THE TREATMENT OF VAGRANCY IN SWITZERLAND.
It is a noteworthy fact that the treatment of the vagrant and
the loafer on disciplinary principles has been carried out most
systematically in countries so fundamentally different in political
government as Germany and Switzerland. In the Swiss Republic this
question is regulated by Cantonal laws. The Federal Legislation on the
subject, dating from 1850, merely orders that vagrants and mendicants
shall be dealt with in the cantons in which they may be arrested in
accordance with the laws of those cantons, yet adding that, if of
foreign nationality, they shall be expelled from the country.
While, therefore, each canton makes its own vagrancy laws, the spirit
of these laws is entirely free from the weak sentimentality which, in
some respects, characterises our own. The law in force in the canton of
Berne, for example, states that:
"Vagrancy, namely, the wandering from place to place of persons
without means and without the object of obtaining honest employment,
is punishable with imprisonment and hard labour not exceeding sixty
days, or with committal to a labour institution for a term between six
months and two years; on the repetition of the offence the vagrant is
always to be committed to a labour institution."
Persons who apply for help from a Relief Station and refuse to accept
suitable work when offered to them may be treated as "shirkers"
(work-shy), and as such they are liable to detention in a labour
institution for any period between several months and several years.
The police are empowered to arrest beggars without special warrant, and
the husbands and fathers who evade their domestic responsibilities,
and even the town loafer who hangs about at street corners, may be
apprehended and committed to a Forced Labour House by very summary
process. These institutions are cantonal, and one of the best is that
at Witzwil, established in 1895 by the Canton of Berne, and conducted
by the Cantonal Police Authority.
The offenders detained at Witzwil are of five classes:--
(1) First offenders convicted of criminal offences or sentenced to a
house of correction in the Canton of Berne, where the sentence does
not exceed three years. Those likely to abscond, or belonging to other
Cantons, are not accepted.
(2) Offenders sentenced to simple detention.
(3) Bernese offenders sentenced by Military Courts to a gaol or convict
prison for not more than three years.
(4) Persons sentenced to a Labour House by legal process.
(5) Persons belonging to other Cantons.
The minimum term of detention is two months, the maximum five years,
but one-third of the sentence may be remitted as a reward of good
conduct.
A twenty years' contract exists between the Cantons of Berne and
Neuchâtel under which the latter Canton is empowered on terms to send
to Witzwil harmless prisoners whose sentences exceed two months. Some
prisoners are also received from the Canton of Geneva. The arrangement
is attended by certain disadvantages for Berne, but these are
over-ruled by financial considerations.
The Witzwil Forced Labour Colony is situated between the lakes of
Neuchâtel, Biel, and Murten, upon a tract of land known as the Great
Moss, which has for centuries been subject to frequent inundations from
the Aare and many smaller streams, but which, at the expense of the
adjacent Cantons of Berne, Freiburg, Vaud, and Neuchâtel, assisted by
the Federal Government, was, many years ago, brought into cultivable
condition by diverting the main streams, and carrying out extensive
drainage works.
The estate comprises about 2,000 acres, the larger part of which was
bought, as marsh-land, from the adjacent communes some forty years ago
by an Agricultural Co-operative Society for the purpose of development.
On the failure of this Society the Canton of Berne became the owner
in 1891 at a cost of about £30,000 for land and buildings, the latter
then in bad condition. The communications are good, since there are
two railway stations within two miles of the centre of the estate. The
land is, on the whole, fertile when properly drained, and a portion
of it is of excellent quality and suitable for winter wheat, clover,
and grass; other portions are more suited to pasture, vegetables, and
forestry, and there is a stretch of peat land and sand.
When the estate was adopted for the purpose of a Forced Labour Colony
the first works carried out on a large scale were road making,
drainage, and building, and these have greatly increased the value
of the Colony. There are two distinct farms, Lindenhof and Nusshof,
the latter being now used as a Voluntary Labour Colony for discharged
prisoners. The Lindenhof Colony is the principal one, and the
buildings there comprise (1) the administrative block; (2) a large
prison, containing 100 habitable cells, punishment cells, school,
church, sickroom, kitchen, offices, workrooms for tailors, shoemakers,
saddlers, basket makers, and book binders, with other workrooms in
which the prisoners can be employed in straw work, besom making,
etc., in bad weather; also living and bedrooms for the attendants,
out-buildings and cellars; (3) dwelling-house, with bakery, washhouse,
laundry, and bedrooms for officers and attendants; (4) workshops for
workers in iron and wood, with rooms for the necessary machines; (5)
stalls and sheds for 270 cattle, 30 horses, and 150 pigs, hay and straw
lofts, and dwellings for the farm servants and their families; (6)
machine room and warehouses.
