manner of Zulu
Kaffirs rather than of European citizens, frequent the neighbourhood of
London. They are not all thieves, not even all beggars and impostors,
and they escape the law of vagrancy by paying a few shillings of weekly
rent for pitching their tents or booths, and standing their waggons or
wheeled cabins, on pieces of waste ground. The western side of Notting
Hill, where the railway passenger going to Shepherd's Bush or Hammersmith
sees a vast quantity of family linen hung out to dry in the gardens and
courtyards of small dwelling-houses, bordered towards Wormwood Scrubs by
a dismal expanse of brick-fields, might tempt the Gipsies so inclined to
take a clean shirt or petticoat--certainly not for their own wearing.
But we are not aware that the police inspectors and magistrates of that
district have found such charges more numerous in their official record
than has been experienced in other quarters of London; and it is possible
that honest men and women, though of irregular and slovenly habits, may
exist among this odd fragment of our motley population. It is for the
sake of their children, who ought to be, at least equally with those of
the English labouring classes, since they cannot get it from their
parents, provided with means of decent Christian education, that Mr.
George Smith has brought this subject under public notice. The Gipsies,
so long as they refrain from picking and stealing, and do not obstruct
the highways, should not be persecuted; for they are a less active
nuisance than the Italian organ-grinders in our city streets, whose
tormenting presence we are content to suffer, to the sore interruption
both of our daily work and our repose. But it is expedient that there
should be an Act of Parliament, if the Home Secretary has not already
sufficient legal powers, to establish compulsory registration of the
travelling Gipsy families, and a strict licensing system, with constant
police supervision, for their temporary encampments, while their children
should be looked after by the local School Board. These measures,
combined with judicious offers of industrial help for the adults and
industrial training for the juniors, with the special exercise of
Poor-Law Guardian administration, and some parochial or missionary
religious efforts, might put an end to vagabond Gipsy life in England
before the commencement of the twentieth century, or within one
generation. We hope to see the matter discussed in