The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-08-08
SOME Aspects or vAGRANCx.

SOME ASPECTS OF vAGRANCY.
The acting superintendent of the Now
York Municipal Lodging House has
made a study Of about two thousand
the immediate cause Of vagrancy n not,
In the great majority Of Instances eco
nomic, but pathologic. The common
impression h that great many OF the
Migrants Of large cities are men whose
advancing years have thrown them out
Of employment. 1t. was found. on the
contrary. that the majority Of the men
who applied to the New York Munich
pal Lodging House were young-in-
deed. In the very prime Of life. OF the
two thousand me examined-6 per
cent. were under q. while only 6.e6 per
cent. were over 60.
1t 10 also generally assumed that the
majority of the Migrants are foreign
ers. There is an idea, too. that q great
many Of the Migrants In large cities
are not city-born, but have been at
tracted to the centers of population be-
cause of the ease with which an un-
earned livelihood may be obtained
there.
The report, however, contradicts all
Of these priori Impressions. OF the
two thousand men examined. only 2
per cent. had been in this country less
than three years. while only per cent
had been in New York less than one
year. The average time Of residence in
the metropolis proved to be thirty-two
years and four months: as thirty-six
was the average age Of the men alto
eether, they had lived practically all Of
their lives in the city and the superin-
tendent adds that practically all Of
these two thousand were our own ma
tive sons"
About IS per cent. Of the homeless
men who seek the shelter Of the mu-
nicipal lodging-house are unemploy-
able. Twelve per cent. of them showed
definite evidences OF defective mental
ity. The infirm from age and those
handicapped by the loss of a member
represent about as many more. About
10 per cent. are habitual loafers and
confirmed .eggars. who have lost the
habit of work but are l1ampered partly
by lack Of skill and partly by the fact
that they are victims of the seasonal
trades which employ a great many men
at certain times Of the year and very
few at others. leaving men without any
definite occupation for months every
year.
Alcohol played an important role.
About 50 per cent. Of these men proved
to be excessive drinkers, q fact which
10 not nearly 50 significant as the adj
mission OF over 80 per cent. that intox-
icating liquors were the sole cause Of
their dependency and wretchedness.
When out Of work q great many Of the
men become discouraged and depressed
and then are unable to rouse them
selves to take up their labor again. The
actual study Of conditions in New York
emphasizes the need for the physicians
interest in social problems, says The
Journal of the American Medical Asso-
citation. Vagrancy among us is dis
| tinctly an American and not an immi-
grant problem. It il our own people
who need care to prevent the occur
renee Of social breakdowns that are as
serious in their way for the individual
and the community as physical break
downs. This il the day of prevention
rather than cure. and knowledge is the
best possible element in prevention
Undoubtedly social work in connection
with dispensaries can do much to re-
lieve this condition and with the de-
| crease of infectious disease social ser.
| vice becomes the physician's next duty