The buildings belonging to the Nusshof Colony comprise (1) two dwelling
houses for the superintendent and his family and the assistants,
quarters for discharged prisoners who have returned to Witzwil owing
to their being without employment, and who receive food, lodging,
and a small money payment in return for their labour; (2) stalls and
sheds for 100 cows, several oxen, hay and straw lofts and cellars
for root crops. The other buildings scattered about the estate
include a cheesery, dwellings for hinds and their families and for
turbary labourers, cattle-sheds, barns, and peat sheds, etc. There
is an electric power and light station, and the principal depots are
connected by telephone.
For some years all necessary buildings, roads, drainage, etc., have
been done by the prisoners under the direction of paid overseers, and
in this way the value of the estate has been greatly increased.
The number of prisoners varies from 110 to 150. As a rule, from two
to five prisoners escape yearly (attempts not counted), but the
majority of them are recaptured. Violent and exceptionally contumacious
prisoners and those likely to escape are transferred to the convict
prison at Thorberg.
The principles on which the prisoners are employed are defined as
follows:--
(1) Work should, as far as possible, conform to the prisoners capacity
and enable him on his discharge to earn his livelihood more easily.
(2) Prison work should be productive ("create actual values"), should
entail muscular exertion yet not be injurious to health, and should
yield as high a return as possible without injuring free labour.
(3) The work should be so arranged as to further the educative purpose
of punishment.
The newly arrived prisoner soon falls into his place. He is at once
dressed in the prison uniform and handed over to an overseer, who
questions him as to his past occupation and capacity, and he is then
assigned to a gang, as a unit of which he begins regular work the
following morning. The prisoners' labour is divided between farm
work of various kinds, works of reclamation, peat cutting, fruit and
vegetable culture, forestry, and handicrafts. The men engaged on the
land work in gangs of ten or twelve, each under the control of two
unarmed officers. As to the latter it is said that great stress is
laid on the importance of their not merely supervising the men, but
taking active part in the work, so as to stimulate them by example,
and also to get acquainted with them. The day's routine in summer is
as follows:--5.30 (6.0 in winter) to 9.0, work; 9.0 to 9.20, interval
for a light meal; 9.20 to 11.30 work; 11.30 to 12.30, dinner and rest;
12.30 to 4.0, work; 4.0 to 4.20, interval for a light meal; 4.20 to
7.0, work, followed by supper, house work, and bed. In winter the
dark hours of work are spent in the barns or workshops, as may be
expedient. The principal occupations in the latter are tailoring, shoe
making, smithery, and carpentering, and most of the work done is for
the institution. The men sleep, eat, and spend their spare time in
separate cells, for intercourse between them is strictly discouraged.
Although no claim to payment is recognised a certain sum, not exceeding
2 francs (1s. 6d.) per month, is credited to every man's account, and
the aggregate is paid out to him on discharge; his clothes are then
thoroughly repaired or new ones are given to him, and his railway
fare is paid, as far as the Swiss frontier, if necessary; in case
of need relief is also given to a prisoner's dependents during his
incarceration.
The dietary is as follows:--Morning, coffee with milk, potatoes and
bread; noon, soup, with vegetables or flour, with meat and salad twice
a week; evening, soup and fresh fruit (the latter being occasionally
given with Sunday dinner as well). The daily ration of bread is from 22
to 27 ounces, while soup, coffee and vegetables are served to every man
_ad libitum_.
The moral interests of the prisoners are not overlooked. There is a
school for the benefit of such young men as choose to attend; every
Saturday books and magazines of an edifying and entertaining character
are distributed for use the following day; concerts and lectures are
given from time to time; and the religious needs of the Colony are
ministered to by two visiting chaplains. Letter-writing and visits of
friends are allowed once a month.
