;- The theory held by many that pauperism bears a direct relation to the price of corn would seem to have been practically disposed of by the statistics of the sums expended• in relief from 1813 to 1860 in England. By these it is seen that while there was a steady decline in the amount from about .S6,650,000 in 1818 to ;E5,550,000 in 1859, the differ . ence of 20 per cent was far less than it should have been to sustain the theory. For the price of corn had fallen during the 46 years, from 125s. per quarter to 42s. 9d., or sixty-six per cent. And this fact goes far to sustain the assertion that pauperism, and equally or even more, mendicancy, rely for their fluctuations in degree upon causes outside of all such material considerations.
The history of mendicancy in France attests the antiquity of the profession, and offers some pertinent facts. Thus, as early as the middle of the 14th c., iu the reign of king John, it was found necessary to issue an ordinance commanding all able-bodied beggars. to find work or leave Paris, with the alternative of imprisbriment, the pillory, and brand ing, according to the nuniber of offenses against the law. A similar act was passed in 1413; but Francis I. rescinded both, and instead directed the public authorities to set those persons indicated to work, if necessary by force. But it was found that sevei-e la.ws had but little effect in suppressing the evil; and though in 1627 beggars were directed. to be impressed into the naval service, and even expatriated by being sent to the Indies, work-houses were established in France, and thus a new system was begun. In 1688, all previous plans having failed, a law was enacted forcing every beggar to leave Paris, on pain of being sent to the galleys. Even this hapsh measure w-as incom petent to relieve the city of mendicants, much less the entire kingdom; and in 1698 it was estimated that one-tenth of the entire population were beggars. The work-house plan was now tried again, and in four years 80 of these were established. These institu tions not only did not succeed in rooting out the evil, but they were found to be, instead of self-supporting, as was anticipated, a severe tax on the state. They were gradually suppressed, and at present very few exist. 3Ir. Brace remarks as to the various French methods: " Thus, during rive centuries every species of penalty and punishment has been tried in vain in France to repress mendicity. Humane legislation has been equally a failure; and the sum of all experience in that comity is that all legal means fail to reach this great evil." But the fact is that there is less mendicancy, as there is less pauperism in France, in proportion to its population, than there is in any other country in Europe, or in the United States. And it would appear that to seek for the cause of this fortunate condition we must analyze the effect of the French land laws. For the
fact that in France, where there is no law of entail for landed property, and where a father cannot by will alienate this species of property in any one direction; but where, on the contrary, land is divided among all the heirs, on the death of tbe owner,--there must of necessity be such a subdivision of land that the existence of pauperism on a large scale becomes practically impossible: the result being that the land is divided among a larger number of owners than is the case with any other country. Another and curious reason for the condition of France as regards pauperism is found in the fact of the apparently stationary condition of her population. Between 1851 and 1876 the population increased only about 3 per cent, and WaS neayly what it was in 1870. The birth-rate in France is only 26 in a thousand, being far below that of any other country% An ingenions Frenehman bases on this condition the positive prosperity of his country, on tile ground that the number of non-producers is lessened, and so much less drain on the resources of the country for their support is the result.
The record of pauperism and mendicancy in the United States has been similar to that of England in its general conditions. The class of beggars in the large cities and towns has been supplemented by that of "tramps." These are comparatively recent in their origin in the United States; and it is not improbable that they were originally an exportation from England, where they have long been a feature of pauperism. They have increased greatly in number in recent years, and in Massachusetts alone there were said to be a few years ago 25,000 of these peripatetic beggars. It is certain, also, that they are to a certain extent organized, that they associate with each other, and that they communicate by signs and marks placed where they can be found by the initiated. The proportion in 3Iassachusetts applied to the entire population would give 750,000 as the nuinber of tramps in the entire country, or one in 66. In England, in 1867, the number of tramps was returned, on a certain specified night, at 33,191—very little inore than the number in Massachusetts alone, and in the proportion of 1 to 666. Various efforts have been made in the 1:•iited States in the special direction of reducing the number of tramps, culminating iu the passage of severe " tramp laws" in Massachusetts and a few other states. These laws are of very recent enactment, and their effect has not yet been made known. It is probable that unless similar legislative action took place in all the states the effect would be only to drive them from one state to another.