The Birmingham age-herald., 1903-10-30
TEN MIGRANTS GO ID FLAT TOP TODAY Women Arrested at Pratt City
 Yesterday WILL ENFORCE NEW LEW The Sheriffs Have Received Copies of the New Law, Which Will Go
 Into Effect Tuesday, No.
 vember 8.

As an intimation of what loafers and lazy persons in Jefferson county may ex- pect after this week Deputy Sheriffs Fow- Ter and Stradford arrested ten negro wo- men in Pratt City yesterday on the charge of vagrancy. They were taken before Justice of the Peace Comstock, tried and sentenced to serve twenty days at Flat Top. They are all in the county jail now and will be sent out to the mines this morning.
 The arrest of these women was made is in no wise as strict as the act recently passed by the legislature.
 New Vagrant Law.
 The new vagrancy law will go into ef- feet next Monday at midnight and offl- cers promise that matters will be made extremely warm for all persons found in the city or county without visible means of support.
 The state code provides that criminal legislation shall not go into effect until thirty days after the adjournment of the legislature which passed the act The last legislature adjourned on October 8, and thirty days after that is November 2nd, or next Monday. At midnight on Monday, therefore, the vagrancy law will be in full force. Some of it's provisions are very stringent but the law is copied in many respects from that of other states in which it has proved a great benefit.
 Official Underseore. of state have received official copies of the new law with the following words of the act underscored
 Be 1t further enacted, that 1t shall be and is hereby made the duty of the sheriff and constables of every county, the po- lice and town marshals or other like officers of every town and city in this state to give information under oath to any officer now empowered by law to is- sue criminal warrants for all vagrants within their knowledge or who they may have good reason to suspect as being vagrants in their respective counties, towns and cities. and thereupon it shall be the duty of said officer to issue a war rant for the apprehension of the person alleged to be the vagrant making the same returnable to some court of the county. having Jurisdiction In misdemea- nor cases"
 In order that persons interested may have a better idea of the provisions of the new vagrancy law is is reprinted in full as follows:
 Be It Enacted.
 r Be 1t enacted by the legislature of Alabama: That any person wandering or stroling about in idleness, who Is able to work, and has no property to support him; or any person leading an idle, i'm. moral or prohigate life, having no proper. ty to support him, and who Is able to work and does not work; or any person able to work, having no property to sup port him. and who has no visible or known means of a fair, honest and reput- able livelihood Qhe term visible and known means of a fair. honest and reputa- ble livelihood' above used shall be con- strued to mean reasonable, continuous employment, at some lawful occupation, for reasonable compensation, or a fixed and regular income from property or oth- CT investment, which income is sufficient for the support and maintenance of such vagranD; Or any person having a fixed abode, who has no property to support him, and who lives by stealing. trading or bartering stolen property; or any per- son who is a common drunkard, or pro- fessonal gambler, living in idleness; or any ablebodied person who is found beg ging for a living, or who quits his house and leaves his wife and children without means of subsistence, or any person who Is able to work. and who does not work, but hires out his minor children and lives upon their wages; or any person over IS and under 21 years of age, able to work and who does not work, and has no prop erty to support him and has not some known or visible means of a fair, honest and reputable livelihood, and whose pa- rents are unable to support him, and who is not in attendance upon some educa- tional institute; or any person who is prostitute or a keeper of house of pros- titutlon and who has no honest employ ment whereby to maintain herself, is here by declared to be a vagrant and must on conviction be fined not more than five hundred t$500) dollars and may also be im- prsoned in the county jail or sentenced to hard labor for the county for not more than six months. Provided. that 1t shall be a sufficient defense to the charge of vagrancy under any of the provisions of this act that the defendant has made bona fide efforts to obtain employment at reasonable prices of his labor, and has failed to obtain the same. The provisions of this act shall not apply to persons who are idle under strike orders or lock- outs"