The number of prisoners on January 1, 1908, was 156, 279 were admitted
and 237 were discharged (including 2 deaths and 2 escapes) during
the year, and there remained on December 31, 198. The maximum number
detained was 198, and the minimum 154. Of the 279 new prisoners 204
were detained for the first time. Further, 172 were single men, 76 were
married, 15 were widowers, and 16 were separated from their wives. As
to occupations 107 were agricultural labourers, factory operatives,
and general labourers, and the remainder represented more than thirty
trades. There were 31 foreigners amongst the new prisoners (13 per
cent. of the whole), 13 being Italians, 9 Germans, and 6 French. Of the
sentences, 148 were for less than six months, 68 were for six and under
twelve months, 51 were for one year and under two years, and 12 were
for two years and over.
The total number of days worked during the year was 50,531, divided as
follows:--
Small earnings 1,525
Domestic service and cooking 1,660
Washing 612
Baking 332
Tailoring 1,332
Shoemaking and saddlery 1,084
Wood working 1,177
Iron working 1,614
Basket-plaiting 279
Turf cutting 782
Building works 3,723
General labour 535
Improvement works 2,587
Agriculture 33,309
------
Total 50,551
To look after and direct the work of this body of men 48 officers and
employees of all kinds were necessary, comprising 3 general overseers,
1 machinist, 28 foremen and chief stockmen in the agricultural
departments, 1 saddler, 1 tailor, 1 shoemaker, 1 wheelwright, 1
carpenter, 1 smith, 1 mason (the last seven being skilled men), 3
office employees, and 6 domestic servants.
The revenue in 1908 was £5,567, of which £4,602 was derived from the
various departments of the farm, £740 from the workshops, and £225
from boarding fees paid by public authorities. The expenditure was
£5,647, of which £1,041 fell to administrative costs, £3,997 to food
and maintenance, and £445 to rent. It does not appear that interest
on the original outlay is allowed for, but, on the other hand, a very
considerable addition is made yearly to the value of the estate owing
to the improvement works which are carried out.
The punishments awarded for offences against discipline during 1908
numbered 53, _viz._, 16 men were imprisoned for one night in the
punishment cells for quarrelsomeness, disturbance, and laziness; 29
had one or two days' cell imprisonment for disobedience and contumacy,
and 8 had from two to eight days' cell imprisonment for absconding,
attempts at the same, and smuggling. "Our general impression of the
discipline preserved in the past year," the Director reports, "is not
unfavourable; more than one case of punishment might have been avoided
if the overseers had always understood their duty better, and if their
insubordinates had shown a better spirit, but when one remembers how
keenly many of our inmates chafe against the loss of their liberty it
is not surprising if now and then one loses control over himself. It
is often difficult for the foreigners--especially the French--to obey
orders, and with the exception of a Genevan, all the prisoners who
tried to escape were foreigners."
Every endeavour is made to obtain settled work for discharged
prisoners, but some are retained for a time as paid labourers, and
others are taken in at the Nusshof branch of the Colony.
Nusshof is governed by separate regulations, which run as follows:--
"(1) The Administration of Witzwil has established at Nusshof a home
for discharged prisoners, for the purpose of offering to such of them
as desire to make a sensible use of their regained freedom, residence
for a longer or shorter time by way of transition.
"(2) Engagement is by means of contract, which must be signed both by
the colonist and the overseer of Nusshof.
"(3) The colonists are required so to conduct themselves as to give
occasion to no complaints.
"(4) The colonists are required to observe the regulation in all
particulars. Breaches of the same, such as drunkenness and disorderly
behaviour, entail instant dismissal, to which the overseer may resort
on his own responsibility.
"(5) The colonists may not leave the Witzwil estate without the
permission of the Administration.
"(6) Colonists who show diligence and ability may find permanent
employment in positions of responsibility.
"(7) The colonists receive free board and lodging, and in addition
working clothes. Special contracts are concluded with artisans
ensuring payment in money.
"(8) Colonists who enter in winter (_i.e._, between November 15 and
the end of February) receive for this time no money payment. Those,
on the other hand, who enter in summer and autumn (_i.e._, between
March 1 and the end of October), and work to the satisfaction of the
Administration, receive in winter also a reduced money payment to be
fixed by the overseer.
