1596. Letter to Lord Burghley from Edward Hext, Justice in
Somerset (change to B'ham)

My Lord,

Crime is increasing in Somerset (B'ham). This year we arrested 183 prisoners. Almost all refuse to work and are lazy. I know this because they begged me to let them stay in prison rather than go to work. These are not the only thieves and robbers wandering the country. I know of many more. Honest people do not want to go to court to prosecute the thieves as the punishments for these people is terrible - hanging. Many people are close to starving as there is little food. A group stole a whole cart-load of cheese. The criminals do not want to work but spend their time eating and drinking. One thief confessed to staying in an alehouse with his friends for 3 weeks, drinking beer and eating sheep stolen from local farmers. The problem is that if we send these men to prison the people they robbed have to pay the taxes to feed the prisoners in the local prison. The worst criminals are the wandering, unemployed soldiers. There are three or four hundred around here. They go in gangs and meet up to cause trouble. They are not afraid of the law and even threaten the judges. One vagrant was ordered to be whipped but after he threatened to hurt the judge he was allowed to go free. This is terrible. Your Lordship's servant Edward Hext

Read the letter :
What does it tell us about 1. why there are so many poor people
2. what problems these poor people cause
3. what to do about this problem