MELBOURNE BEGGARS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XL, Issue 199, 14 August 1876, Page 4

MELBOURNE BEGGARS.

(Telegraph, Jaly 15.)

Not long since a distinguished visitor to these shores, when asked bis opinion of Melbourne, " the Queen City of the South," said — " Well, it is a remarkably fine city in point of buildings and that sort of thing, but it is uncommonly low. Every fifth man you meot is a beggar." The remark was not original, for the sentiment has been expressed by nearly every intelligent stranger that cornea amongst us. A few years ago Melbourne afforded a parallel with Constantinople, in one respect, at least, and that waß the number of vagabond dogs and homeless mendicants that infested all the leading thoroughfares. Thanks to the interposition of tbe polioe and municipal officers, the city has been rid of the first nuisance, but, from some unexplained cause, the profession of begging —one of the most ancient on record, it is true — has jußt now more followers than ever. Any persons not blind themselves may, by walking round the city, become convinced of this fact by meeting hordes of importunate beggars, clothed in the most approved bundle-of-rngs fashion — greasy and filthy — in almost every thoroughfare of importance. A clean, decently-attired beggar is liable to be regarded with suspicion, hence the followers of the ancient vocation are apparently imbued with tbe notion that to enlist the sympathies of the charitably disposed tbey must be objects of aversion as well as of charity. From the well-fed loafer, with beer-stained visage, and the grease exuding trom every pore oi his skin, to the shambling old dodger, who plaintively asks for only a penny to buy food tor his " missus sick in bed," and the Btreet urchin — shoeless and wanting a coat — who Grst asks a lady to buy a box of matches, and then failing to do business, whines out a request for "somethink to buy a penny bun with" — the same utter disregard to the leading rules of health is uppermost. Considering the immense amount annually expended on the support of charitable institutions in this city, the presence of so many beggars in the streets can only be explained by the theory that either the pauper population is far in excess of a just proportion, or that there ib something wrong in the administration of the law relating to vagrants. For years past the city has labored under the disgrace of the presence of hordes of beggars, the very appearance of whom offends tha eye of passengers in our streets, and it is high time that the city should be swept clean. If the present institutions ior their relief are inadequate, then other accommodation should be provided without delay, for it is absurd to keep up two systems. Cases that como up occasionally at the City Court have illustrated the necessity lor a change, and yesterday another argument was afforded at the same place. An old fellow, 63 years of age, named Callanan, an old oolonist of over 25 years' standing, called on Mr Sturt, and said he was Blarving, although following the profession of a beggar. His eyes were bad, and he was attired in three ragged shirts, two waistcoats, three coats, all of various colors and sizes, aDd sundry pairs of trousers. Round his neck waa suspended from a chain a huge tin plate bearing a half-obliterated appeal to the charity of the public. In his hands he bore an old tattered belkopper to receive the coins of the charitable, and another disreputable head.covering for its legitimate object. He alao carried two walkingsticks, altogether presenting a curious study of dilapidated humanity. The chairman of the Bench asked him what he waa goiDg to do for a living, and the old fellow replied ahortly, "The Hospital," He then went on to assert tbat he had been treated for chronic opthalmia at that institution, was discharged, but wanted to get back again. Mr Sturt said the institution could not receive chronic cases, and sent the old gentleman to gaol for three months a3 a vagrant, where he would undergo the salutary process of washing with soap and hot water.