Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1892-10-24

cause Ihey Are Denied the MOST Price.
less of All Rights.
The workings of our industrial system
have created vast and increasing tribe
of pariahs-a despairing, degraded, I'M
utterably miserable nation of outlaws
of whom it may truly be said "evely
mans hand is against them"-a people
whose very existence we ignore, but
who, by sheer force of numbers, must
sooner or later obtrude themselves upon
public attention. The most reliable au-
thorities place the number of tramps in
the United States at 100000, and ad-
NIT that the number has been constant
ly increasing during the last decade. In
New York city the number of persons
who sleep in station and lodging houses,
and are thus always on the borderland of
trampdom, is estimated at 20 900, and
those who have no sleeping place but
the public parks and squares, the docks
and streets, at 10000.
How does society account for the ex-
istence of this nation of outlaws in its
midst? For the presence of over a mil
lion of idle, homeless, despairing men
would, even In the eyes of the ruling
classes, furnish an indictment against
the present social order before which its
most jealous supporters would shrink
back dismayed. They must be sat- fac
torily accounted for or our civilization
must confess itself failure. Therefore
society has constructed what regard as
themost ingenious and misleading theory
in regard to them of any of 1.-The Conven-
tional lies of our civilization" 1t has
invented and fostered the popular fallacy
that tramps are a distinct species of the
human race, whose distinguishing char
acteristics are a hatred of work and a
most unaccountable preference for hun
ger, cold and privation of all kinds.
Children grow to manhood and woman
hood cherishing this delusion-that
tramp is an outlaw of society, for whom
it would be mawkish sentiment to feel
either pity or self reproach that it may
be allowed occasionally to exhibit some
degree of pity for even the worst class
of criminals, but any one who would be
considered sane must show no consid-
GRAFTON toward tramp.
Well has this lesson been learned.
They are universally set apart as legiti-
mate objects of execration. Writers,
speakers, newspapers and even other
wise tender hearted women make their
keenest sufferings the butt of ridicule.
In New York city we have an army of
police whose principal business is to
drive them into byways and dark holes
and corners where they may not offend
the sensitive sight and smell of respec-
liability; but every year the horde grows
larger, and although tractable with the
apathy of despair the police find greater
and greater difficulty in keeping them
entirely out of sight.
Passing through Madison square one
evening l saw policeman clubbing a
man for the heinous offense of falling
asleep on one of the benches. When
demonstrated with him he defended him
self by saying, "If we allow them to
sleep here there would be hundreds here
every night; respectable people could
not go through the park after dark"
"Are there so many tramps, them"
He looked at me in surprise and said:
Enough to fill to overhowing every
public park and square of the city if we
allowed them to come out. But we keep
them in the dark corners and alleys, by
the docks and unfrequented parts of the
city"
decided then that l would find out
something of this strange multitude
this army of skulking shadows whose
very existence seemed to be an imperti-
nence to the powers that be, their manner
of life and the causes that had led them
to JOIN this fraternity of misery.
Now what is tramp?
The Rev. Mr.. Kugler, of Hoboken,
says, "All we owe tramp is funeral" "
The Chicago Tribune remarked: "The
simplest plan probably, when we are not
members of a humane society, is to put
strychnine or arsenic in the provisions
furnished to tramps. This produces
death in comparatively short time and
is a warning to other tramps to keep out
of the neighborhood.
A New York newspaper thus tersely
disposed of him: 1.-THE best meal that car
be given to tramp is leaden one, and
IL bhoulu Oe supplleu III suhIClehI yuan
tity to satisfy the most voracious appe
tite."
And finally a woman, Mrs Mary
Livermore, says: "Tramps have nj
claims on human sympathy. Wher
they invade my house and ask for breat
l bid them begone without ceremony
The hand of society must be agains
these vagrants, they must die off, ant
the sooner they are dead and buried tn
better for society"
am sure that Mrs. Livermore woult
have had sympathy and aid for almos
any other class of unfortunates, wher
for these victims Of society she had only
the harshest condemnation, for she toe
thoughtlessly accepts the popular preiu
dice in their regard. She is undoubt
edly good woman, but she has beer
badly educated in political economy.
Now l contend that in the vast major
ity of cases tramp is only a man Of
woman out of work and more or les
demoralized by such an unnatural con
dition. 1t is true that man may b.
born with a constitutional dislike O
nthar Iafanf,,-