Page:EB1911 - Volume 27.djvu/864

 The consequence of this generous treatment of those who are “work-shy” is that instead of being repelled or reformed by their treatment, the class is continually on the increase. This increase has received the serious attention of social reformers, and in 1904 the president of the local government board appointed a departmental committee to inquire into the subject of vagrancy. The committee presented its report in 1906, which with the evidence of witnesses is a most valuable exposition of the subject. Among the various recommendations of the committee the most important were the transference of casual wards to the control of police authorities; the issue of way-tickets, as used on the continent of Europe and a very few Eng ish counties, by the police to bona fide work-seekers, and more especially the detention of habitual vagrants in labour colonies. This last recommendation was also that of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws which reported in 1909, to which those interested are also referred for valuable information.

The system of way-tickets has been found useful in Germany and Switzerland in assisting the genuine work-seeker on his way and in discriminating between him and the idle vagrant. In Germany those leaving their districts must carry certain papers of identification in addition to a Wanderschein or way-ticket. For the relief of the destitute wayfarer there is the Herberge or lodging-house, maintained by a voluntary society, and the Verpflegungs-station, or relief station, maintained by the local authorities, In each, those in search of work can obtain lodging and food either for a small payment or by the performance of three hours' work, such as wood-chopping or stone-breaking. In Switzerland way-tickets are issued by a society named the Inter-Cantonal Union to those who can prove that they have worked for an employer within the three preceding months, and that at least five days have elapsed since that employment ceased. The Vagrancy Committee recommended that the English way-ticket in book orm should give the man's personal description, his usual trade, his reason for wanting to travel and his proposed destination, and should contain his signature and, possibly, his finger-prints for the purpose of testing identity. The name of each casual ward visited should be stamped on the ticket. The duration of the ticket should be limited to a certain period, possibly a month. With such a ticket, a man should be entitled at the casual ward to a night's lodging, supper and breakfast, and after performing two hours' work to help to pay for his food and lodging he should be free to leave whenever he liked. The name of the next ward on the direct line of his route, which he could reach that night, should be entered on the ticket, and on his arrival at that place he should be treated in the same manner. The ticket would thus form a record of his journey and show whether he was genuinely in search of work.

The remedy which has been considered as most likely to be effective for the cure of habitual Vagrancy in England is that of labour colonies, which have been tried on the continent of Europe with a substantial measure of success. These European labour colonies are described in detail in the appendices to the Report and Evidence of the Vagrancy Committee and in the books mentioned at the end of this article, but a résumé of the more important colonies may here be given.

 VAISON, a town of south-eastern France, in the department of Vaucluse, 26 m. N.N.E. of Avignon by road. Pop. (1906) 2148. The Ouvèze, a tributary of the Rhone, divides Vaison into two quarters—the Roman and early medieval town on the right bank, and the town of the later middle ages on the left bank,—the two communicating by an ancient Roman bridge consisting of a single arch. On the right bank is the church (once the cathedral) of Ste Marie, the choir of which is thought to date in parts from the oth century, while the nave belongs to the 12th century. A Romanesque cloister containing a collection of old sculpture flanks the church on the north. Remains of a Roman amphitheatre and the chapel of St Quenin (dedicated to a bishop of the 6th century), with a curious apse of the end of the 11th century, are also to be seen in the old town. On the left bank are the parish church (15th and 16th centuries), remains of the medieval fortifications, and the keep of a castle of the counts of Toulouse. The industries of the town include the manufacture of wooden shoes, bellows and agricultural implements. Vaison, under the name of Vasio, was one of the principal towns of the Vocontii, and was a place of great importance under