In addition to thus preserving a national asset of no inconsiderable value, the technical skill of the partly-efficient, the colony system subjects the whole vagrant class to the steadying influence of regular life and regular work for long periods of time. Even where this is insufficient to re-establish the man in independent life, the evidence of the Belgian colonies is emphatic that it is sufficient to make his life both profitable to the community and not unpleasant to himself. It also effectually safeguards his class both from drink and from the attractions of the criminal class, and it certainly largely checks its reproduction."

WORTEL HOUSE OF REFUGE.

The House of Refuge at Wortel may be regarded as a Detention Colony for the less obnoxious offenders of the vagrant and mendicant class, but it also receives persons who voluntarily enter owing to inability to find employment or homes. The House of Refuge thus performs the functions of the labour yard attached to many English workhouses, an institution useful, and even essential, in any well-organised system of poor relief so long as it is reserved for the proper people, and is used in order to meet purely temporary needs, instead of being converted into a device, as it often is, for evading the duty of seeking regular employment and for living permanently upon the rates.

The Colony is worked in two sections, Hoogstraeten and Wortel proper; at the former the helpless and sick are received, at the latter the able-bodied and those who, though infirm, are yet able to do light work. The maximum duration of detention, as has been explained, is one year, but any colonist may take his discharge directly he has saved 12s. from his earnings, or can show that he has work to go to. The average stay of able-bodied inmates is two or three months, but a certain number are allowed to remain beyond the year.

The following table shows the numbers who entered and left the Wortel House of Refuge in the years 1902 to 1908:—

	1902.	1903.	1904.	1905.	1906.	1907.	1908.
Admitted	4,389	3,428	3,546	3,057	2,505	2,402	2,798
Discharged	4,034	3,372	3,413	3,116	2,318	2,105	2,215
Discharged	177	138	142	135	125	152	142
Transferred	177	138	142	135	125	152	142
Absconded	85	72	40	58	59	91	118
Died	87	99	99	74	82	92	83
Total	4,383	3,681	3,694	3,383	2,584	2,440	2,558
Detained on December 31	2,003	1,750	1,602	1,276	1,197	1,159	1,399

The frequency of commitment during the same years was as follows:—

Number of Times Committed.	1901.	1902.	1903.	1904.	1905.	1906.	1907.	1908.
For the first time	1,523	1,483	1,281	1,296	1,070	903	856	1,222
For the second time	709	772	555	596	524	402	375	435
For the third time	413	478	380	389	320	232	234	261
For the fourth time	291	329	257	249	249	174	176	163
For the fifth time, or oftener	1,238	1,327	955	1,016	894	794	761	717
Total number of admissions	4,174	4,389	3,428	3,546	3,057	2,505	2,402	2,798

Both at Hoogstraeten and Wortel agriculture and industry are carried on; the trades at the former place include brewing, soap making, smithery, joinery, painting, stove making, cart building, and corn milling, and at the latter hand-loom weaving (cotton and woollen), tailoring, shoemaking, saddling, joinery and cabinet making, painting, smithery, and stove making. As far as possible, every man is put to the trade he knows best. The main aim is to produce articles which are needed for use or consumption in the Colony, and the surplus production is sold to other Government institutions. There are two farms, and besides the ordinary work provided by them, a certain amount of reclamation is done. Most of the building needed is the work of the colonists, and nearly all the domestic work is done by them.

The actual hours of labour, exclusive of intervals, are ten and a half daily in the summer months (April 1 to September 30), eight and a half in March and October, and eight in the winter months (November 1 to February 28). The daily routine is as follows (Sunday excepted):—

