Wichita eagle., 1888-07-01
THE LOWEST STRATUM.
A SOCIAL CLASS THAT IS HOPELESS.
AMBiTlONLESs, LOST.

Psups-Hew an Army Of BegR~- -
Bred-sen Destructivenea Of As~-
and Physical Degeneration.
II we could get at literal his%ery Of IT,
lower strata Of society In our larger cities we
should be convinced that it consists of An els
nent permanently deSenerased Il Is very
seldom that q member Of this class rises 10
anything permanently worthy. You muss,
however, consider society everywhere a. con-
ssting OF three strata-the upper. which b
cultured and yet very subject to degensrA-
uve influences; the middle, which Is les
plastic, but on the whole moves under the in
fiuence OF better class of motives; and the
lower, which Is settled IN habits Of merdi-
cancy and unchastity. and Is frequently ad-
dicted 20 crime. OF course, by this lower
class do not mean the poor, and not in
vsriably the drunken, for the poor are often
the victims Of misfortune, and the drunken
are not seldom recoverable But there is q
class everywhere that Il hopeless, ambition
less, lost, and the only good thing about
them IS that they die early, and, under
proper restraint, the stock EASILY dries up and
perishea
| have ct hand the statistics Of one city Of
about leo, OOI inhabitants. In this city IL is
ascertained that there are nearly 1000 pro-
fessionA paupers Now VOC would laugh at
the idea that in America we have fixed cassss>
But we certainly have one caSte-that Of
mendicancy. Very few ever rise out II its
ranks. Yesterday two children, very pretty.
begged st my door Their father Is what I
call a half caste: that l. he does work NJ IN
ferior, orsinless Jobs, Tut ne retains. his In
stincts Of beggary. | have severe Qualms
against giving to these httls, brown eyed
creatures, because SOS they, too, have this
instinct. They do not blush at asking. They
car go from door 70 door without sensitive
revulsion The man /. freak in bis Class,
it is probable the family VIII not emerge
But am sure that our habits Of giving TO
beggars viii prevent them from emerging.
DESCENDANTS or BxGGAzs
OF the 2,oOo reported from the city I have
quoted, nearly all sprarg from about thirty
five families, that came to the city twenty
years ago as bergarS They multiplied
rapidly; some families having seventeen TO
twenty children. Os course this soon bred q
small army Of becgarA Marriages took
place mostly within the limits of the caste.
1t Ia said that one young man who left the
ranks, and became well to do business man
of the middle ranks of society, was looked O.
as traitor, and attempts made on his Life
He is the solitary exception in the history Of
these people, so far as known Marriage
laws have been wholly disregarded, and rela-
tives have married and ,ntermarried, until
the relationship can hardly TO traced In
one case q woman had married her owr sor,
after having bved with half q dozen meel-
The original thirty five families were, 40 far
as known, not inteITeiated when they first
made their appearance; but now they are
thoroughly a conglomerateI Beastly habits
have steadily degenerated them. until new
they are barely above the brutes,
But 1t viii not bc possible &c stop at this
point, or we should despair Of civilization
happy law comes III t. help US The aver
age life of the first generation Of these people
was about sixty years, but now, IL the third
generation, the average Ia about fifteen years
This is the fortunate end OF moral and physi-
cal degeneration, 1t Is self destructive lie
kills cut vitality and 80 we are rid OF them
They viii not work; they viii beg This 10
one distinctive definition Of the degenerate.
They viii not put forth any effort a. rise.
Motive power Is gona They move on tho
line OF least resistance Shame Is lost
faculty with them They cannot understand
their own degradation
ONE OF THE LOST TRIBE
The following history of one of the trff,e [
quote: 1.-THE family is hard to describe
They wander ali over the country, living for
months in hollow trees on creek bottoms
When cold weather drives them to shelter
vrfiI
can find From their beastly habits they are
diseased, idiotic aud deforrned They arc
like half civilized animals, governed moro
by instinct than by knowledge Tho family
1877 personA Several Of the women
have made themselves nearly blind by tho
use Of acids TO keep their eyes sore" or an
other family the record says: '"rhey
have eighteen dogs. and have been
known to have as high ~ thirty.
Nearly every male member has served in tho
Recently a COW died in pos
turo near the city. and after nighttaIl tho
entire family, consisting Of over twenty,
went out and cut up the creature, and carried
It home 20 cat" This illustration from
single city give at length, because IL IL an
exact parallels Of what occsuy In every cfty Of
LIS In tue land Besides, there are townships
n every state, outside 81 cities, whore there
S something No similar that the lesson 4. Ia.
anna
Tho frst condition Of degeneration is no.
but pervsrsion- The owl man.
Ices not go back on tbs lns Of his animal
aeredisy, but turns a<ide into paths tha. arc.
1either human nor animal Tie human
Tessurs acts presssiy Ike degeDss.,e Ani-
nal or insect; he bccoms pasasitsn and lives
"a Ids neighbour sou.1 vegetable erisseno.s
earned this .s1c& iors before man did i.;
md in doing 10 lest faculty end structural
'erfecSioa Tia compartson il very striking
'eewecn human hanger ca aad . parasitic
liant that eli tn life dings % some other
Amt, sucking the iifs out Of IL You never,
Nv sueh a parscn who had noe Los. ssif re-
P',ct. manly fea.mo, suund jsdgnnsut a,ad
'bii:ty 70 use hunssN 10 advausA~s--"z r.
r Ia Globe Dcmocys&