The Carbon advocate. [volume] (Lehighton, Pa.) 1872-1924, 1879-03-29
|
THE TRAMP LAW.

MARCH lo'--lne next Dill Ill OTVeT was
House bill No. 5S, entitled An act to define
and punish trOmps. Which was read at
length the third time as follows
Az Act to define and punish tramps.
SECTION |. Be it enacted by the Senate
and House of Representatives of the Com
monwealth of Pennsylvania in General AS.
sembly met, and it is hereby enacted by the
authority of the same, That any person 60
ing about from place to place begging, ask
ing or subslstng upon charity, and who
shall have no fixed place Of residence or
lawful occupation in the county or city in
which he shall be arrested, shall be taken
and deemed to be a tramp, guilty Of mis-
demeanor, and on conviction shall be sem
fenced to undergo an imprisonment, by sep
arate and solitary confinement, at labor, or
in the county Jail or workhousc, for peri
oil of not less than six months nor more than
eighteen months, in the discretion of the
court: Provided, That if any person so ar
rested Can prove, by satisfactory evidence,
that he does not make a practice of going
about asking, begging or subsisting upon
aims in the manner aboYe set forth, he shall
not be deemed guilty of the olense herein
before described, and upon such proof shall
be discharged from arrest, either by the
magistrate before whom he is committed or
by the court, upon hearing Of the case either
upon writ Of bobeas corpus or ppon trial IN
the court.
SIC. 2. ANY tramp who shall enter any
dwelling house against the will or without
the permission OF the owner or occupant
thereof, or shall kindle any fire in the hi igh-
way or on the land Of another without the
owners consent, or shall be found CARRYING
any fire arms or other dangerous weapon or
shall 10 or threaten to do any injury not
amounting to felony to any person or to
the real or personal estate OF another, shall, i,
upon conviction, be deemed guilty Of Il mis-
demeauor and shall be sentenced to under
go an Imprisonment by separate or solitary
confinement at labor for a period not eX-
ceediug three years.
Sic. ;. ANY act Of beggary or vagrancy
by any person not a resident of this State,
shall be evidence that the person commit
ting the same is a tramp within the mean
ing of this act subject To the proviso contain
ed in section one Of this act.
| SIC. 4. Any person upon view of any Of
iense described in this act, may apprehend
the offender and take him before Justice OF
the peace or alderman, whose duty it shall
I be, after hearing the evidence, TO discharge
or commit the prisoner for trial as in the
case of other misdemeanors.
| SEC. 5. THIS act shall not apply TO any
| female or minor under the age of sixteen
years, nor to any blind deaf or dumb person,
nor shall it be appliable TO any person who
is unable TO perform manual labor.
/ SEC. This act shall take effect on and
after August fifteenth, one thousand eight
| hundred and seventy-nine, aud all acts or
parts of acts inconsistent herewith are here
| by repealed.
The question being, viii the House agree
to the bill on third reading?
Mr.. CASSIDY. Mr.. Speaker, have
something to say on this tramp question. !
am not in favor of the bill 1t is entirely
too sweeping in its provisions. Inmy opin-
| ion it is one the most obnoxious bills ever
| introduced into this house. The idea of en-
tering on cur statute books such an nhu-
man, outrageous act as this, and by 50 doing
| bring everlasting disgrace To this honorable
| old Keystone State is preposterous. / be-
/ lieye professional tramps are nuisance, but
/ | do not think they are nuisance of such
| magnitude as to warrant the passage Of so
| deslabe an act as this is. Just look at sec
| tiOn three of this bill, which says "any act
Of beggary or vagrancy by any person not
a resident of this State shall be evidence that
| the person committing the same is a tramp
within the meaning OF this act" Will any
| person say, after reading this section, that
| this act is not calculated to interfere with
honest men in search Of honest employ
ment? Why, Mr.. Speaker, il is plain 10 the
dullest perc,pent that it does interfere with
honest men. This bill is utterly devoid of
! the fundamental principles of liberty and
| justice. / hold, Mr.. Speaker, that any hon.
est man has an inaliable right to travel the
/ highways and by-ways of this land in search
of employment, and whether he is a resident
| of this state or not, we have no right tJ in-
hict upon him the inhuman and unwar-
| mntabe punishment of Imprisonment for
one year or eighteen months for simply ask
ing perhaps in the name of God, the small
charity of piece of bread and glass OF wa
ter. For anyone 10 assume, Mr.. Speaker,
that a man is a criminal because he is not
a resident Of our State, and has no work or
can get none, and because he is poor, home.
less and ragged, would be unchristianlike
and monstrous.
Again, Mr.. Speaker, in section two Of this
bill, It says, "any tramp who shall kindle
any fire on the land of another without the
owners consent, shall, upon conviction, be
deemed guilty of q misdemeanor, and shall
be sentenced to undergo an imprisonment,
by separate or solitary confinement, at labor,
for a period not exceeding three years"
Mr.. Speaker, any man who could have il in
his heart 10 intlict such a severe punishment
as that upon poor creature for simply kind
ling, on the laud Of another, fire to drive
away perhaps the severe frost of cold win
ter's day say the man who could have it
in his heart to mact such punishment ON
a poor creature for such an oiiense (if il can
be an otiense) must be a cold, callous man,
or ninny hammer.
Now, Mr.. speaker,if it is absolutely neces-
sary for us To pass such severe law as this
is to get rid Of the tramPs, why do we not
pass a law To get rid Of some other aud even
more Objectionable characters than our
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