The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1894-05-23
ARE ALL W0RKMEN
Prof. Hourwich Makes Statistical In.
vestigation of the 'Wealers.
PURELY AMERICAN STAMP
1t Is tho Unemployed Workmer Who
Have Turned Into the Ranks OF
the Ind,lstriai Army.


the Indastriai Army.
The common veal army is not onl,
attracting the attention of the govern
ment through Its persistence and deter
mination, and of the people generally IL
every part of the country, but the
student of science and sociology ha:
taken up this strange freak Of the
poorer classes and is trying to find the
cause of its origin, the elements that
constitute it and the purpose 1t has In
view.
Professor J. A. Hourwich, assisted by
H. X. White, research student In
statistics, and by number of students
in sociology, has made a thorough and
systematic study of the sociological
features presented by the Randall com
monweal movement in Chicago. The
party visited the barracks of this army
armed with specially prepared blanks
and examined nearly 400 recruits by
putting to them series of questions
for the purpose of eliclting all the in
formation that could be obtained about
each individual.
Summing up the result of the inves-
tigation, Professor Hourwich said:
SIN Russia it frequently happens
that the peasants of some remote viii
lage or group of villages, finding no
relief for their grievances with the
home authorities, send delegates to
bring petitions in boots to the seat of
the central government. The weary
walkers as they are called in Russia,
march thousands OF miles, very often
begging sfor Christ's sake.' That men
should come to the adoption of such
methods of petitioning in America is a
phenomena so extraordinary that it de-
serves study from other than the police.
mans standpoint.
The material we obtained from Ran
dalrs army is instructive and reliable.
The general reader is prone to be
skeptital of statistical information sup
piled by vagrants, but his skeptism is
not well founded. As matter of fact,
when the statistician operates with the
same figures in sources of different
combinations, he cannot fail to discover
any Measurements in his data.
although we have found a proceed
ent in Russia, yet it must be admitted
that this common cal movement bears
a purely American stamp. Out of the
200 men who answered as to their
nativity about one half were American
born citizens. Among the other half
the British subjects-the English, the
Scotch, the Canadian and especially
the Irlsh-were the most conspicuous,
making, in all, two of the English.
American-Irish race to one of the re-
naming world. One fact is thus safely
established, viz that that element of
the American population which gen.
orally turns deaf ear to the propa-
ganda of the foreign socialist has
largely enlisted in the Coxey move
ment.
"Neither can the :o-called political
cranks' claim a leading part in the
movement. 1t is true that the call was
made by populists who in their papers
advocated months ago the march to
Washington. But outside the few
populist states nobody ever read the
papers. In fact, out of 1913 men who
answered the question, "what ticket
have you voted last!" only ten were
populists. The rest we're either demo
Gratis (eighty-eighD or republicans
(thirty nine) or did not vote at all for
various reasons (twenty-ive), and only
twenty-elght or eighteen per cent were
not naturalized
eve must say, then, at all events.
that this is citizens movement. Nor
has it altogether affected the loyalty
of the voter to his party. They used
to say in France, before the great revo-
luton, that when a Frenchman had
headache he would say it was the fault
of the government. In the same way
many a commonweal voter would lay
the blame for an industrial crisis at the
door of the democratic administration.
Still, once in while you meet men
who say they voted the democratic
ticket all their lives and always will,
as you meet others who will entertain
the same feelings with regard to the
republican party.
''The class of people who were
gathered in the barracks can best be
by the following figures:
Skilled mechanics, 81, as against "a
common laborers and seven small trad
ers and artisans who failed in business
in the hard times. Seventy trades
we're represented in this self made dele
cation: Mechanics, 10; bakers, carpen-
tiers, cooks and miners, eight of each
trade; frmen and moulders, seven of
each; bookkeepers. clerks, agents and
statesmen, six in all; engineers and
tailors, six of each; butchers and steam
filters, FIVE; stone-cutters, switchmen,
teamsters and drivers, four; boiler
bricklavers, ironworkers,
painters, polishers, printers, telegraph