Mendicancy has always increased to an alarming extent after a war, and during the time of war, if it has been protracted. There is no doubt that the calamities of war reduce many respectable persons to want; but at the same time the circumstances which attend a period of commotion and trouble always afford opportunities to impostors. Mendicancy had reached a fearful pitch during the last great war with France; and in 1816, the year after the battle of Waterloo, the large towns were so infested by beggars of every description that it was deemed necessary to appoint a select committee of the House of Commons to consider what could be done to abate the nuisance. The report of this committee furnishes some interesting particulars of the begging impostures of the time and of the gains of beggars.
Street Beggars in 1816.
It was clearly proved that a man with a dog got 30s. in one day.
Two houses in St. Giles’s frequented by from 200 to 300 beggars. It was proved that each beggar made on an average from 3s. to 5s. a day. They had grand suppers at midnight, and drank and sang songs until day-break.
A negro beggar retired to the West Indies, with a fortune of 1,500l.
The value of 15s. 20s. and 30s. found upon ordinary street beggars. They get more by begging than they can by work; they get so much by begging that they never apply for parochial relief.
A manufacturer in Spitalfields stated that there were instances of his own people leaving profitable work for the purpose of begging.
It was proved that many beggars paid 50s. a week for their board.
Beggars stated that they go through 40 streets in a day, and that it is a poor street that does not yield 2d.
Beggars are furnished with children at houses in Whitechapel and Shoreditch; some who look like twins.