	March.		April 1 to September 30.		October.		November 1 to February 28.
Hour of Rising	5.30	a.m.	5.0	a.m.	5.30	a.m.	6.0	a.m.
Distribution of bread	6.0	"	5.30	"	6.0	"	6.30	"
Work	6.30	"	6.0	"	6.30	"	7.0	"
Visit of doctor	8.0	"	7.0	"	8.0	"	8.0	"
Distribution of coffee, and rest	9.0	"	8.0	"	9.0	"	[57]	"
Work	9.15	"	8.30	"	9.15	"	—
Dinner, and rest	12.0	"	12.0	"	12.0	"	12.0	"
Work	1.30	p.m.	1.30	p.m.	1.30	p.m.	1.30	p.m.
Rest	3.0	"	4.0	"	3.0	p.m.	—
Work	3.15	"	4.30	"	3.15	p.m.	—
Cessation of work[58]	5.0	"	7.0	"	5.0	"	4.30	"
Supper	5.0	"	7.0	"	5.0	"	5.0	"
Bedtime	6.0	"	7.30	"	6.0	"	6.0	"

There is a regular scale of money payments, ranging from 9 centimes to 71 centimes per day, according to the class of work and of worker. The following are the daily rates now in force (100 centimes = 9½d.):—

	Class A. Centimes.	Class B. Centimes.	Class C. Centimes.
Workshops, etc.	47-71	24-47	24
Cultivation, plantation, and navvies' work	42-60	21-42	21
Domestic and agricultural	18-27	9-18	9

Of their earnings one-third is paid to the inmates at once and the balance is given to them on discharge.

The costs of maintenance payable by the public authorities which send colonists to Wortel are: For able-bodied persons 7½d. per day, for those not able-bodied 7½d. if they do not require special attention, and 1s. 2½d. if they do.

By the admission of the officials of the Wortel Colony the permanent effect of detention upon the character and life of the persons interned is small. This would appear to be proved, indeed, by the return of recommitments, which shows that of the inmates received in 1907 and 1908 over 64 and 56 per cent. respectively were recidivists. It is held that the weak points about the method of treatment are the lightness of the discipline and the shortness of the term of detention. While the maximum term of detention is twelve months, the conditions of discharge are so easy that the average stay is only two or three months, a period far too short to influence permanently the idle and dissolute who form the larger proportion of the inmates. Moreover, many of the latter are confirmed inebriates, needing a special treatment, which is impossible in an institution of this kind.

A few words may be added here relative to the Forced Labour Colonies of Holland. These Colonies are of the type found in Belgium, and their mode of working is in general the same. As in Belgium, too, they were originally administered by a Benevolent Society, which was formed about the year 1818 for the establishment of Beggars' Colonies, Voluntary Colonies for free farmers and labourers, and Colonies for old and infirm people and for orphans. To this end an estate of moorland, about 1,200 acres in extent, was acquired, but further purchases increased the area to 13,430 acres, of which 2,900 acres were allotted to the Free Colonies, 1,250 acres to the Veterans' Colonies, and 4,280 acres to the Beggars' Colonies, the remaining 5,000 acres being moorland. The Beggars' Colonies were handed over to the State in 1859, but two Free Colonies are still continued by the same society at Frederiksoord and Willemsoord, and to them two classes of people are admitted: (1) free farmers, who are encouraged to remain permanently on small holdings provided for them on easy terms; and (2) free labourers, who work on the home farms of the Colony, and who, if married, live in separate cottages, and, with such members of their families as can work, are paid wages at a rate lower than that for outside labour.

At the present time there are three Penal Colonies under State administration—at Veenhuizen and Hoorn for men, and at Leyden for women; all of them are intended for the reception of vagrants and mendicants, and the men's Colonies also receive habitual drunkards.

In addition to agriculture, gardening, and forestry, various trades, such as weaving, carpentering, masonry, smithery, cabinet making, shoe making, and tailoring, are carried on. The buildings have been modernised, and the cubicle system of dormitory is almost universally adopted. Wages are paid to the men as at Merxplas, and the unexpended balance is handed to them on discharge.

CHAPTER V.

THE GERMAN LABOUR HOUSES.

The early legislation of Germany relative to begging and vagrancy was not greatly dissimilar in spirit from our own. Down to the sixteenth century Germany was satisfied with the mere prohibition of these practices. A Resolution of the Diet at Lindau in 1497 simply forbade vagabondage, and ordered the authorities to exercise supervision over beggars of all kinds. In 1532 Emperor Charles V., in Article 30 of his Penal Court Ordinance, similarly enjoined the authorities to "exercise vigilant oversight over beggars and vagrants," and in 1557 the Imperial Police Ordinance sanctioned the issue of begging letters to poor people for whose support local funds did not exist.

