The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1897-11-07
THE TRAMP CURE.

One of the most discouraging facts
to political reformers and to men en-
saged in striving for the very simplest
essentials of good government is the
strange inability of the public to APP
ply to crying evils the obvious and
proper remedy. The patient is sick; he
knows exactly what is the matter with
him. he has standing by him a potion
that is known to be an iHfallible~ cure;
and, while uttering mournful plants
over his unhappy plight, he refuses to
stretch out his hand and swallow the
healing draught
At the conference of charities and
corrections at ST. Cloud the story was
told once more of how easy it is to
abolish the tramp nuisance. Informa-
ton is ample to enable us to look at
the tramp habit and the tramp evil in
its true light, without undue ferocity
or maudlin sympathy. The tramp, in
ninety-nine cases out of hundred is
not working man out of employment.
He is not laborer, he has not been
a laborer for years, and labor is the
thing that his soul recoils from with
almost as abject shrinking as his body
knows at the approach of a bath. 1t
is even noted that in times of depres-
sion, when the number of the unem-
ployed is greatest, the number of
tramps diminishes. 1t is in good times.
when people have something to spare,
and open-hearted, generous-handed
humanity can be counted upon to give
men living for nothing, that the idle
take to the road. The tramp is a man
with whom idleness has become
chronic and incurable disease. That is
all there is to it. 1t is a disease as
we'll marked and as deadly as dipso
mania or the morphine habit The fell
low who has sunk to genuine tramp
dom will do anything and suffer any,
thing as long as he is not made to
work Dirt and idleness and a fair
living from the hand of charity are
dear to him.
Now, the genus tramp can be totally
exterminated almost without effort
1t was related at this conference
how, in one county of this state.
the tramp had disappeared totally.
while neighboring counties were so in
tested with him as to find the nuisance
almost uncomfortable. The secret of II
was that in this county an organized
effort had been made to substitute
work for money, meat and drink.
small appropriation was made for the
purpose of supplying labor for the un-
employed. Tickets were issued against
this work and distributed among the
people, with the earnest request that,
whenever applied to by tramp for
assistance, they should give him one
of these tickets, emitting him to
comfortable living in exchange for a
fair amount Of work. One dose was
enough. The tramp, deprived of the
cold victuals and general charity on
which he had subsisted, and compelled
to choose between work and starva-
ton, fled from the county. He will
flee from every other county and from
every state just as soon as this COM
mon sense policy Is put into operation.
1t does not need complicated sys-
TEN of state laws to cure the tramp
habit and abolish the tramp nuisance.
Each locality, each town and county
can and ought to do its part, The evil
is a purely local one. 1t is its own fault
if any county is annoyed and overrun
by tramps. The remedy is a woodpile
or a stone pile, or public highway
with sharp taskmaster to see that
good work is done upon it. Set every
man who an aies for assistance at