Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1875-08-28

The Tramp Nuisance.

@e-S ~eNN'P BOD ftIE.
The yagrant fellows who figure as H
" tramps 7 in the newspapers and in the a-
reports of charity officials seem to be
making themselves uncommonly trouble
some in the rural districts this summer.
At short intervals we hear Of their throw
ing some village or country neighbor. ID
hood into an uproar of wrath or Of cyni
cal merriment, not unmingled with liz
dignation, by their thefts, their acts, of ,J
violence, or their presumptuous demands
for the best that their unwilling enter
tainers have in the house. no 'd iii" 3 70
1t would be difficult to give the tramp
his true place in the social economy of
town or country. He may be and doubt
less often is an honest enough sort of
laboring man seeking employment from
place to place, and too often falling by
easy grades into the loose virtue and
idle ways of the footpad. Probably still p
oftener he is natural born .yagrant, 4,
hating work, loving change, raiding about
the country and subsisting upon it by
fair means or foul as best he may. But
whatever else he may be, your typical
tramp is no ordinary yagabond. Like
his betters, he mostly spends his winters
in the city and his summers in the coun "
try. He seems to have read, though
this is hardly credible, enough of Black o
stone to know that the State, in guaran-
teeing the life along with the liberty
and property of all, even the meanest of
its citizens, is under obligations to pro-
vide them with some sort of living,
though he is extremely reluctant to ac-
cept the poorhouse living which is pro-
vided under this dispensation of the
common law. But he is a stout stickler
for the principle, and insists upon being
well fed at any hamlet where hunger
may overtake him in his roamings. He
is often as proud in his rags as Don
Caesar de Bazan, though rarely as cour-
teous as Robin Hood. He turns con-
temptuously away from a proffered
crust, demanding better fare, andspurns
the humbleto of the husbandman, even
when he is offered three dollars day to
assist in haymaking. To the charity
official he is becoming a troublesome
problem in these times of depressed in
dustry, and, indeed, the chief wonder IS
that vagrancy has not proved far more
serious evil that it has done during
these past two years of reaction from
high tariffs and inflated rag money
prosperity. -.f.. ...r. .... d..
The statistics for Boston show that in
1872 that city lodged 5000 vagrants, of
whom only 5000 belonged there; that
in 1873 the total number had increased
to $4,000, of whom only 11,000 were
residents; while in 1874 the city lodged
So, 900 vagrants and paupers, whereof
46, 900 were tramps from other places,
doubtless seeking work in the city dur
ing the winter and drifting to the rural
districts in the summer. These figures
are certainly startling, though it is
probable that worse showing might
be made for New Yolk. How this grow
ing evil shall be arrested is problem
which may vex social philosophers IN
vain, until the advent to power OF
better and wiser administration than we
have had for decade shall bring IN
new era of industrial activity AND pros
perity. When that happens there
should be small difficulty in vigorously
compelling all tramps to work, starVe or
ego West. Do. .g r-s Ha7a #