BEGGING IN PORTUGAL Action By Government

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29330, 8 October 1960, Page 10

BEGGING IN PORTUGAL Action By Government

IBy LUIS TEIVES. a Reuter Correspondent] LISBON, October 1. The Portuguese authorities have launched a campaign to stamp out begging. Newspapers are cooperating in the drive. Announcing the campaign at a recent- press conference here, the Minister of the Interior, Colonel Arnaldo Shulz, said: “People are too often to be seen begging in Portugal and the reason for this is that the kindness of the Portuguese people leads them to 'help those who seek their aid without checking whether they are really in need or not. Thus, the industry of mendicancy has been created. There are plenty of people, who, being aware of this, become beggars and use all possible artifices to inspire sympathy and collect money.”

The Minister appealed to the newspapers and the public to cooperate in efforts to rid the country of beggars. The help of the press has been enlisted to make known to the public that institutions do exist to take rare of the needy and that persons begging should therefore apply in the proper ters.The contribution asked of the public is to abstain from giving directly to beggars. Instead, they should direct them to the nearest public assistance post and give their alms to charitable institutions. “The problem of mendicancy can only be solved if we do not permit the existence of beggars.” the Minister of the Interior said. “All persons found begging will be detained by the police, who will send them to the proper place. Some will be sent to hospitals or asylums. Others will receive subsidies. Others will appear before the tribunals. “Some will be found jobs and those who cannot work, because they have not the ability to do so or because they have some vices which make them unacceptable to employers, will be sent to rehabilitation centres, where they will be trained to work in agriculture or factories.

Hospitals For The Poor "There are already hospitals for the poor in all districts. To these, persons arrested for begging are taken and receive immediate assistance. Selection teams working there distribute them later to the appropriate institution, hospital, asylum, or rehabilitation centre. “Those who are In such difficulty that they think the only solution is to resort to public charity should not beg. Instead, they should go to the nearest post of the police or the Republican National Guard ta sort of military police which replaces the police in country districts] where immediate assistance will be given, and their case duly studied and settled.” The Minister then appealed to the public to help the -ampaign. “This is a campaign which can only succeed if everyone cooperates in his own field,” he said. “The gift given at the door or in the street encourages begging. And the giver never knows whether the recipient is in real need or not. Instead of a gift, tell the beggar how to find the nearest police post where he will receive the necessary as»istance, and send your gift to. the police, who will pass it on to hostels in your district. Visit the hostels’and see for yourselves the work done there. Then you will be able to sleep with a quiet mind in the knowledge that, with everyone helping, we shall put an end to mendicancy." The Minister said that this year the campaign will be concentrated especially on coastal areas and in tourist centres, but all areas of the country will be included. Gipsy Problem The case of gipsies is also being considered and attempts are being made throughout the country to register them, and to send the children to school or draft them for military service according to their age. Efforts are being made to absorb the older gipsies into normal Portuguese life. As an illustration—and warning—of the industry which begging has become, the Portuguese press recently published the following report, supplied by Captain Antonio Cascais, an official of the Ministry of the Interior: "A man with a walking-stick painted red and white, dark glasses, a preparation to make the eyelids appear inflamed, and above

all. some pieces of lottery tickets, but only for show, cried: “Give something to the poor blind man.’ “Every morning, at one or other point in the city the had four favourite places), the 'blind man' exploited the charity of the public. "Sometimes, when he was late leaving home, he even jumped into a taxi in order to arrive at his pitch on time. I was able to verify that the man was not blind, that be begged only in the mornings. that in the afternoon he chatted and amused himself as treasurer of an annual excursion group whom he joined in their excursion every year—that he had two telephones in his name, one in his own house and one in the house of a woman whose rent he paid. “And.” Captain Cascais added. "I could reveal more cases, but I think this one is sufficient."