The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1904-09-05
A Gypsy Invasion.

There is said to be trouble at Ellis
Island over two or three hundred
gypsies, said to be the vanguard of
a considerable army on the way to
this country. The leader of the band
which has just arrived says he is
Brazilian and a naturalized American
citizen. and that the people in his
party intend to form a colony near
Winnipeg. Some Of the immigration
officials appear to be scared.
According TO the books which have
been written by the two or three men
who have known the gypsy most in
timately, the dismay of the officials
seems without warrant. This strange
people, known as 'Romany," Yin
cali, Egyptian" or gypsy" accord
ing to the land in which particular
bands happen to live, is of unknown
origin and peculiar habits, and has
its own language. which is unlike any
other and undoubtedly very ancient.
But these things are not in them
selves reasons for Directing to the
gypsy as a colonist. George Borrowe,
Charles G. Leland, and Paul Hester,
the three men who have perhaps
studied the gypsy most thoroughly,
agree in ascribing to him peculiar
virtues and fewer vices than are pos
sessed by a similar class of ''Gorgios''
as outsiders are called in the Romany
tongue The morality of this wan
dering race is said to be above that
of the average peasant, and if they
make their living by horse-trading
and fortune-telling, these occupations
certainly compare favorabIy with a
good deal of the trading that is done
in cities. Moreover, there have been
instances Of gypsy bands settling
down in farming colonies, and this
seems to be the intention Of the band
/ recently arrived.
A certain prejudice against gypsies
doubtless comes from legends current
hundred or more years ago, in which
! eypsies were charged with abducting
! children. 1t was favorite device of
the Old-time ballad-singer or story
teller, to represent the young heir or
heiress as stolen by gypsies. 1t is
doubtful, however, whether there
were any authenticated instances of
such transactions, and even if there
had been, it is not an unheard-of
thing for people who are not gypsies
to steal children and hold them to
ransom. The gypsy was a convenient
villain for the story-tellers purposes,
because he had no friends in the audi
ence.
In spite of the depredations of
which the gypsy has always been
more or less suspected, instances are
rare of any gypsy being convicted of
crime. Most Of their living is made
by a kind of trading, legitimate in
itself, but more or less mingled with
what one might call cheating. The
theory of the gypsy regarding the
GOrgiO doubtless is that when the
Gorgio comes to a gypsy camp to have
MS fortune told he more or less eX-
poets to be humbugged, and it is only
right to give him the worth of his
money. AS to the horse-trading bust
ness and other dubious transactions
in which the gypsy is reputed to be
engaged, so long as We have a proverb
in this country to the effect that even
a deacon cannot be trusted in a horse
trade, we cannot afford to condemn
the gypsy very heavily for his
shrewdness. Finally, if he wants to
settle down and earn his living hon
estly, America should be the last
country to object to admitting him.
especially in view Of the riff-raff
which has been pouring into the land
for the last ten or fifteen years.