PROFESSIONAL BEGGARS.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1073, 11 March 1911, Page 12

PROFESSIONAL BEGGARS.

REPORT OF THE LORD MAYOR OF MELBOURNE. At' tho request of tho Lord Mayor of Melbourne (Councillor Davey), the police recently drew up a comprehensive report on the circumstanccs of all the regular city mendicants of Melbourne. Tho necessary inquiries were conducted mainly by Constable Gr.ant, and the result has been tho compilation of an exceedingly interesting human document, which throws much light on the conditions under which live tho beggars and musicians of tho pavement. This report has now been supplied to the Lord Mayor, and a summary of its conclusions is given brlow. Thero are, according to tho police, altogether about 37 regular Melbourne mendicants on tho streets. Two out of every three of them are blind. Very few appear to be in distressingly poor circumstances. ' Many are reported to lie nblo to keep up comfortable liomes, and to have families seemingly well cared for. Tho great majority of them are given good characters, by tho police. Only in one or two rare instances is insobriety charged against them. One man has a police "record."

There are about a. dozen regular street mendicants or musicians, apart from tho blind. Most of them are strong and fit to work. One married man has been singing in tho streets, mostly' in front of hotels, for 15 years. Ho is now only 27 years of age. Ho has two or throe children and a wife, who all appear to bo well cared for in a comfortable home. An Italian woman, who uses a small organ in the streets, is described by the police as a hard-working respectable widow of 28 years, who lives in a clcan, comfortable house. She has threo children, tho eldest of whom earns 10s. a week.

Threo married musicians, 38, 35, and 30 years of ago respectively, who play and sing in tho city or tho suburbs, sometimes in company, and at other times separately, are all given good characters by the police. They have been earning their livings in this way for 17, 7, and 11 years. They have comfortable homes, and wives and childron. Another man, 53 years of age, has been a mendicant and pavement artist for 20 years. He is sober and of good character, but well ablo to . work.

One well-known figure in Melbourne is a jeweller by trade, but the police tay lie has been earning his living on th« streets for the last 11 years, A boy of 17, who ])lays the violin in tho streets, resides \yith his parents, who aro reported to be respectablo and in good circumstances. Another mail, of 53, a paralytic, who has been begging on the streets for eight years, does not seem to be so well off as' most of his companions. He is unable to work, and receives a pension. A former butcher, who is very deaf nmd suffers with a weak chest, has been a street musician for 15 vears. Ho has a wife mid seven children, tie occupies respectable lodgings, apart from his family, but ho makes his wife an allowance.

The blind people of the streets number abb.ut it. Nearly all of them are considered by the police to bo of gcod character, and most of them aro said to bo living ill fairly comfortable homes or lodgings. On? lias a homo worth about .£2OO, and keeps his aged father and mother. A number of the blind men liave houses which they are buying on time-payment.

Some of them ore well educated, and are declared io be above the average intelligence. A well-known figure on Iho streets is that of a blind reader, who lives in poorer circumstances (ban most of his fellow mendicants. lie is a married man, and his home is reported to be very poor. One man. who is spolron ef very highly by the police, is a married man of 17, who neither smokes nor drinks. He lives apart from his wife, paving 3s. a week for a room to sloop in. One single blind man of ,50 lives,in n room for wliicli ho pays 9s. a week, breakfast included.

There aro three' blind men nn the streets who have blind, wives. Most of them seen to have fairly good homes. One couple is buying n comfortable little house on time-payment.