During the eighteenth century a series of decrees and regulations were issued against begging in various German States, but without suppressing it, and towards the end of the century the evil in many parts of the country had reached proportions which threatened public security.

"As late as the third quarter of the eighteenth century, and in some parts of the country until its close, the most shameless and wide-spread mendicity defied at once the severest official prohibitions and the best meant endeavour of the communes and private individuals."[59]

Then it was that the idea of the disciplinary treatment of vagrants and loafers in general took root, leading in time to the institution all over the country of special houses of detention, not inaptly called Labour Houses, for the reception of these offenders, of the work-shy of every description, and of certain other classes of people who followed a disorderly mode of life. When the Empire was established, the practice of the various States was embodied in the Imperial Penal Code, and Labour House treatment is now the recognised mode of correcting sloth, loafing, and habitual intemperance and immorality throughout Germany.

Sections 361 and 362 of the Penal Code define as follows the offences which may entail detention in a Labour House:—

"(1) Whoever wanders about as a vagabond.
"(2) Whoever begs or causes children to beg or neglects to restrain from begging such persons as are under his control and oversight and belong to his household.
"(3) Whoever is so addicted to gambling, drunkenness, or idleness that he falls into such a condition as to be compelled to seek public help himself, or for those for whose maintenance he is responsible.
"(4) Any female who is placed under police control owing to professional immorality when she acts contrary to the police regulations issued in the interest of health, public order, and public decency, or who, without being under such control, is guilty of professional immorality.
"(5) Any person who, while in receipt of public relief, refuses out of sloth to do such work suited to his strength as the authorities may offer him.
"(6) Any person who, after losing his past lodging, fails to procure another within the time allotted to him by the competent authority and who cannot prove that in spite of his best endeavours he has been unable to do so."

An Amendment of the Penal Code dated June 25, 1900, added to this list of offenders procurers and souteneurs. The law enjoins that persons convicted of misdemeanours as above may be handed over to the State police authorities after undergoing the allotted imprisonment, with a view to their further detention in Labour Houses, there to be usefully employed under strict control. Some of the Prussian Labour Houses are used, to a small extent, for the reception of youths who are taken from parental control owing to bad behaviour.

The mode of procedure under this law is very summary, but very effectual. A vagrant, a loafer, or a work-shirker falls into the hands of the policeman, who in Germany is taught to protect both the highway and the street against uses for which they were never intended. By this official he is haled before the Amtsgericht, which is a local Court of First Instance for the adjudication of petty cases. As a rule, he is sentenced to a few weeks' imprisonment, and to be afterwards handed over to the Landespolizei or State Police Authority. In effect, he is despatched to the district in which the original offence was committed. The whole of the documents in the case are passed on to the President or Prefect of this district, and it is this official who fixes the term of detention in the provincial Labour House. The maximum period is two years, but whether the man obtains discharge at the end of a shorter sentence depends entirely upon himself. If he shows distinct signs of improvement as the result of his discipline, he may be released. If not the sentence is probably prolonged for six months, or in bad cases to the maximum term, at the end of which the prisoner must unconditionally be discharged, whether reformed or not. In practice it rests entirely with the Director of the Labour House to determine whether a sentence should be prolonged or not, for though the District President nominally decides, it is on the direct representation of the Director, whose recommendation is seldom or never ignored.

Thus, the Labour House is not punitive in the technical sense; it exists for the one purpose of training the lazy and the vicious to a life of labour and industry. Labour Houses of this kind are found in almost all the States, in numbers proportionate to the population. Some of them, however, serve for large towns, as in the case of Berlin, Hamburg, and Dresden. Prussia has twenty-five Labour Houses, of which seven are for men only, two for women only, and sixteen for both sexes. The following is a list of these institutions, with the accommodation they afforded in the year 1908:—

GERMAN LABOUR HOUSES.

