THE AMERICAN "TRAMP" QUESTION AND THE OLD ENGLISH VAGRANCY LAWS.

BY BRAM STOKER.

THE "Tramp" question is eternal. No age or country has been able to solve it satisfactorily, for the idle of each age and nation more or less adapt themselves to surrounding conditions. At the very start the matter requires differentiation: to separate those who are by nature idle from those who are poor by circumstance. It may be of some service to compare, with regard to this matter, the circumstances of England before and up to three centuries ago with those existing to-day in the United States of America. Up to the middle of the sixteenth century rural England was very much in the same circumstances as rural America to-day. We must, of course, leave out the facilities of movement, which are very different; but this latter advantage is largely in favor of the vagabond. According to Froude, the population of England was in the middle of the sixteenth century somewhere about a million persons. In this he probably underestimated to a great degree, but his statement will serve as an illustration; the figures really do not matter. The population was scattered largely amongst little villages and hamlets; of these many were mere clusters or groups of small houses far apart from similar congeries, and were cut off from one another by dense forests and imperfect roads. There was in the country no police force as we understand it now; but little, if any, organized local protection. Such protection as nominally existed was in the King or the great nobles who up to Wolsey's time held courts of their own and, under feudal tenure, controlled troops. The change of Sumptuary laws made by Wolsey, for the purpose of furthering trade and in order to bring the nobles round the King, had the effect of enlarging the groups of houses from villages to towns and cities.

Up to that time the Sumptuary laws were prohibitive and repressive: what individuals and classes might not do or wear, rather than helpful to trade and manufacture; but under his clever statesmanship-exercised mainly on behalf of the Kingthe nature of these laws changed and trade and manufactures increased. But for a long, long time villages and towns were practically far apart; and in the wide spaces between the smaller communities were still under the old conditions.

Whilst this state of things existed, it was vitally necessary that wandering persons who being without home were not easily made responsible-should be under some overt restraint, or at any rate, suspicion. The very word finally applied to such persons in the Acts of Parliament is in itself illuminative.

The first Vagrant statute recorded is that in the XXIII year of Edward III (1349). It runs as follows:

"Item because that many valiaunt beggers, as longe as thei maie live of begginge, do refuse to labour, gevinge them selfe to idlenes and vice, and sometyme to thefte and other abominations: None upon the saide peine of imprisonmente shall, under the colour of pitee or almes geve any thinge to suche, which maie labour, or presume to favour them towards their desyres, so that therby thei maie be compelled to labour for their necessary lyvinge. Wherfore our saide Soveraine lorde the Kynge, the xiii daie of June, the xxiii yere of his reigne, hath commanded to all the shiryffes of Englande by divers writtes, that thei shall do openly to be proclaimed and holden, all and singular the premisses in the counties, boroughs, marchaunt townes, sea portes, and other places in their bailywekes, where to them shall seme expedient: And that thei do therof due execucion, as afore is saide."

This Statute XXIII Edward III was called the "Statute of Laborers and was ordained to enforce the necessary labor required, "because a great part of the people, and especially of workemen and servauntes late died in pestilence." In this condition of things those remaining often refused to work except at wages unknown in those ages of political economy. In fact, the whole purpose was directly to insure a sufficiency of labor, or, at any rate, to secure such as existed. By means of the carrying out of the statute there would be a sort of registry of labor -certainly of the rebellious side of it. Its practical force was to bind every worker to his own town or tything.

In the next session of Parliament XXV Edward III this Statute was re-enacted, but with greater detail.

This purpose was still further maintained in a later ActXXXIV Edward III, Cap. 1-wherein power was given to arrest and imprison laborers unwilling to work as well as all guilty or even suspected persons and such Englishmen as "have been pillours and robbers in the partyes beyond the sea; and be nowe come agayne and goeth wanderynge and will not labour as they were wonte in times past."

Herein we get an idea of the cause for such rigid enactments regarding "vagrom men "-to use Dogberry's phrase. Small communities were at times easily terrorized. The cities and towns had sheriffs and bailiffs and constables; but villages having no such official force at command could be easily "held up" by a few men with cross-bows. There had, indeed, been cases on the Continent of Europe where towns had been attacked and sacked by masses of disbanded soldiery. Indeed, wanderers of every kind were harmful; for very often they were thieves or roberdsmen or "drawlatches"; and even if they did not commit heinous crimes they were a source of uneasiness and possible loss.

As yet in the history of British legislation, Parliament had only taken note of beggars and rebels against work at statute wage; but in the seventh year of the reign of Richard II an Act (Cap. 5) was passed in which amongst other things is the following:

"And moreover it is ordayned and assented to refrayn the malyce of dyvers people, faytours and wandrynge from place to place reumynge in the countrey more habundauntlie than they were wonte in tymes paste, that from hence forth the Justices of Assyses in theyre cessyons the Justices of peace and the shyriffes in every countie shall have power to enquyre of all suche vacabundes and faytours and of theyre offences, and upon them to do that the lawe demaundeth. And that as well the iustices and shyryffes, as the mayres, baylyffes, constables and other governours of townes and places where such faytours and vacabundes shall come, shall from henceforthe have power to examyne them diligently and compell them to fynde suretye of theyr good bearynge by sufficyent mainpernours, of such as be distreynable, if any defaulte be founde in suche faytours and vacabundes. And if they can not fynde suche suretye they shall be sent to the next iayle, there to abyde tyll the Commynge of the iustices assygned for the deliverance of the iayles, who in suche case shal have power to do upon such faytours and vacabundes so imprysoned that that thereof to them best shall seme by the lawe."

