8. Colonists who enter the establishment in the winter (December 1 to the end of February) receive no wages during that time. Those who enter in the summer or autumn (March 1 to the end of December), and whose work is satisfactory, receive reduced wages during the winter months. 9. Wages vary from 50 centimes to 1.50 francs [10 to 29 cents] per day. The foremen fix the wages in the beginning. 10. During the time of the contract the managers fix the amount of wages. A part of the men's wages is spent on clothes and linen; the rest is placed to their credit unless paid out for the maintenance of the colonist's family. The following is the contract the colonists sign: Contract between the colony of Nusshof, near Witzwyl, of the first part, and colonist, of the second part. 1. The undersigned, who enters the colony of his own free will, for the purpose of working there, agrees to obey the rules and regulations of the said colony, to stay at least two months, and to inform the managers of his intention to leave at least a week in advance. 2. Articles of clothing which have not been paid for by the colonist must be left behind on leaving; he is only entitled to such clothes as he brought with him. 3. Every inmate is given lodging, sufficient food, and working clothes, so that he has no expenses whatever. He shall be cared for in the colony in case of temporary sickness (unless brought on through the inmate's own fault). 4. Wages vary from 50 centimes to 1.50 francs [10 to 29 cents] per day, in accordance with articles 8 and 9 of the rules. If the inmate is expelled during the first two months (article 4 of the rules), he is not entitled to receive any wages. 5. As regards payment of wages, article 10 of the rules applies. mate upon being admitted to the colony is informed of the rules. Every in In case of disagreement the question shall be brought before and settled by the Witzwyl Institution. Taken thus in connection with the partly free colonies, it is stated that Witzwyl, in proportion to its size, probably saves more of its inmates than any labor colony in the world, and also comes nearest, if it does not succeed, in meeting all its expenses. Mr. Kelly gives the following statement of conclusions at which he has arrived in regard to labor colonies:(") 1. It is preferable to create several small agricultural colonies rather than a few large ones. 2. It is advisable to specialize industries in the colonies best fitted therefor. 3. A free colony ought to be instituted by the side of every forced colony in order to facilitate the transfer of the inmates from one colony to the other. This plan would permit the magistrate committing every case of vagrancy that came before him to a labor colony. It would relieve him of the necessity of determining whether the case be one to which blame should be attached or not-a thing which, in view of the deficiency of evidence before him, it is impossible for him to do, whereas, on the contrary, it would permit of a proper classification within the colonies after all the information has been secured that would insure such classification being correct and just. 4. A sufficiently large amount of land ought to be secured at once to enable the slow growth round the central colony of subcolonies, which will gradually prepare the inmates for normal social conditions. ployables, p. 33. 5. No permanent building should be constructed in advance. The system ought to come in operation early in the spring, so as to enable the inmates to occupy temporary cabins and build their own buildings. 6. Every colony ought to have at its head a skilled farmer. 7. Surveillants ought to work together with the inmates. To these general principles it may be well to add one or two supplementary observations. There does not seem to be at Witzwyl the system of reward which is such an excellent feature of the colony of Merxplas, and there seems no reason why this excellent provision should not be borrowed from the Belgian institution. Moreover, it ought to be possible to give the inmates of every colony a direct interest in its prosperity by creating separate tables to which a different dietary would be applied, the best furnished tables being offered as a reward for the best work. Such a system would give to every inmate a direct interest in the growth of vegetables, fruit, and all such things as give variety to food. Again, there is no reason why the unfortunate aged should any longer be sequestered as they now are in asylums, when they can just as well form a part of free colonies where they will have the benefit of social life and can still render considerable service. DENMARK. While Denmark has no penal colonies, her treatment. of the vagrant may be considered here. It must be considered in connection with her whole poor-law system, which is very progressive, especially as regards the aged poor. Aged-poor relief is not considered poor relief. The recipient