468 president's address — section gi. 



and the fact that after all they are an artificial remedy and effect 

 no actual or permanent increase in work. Hamburg has lately 

 undertaken an experiment — a combination of town with farm 

 colony — with excellent results. It is part of the" back to the land " 

 movement under such physical and moral influences as contribute 

 materially to success. 



On the other hand, the " beggar colonies " in Holland were 

 filled with the fibreless and irresponsible to an extreme degree. 



In Belgium, the distinction is made between free and penal 

 labour colonies. It was found that a colony open to all tends to 

 be occupied by the lower classes. The classes will not mix, and 

 to admit one is to exclude the other. But although the Belgium 

 labour colonies are classified into free and penal, the tendency is 

 for all to become penal. Dr. Woeste regards the colonies as being, 

 ultimately, only for the inferior and the shiftless. " If workmen 

 are out of work," is his dictum, " when they search well they will 

 find it." Labour colonies were founded in France in 1892. In 

 Austria. " relief stations " take the place of the colonies ; in the 

 penal colonies soldiers have to be k( pt on the premises to maintain 

 order. In Switzerland the colonies provide a temporary home for 

 those in search of work, as well as for unemployed persons dis- 

 charged from the prisons of Berne — board, lodgings and wages being 

 provided in return for agricultural labour till permanent work is 

 secured elsewhere. The Witzel Colony in the canton of Berne 

 affords the most distinct object-lesson. The colonists are never 

 more than 250 in number, and with each one the Director keeps 

 in close touch so that the personal element in the reformation of 

 the vagrant, the work-shy, or the drunkard, has full play. The 

 colony covers 4,500 acres ; the time is filled in with agricultural 

 and drainage work, repairing roads, fencing, building, and various 

 artisan work. The colony (described by Miss Sellers in the " Nine- 

 teenth Century and After," Jan., 1910) is self supporting and 

 reclaims 33 per cent, of its inmates. 



They are financially successful, and on the whole it may be said 

 that labour colonies justify themselves as a means of dealing with 

 vagrants, beggars and discharged prisoners. 



Labour colonies have not yet had a full trial in England. The 

 Salvation Army Farm Colony of Hadleigh, in Essex, has proved the 

 reformatory value of the principle on a small scale. The Church 

 Army Labour Homes have been an interesting experiment though 

 here the benign administration has militated against financial success. 



In the voluminous Poor Law Report, detention in penal 

 colonies is proposed for those who wilfully neglect to maintain 

 themselves or families, or give way to drink, gambling, or idleness, 

 and is to extend from six months to three years. But the free farm 

 colony is not yet acclimatised to Great Britain — perhaps because 

 of the limited acreage left for such experiments. 



In Victoria an attempt to found a labour colony was made 

 years ago, but unless for the training of farmers, it is difficult to see 



