The Washington times., 1894-04-22
n Topic or Two
TO Think Hb0Ut.

Kansas, in defense OF the constitutional hber-
ties of tramps, is very extraordinary docu-
ment, says Elbert Hubbard, in the Arena. He
maintains that the right to go freely from
place to place in search of employment, or
oven in obedience to mere whim, is part
of that personal liberty guaranteed by the
Constitution OF the United States to every
human being on American soil. Even volun-
tary idleness is not forbidden. Out Of 100
editorial clippings, taken at random from
papers all over the United States, ninety
three speak in terms of disapprobation Of
Governor Lewellings action. In this coun-
try we say every man is assumed to bo inno-
cent until he is proven guilty.
This applies only to men who have money.
No peaceable, decent man with money is
asked to "give an account of himself" But
let him have no place to lay his head and ask
for cup Of cold water, Immediately we may
legally assume his guilt and drag him before
the notary, who shall demand that he "give a
satisfactory account of himself" Satisfac-
tory to whom. forsooth? Why, to this justice
of the peace. And who is he2 Often man
who has failed in business, OF small learning,
no breadth of intellect, no sympathy. or
course we know that police justice may be
(and often isl an eminently honorable and
able man: but those who are in position to
know how much of the time OF higher courts
is taken up in undoing the blunders OF rustic
justices have small esteem for rural judi
cature. Among the first states to adopt a
tramp law was the state of Delaware, on
March 27. 1879. Section l reads thus:
Any person without homo III the town In
which he may be found wandering about with
out employment shall bs deemed tramp and
dealt with accordingly.
Will the reader please note that % tramp
is man who has no home in the town where
be is found; (2) he is seeking employment.
To have no home and to seek employment is
a crime in many parts of the United States.
Such law Us this is the one against which
Governor Lewelling. of Kansas. has issued
his manifesto. For this act he has been ridI-
culed, jeered, illuminated, reviled. l make
no defense of trampism nor vagabondage. A
tramp may be criminal and he may not. II
he is criminal, punish him for his crimes,
but do not punish him for being tramp; to
do this may be only to chastise him for his
misfortunes.
The very original and somewhat startling
plea of NJ. G. Ferrero in the January Monist
for the complete exemption of women from
bread-winning labor, says Prof. Lester f.
Naiu III tic 10 NOihhs VI tno .
chivalrous nature and demands thoughtful
consideration. One naturally feels impelled
to accept his view, but such crowd of
practical objections at once arse that it be-
comes impossible to do so except in n very
restricted sense. II he only means that
women who actually bear children should be
relieved from laborious physical activities
during their productive period, nobody
certainly ought TO dissent, and it is to be
hoped that the world has already got long
distance on the road toward such a result.
But If he means that one-half of the human
race should be ana remain, from the stand
point of economics, nonproducers, except in
so far as the rearing of children is to be con-
sidered productive, the position cannot be
maintained without important qualification.
So far az can be discovered from the article,
its author proceeds upon the popular but er-
roneous assumption that every adult female in
society is provided with husband who is
both able and willing to supply all her needs.
To show how false this assumption is. let us
glance for moment at the conjugal statistics
of the United States, which have been COM
piled for the first time in the history of the
country for the census Of 1890, but not yet pub
lished. These statistics show that at that date
the number of female persons OF all ages in
the United States was 80 554. $50, OF whom IL,
S3,0SS, or 1924 per cent, were single. The
important fact for our present purpose is the
number or percentage OF marriageable women
who are. in fact. not married. 1t is found
that about 10 per cent. marry before the age of
twenty. and very few before the age Of df-
teen. As the statistics are compiled in five
year periods, IL is impossible to obtain figures
for any age between fifteen and twenty.
although proper marriageability begins at
about seventeen or eighteen.
If we take twenty as the basis, it appears
that thara Ik female Gf
twenty years OF age and upward. of whom
3.22S. 1888 were unmarried. which is nearly 20
per cent If we take fifteen as the basis. the
number of that age and upward was 19. COZ l7S.
OF whom 6, ,233, ,207 were unmarried, or nearly
80 per cent. The true mean is somewhere
between these, and may perhaps be safely put
at % per cent. The unmarried are made up
of the maids, widows and divorced persons.
the last of which classes is so small that it
need scarcely be considered for the present
purpose. OmittinS the actual numbers and
using percentages only. the returns show that
between the ages OF twenty and twenty-five
about SO per. cent. were without husbands
between twenty-five and thirty about % per
cent, between thirty and forty-five about 20
per cent.
After this the number of widows incresaes
so rapidly that from forty-fve to fifty-five the
unmarried amount to 26 per cent, and of
women over sixty-ilve years of age only a
little over 35 per cent. have husbands. Nearly
6 per cent. of all women never marry; about
10 per cent. of those between the ages of
thIrty-five and iorty-live had not yet married.
and more than one-fourth of those between
the ages or twenty-five and thirty were still
unmarried. Further details are unnecessary,
enough having been said to show how large
OF marriageable women are for
one cause or another without that male pro-
lection and support that NJ. Ferrero's argu-
ment assumes.
Many OF these unattached women are doubt
less cared for in varying degrees by their male
relatives. but it is clear that this ought not TO
be- since the men, on his theory should have
wives and families of their own. Ignoring
for the sake of the argument n large number
of cases in which the husband proves incom-
petent to support his family, and admitting
that the 70 per cent. who have husbands are
provided with occupation in rear
ing their children, or. If childIess, as "a large
always are in merely attending
TO the wants of their husbands what shall be
said of the % per cent. who have no hus-
bands and are therefore deprived of this
occupation? considerable number of the
widows. il is true, have families on
their hands, but these soon grow up and no
longer require their attention. But if the
wife is capable OF any form of productive
labor. when she becomes q widow and the
of her family devolves upon her
alone. she is in an unfortunate position.
more must be doae than merely to
nurse ana protect her children. They must
be fed, clothed, and housed
1t is not too much. says the Springfield Re-
publican, to call the trial of w. C. p Breckin-
ridge. which has now closed. the most pain
full scandal of its class since that which
clouded the great life of Henry Ward Beecher,
twenty years ago. The man had attained
position in political life and in public esteem;
he had even become by his Plymouth address
in some measure an historical figure Sud-
danlv If vas revealed to tha ooun,rv tb,t ba