Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1878-07-22
Our Engabond FeIIoW-CItI4en.


1t is scarcely fair or indeed, proper, to style
tramps "fcIloW citizens" since enc condition
Of citizenship is suGage and tho condition Of
suffrage is local habtatioD. 10 fact, the first
thing which the vagabcnd docs when he wan.
ders eff upon The tramp is to disfrancbise him.
self for good aud all. HI becomes wanderer,
Bedouo, whose hand is agailst every man
and every mans hand against him. This
makes him much more difficult to deal with
| than would otherwise be the case.
Another difficulty is that 10 the lural dis
| tric;s, and especially 10 the wide fields of the
West, the tramps become grcgarous and march
in urge gangs, so large as to be able to protect
| themselves, 10 pluuder with lmpunlty and to
make themselves terror to all communities.
| T6i5 is The phase of the tramp problem which
| at present gives the Western people so much
| conccrn and, 10 fact, is so actively discussed
| that quite tramp literature is sprlnglng up.
10 the cities the tramp occasions Do alarm. -
He never dares to raise his hand except 10
seasons Of riot and disorder.
mot 30 in sparsely Inhabited towns aud
villages. Having got it into their heads that
the world owes them living, they swoop
| down upon dcfcnse!css communities. ard terror
IL, the ciliz7ns into roady compliance with
their domaods for food; and, If opportunity
offers, do not hesitate to rob. They lounge
about 10 shady places around farms or 10
towns. They a,ck on freight trains, and even
take possession Of the engine cab aud dictate
to the cugirccr how AID where he shall 20 and
when he shall stop. They usually order halt
before entering a town. Several of the rail
roads are beginning to resist the enoroaohm snts
OF these vagabonds; but to do 50 effectively
will require an immense torca along their
lines
Other railroads actually submit to them
completely. and not only carry every tramp
who waets to ride, but run on tramp time and
in obedience to a tramp schedule. They p!un'
der tho freight cars Systematically, and 10
fact. have found out how to live pretty we'll
by this system Of organized brigandage. The
Rock Island Railroad, which is one of those
which submits Internationally to tramp dcta'
ton, has to pay q very heavy tobacco bill to
REIN urse ST ippers for Wha! the tramps take
from its cars during these raids.
Trsmps no longer even pretend to be in search
of work. That pies, they are cyn!eally con-
scious is worn thresdbaro, and they have cast II
boldly aside A Des Moines correspondent OF
the Chicago Times writes:
"a farmer yesterday visited q gang Of about
ffty-sll young men, who were lazlly !ounglng
about lumber ysrd-to get hands to Work IN
me i.A-va:t fields. at ST.; SO per day and BOARD
Every man retused, ~nd tha leader said he lett
the State of Maine three years ago. ana had not
done days work snce-he could live without
work. And they waited for the first freight
tram. when they all piled on it and went"
In fact, the tramps mostly belong to the class
who are ''born tired" They represent the idle
percentage of the population, who, in good
times, find ease about the towns, or are taken
care Of by their more industrious friends and re-
lations, but who, in these tight timc1, being
driven to shift for themselves, have naturally
aud necessarily relspsed into vsgabondage pure
they be persuaded to work for themselves or
their families, but under present circumstances,
being denied the privilege Of loafng in somo
private station, they &c strcling abroad TO prey
upon the community st large The correspon-
dent quoted above, after adverting to their
threats against farm machinery, says truly
enough:
tbs labor question has nothing to do with it,
for these vagsDonds will rot work so long as
they can ride over the country free. and beg and
steal what they want, without work. 10 arrest
and put them jail is no hardship; it only gives
them board and Shelters certainty for an lncer-
tainty. They would fill every Jail and prison IN
the West in six months
The fact is, tramping, to be broken up efec.
tually, must DO made greater hardship to these
vagsbonds than any other which they can pos
sibly encounter 1t must be msdo punishable
and it must be punished. What they seek to
avoid is steady work, and the proper punish
ment for them, therefore, ia not only steady
work, but steady work Of tho severest descrip.
tion.-I3alt. BMIetia.
France has about $4,000 miles of railroad in