The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-16

erty without giving an equivalent Tor
1t. Mr.. Flynt has consented recently to
speak before gatherings of railroad men
on the tramp in connection with the
great carrying systems of the country.
He has expressed the conviction that the
railroads are chiefly responsible for the
growth Of the tramp evil through the
readiness with which the tramp can fur
nish himself with free transportation
from any one section of the country to
another by beating his way on the neces-
sary railroads.
No self-respecting man will join the
army of tramps permanently. It is unde-
niable, no doubt, that poor men who have
been overtaken by misfortune have been
obliged to live outcast lives for time.
But the class Of men represented by the
genus tramp are rarely the victims Of mis-
fortune. They rather represent that very
live by preying on their fellow creatures.
They avoid all occasions for work as the
average healthy man would avoid all oc-
casions Of contagious disease, and are IA
miliar with localities so as to be able to
tell with some accuracy what places to
go to at given times with the greater as
surance of being able to ply their calling
of laziness and vagabondism.
The part which the railway systems
play in the cultivation Of the tramp is
no doubt quite as important as Mr.. Flynt
believes it to be- But it is not the only
great public agency which plays part
in the propagation of the tramps, nor
indeed the chief agency. The tramp is
mostly the outcome of the wealth of hui
man kindness, misdirected and mistaken,
which Is to be found in the heart Of
the ordinary man and woman. Add to
this the foolish and semi barbarous meth
DDS which prevail on the part of public
authority In dealing with outcasts of this
type, and you have the three great in
f1uences which breed the modern Ameri-
can tramp.
The railway enables the tramp to pass
1AOiAl IAIO ANOItA W IAlC OOUtA IAAO
winter gives warning of it's approach.
Lone who have visited warehouses
and other like places for the temporary
detention of criminals and Migrants
fail to observe the comparatively
few inmates to be seen in such
places in the northern ATTITUDES
during the winter time. The tramp is
stranger to either the police station or
the workhouse in northern communities
in cold weather. He has been furnished
with a free ride to more congenial climes
during the inclement weather, or, II he is
to be seen so domicied for a, winter, it
Is the work of deliberate purpose on his
part, and he will be found on inquiry to
have made his choice wisely and to have
taken up his abode in an Institution
wherein the possibility of hard work Is to
all intents non-existent.
The tramp never has recourse to public
charity or safe-keeping as long as individ-
ual kindness can be drawn upon. His
1lOiAis1U lliSIiHCtS, however, I6HQ6T THE IN
differently managed railroad always his
friend. Foolish laws or good laws laxly
administered applying to his case furnish
him with all the protection he needs
against being ever made to give his ser
vices gratis to society. He has become
scourge to American society. He has
put an end in all most intelligent commu-
mites to the sympathy with which he
used to be regarded, and he has done so
by the repeated demonstrations he has
given of his own irredeemable worthless
ness.
If the authorities of charitable and cor
receive institutions could be got to co..
operate with the railroads of the country
in the suppression of the tramp, there
would soon be an end made of him and
society would be decidedly benefited by
his Disappearance.