The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-06-26
Tramps, Communists and Politicians

I
live by some other means than honest in
dustry. Tramps are perhaps the extreme
| type of the class, but it is rather their mis-
fortune than their fault that they have be-
come more odious than their brethren.
| They are at least entitled to o kind con-
struction of their motives by the Commu-
nists since they volunteer to exemplify in
practice one of the principles which the
| Communists are eager to force upon the
community. One of the great aims
| of the Communists is to raise the
price of labor by diminishing the
amount performed. and they ought to
concede that the noble army OF tramps is
aiding them, to the best of its ability, in
diminishing competition in the labor mar
ket A large proportion of the tramps are
thieves out of prison, and SO long as they
are not arrested and convicted they do not
infringe the rights of labor by the exercise
| Of mechanic trades in State prisons and
putting the products OF their industry on
| the market in competition with the fruits
of honest labor. The Communists ought
at some of their meetings to pass vote OF
| tramps-first, for withdrawing so much
lator from the market and leaving free
field to what remains, and second, for
| the skill of those persistent thieves in keep
ing out of the State prisons, where they
would be compelled TO work at trades and
assist in overstocking the country with
the kind of articles on which prison in
1uc 10 hat ha nj at
only breach in theory those noble chevaliers,
the tramps, carry out in practice. They are
too considerate to lend any assistance in
causing glut in the labor market or to
consume any part of the general fund OF
society which is distributed in the form of
wages. The theory of the Communists is
thus exemplifed by the tramps in all its
beautiful and naked simplicity. We
dare say that even the yellow, pig
tailed Cinnamon on the Pacific coast
would be pardoned and tolerated if, instead
of doing fair work for moderate wages, they
would distribute themselves over the coun-
try and reinforce the noble army of tramps,
leaving the field of labor and the fund for
| the payment of wages in the exclusive pos
session of those who regard themselves as
the rightful claimants. Detestable as the
tramps are they are rendering to society the
useful service of refuting the theory Of
! Communists by reluctio al dbsurdum. If
| it is desirable to diminish the amount of
labor performed by stopping work in pri-
sons, by abridging the hours of toll outside
Of prisons, by limiting in every trade the
numberof apprentices, by the total stoppage
of work III frequent strikes, by driving the
| Cinnamon out Of the country, then it
follows, in logical consistency, that the
| Communists ought to recognize the merits
of the noble army Of tramps who are carry
ing on the good work Of diminishing COM
petition in the labor market and arc gaining
subsistence without drawing upon that
part of capital which is devoted to the pay
ment Of wages.
In employing the word Communists"
nothing can be further from our intention
than to include any portion of the honest,
industrious classes. We denounce only
the crafty set Of leaders who at
tempt to gain living without work
by making dupes Of actual laborers. These
| agitators like their esteemed contempora-
ries, the tramps, are trying to escape the
primal penalty Of earning their bread by
the sweat of their brow, but their method is
a little more artful. Instead of living by
direct theft, like the tramps, they subsist
on the voluntary contributions of the work
ingmen. They get up organizations, Of
whose funds they are the cIstodians and
disbursers They handle money with
out being subjected to the ordi-
nary responsibilities Of positions Of
trust. The community has had extern
sive and disastrous experience of the
difficulty of enforcing accountability,
even with the aid of the law. The enor-
nous swindles perpetrated by savings banks
and trust companies, which are regulated
by law and subject to inspection by public
officers show how difficult it is to secure
an honest administration Of funds received
in trust But the contributions made by
the laboring classes to carry on an agitation
ostensibly in their interest are under no
guardianship Of law; they are subject to
all the abuses practised in other trusts,
without any of the legal restraints.
If they are not faithfully administered
there is no means of calling the de-
faulters to account. The leading agitators
may therefore live upon the contributions
OF their dupes without any danger Of incur
ring the penalties which have overtaken
the swindling officers of life insurance COM
panies and savings banks. The Communist
agitators know very well that the fleece ac-
companies the flock, and they are the ire
sponsible shearers. Their mode Of getting
a living is not whit more honest than that
of the tramps. The tramps prey upon peo-
pie who have either inherited or accumu-
lated property and can afford to lose what