The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1895-06-19

what snail we 40 WAlh the IIdlAp'
Is he really a concomitant Of our
nineteenth century enlightenment? II
so, then we should hide our heads in
shame, but one thing is certain-name-
", he is constantly growing more nu-
merous, more bold, more lawless and
more menacing to life and property.
If the report of local paper can be
relied upon, the tramp dodgers at the po-
lice station in Pittsfeld, Mass, in
creased from 1855 in 1898 to $3.50 in
1894 Nearly 10000 men in the entire
country sleep every night in police sta
tions or lodge in some convenient spot
where they are fairly safe from the ele-
ments or from interference from lawful
authorities. They are homeless, penni-
less and although many of them may
have begun their tramp life as honest
men they soon lose all sense of honor,
self respect or ambition and often be-
come reckless desperadOes. Indeed 1t is
getting to be dangerous to travel in I'M
frequented localities, even IN the well
settled east, without suitable weapons
or means of defense in numbers.
1t appears from recent statistics that
of 1900 tramps who were interviewed
some 81 per cent had trade, Al per
cent were unskiIled laborers and only 16
would admit they had no regular call
ing But one in 20 was under 80 years
of age and one in three was over 70
years of age. AS regards health, only
about s per cent claimed to be suffering.
Two per cent only ascribed their condi-
ton to drink. In New Jersey attempts
have recently been made to organize
vigilance committees for the purpose Of
wiping the tramp out of existence or
driving him by physical force out of
the state In 10 states today legal men
ton is made of the tramp specifically
and two more refer to him in their def
milton of vagrancy.
The remedies suggested for this de-
plorable, not to say startling, matter are
numerous. Some advocate stricter laws
and harsher treatment and others favor
separating the decent tramp from the
worthless one. In nearly every case the
authorities advise housekeepers not Civ
ing to them in charity.
But before the tramp problem can be
settled rightly it is necessary to deter
mine whether any one is compelled to
become tramp. If this be decided in
the negative, then duty is plain. Let
! them all be sent to prison, and at hard
labor there IF any would not work
neither shall he eat "
But are not many-very many
tramps from compulsiOn? Is there not a
great surplus Of honest labor? Are not
many of our dirty, frowsy, ragged, hope
less and even criminal tramps men who
would be industrious and self support
ing provided they had not been forced
into tramping? Has not the ''unmerci-
full disaster of our modern machine
labor saving industry followed them
'fast and followed faster,' until their
ambition and moral fiber have been de-
stroyed? Has it not produced enforced
idleness, the bane of general welfare
rather than leisure, the blessing Of it:
There is no more melancholy specta-
Gle than the man who wants to work
and can find no work to do. But the
men who can work and will not work
let them starve. With the hand of Labor
made tenfold more productive by hui
man ingenuity the great problem, after
all, is to find work for those who need
it.