Labour House. (Locality)	Province	Accommodation for				Number of
		Detainees.		Wards.		Dormitories.	Workrooms.	Sickrooms.	Cells and Cabins.
		Males.	Females.	Males.	Females.	Dormitories.	Workrooms.	Sickrooms.	Cells and Cabins.
Tapiau	East Prussia	392	80	—	—	11	9	6	23
Konitz	West Prussia	350	100	170	100	16	8	13	13
Rummelsburg	Brandenburg	400	300	225	75	20	30	20	—
Strausberg	"	380	—	90	—	10	41	9	—
Prenzlau	"	400	—	80	26	9	23	12	12
Landsberg a. W.	"	190	40	50	30	7	37	15	3
Neustettin	Pomerania	150	10	40	20	9	11	13	—
ÜckermÜnde	"	340				14	7	7	2
Stralsund	"	120	25	—	—	5	4	4	—
Greifswald	"	110	—	—	—	3	4	—	—
Bojanowo	Posen	450	—	—	—	2	26	8	—
Fraustadt	"	—	130	—	—	4	5	3	—
Schweidnitz	Silesia	1,200	150	130	50	46	64	16	13
Breslau	"	600	300	—	—	22	17	8	2
Gross Salze	Saxony	358	57	90	30	18	39	16	21
Moritzburg	"	505	55	8	2	14	35	10	19
GlÜckstadt	Schleswig	700	50	—	—	15	27	5	19
Bockelholm	"	300	—	—	—	2	6	3	—
Benninghausen	Westphalia	350	60	—	—	21	23	6	3
Breitenau	Hesse-Nassau	300	35	30	5	5	14	4	—
Hadamar	"	236	80	10	6	9	12	5	—
Brauweiler	Rhine Province	1,090	195	50	105	47	56	16	281
Moringen	Hanover	800	—	—	—	21	27	14	16
Wunstorf	"	300	—	550	—	22	26	37	103
HimmelsthÜr	"	—	125	—	190	10	7	11	29

The numbers of persons, detained for correction, dealt with by the whole of the Prussian Labour Houses in the course of the administrative year 1907-8 were as follows:—

	Males		Females		Total
Number at the beginning of the year		7.200		848		8,048
Admitted during the year		6,716		731		7,447
Discharged during the year		6,839		892		7,731
Number at the end of the year		7,077		687		7,764
Total number detained		13,916		1,579		15,495
Average number detained daily		6,779		749		7,528

The persons detained were classified in the following groups of occupations:—

	Males		Females		Total
Agriculture, forestry, gardening, fishing, etc.		923		30		953
Industry, mining, and building trades		3,057		42		3,099
Trade and commerce		717		17		734
Domestic service and casual labour		1,488		296		1,784
Public service and professions		114		5		119
No occupation, or none declared		8		302		310
Totals	6,307		629		6,999

Of 6,990 persons classified by age, 174 were under twenty-one years of age, 262 were from twenty-one to twenty-five years of age, 529 from twenty-five to thirty, 1,664 from thirty to forty, 2,231 from forty to fifty, 1,532 from fifty to sixty, 548 from sixty to seventy, and 50 were seventy years of age and upwards.

The offences for which 6,299 male and 692 female inmates were committed to the Labour Houses in that year were as follows:—

	Males		Females		Total
Vagabondage		328		47		375
Begging		4,166		69		4235
Begging and vagrancy together		702		31		733
Laziness		97		6		103
Professional immorality		188		481		669
Work-shyness		8		3		11
Homelessness		810		55		865
Totals	5,299		692		6,991

The periods of commitment by the judicial authorities were as under:—

	Males		Females		Total
Three months or less		20		5		25
From three to six months		1,443		242		1,685
Over six months and under two years		3,535		359		3,594
Two years		1,599		85		1,684
Total	6,297		691		6,988

Of the offenders enumerated above, 4,445 or 64 per cent. had been detained in a Labour House before, and 2,293 or 33 per cent. had been so detained more than three times, while 5,865 or 84 per cent. had been in prison. Further, 1,253 or 18 per cent. had been recommitted to a Labour House within twelve months of their last discharge from the same.

Most of these Labour Houses are situated in the open country, and follow a mixed economy of agriculture and industry, though the number of men who can be employed usefully in farm work would appear to be small. The following statement of the different modes of employment in force in 1908 comprises young people detained for reformation, in addition to the adults committed by judicial process for disciplinary reasons:—

EMPLOYMENT OF DETAINEES.

