The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1888-07-08
TIE LOWEST STRATUM.
4 6OCiAl CLASS THAT IS HOPELESS,
AMBiTIoNLEss, LOST.

Pauper-uow an Army Of DegCas II
Bred-seii Destructivsnesa Of Moral
and Physical Degeneration.
II we could get at a literal history OF the
lower STRAIT. Of society in our larger cities we
should be convinced that IL consists OF an ele-
ment permanently degenerated. IL Is very
seldom that a uemter Of this class rises 10
anything permanently worthy You must,
however, consider society everywhere "a con
sisting OF three strata-tbe upper. which Is
cultured and yet very subject TO degenera
tive influences. the middle. which is less
plastic, hut on the whole moves under the in
hucnce Of a better class of motives, and the
lower, which is settled in habits OF mendi-
cancy and unchastty, and is frequently ad-
dicted 70 crime OF course, by this lower
class do not mean the poor, and not in
variably the drunken. for the poor are often
the victims Of misfortune, and the drunken
are not seldom recoverable But there is
class everywhere that is 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
perishcs.
hnve at hand the statistics Of one city OF
nbou, i00,OU inhabitants In this city it is
nscrr.ained that there are nearly 1880 pro
fessioual paupers Now yor would laugh at
the idea that in America we hive fixed castes'
But we certainly have one caste--that OF
merdicancy Very few ever rise out OF its
ranks Yesterday two children, very pretty,
begged at my door Their father Is what
call a half caste, that is, he does work at ir-
ferioI, brnnless jobs, but be retains his In
stincts of beggary. | have SEVERE qualms
against giving to these little, brown eyed
creatures, because SCI they, too, have this
instinct They do not blush at asking. They
car 20 from door 10 door without sensitive
Revision The man IL freah In his class
il Is probable the family viii not emerge.
Bue ara sure that our habits OF giving to
1ccsarz will prevent them from emerging
DESCENDANTS OF pEGGARS
or the 1900 reported Prom the city | have
quoted, nearly all sprang frcu about thirty
five families, that came &c the city twenty
Yeas ago as beggars. They multiplied
rapidly. some families having seventeen t.
tucnty childrea. o. course this soon bred a
small army Of beSgarS. Marriages tool
olace mostly within the limits Of the caste.
1t r. said that one young man who LETT the
rank. md became d well 10 do business man
of the middle ranks of society, was looked OF
as o traitor, and attempts made on his life.
lie Is the solitary exception In the history OF
thesS people. SO far as known. Marriage
law: have been wholly disrecarded, anc rcla-
tives have married and intermarried, until
the relationship can hardly be traced In
one case a woman had married her OVID son,
after having lived with half a dozen men.
The original thirty five families were, so far
a. known, not interrelated when they first
made their appearance, but nov they are
thoroughly q conSlomerate. Beas;y habits
have steadily degenerated them, untll nov
they are barely above the brutes.
But it will not be possible &c stop ut this
point, or we should despair Of civilization
4 happy law comes il to 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 IS about fifteen years
This is the fortunate end OF moral and physi-
cal degeneration; II Is self destructive. 1t
kills out vitality and so we are rid of them.
They will not work; they viii beg This is
one distinctive definition OF the degenerate.
They will not put forth any effort to rise.
Motive power is gone. They move on the
line OF least resistance Shame is a lost
faculty with them. They cannot understand
their own degradation.
ONE on THE LOST TRIBE
The following history of one Of the tribe l.
quote "The family is hard TO describe.
They wander all over the country, living for
months in hollow trees on creek bottoms
When cold weather drives them to shelter
they viii take any unoccupicd premises they
can find. From their beastly habits they are
diseased idiotic and deformed They are
like halt civilized animals, governed more
by instinct than by knowledge The family
numbers Isl persons. Several Of the women
have made themselves nearly blind by the
use of acids to keep their eyes sore.' OF an
other family the record says: They
known TO have as high as thirty.
Nearly every male member has served in the
penitentiary Recently COW died in pas
turc near the city, and after niShttall the
entire family. consisting OF over twenty,
went out and cut up the creature, and carried
il home 10 eat" This illustration from
single city give at length, because it is an
exact parallel Of what occurs in every city OF
size in the land. Besides, there are townships
in every state, outside OF cities, where there
is something 50 similar that the lesson is the
same.
The first condition of degeneration is not
revorsion. hut perversion. The evil man
does not 20 back on the line Of his animal
heredity, but turns aside into paths that are
neither human nor animal The human
creature acts precisely like degenerate ami
NAL or insect. he becomes parasitic aud lives
OF biz neighbors. Some vegetable existences
learned TINS trick long before man did it,
and Ia dong 50 lost faculty and structural
perfection. The comparison Is very striking
between a human hanger on and parasitic
plant that all lis life chngs 70 some other
plant. sucking the life out Of II. You never
sass such o person Who had not lost self re-
spoct, manly features, sound judgment and
ability 70 Use himself 70 advantage. -"E. +.
T." in Globe-Democrat.
The Science cf Baseball.
Lovers Of baseball may lind it convenient
A.. =. - 81 t,.