Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1875-05-04
TRAMPS.


All Wioter long; 10 town aud iu country news.
papers. there has been complaint of vaga-
bopds. their uumber, their impudence, their
uuf,iliug appetite, their loopcd aud Widowed
raggedness. Numerous, too, are the muuici-
palilies, large aud little, which maintain free
lodgings aud afford eleemoSyuary provert for
these, partly upon some prompting Of philau-
thropy and partly from some polite idea that
du:iog the opportunity OF the night loater
housed is less dangerous thau loater at large
that, his stomach moderately filled with bash
and skiddy, he is less likely TO Invade the un-
protected hen, roost-that repose iu public
bunk will keep him out Of the private hay NOW
and that having been tolerably refreshed 10 one
hamlet he will move ou TO another. SO,
through the hard stasou, poverty has been
perlpatetic, and the Domadc beggars have idly
lncaudered iu squaiid procession from Dan to
Beersheba, and 50 back again. 1t Is uuneces-
sary 10 prove by statistics what is Within every
body's field of observation. There is hardly a
back door in the Middle States which has not
this Winter been darkened by some street Arab
rather demanding than beseechlug his break
last. lu Trenton, N. j., lately, 6O tramps We're
lodged on single oight. The highways be-
tween New York and Philadelphia have been
pvpulous with paupers, aud 50 will continue
to be, even though work may be had for the
asking upon the farms Lazluess is i0vlHcl-
BILE. Shiftlessness Is very sweet to certain na-
lures. Always We have with US those political
economists the begiunug aud end of whose
doctrine is, that the world owes them liv.
og;" and, be the debt q just one or other
wise, it is debt which the world is obliged to
pay. We may arralgn wretch for having
40 visible means of support, but seeding
oplv of
porting him visible; and if we cau force him to
work out ten per cc1t of the cost Of his keep
ing, we consider ourselves fortunate. FROM
those who are relieved only for night We get
nothing. The reporter Of West Chester,
Penn, newspaper,,a few evenings since, found
titty-two lodgers packed in the little station
house like behring's lu tub-lo the berths, ou
the f)or, and on the beuchcs. tittytwo by
DO means fragrant creatures slumberng in
space of about ten by twelve feet with red
hot stove 10 the centre. There must have been
plenty of carbonlc acid gas there, and more
smells than Coleridge counted in Cologne.
Gazing upon the sceoe, the reporter framed
this query: why should the people oil West
Chester assist half hundred vagabonis 10
pass comfortably their lazy llves?' lie printed
this in the next issue of his newspaper, but out
of his infuite wisdom he vuuchsated no answer.
He merely remarked "rhc problem deserves
discussion" We suppose so.
A man who has always had roof over his
head, and something upon his dish or 10 his
mug when he chauced TO be hungry or thirsty,
whose pocket. book has never beeu utterly va
caut, whose back never as lad as bare is 10 no
pusilion to judge intelligently one who might
write pauperrimus alter his name If he knew
how to write at all. So he looks scorufuIly
upon the solicitor Of aims, just as he who has
always been successful in trade regards the
bankrupt. He rings the changes upon shift
less, thrlttless, luckless: some people, he
says, "have no faculty" aud in saying so ut
ters much graver truth than he has any no.
ton of. 1t is exactly 80. Seine people have
no faculty. Nothing which they undertake
succeeds. even if they have force enough to
undertake anything. If they set up shop,
nobody comes to buy of them, tor good reason,
probably, aud SO they eat their stock In trade.
Ii they hire house, the rent money Is never
ready upoo rent day Ifthey SOW it's never
wisely aud they reap nothing if they keep
hocks and heards, it is for the murrain if they
make contracts, violation upon one side or the
other is sure their wives turn out scolds aud
satterns, their boys larceuous aud their girls
lewd. Add to these characters those who are
still more peculiar in being under the blight
Ing pasylug enchantmcnt of lngraned laz-
ness-of tdat disinclluation to lift leg or
hngcr, which may be mere matter OF ten
perauent, but which this excellent world
persists 10 regarding as a matter OF moral
ty. He could if he would" we say in
dignautlv, as if ''woud' and could we're
not often convertible terms. Nobody is leo
tured as the luzy is, but did all the ecturing
III the world ever make one such industrious
lu vain we point out to him the busy bee aud
The Industrious ant; in vain We reclte to him
the verses of DR.. Watts ('ris the voice of the
Suggard,) aud in vain We inform him that
those who will not work shall not eat. lie
knows better, aud it would make no difference
II he dldu't. He ate yesterday without work
Ing; be will eat to-day without ii; aud let TO-
morrow take care of itself He is simply lazy
II Is disease. 1t is destiny. 1t is 10 his
mead, arms, legs, and dorsal muscles. 1t is
fatal complaint which will not kill.
II this view OF our lazy friends is COOL we
Sutmlt that it is also comfortable one. Re-
spectacle people, with two coats and every
thug peasant about them, fancy when the
tramp is sent away uurelieved that he suffers
dreadful agones Of mind, the hot distress of
despair Go back to your breakfast, dear
madam, with no selfrepIoaoh. The beggar
dismissed without even the smallest currency
or the least crumb is not around The corner
tearing his hair, beatog his bosom, and call
lng upoo Death to relieve him. Nothing of
the kind, We declare to you. He is simply
swearing at your stugness, and considering at
winch door he shall next apply. He isn't 10
the least poetical. He isn't saying, 20 heav-
Ven what will become of my ''dear wife ? of
my poor hungry children ?" He is determin-
iuH whether he will try your village little
.HSuser or push on to the next. Be satisfied
.aa' he will not die of hunger. Heaven helps
'He he, pess aud lifts up the lazy. The honest
pUy which you unnecessarily feel for him, rest
assured. is the best part of this little trancsac-
: uon. Keep your money for the really worthy,
your bread for the needy widow, aud your raj,
Tribune. " surviving ''''A''D 1''" 1'''