	Males		Females		Total
Average daily number of detainees		8,775		1,275		10,050
Average daily number employed		7,290		904		8,194
Character of employment—
1. For the Labour Houses—
(a) Domestic work		1,524		372		1,896
(b) Agriculture		551		32		583
(c) Other work		642		85		727
Total (a), (b), (c)	2,717		489		3,206
2 For the Provincial Authorities		1,903		88		1,991
3. For the Public Authorities		105		—		105
4. For officers of the establishments		124		23		147
5. For outside persons—
(a) Agricultural		704		21		725
(b) Industrial work		1,737		283		2,020
Total (a), (b)	2,441		304		2,745

In considering the industrial methods on which the Labour Houses are administered, it may be well to bear in mind the principles which are applied to Prussian penal establishments in general, for they apply to these institutions. A recent official statement upon the subject runs as follows[60]:—

"(1) The requirements of the individual establishments, and of the prison administration in general, are as far as possible to be supplied by the prisoners. All domestic work is to be done by the prisoners; clothing and articles needed for bedding, etc., are also to be done by them, and to this end weaving shops are provided in some prisons. Repairs to buildings, works of rebuilding, extensions, and new buildings are to be carried out by prisoners, who are specially to be used in the construction of dwelling-houses for the officers.
"(2) The production of useful articles needed by the Imperial and State authorities is to be encouraged as far as possible, and this branch of work increases every year. Tailoring and other equipment work for barracks and hospitals are largely done to the order of the War Office, also furniture for official rooms for the State Railway Administrations.
"(3) Criminal prisoners may be used for agricultural improvement works on behalf of State and communal authorities, and also of private persons, provided at least a year of their sentence has expired, their conduct has been good, and the remainder of their sentence does not exceed a year, or in exceptional cases two years. With their consent correctional prisoners who have served six months (and in exceptional cases three months), have been of good behaviour, and have not longer than two years to serve, may be similarly employed. Criminal and correctional prisoners may not be employed together; and they must be kept apart from free workmen. In order to prevent injury to free labour prisoners may only be employed in the manner stated if the works in question would not otherwise be executed for lack of free labourers, or because the high wages of the latter would make the works unprofitable. Under the same conditions, prisoners may be put to agricultural work. These works are done in all the provinces of the Kingdom, and the following works are executed in particular:—

"(a) Moor land is cultivated in order to the settlement of farmers. Thus the reclamation of the Augstumal Moor, in East Prussia, 3,000 hectares (7,410 acres) in extent, is in an advanced state, and seventeen settlers have already been established there and provided with houses. The Kehding Moor, in the Stade district, has now been prepared for settlement, and five colonists are established. The Bargstedt Moor is so far reclaimed that settlers may now be taken; fifteen holdings of 12 hectares (30 acres) each are contemplated. In the Eifel district 75 hectares (185 acres) of the High Venn plateau, over 2,200 feet high, have been cultivated, and the first settlers established.
"(b) Shifting sand dunes are made permanent.
"(c) Marshy ground is drained, damage done by inundations is made good, water courses are diverted, and channels dug.
"(d) Fiscal domains are put into an efficient condition.
"(e) Vineyards are planted for the State on the Moselle.