must be free from certain criminal convictions, from debt, must be 60 years old, have lived in Denmark the last ten years prior to application, and must not have received poor relief. Aid is given in kind or in cash, or in the provision of institutions (not poorhouses); for such aid the State levies a fund from which the commune may receive onehalf its expenditure for the aged. The homes for the aged are made very attractive, and to become a pensioner is no disgrace. There were 30,957 persons in receipt of old-age relief in January, 1893, and 44,118 in January, 1902. The law is almost universally believed in Denmark to have worked well. It has tended to keep people from committing crime and also from applying for poor relief, so as to be entitled to the old-age insurance. Its cost is thus fully saved by reduced poor-relief cost. The cost in 1901 was about $1,500,000. There are, however, as in Belgium, workshops of all kinds carefully organized. Expert managers and foremen direct tailoring, shoemaking, carpentering, bookbinding, weaving, glass blowing, and metal working, which is always going on, and in addition there is a good deal of building, painting, etc. Thus a skilled artisan has no need to break stones, and, as in Belgium, he is practically no loss to the community. These workshops are not penal, but there are penal workshops, the Tvangsarbejdanstalt. Regarding these penal workshops the following is quoted from Mr. Percy Alden:(") By the law of 1891 the poor-law authorities, acting in conjunction with the police, may send to the penal workhouse all who have been "guilty of breaches of order or of morals, or of disobedience, insubordination, drunkenness, quarrelsomeness, idleness, leaving the workhouse without permission, damage to property, or other irregularities, public or private." But Denmark is wise enough thoroughly to classify not only the unemployed, but also the unemployable, and the moment a man shows himself willing to work and behaves in a quiet, orderly manner his treatment is improved. He is transferred to one of the upper classes and finally removed from the penal workhouses to the ordinary workhouse, where he is better fed and much more comfortable. In 1902 the cost of Ladegaard penal workhouse at Copenhagen was only 11d. [22 cents] per head per day, while the net profits amounted to about £3,900 ($18,979). WORKHOUSES. Under this head the German workhouse only is considered, because it alone bears in an important way upon the present subject. The English workhouse or poorhouse does not undertake to any appreciable extent to provide work for the unemployed. The English vagrant may find shelter for a night or two in the casual wards of the workhouse, but he is not as a rule given employment. 66 Belgium, Holland, Denmark, and Switzerland have, as has been seen, developed penal colonies rather than workhouses. In France and some other countries there are workhouses (in France called dépôts de mendicité "), but they are poorly developed from the standpoint of giving employment, and their organization generally is defective. The work they give is frequently most elementary— usually not much more than the picking of oakum or the sorting of rags. France is going through a period of transition in this line, and has on this subject comparatively little to teach. The German workhouse, however, plays a somewhat important part, and is not to be confounded with the English workhouse. The system varies in different portions of the Empire, but workhouses of one sort or another are found in almost every Province, and more than one are found in some Provinces. Prussia has 24 workhouses (Arbeiterhaus). Mr. W. H. Dawson, in his evidence before the English vagrancy commission, defined them as institutions for vagrants, loafers, and people of irregular lives. Their occupants are committed to them by a magistrate or court. In 1903-4 there were 10,363 persons sentenced to the Prussian workhouses; in 1884 there were 15,474. Inemployed, pp. 25, 26. The Berlin workhouse is most efficiently conducted. In appointments, cleanliness, hygiene, and general attractiveness it far exceeds any of the so-called labor colonies, except so far as that they are in the country and agricultural, while the Berlin workhouse is in a suburb of the city (Rummelsburg) and therefore occupies less space, and is industrial. The following statistics from the report for 1907 show the character of this workhouse: INMATES OF EACH DEPARTMENT OF THE BERLIN WORKHOUSE FOR YEAR ENDING MARCH 31, 1907, AND AVERAGE FOR EACH YEAR, 1897 TO 1906. The following table gives statistics of work done at the Berlin workhouse for the year ending March 31, 1907: DAYS WORKED BY INMATES OF BERLIN WORKHOUSE, AND AMOUNT PAID FOR WORK, YEAR ENDING MARCH 31, 1907. This is not the correct average according to the items shown, but it is the exact equivalent of the average given in the original official report. |