The Worthington advance., 1876-08-10
rHE 9 TRAMP" NUISANCE. l;l!

the people living outside Of New York
clty-thati is, within a few miles of it,,
have been visited more ::or less by
trayeling mendicants from the metrop-.
Oils: II IS only within year or two
that the epidemic has spread so as to
include almost, Or quite, every State
IN the North. They are appearing
like clouds of locusts. Begging is
their ostensive business, although
they add to their profits by liberal
theft whenever favored by opportu-
nifty. Occasionally, one Of them SOL
aces7the weariness of his pilgrimage
by committing rape upon the unpro.
tected mistress of some; lonely farm.
house. In some instances they have
essayed some of the: higher crimes in
the calendar, and have attempted
murder, with varying success. Riot is
something which they occasionally in
dulge in; at other times, as was the
case near Davenport, they rally in suf-
hcient numbers to capture railway
trains and get a lift of a hundred
miles or so without the expense of
purchasing tickets. In fine, they are
omnipresent. There is not a farm
house in the West that has not been
visited by them scores or hundreds OF
times. They have inundated all the
small villages, and have filled every
Jail and calaboose in the northwest.
The ostensible business of these peo-
pie is to go somewhere. They are al
ways moving for some locality just be-
yond the one they happen to be in.
They are impecunious, of course, al
though thay always were in better cir
cumstances, and expect to be again as
soon as they can reach the place they
are pointed for. Meanwhile, they
must have some food, and when it
comes night they must be permitted
to occupy barn or an clubhouse.
They are a neyer.failing source of ter
ror to the women and children of the
farmer, who do not know what mo-
ment they may make their appearance,
or of what deviltry they may not be
guilty upon their arrival.
The appearance of this element is a
new and curious feature in our histo.
ry. Whence these people come,
whether they go. what are the under
laying causes of the phenomenon, are
all questions worthy of attention. In
older countries, the tramp is recog-
nlzed institutian, although not in the
precise character, or in the number,
that he exhibits here. In England,
the tramp exists, but he usually has
some trade. He is a tinker, or some
thing of that kind and he at least has
pretense of being engaged in earn
ing livelihood. Here, the tramp is a
beggar ,pure and simple. He will work,
and intends to work, but it is always
when he shall reach some other place.
He is an honest, industrious laborer,
but it is always on a tomorrow that
never comes. To-day, he is a. beggar,
but only one of temporary character.
He will work to-m0rrow-in that to-
morrow which has no existence.
This eruption on the American body,
like cutaneous eruptiOns, indicates {,
diseased condition beneath the surface.
Their appearance means simply that
labor is PROSTATE, and that industries
of all kinds lack a healthful vigor.
These men are mainly from the large
cities, all of which, at the present
time, have redundant population. It
is the result of a healthful effort on
the part of these centers to relieve
themselves of these excessive ele-
ments, just as the human body will
throw its vicious humors to the sur
face. This suggestion as to their
origin will further suggest how these
people may be disposed of. 1t cannot
be by repressive measures, but by cur
ing the case itself. When there can
be created demand for labor, then
these rufiians will cease, as when the
acidity is eradicated in person, he
will no longer be afflicted with boils.
Legislation will not extripate the nuis-
ance, unless legislation can in some
way cure hard times. When our
mills are once more all in operation :;
when the furnaces are fired up, and
the work Of buildings railroads is re-
sumed; when, in short, the industries
of the country resume their normal
vigor, the tramp nuisance will disap.
pear. 1t is not itself an organic di.
sease. It. is simply a symptom show
ing the existence of a serious and
widespread arrangement.