"Experience has proved that prisoners can best be employed on such works in gangs of from forty to sixty, under a chief overseer, assisted by a sufficient number of warders." "The prisoners," says the official document, show themselves to be willing, diligent, and apt in their work; their productivity is inferior to that of free labourers only at the beginning of their employment, and later it is equal. There is no difficulty in maintaining discipline, and attempts at escape occur very seldom. On the other hand the employment of small bodies of men under the superintendence of one or two petty officers, especially if it be in agricultural work, in which it is almost impossible to prevent contact with free labourers, leads to serious abuses:—bribery, insubordination, rebellion against the officers and even gross acts of violence have occurred. Such small bodies of men, therefore, can only be employed in exceptional cases where the conditions for the maintenance of discipline are specially favourable.
"(4) The other prisoners are to be farmed to entrepreneurs by public contract for the carrying on of industrial work. Care must be taken, however, that too many prisoners are not allotted to a single employer, and that the number employed in a single industry is not disproportionate to the number of free labourers engaged in the same industry. Since 1869, the number of prisoners employed by industrial entrepreneurs fell from 73 to 27·2 per cent. in 1903,[61] and a further decrease is probable owing to the extension of the work done for the State authorities. Several establishments have entirely discontinued the employment of prisoners in that way. By the restriction of factory work, the individuality of the prisoner can be better studied in the choice of employment for them, and the justification is taken away from the complaints made by free workpeople about the illegitimate competition of cheap prison labour, used by capitalist employers. At the same time, the prison budgets are less satisfactory than formerly as a consequence."

In the prison accounts no allowance is made for the domestic and farm work done by the prisoners. In calculating the value of all work done for the Imperial and State authorities and for the general Prison Administration wages are reckoned at 40 pfennige (5d.) per head per day.

"This rate of wages, which is far less than that paid by employers, is taken arbitrarily, but in order to simplify the trade accounts and particularly accounts with the various State authorities, a uniform rate was necessary. If the rate is low, the Prison Administration must console itself with the reflection that its losses imply saving to other branches of the State service; the State, as a whole, does not suffer injury. Moreover, the full value of the prisoners' work now goes to the State, and not as formerly to private employers, and free labour no longer suffers from the competition of prison work."[62]

Wages ranging, according to capacity and diligence, from 1 to 20 pfennige (100 pfennige =1s.) per day in the case of criminal prisoners, and from 1 to 30 pfennige per day in the case of correctional prisoners, are credited to the men, with the object of giving them a favourable restart in life on their discharge. No part of the accumulated bonuses is paid over during imprisonment until 30s. has been earned by criminal prisoners, and 20s. by others, except that payments may be made to a man's family out of his account; but one half of all earnings beyond the minimum stated may be used in the purchase of extra food, books, clothing, etc., though not of tobacco, the smoking of which is not allowed.

The following statement gives the yearly cost per head in the financial year April 1, 1907, to March 31, 1908, of the whole of the inmates of the Prussian Labour Houses, with the value per head of the produce and work done and the amount per head which fell upon the public funds:—

Labour House. (Locality)	Yearly Cost per Head of Average Number of Detainees.		How the Cost was Covered.
Labour House. (Locality)	Yearly Cost per Head of Average Number of Detainees.		(a) By Produce of the Labour House.			(b) Public Contributions.
	Mark.	Pfennige.		Mark.	Pfennige.	Mark.	Pfennige.
Tapiau	642	51		302	64	339	87
Konitz	383	27		204	46	178	81
Rummelsburg	507	21		124	21	383	0
Strausberg	434	0		215	0	219	0
Prenzlau	547	15		280	46	266	69
Landsberg a. W.	401	41		234	83	166	58
Neustettin	442	68		268	24	174	44
UckermÜode	406	31		221	54	184	77
Stralsund	480	77		361	05	119	72
Greifswald	340	0		220	29	119	71
Bojanowo	355	45		172	14	183	31
Fraustadt	694	49		145	23	549	26
Schweidnitz	313	40		255	17	58	23
Breslau	674	32		625	17	49	15
Gross Salze	339	29		271	54	67	75
Moritzburg	344	76		271	01	73	75
GlÜckstadt	425	26		410	42	14	84
Bockelholm	355	30		222	02	133	28
Benninghausen	498	76		153	85	344	91
Breitenau	453	84		397	70	56	14
Hadamar	278	80		140	99	137	81
Brauweiler	396	68		271	97	124	71
Moringen	791	09		142	0	649	09
Wunstorf	377	61		131	64	245	97
HimmelsthÜr	363	42		159	13	204	29

It appears from this statement that the gross annual cost per head ranged from £13 18s 10d. in the case of the Labour House at Hadamar (a small institution) to £39 11s. at the Labour House at Moringen, and that the net cost to the State ranged from 14s. 10d. per head in the case of the Labour House at GlÜckstadt to £32 9s. at Moringen.

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