Writing in 1910, Dawson argues that Britain’s casual wards and poor law were failing to deal with habitual tramps and loafers. He studies the labour colonies and detention houses of Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and elsewhere, where vagrants could be held for up to two years, and urges similar compulsory measures at home.
A revealing document of Edwardian social policy, whose remedies many readers will find harsh, useful for historians of welfare and poverty. Download the free EPUB.