THE SKETCHER.

Otago Witness, Issue 2151, 16 May 1895, Page 41

THE SKETCHER.

THE WATS OF BUSSIAN BEGGARS. In Russia, begging is jasfc a 9 much a recognised profession as the law or medicine ; and many a ekilful beggar has a much larger income at his command than a lawyer or a doctor. He leads a much freer and pleasanter life, too ; he has none of the cares and worries that they have to weigh him down. He may loungo about in the sunshine the whole day long if he likes, for he has no work to do, no Mir to satisfy, no tax-gatherer to face. Wherever he goes he plies his oalling in quite a high and mighty style, claiming charity as a right, not as a favour. And, oddly enough, that it is a right his countryseen never dream of disputing. No matter j how poor they may be, they can always find a few kopecks for a beggar ; whoever goes on scant fare, ho is well fed. For tbe very Ikons are popularly supposed to frown when alms are denied ; and a housewife who had turned a hungry man from her door would hardly sleep in her bed. Russian beggars are organised upon scientific principles, and, according to a labour commiiwion report, form regular trades unions. Some of them follow their profession the whole year round; others only at stated seasons ; others, again, go on beggirg expeditions when the weather is pleasant, and live on the spoils when it is bad. There are many distinctions of rank among them. The Soudogda beggars, for instance, who work on the soil for six months of the year, are, socially, of no account whatever ; whereas the Ka'ouni, who would »3 soon think of flyiug as of working, are quite important personages — tbe aristocrats of beggardom, in fact. The Kalouni style themselves "collectors," not beggars, and their chief businets is to direct the begging operations of others. Ah a rule, two K*louni enter into partnership and gather around them a little company of assistants— four or five children and perhaps two adults. Ana a pitiable set these assistants are, " all blind, maimed, or halt," for they are chosen specially on account of their infirmitiea ; and the more repulsive they are in appearance of the greater value are they to their masters. For most of them Nature has done enough in the way of deformity, and to the others the Kalouni give a helping hand. As soon a<i the compauy is ready for exhibition, the Kalouni, who are often capitalists in their way, buy a horse and a large cart and set out into the world. They go hundred* of mil- s from their homes sometimes, wandering on from village to village, town to town. They do none of the begging themselves ; tbat they leave to their assistants, and rest content with storing up the booty. In a fairly good district they will clear as much as 30s a week— a huge sum in Russia, where thousands of men earn less than 6d a day, and women are paid for their work about a farthing an hour. The assistants, who do all the begging, receive their food, the shelter of the cart, and perhaps a few nigs for olothing, and nothing more. All that is given to them must be yielded up to their employers ; and dire is the punishment that befalls them if they are detected keeping back a few kopecks for their own use. After travelling for some two or three mouths the Kalouni make their way homeward, and, as they go, they turn adrift their assistant*, one by one, to fend for themselves, or die by the roadside. Tho Kalduni themselves live in ease and comfort until their funds begin to run low. They then organise another expedition. There are numbers of villages in Kusuia in which begging Is the staple industry ; no one does anything else. It is stated in the labour commission report on that country that "nearly 3000 out of the 3500 persona in the districts of Inzarand Saransk are beggars," and tbat the whole population of tha village of Marinin live by means of begging. And these are by no means isolated oases; in many other districts precisely the same state of things prevails. In a real beggar's village all the inhabitants, including even the Starosta and other local dignitaries, are enrolled in a company, which is divided into parties. These parties go out in turn on begging picnics. The booty they bring back id regarded as communal property, and the population depend on it for their support. Everything is quite open and aboveboard, for it never seems to ocour to these people that their mode of life is In the slightest degree reprehensible.— Edith Sellers, in Good Words.