Page 246 - down-and-out-in-paris-and-london

ingly nothing for them to do. Yet there is a fairly obvious
way of making them useful, namely this: Each workhouse
could run a small farm, or at least a kitchen garden, and
every able-bodied tramp who presented himself could be
made to do a sound day’s work. The produce of the farm
or garden could be used for feeding the tramps, and at the
worst it would be better than the filthy diet of bread and
margarine and tea. Of course, the casual wards could never
be quite self-supporting, but they could go a long way to-
wards it, and the rates would probably benefit in the long
run. It must be remembered that under the present system
tramps are as dead a loss to the country as they could pos-
sibly be, for they do not only do no work, but they live on
a diet that is bound to undermine their health; the system,
therefore, loses lives as well as money. A scheme which fed
them decently, and made them produce at least a part of
their own food, would be worth trying.
[* In fairness, it must be added that a few of the casual
wards have been improved recently, at least from the point
of view of sleeping accommodation. But most of them are
the same as ever, and there has been no real improvement
in the food.]
It may be objected that a farm or even a garden could
not be run with casual labour. But there is no real reason
why tramps should only stay a day at each casual ward; they
might stay a month or even a year, if there were work for
them to do. The constant circulation of tramps is some-
thing quite artificial. At present a tramp is an expense to
the rates, and the object of each workhouse is therefore to