The Washington times., 1894-08-20
Rev. Alex. Kent Contrasts Them with
Those of the Government.
THE ARREST OF THE COxEYlTEs
He Claims That 1t Was subversion Of Their
Constitutional Privileges es-SomethingRad-
ically Wrong in the Present Relations Of
the Individual to the Masses.


ing on ''The rights of the individual and tn,
rights of government" His remarks wer,
based ON the recent arrest Of the Coxeyites b.
the Maryland authorities. He said
''The recent action of the Maryland au
thorities in arresting, arraigning. sentencing
and imprisoning, without even the semblancs
OF a trial, large number of our fellow-citi
zens gives to this subject just now paramount
importance. Every friend OF constitutional
government who gives thought to the matter
at all must see that such palpable disregard
| OF fundamental law. and that on the part o
| those specially intrusted with the execution
of law, is more perilous to the liberties of the
| people, and therefore to all the ends for which
government exists. than any crime OF which
| these unfortunate people could possibly have
| been guilty. 1t matters not what knowledge
| or fancied knowledge these officials had re-
| specting the status Of these men in relation to
| the law
! 'The Constitution expressly provides that
no person shall be deprived OF liberty without
due process of law, that in all criminal prose-
cutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a
| speedy and public trial by an impartial Jury
or the State and district wherein the crime
shall have been committed; that he shall have
| compulsory process for obtaining witnesses
| In his favor, and to have the assistance OF
| counsel for his defense. 1t is the current re-
| port in the papers that these unfortunate peo-
| Pile were deliberately deprived OF all these
| rights, which the Constitution expressly says
every criminal shall enjoy and that they were
hurried into prison and treated as criminals
before any ofIense whatever had been proven
against them. Now If such thing as this
had occurred in Russia and we had read the
report of it in our papers what terrible
picture of irresponsible despotism and heart
less Tyranny we would have drawn for our
selves of that country.
LIKE RUSSIAN METHODS.
''Indeed. had it occurred in Russia we should
not have been left to paint the picture for our
selves. Newspapers would have painted it
for us, and painted it in colors to make the
blood run cold. But occurring, as it did. in
Maryland my Maryland. under the kindly
and bene1cent rule OF Uncle Sam. and the
victims OF 1t being nothing but n set OF beg
gsng tramps. for whom very few had any fel-
low-feeling, and of whom everybody nearly
was getting very tired, the case was alto
gether different. There Is a law against va
grancy in the State, and most people had
come to regard these men as open TO the
charge and liable to arrest. and SO when the
arrest took place and the authorities dis
pensed with the usual routine OF trial and
hustled their prisoners into the place pre-
pared for those convicted of this ofIense the
great majority Of the people felt no shock.
Ii wasn't anything that endangered their
liberties or the liberties of any respectable.
well-to-do people. And who cares for tramps
anyway? Now. it was this very seflshness
and apathy OH the part Of the people that the
officials counted on TO shield them in their
lgwless course.
They would not have dared any such as
sauIt on the liberties of any criminal OF social
standing or social influence. But they felt
pretty sure that few people, comparatively,
would trouble themselves as TO what measures
were taken to get rid of these beggars, if
only the measures resorted to were effective.
And so they made the venture. They made
il, too. in my judgment. because they didn't
believe these men could be convicted OF va
grancy under a fair and impartial interpreta-
tion of the law. The law against vagrancy
never contemplated any such state of things
as now exists throughout the country. 1t as
sumes in making yagrancy crime that idle
ness is voluntary; that every able-bodled per-
son who is willing to work can get work. Un-
der such a state of things the law was a Just
law. a wise law. and a humane law. Yolun.
tary idleness is a fraud on society and ought
10 be made a crime.
PRINCIPLE OF vAGRASoY LAWS,
''The world owes no man living save as he
earns it or is willing to earn it. 1t owes him,
however, the opportunity TO earn it, and it
owes to itself the duty of seeing that he does
earn it. This is the underlying principle that
justifles the law of vagrancy But wnea
society fails TO do its part. when it fails to
keep the doors OF opportunity open SO that
industrious and honest men, capable and
willing to earn their living, cannot get work
to do then it should blot every vagrancy law
from its statute books. A vagrancy law on
the statute books OF any State to-day is as
palpably unjust and should become as odious
as the brick-making statute of Egypt that
drove the Hebrews into rebellion. Nay more,
it is worse than these. For what the law re-
quired of them was possible. however unjust
and oppressive the demand. But what the
laws on the statute books of our country
to-day require OF the laborers of our land is
impossible. The workmen of our country
to-day are forced to play game of ''Puss,
puss in the corner" with two or three men
for every corner. They are assigned the i'm
possible task of putting 26.000, 900 of pegs
into 10000. 600 holes. You cannot say of any
particular peg-in view of the changes and
vacancies occurring-that it is out of the
question fer it to obtain place. But you
can say and with absolute certainty that so
long as the pegs thus greatly outnumber the
holes they cannot all find places.
''And yet great multitude of people have
no more sense than 10 argue that any man
who really wants place to work can find
one. | sometimes have no more charity than
to wish that the opportunity to test this theory
may come TO them early and often.
But there was another reason of more tech
meal character causing doubt whether these
commonwealers could on public trial be con-
victed OF vagrancy. They were not altogether
wanderers or homeless. They were not tres
passers at night on the charity of others.
HAD RIGHT TO CAMP THERE.
"Their right to the occupancy of the ground
on which they canped was as absolute as
ownership could make it. for the owner had
himself invited them to pitch their tents there.
They slept under their own shelters and in
their own beds, such as they were. A con-
siderable amount OF property was held in the
name and for the uses OF the organization to
which they belonged. Though they had lived
in that neighborhood for months, neither
thieving nor begging in the sense prohibited
by law had been proven against them. 1t
was, therefore, exceedingly doubtful whether
the charge of vagrancy could be proven
against them If they were given public trial.
The only way to make sure OF conviction was
to take snap Judgment and to rely on the gen.
eral prejudice and the general desire to be
rid OF them to prevent any efficient protest
against such course.
Then, too, there are rumors tnat motives OF
personal profit may at least have timed and
possibly instigated the arrest. II IS said that
the institution in which these commonwealers |
have been given temporary residence does |
nuite a business in canning tomatoes and that |