"(9) The money payment ranges from 50 centimes to 1.50
franc (5d. to 1s. 3d.) per day. The overseer fixes the commencing wage.
"(10) During the period of the contract the Administration decides the
amount of the money payment. Part of the wages shall be used for the
provision of clothing and linen; the balance, if not necessary for the
support of members of the colonist's family, is put away as savings.
The Administration or the colonist's employer fixes the date at which
the amount due to a colonist, together with his savings bank-book,
shall be paid to him."
In 1908 the colonists at Nusshof numbered 62, and they worked 4,136
days, representing an average stay, including Sundays, of about eleven
weeks, while money wages of £115 in the aggregate were paid to them.
Another Swiss Forced Labour Colony is that of St. Johannsen, near
the lake of Bienne, established in 1884 by the Canton of Berne "for
the improvement of disorderly and work-shy adults," and likewise
administered by the Cantonal Police. It can accommodate 180 persons,
but the usual complement is about 160. The area of the farm is some
400 acres, and the land is very similar to that at Witzwil, and has
been reclaimed in the same manner. Here, too, farm work and simple
trades--shoe making, carpentering, basket making, and smithery--are
carried on side by side, and the general conditions of life, the length
of the sentences, the prospects of remission, and the results are much
the same in the two Colonies. Work is severe at St. Johannsen, and
under the discipline some of the younger men are said to shed their
idle habits, but little impression seems to be made upon the older ones.
A third Forced Labour Colony, at Gmünden, near St. Gall, serves the
Canton of Appenzell, and was established in 1884, and its principal
inmates are "able-bodied men, who from irregular or dissolute life,
or work-shyness become a charge on the district, who require special
supervision, who neglect their families, or who are guilty of
disorderly conduct in the poor-houses"--such people being committed
by the District Council, "in order to accustom them to hard work and
regular life"--while others are police law offenders who have failed
to pay fines imposed upon them by the magistrates. The estate consists
of 100 acres, and the accommodation is for fifty inmates, but the
average number is thirty-five. The principal economy of the farm is
arboriculture, but part of the land is used as a dairy farm, and the
trades of shoe-making, carpentering, and weaving are also followed.
The average term of detention is a year in the case of the loafer,
and three months in the case of the Police Court defaulters, but by
good conduct a man may earn a partial remission of his sentence. As
at Witzwil the officers are not armed, but there is no complaint of
violence. Work is found for many of the men on leaving, and they often
carry away with them a sum of money, the proceeds of a bonus on good
work, which helps to give them a new start. The District Council pays
£4 per annum for each person whom it commits, and by the aid of this
charge and the proceeds of the men's labour the Colony is able to show
a profit.
The Canton of Basle-Rural has a similar Colony at Liesthal, between
Basle and Olten, recruited from the same classes of offenders as
those at Gmünden. Only about seventy men can be received here, and
special attention is given to plain industrial work, only the older
colonists engaging in farm work. The District Councils commit to the
Colony mendicants, loafers, habitual drunkards, and men who neglect to
maintain their families, and pay between £2 and £3 annually per head
for their support, but the Colony is far from being self-supporting.
It is maintained that mendicity has greatly decreased in Switzerland
during recent years, and all who know the country will agree that,
save in districts which are overrun by foreign visitors--yet not in
all these--the beggar and the loafer are comparatively uncommon.
Nevertheless, it would be wrong to attribute this immunity entirely
to the existence of Forced Labour Houses and Colonies, though these
have, no doubt, helped. It must be remembered that Switzerland has an
excellent system of Relief Stations for wayfarers, and has of late
years taken up the Voluntary Labour Colony movement with much zeal.[65]
Further, the Swiss workman is far less restive than his colleague in
Germany, for example, and the spirit of local patriotism tends to keep
him in his native canton and often in his native commune, however small
and sequestered it may be. Finally, the Swiss are probably the hardest
working, as they are certainly the hardiest, people in Europe, and they
deem voluntary idleness to be one of the most disreputable and culpable
of social offences.
[Footnote 65: There are now four such Labour Colonies in Switzerland.]