The aegis & intelligencer. [volume] (Bel Air, Md.) 1864-1923, 1895-03-29
STRONG REMEDIEs NEEDED.

Peace and good order have hitherto |
been such strongly marked character
istics of rural life in Maryland that it
is with feelings of amaZement that we
have read almost daily for the past
few ntunths of acts of lawlessness and
brut lily committed i'll our suburban
towns and country districts. 1t is use
less to recite them for their recollec
ton is impressed all too plainly upon
the minds of our citizens, accustomed
county politics and the recital of
the every day incidents of peaceful,
honest lives The fiendish murder of
an innocent fourteen year old school
girl in Caroline county last Tuesday
is the last chapter in this unwonted re-
cord of desperate crime.
This sort of thing, in its growing
frequency, is new to Maryland and
must not be allowed to continue. We
have been careless, trusting in our
own sense of peace and security, and
have submitted to a considerable in
flux of a very doubtful and undesira-
BILE class of denizens. While the no.
boes who followed Coxey in his foolish
march to Washington have probably
all left our borders, it is noticeable
that his advent marked the beginning
of this period of disturbances. 1t is
most probable that the license assum-
ed by and tolerated II his movement
has emboldened many evilly disposed
spirits to come out in more open de-
fiance of the law, and has perhaps call
ed the attention of worthless Migrants
from other states to the leniency of
our laws and our people.
Our own county has for the past
two weeks been overrun with tramps.
Fifty of these wanderers is not an I'M
usual number for our county aims
house to shelter and feed in one night.
Many more are cared for at the Jail,
and it is impossible to estimate the
number who lodge in barns and hay
ricks and tax the charity of our peo-
Some of these men are undoubtedly
honest laborers, seeking work at the
fishing shores or wherever they may
find it, but many of them are worth
less desperate characters, who only
need suitable time and opportunity
to develope them into first class Grim
inals 1t seems rather hard to turn
the cold shoulder to hungry wayfar-
err, but we must remember that these
tramps are not native productions
Who ever heard of a citizen of Hartford
taking the road, either through Volt
ton or compulsion? Very few real
tramps are produced in Maryland
in fact many of them are not even citi-
Zens of the United States, but are IN
naturalized foreigners, ready to assist
in the overthrow of our free institu-
tions which were meant for their well
fare and protection.
Therefore, while some inoffensive
parties may suffer with those who
need the restraint, some measures must
be taken to check this rapidly growing
evil of vagabondism. 1t is true, work
at remunerative wages is scarce but
any well-disposed man can find an ex-
istence in this country without resort
ing to tramping. Our country dis
tricts must be better policed. Our
wives and children must be made safe
on our highways and peaceful citizens
must be enabled to retire to rest with
out fear of robbery or murder. Every
wandering vagrant should be made to
give a satisfactory account of himself
or placed where he can do no HARM
A good beginning in this work would
be for our county authorities to pro-
vide stoneyard in Bel Air where
those who really need food and shelter
might purchase it by few hours of
honest labor. There would then be
no good reason for our citizens to fur
nish aid to wayfarers for it would be
in their own power to obtain it, and
those who were not willing to work
that they might eat could and should
be committed as Migrants. This
scheme would also remove a burden
from the taxpayers, for the county
needs the crushed stone and the value
of it would pay the expense of feeding
the tramps.