The herald., 1895-02-04
CRIMINALS AND TRAMPS.

were there so many tramps in the ooun-
try as there have been in the las
twelve months, nor was there ever
so great percentage OF the PEG.
pie in idleness. This condition
demands the most serious ehec
ton and an inquiry az to the means &c
be employed to produce changes that
will relieve from the evils with which
the country is afflicted.
It cannot have escaped the attention
OF the observant that tram pism is pro-
portionste to the prevalence of idleness.
and reasoning from cause to effect, il
may be said that idleness IL the fruitful
parent OF trampism. Men are not nat
urally nomads; they are sociable beings,
attached to homes and localities, and en-
Joy com Portable surroundings. Nomad-
ism is an outgrowth OF pastoral
life, or of other pursuits which re-
quire removal from place to place.
Agriculture and mechanics nscessi-
tate and promote the establish ment
OF homes and permanency OF residence.
The United States ia sminently an agri-
cultural country, with 40 inconsidera-
BILE man ufacturing industries in locsli-
ties. There is very little ind m emit
and really no necessity for men to wan
der in pursuit of employment in order
to earn subsistence. There is no coun-
try in which 90 large percentage of the
people possess homes as this, and there
would be NO occasion for men to roam
In pursuit of employmsn were shsre as
perfect development and organization of
industries as there are in many ma
tions. So far as food 10 concerned, and
indeed. all the necessaries OF life, there
is an abundance except in a very few To-
csties. which can be obtained at less
coat than for half century or more.
1t is most unnatural for men to leave
family and neighborhood relations and
to leave their homes yet it is done. aud
those accustomed to better conditions
do 20 about sleeping in barns and sheds
and under fences, and subject them
selves to the preoariousness OF food snp-
plies which g wandering life imposes.
When men do these things We can
hardly Escape the conclusion that their
minds are disordered, or that they act
under the compulsion Of circumstances.
Men who do this are called tramps, and
are treated with disrespsct and con-
tumely.
As has already been said, tramp ism is
TO the extent of idlen ees,
whether it 10 voluntary or compulsory.
Idleness produces Incidence OF spiris.
dislike of work and loss OF self respect.
The loss OF eelf respect renders one
willing to humiliats himself to begging,
and impairs moral perceptions and
restraint, and il one loses courage, inc
cites to the commission of crimes even
OF heinous nature to gain subsistence.
Trsmpism may almost be regarded as
inchoate cri me. mot that sill trAmps
commit orims-but the majority Of those
who commit crimes are idlers 40 far 90
legitimate work Ia concerned. II idle
ness produces trampism, and trampism
suggests and leads to crime, which will
hardly be disputed by those who have
had opportunity to observe, or are
familiar with history, then treatment Of
the tramp evil should be digsctsd to the
removal OF the cause.
Too much labor and too many words
are expended en- symptoms, and too
little is done 70 destroy the root Of the
mslsdy. Idlers may be locked up and
put in the chaingang without discrimi-
nation, which is merely Impressive,
but the treatment leaves untouched the
exciting cause. II ia not even reiorma-
tory especially upon those who do not
deserve such treatment, the effect is
quite the reverse. The greatest injustice
10 done by applying the same treatment
to those who are idlers and tramps from
choice and to those who are such from
compulsion Of circu instances. When steps
are taken to separate and classify tramps
appropriate and just treatment can be
administered. Those who voluntarily
make themselves burdens upon society
are entitled to such consideration only
az humanity dictates, and deserve
treatment quite different from that
given to those who become burdens
without their fault. The remedy is for
society to put itsslf in position to offer
employment to those who are disposed
to accept work, and this will inevitably
result in proper Classification OF
tramps.
1t is not the mission of gov
eminent, nstionsl. state OF mu-
nicipal, to provide work for all
who are idlors; governments have
comparative ly little to do ii kept within
their proper spheres OF scton. Society
must pu t itself in position to do that
through olices and methods that will
open the largest possible fields of en-
ployment-through policies with which
government may have something to do,
and will do at the command of those
who create an d control IL. Organized
and unorgsniz cd charities will not sup
press trampism. and cannot altogether
relieve from suffering. This ia a free
country and men may so whithersosvsr
they will, so long as they are guilty OF
no crime, and those who are willing to
work will 60 from one locality to an
other in pursuit. of employment, which
they cannot obtain at home. Every
community is bound by good morals