Los Angeles daily herald., 1889-04-22
PROFESSIONAL "VAGS"
Made to Order by the Pres
ent Laws.
HOwTH WORK Is ACCOMPLISHED
Bad Results of the Existing Sys'
tem-Phe Need of Better
Arrangement.

T6duyt AOIo duu III any ObuSI paAt6 VI eu0
country. Yet, county of Los Ange-
les has for long time benn pursuing a
policy with regard to its statute breaking
classes which has the unfortunate result
OF manufacturing vagrants," said an Off
Ger of the government the other day.
"If there were contract existing by
which the courts and Jail we're under OBJ
| legation to furnish certain number of
professional tramps year, the work could
hardly be done more expeditiously or
more successfully. While the popula-
ton of the district remains comparative
ly sparse, the evil consequences Of the
present system will not be felt to very
considerable degree. Ten or fifteen
years from now when the farming dis
tricts of Southern California are thickly
settled, more obnoxious results will be.
gin to show themselves.
The climate of Southern California
makes it naturally sort OF a tropic par
aoise. When professional once strikes
the country he has very little inducement
to go back East. A land where one can
sleep out-of-doors 300 days out OF the
year with as much comfort as under q
IOOl Whct0 IOlo uuAOk t1O u CCO
and few people keep dogs, is quite good
enough for the old bummers who have
carried icicles on their whiskers through
a whole season. In the eyes OF the gen.
uine vagrant, work is more or less of a
crime, but it is especially so in country
where it appears to be IS unnecessary as
| it is in Southern California.
The same advantages of climate which
| l~,c ho tC., rsofra raalspiun or his n
luxurious Pullman, bring also the
ubiquitous tramp curled up on the brake
beam. He is here already in large num-
beIs, and he is coming at the rate OF sew
eral thousand year. The situation is
one which seems likely to get worse in
stead of better as time passes.
The arrests for vagrancy in this city
are usually at the rate of two or three q
day, varying somewhat with the weather.
In the country districts the number is
much larger. During the winter the county
| iail usually contains about $50 prisoners,
of whom more than half are vagrants. In
| the summer the total number OF inmates
is much less. sometimes getting down
nearly to 100, and perhaps not more than
one-fourth of these belong to the class
under discussion.
| Those who are arrested in the city, il
sentenced to short terms, are put in the
city chain-gang, and made to work ON
the streets. This diversion is not at all
popular with them, and the result is that
as soon as possible they get out to the
rural districts again. Here they are
picked up by the Oonstables and sent
into the County Jail for times varying
from five to thirty days.
1 Th;s 10 o,,npoaod RI ho nunia m ont hnt
the trouble with the present arrange
ment is that it is no punishment what
ever. The professional tramps make no
! concealment OF this fact, and often go
out of their way to get arrested. The
| Jail is a well-built structure, and is mod
erately comfortable in all seasons of the
year. The food is tolerably good, and
possesses the merit of being served regu-
larly. The tramp, moreover, is of q
lgregarious disposition, and enjoys the
society of his own ilk. With nothing to
do from one days end to
the other, they spend their
time smoking, singing and play
| ing cards. The loss of liberty is only
temporary, and does not disturb them
very much.
| 1t is well established fact that man
who is once professional vagrant will
always remain one. Prison discipline
can hardly be made to act as a reform
atory agency, but it can at least refrain
from encouraging the vice and bringing
up others to follow in the same line Of
business. Not all of the inmates of the
| Jail who are booked as vagrants are OF
the professional order. They are often
young men who happen to be
out of work and are caught
up by over-zealous officers. These are
gradually initiated into the pleasures of
| the tramp's existence, and not infre-
quently leave the Jail confirmed vagrants.
A large number of outrages have been
| brought to light in the way of arrests for
vagrancy, committed by the constables
| of the country districts, and have been
published in the papers. Men have been
captured while on their way to work
with their tools in their possession, and
brought to the city that the con-
stables might draw mileage and fees.
One case WAS discovered q short time
ago of foreigner who was at work on a
lob, and was asked If he would leave it
and take better one, where board
would be included. The next thing he
knew he was in the County Jail. A
young clerk, who had come here from
the East to visit his parents, and was on
his way up from the depot, was captured
and run in by deputy constable and
charged with vagrancy. The cases
which come to Ii ight and are published
may serve as an indication of large
number of others where the outrages are
endured in silence.
One case which came to the notice of a
HERALD reporter last winter may be
taken as fine example of how vagrants
are made in this county. A young man,
a carpenter by trade, but, of necessity,
from lack of other work, ranch hand,
was unable to find work and was wand
ering about the county. He was arrested
for vagrancy and sent to the County Jail
for ten days. While he was in jail word
came to him that he would
be given work at building a barn.
if he would go to certain place. AS
soon as he got out he started off to
tackle the job. On his way he passed
through the town where he had been ar
rested before, and he was discovered by
the authorities. They knew him of old,
they said, and would not listen to his
protests. He was returned to the County
Jail for another period. When the time
was up he resolved to get out
of the county as fast as possible. He
started north through Antelope Valley.
He was pounced upon and, for a third
time, hurled back among the low COM