In the above enactment the word "vacabunde " is mentioned for the first time. It is taken from the French through the

low Latin word vagari-to wander; wandering beyond bounds. The previous enactments had compelled every man to remain in his own place; this one made the wandering itself from it an offence. We shall see how as time went on this was modified or intensified.

Five years later, by XII Richard II, Cap. 7, the rule against wandering was made more severe.

"Item it is accorded and assented, that of every persone that goeth begging, and is able to serve or labour, it shal be doen of him, as of him that departeth out of the Hundred, and other places aforesaid, without letter, testimonial, as afore is said, excepte people of Religion and Heremites, having letters testimoniall of their ordinaries, and that the beggars impotet [impoteut] to serve, shall abide in the cities and tounes, where they bee dwelling at the time of the proclamacion of this statute, and if the people of Cities or tounes, will not, or maie not suffice to finde theim: that then the saied beggars shall drawe them to other tounes within the Hundredes, Rape, or Wapentake, or to the tounes where thei were borne, within XL daies after the proclamacion made, and there shall continually abide, durying their lives, and that of all them that go in pilgrimage as beggars, and be able to travaille, it shall be doen as if the said rvauntes and labourers, if thei have no letters testimoniall of their pilgrimage, under the saied seales. And that the scolers of the Universities that go so begging, have letters testimoniall of their Chaunceler, upon the same pein."

The Act XI Henry VII, Cap. 2, is intended to be merciful and to spare undue cost to the public. By it " vacaboundes," instead of being put in jail, are to be given several chances of reformation: "that the shyryffes, mayres, bayliffes, highe constables, and pety constables, and all other officers of cities, boroughes townes, townshyppes, vyllages and other places, within three daies after this Act proclaymed, make due serche, and take or cause to be taken all such vacaboundes ydle and suspecte persones, lyvyng suspiciously, and them so taken to set in stockes, there to remayne by the space of thre daies and thre nightes and there to have none other sustenance but breade and water. And after the saide thre daies and thre nightes, to be had out and set at large, and then to be commaunded to avoide the towne. If the misdoereftsones' be taken in suche defaute in the same town or township he is to be set in the stocks for six days on the same diet; and every one giving him meat or drink or favouring in his misdoing is to be fined in each time to pay a penalty of twelve pence.'' And also it is ordained by the same authorities that:

"al maner of begers, not able to work, within six wekes next after the proclamacion of this act, go, rest, and abide in that hundred where last he dwelled, or there where he is best knowen or borne there

to remaine and abyde without beggyne out of the saide hundred, upon peine to be punished as is aforesaide."

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Then it goes on that no man is to be excused by being a clerke of one universitee or the other," unless he show letters from the Chancellor of that University; nor is one calling himself a soldier, shipman or travelling man unless he bring a letter from his captain or from the town where he landed "and that he then to be commanded to go the straight high waie into his countrey." If any sheriff or other officer omit to discharge this duty with regard to strangers he is to be fined for each case twenty pence. This regulation is protected by giving the Lord of the Manor or the Alderman of the ward a personal interest in such fines and to secure his reward by distraint. The last clause of the Act runs:

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Provided alwaie that diminucion of punishment of vacaboundes and beggers aforesaide, may and shall be had for women great with chylde, and men and women in extreme sicknes, by him that hath auctoritee to doe the sayde punishmentes, this acte notwithstandynge.”

By an Act of eight years later (XIX Henry VII, Cap. 12) the severity of punishment for first offence in vagabondage was reduced to one day and night in the stocks on bread and water; and for a second offence to three days and nights of similar durance. The same penalties are to be enforced on officers neglecting their duties under this Act as in the earlier enactment.

In the first year of Edward VI an Act (I Edward VI, Cap. 3) was passed repealing all former Acts relating to vagabonds. This Act was in turn repealed by another passed in the third year of the same King (III Edward VI, Cap. 16). In the same year another similar Act was passed which was in turn repealed by XIV Elizabeth, Cap. 5. There were other temporary Acts of the time of Edward VI, Queen Mary and Philip and Mary; also Acts I Elizabeth, Cap. 19, and V Elizabeth, Cap. 19. All of these were repealed by XIV Elizabeth, Cap. 5, which was the most elaborate and comprehensive Vagabond Act passed by the British Parliament up to that time, 1572.

This Act of 1572 is much too long to quote, but a survey of its provisions can be interesting. The preamble gives the necessity of its enactment:

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Whereas the parts of this realme of England and Wales be presentlie with roges, vagabonds, and sturdie beggers, exceedinglie pestred,