The Redwood gazette. [volume] (Redwood Falls, Minn.) 1873-1940, 1877-07-26
The Tramp-How to Deal with Him.

CRY people, IS a rule, know very little
about the tramp. To them he is the un-
pleasant person who, in the winter time,
crowds the police stations at night, begs
from door to door during the day, and in
the early summer weeks takes possession
of the seats in the squares and parks, to
the disgust of mothers, nurses, lovers and
children. They read sometimes in the
newspapers about his lawless and despe--
ate exploits-a murder here, an outrage
there, and, not, however, as often as could
be desired, they are told OF his death as
he was about to pcrpetrate some horrible
crime. The tramp is, comparatively
speaking, law-abiding citizen in the
large centers of population. He breads
q policeman's club and he has horror of
term in the Penitentiary. He will steal
when he gets good chance, but he rarely
goes higher than petit larceny. The
tramp presents an altogether different
side of his nature in the country. He is
the terror of women and children. roam-
ing vagabond, ready to commit any crime
if time and opportunity serve his pur-
pose. To the lonely jewellers on scattered
farms he is always thief and possibly
murderer. To men he is meek, humble,
submissive. With women he is bold, in
solent, and, if he knows they are unpro-
tected, brutal. How to escape him, what
to do with him, is the great problem in
the country districts.
Before an evil, large or small, can be
effectively eradicated it must be first un-
derstood. In dealing. therefore, with the
tramp question it is all important to know
that these strOlling outlaws and vagabOnds
are banded together in an organized body
whose primary object is to prey upon
society. They have their seasons of coming
and going, of appearance and disappear
ance. They have districted the States and
sections of country in which they travel
as accurately as the Internal Revenue
Bureau or the Collectors of Taxes. They
have signs and signals, which are SO much
Hebrew to those not belonging to their
guild, but perfectly Ineligible to one an
other. Mysterious chalk and charcoal
marks on fences, d00rpOsts and cross
roads tell whom and what to avoid,
who're the shotgun gives a warm recep-
ton or some soft-hearted dupes may be
found. In fact, the brotherhood of tramps
is an established fact, and must be dealt
with as such if we desire to be rid of
it. The evil. so far from decreasing,
is increasing and calls for the stern.
est mc0SuTCS VI IcpICSSlOu. DluCTeuC
State Legislatures have already enacted
laws on the subject, different towns have
taken it in hand, and, in q measure, saved
themselves from the annual summer incur.
sions of these unwelcOme visitors. But
what is needed is concert of action. The
only effective way that has been disc0v-
cred of dealing with the tramp is to make
him work for what is given him. No
work no pay soon drives him from house
or locality. The unlucky pioneer leaves
behind him the warning to his fellows.
Some of the smaller towns in New Jersey
have tried this plan with abundant sue
cess. The tramps were fed and lodged,
but next day made TO give an equivalent
in SO much work, and in short time
they disappeared. A week in the County
Jail is looked upon by some Of them US
rather joke than . punishment. 1t
gives them needed rest and insures them
something to eat. The true policy is to
put them to work. That is the solution
of the tramp question.-N. 7. Herald.