Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1878-02-13
What TO DO with the Tramp.

The first intelligent step toward remedy
for the mpidly-increasing tramp nuisance is
to thoroughly understand the nature and
method Of the evil. Last summer the state
authorities of Massachusetts, sent out two
detectives to study by association the ways
Of this motley army Their diary, kept
from day to day, tells an interesting story
of the means by which their tramp COM
panions contrived to live. A party OF
twenty were encamped together in the
woods. They divided into four squads, each
Of which took its turn in foraging for the
gang. Starting out in the morning, they
went from house to house, one OF them 60
ing to the door to beg for food, while the
rest skuked around to steal whatever was
convenient. When their continued dcpreda-
tions had so aroused the neighhorhood that
it was no longer safe to remain there, they
moved away in small parties, the first one
marking the route for the rest by making
certains signs with colored chalk upon large
rocks or trees, where they could easily be
seen. The men invariably professed will
ingness to work, but took care never to
know the particular trade or occupation
that was followed in that part of the country.
About the first OF August the two anna
teur tramps reached a place not far from
Pittsfeld where they met over thirty more,
who told them that there were four hundred
scattered about within a short distance
waiting for a strike on the Boston Albany
railroad These men were ready for any
plan of destruction that might be proposed.
Had it not been for the circumstances of
the detectives, the small depots upon the
road would have been burned. Every one
of them but two, who were spoken to upon
the subject, secuted The idea of working for
an honest livelihood.
This condition of things prevails in many
other states besides Massachusetts. Vaga-
bondage is becoming a trade, and it will
soon be an evil of as great proportions with
us as it was in England during the Tudor
reigns. Even if these men were willing to
work, there is little hope that manufactures
anu Dl1tI INDUSTRIES Will httb bli Nhlo oui
plus labor for years to come. The produc-
ton has been far beyond the power of the
people to consume, and no force of legisla-
ton can make it otherwise. A letter to the
Tribune in regard to the matter says that in
the face of this great growth of all other in
dustries, /" the amount of land devoted to
farming remains comparatively unchanged"
Could any pressure be made strong enough
to force this army of idlers out of our cities,
and compel them to agricultural labor, the
whole nation would be benefited, aud they,
themselves, by winning the fruits of honest
toll, be transformed into self-supporting
members OF society.
As pointing in some degree toward solu-
ton OF this vexed question, we copy the fol-
lowing from the Springfield MASSACHUSETTS,
Republican: " A good many people, and some
clergymen, hold that the churches would find
greatly renewed life in a warmer interest in
some of the more pressing social topics of
the day. Our Union Relief Association pro-
poses to give them opportunity for new
departure in this respect by asking the rural
clergy to assist in recolonizing the country
towns with tenant farmers from the larger
towns and cities, of whom the need in the
country and the surplus in the city are APP
parent. 1t is one of those experimental
groupings toward the readjustment of stag
nant population which costs little and may
prove of great value"