That Old Softie

For some ridiculous reason I started reading a chat forum on begging over at The Sydney Morning Herald , when to give and when not to give etc etc. It was all getting very heavy and dreary and I was feeling rather glum, particularly at the number of people who wrote that all these people need is to get their act together and get a job, when I came across this from Sir Oswald Mosley:

When travelling in the colonies I always carry a stout cudgel to deal with any importuning by the impoverished natives. A thrashing is all these chaps need.

Of course, I would have referred to it as a sound thrashing. But I can be quite hard-hearted.