The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1921-05-05

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Unfortunately society makes mn
allowance for men Of that temper
The seasonal worker out OF vorr
Is regarded 40 q vagrant. He Il
hunted by the police and pitied ~
charity. He and his pocketful 4.
savings are the proper prey OF All
kinds of vice and fraud. No plscs
is open to him but the lodrine
houses. which are dirty and Com.
fortress places. breeders Of the drue
habit and of other habits which nm.
fit men for normal social relations
Hence the seasonal worker gener-
ally deteriorates into a confirmed
tramp, beggar. or thief.
A Study Of TrampA
There has been much romance
written about. tramps, and also sew.
eral honest realistic books. Tn.
best Of these are by Jack London
and Josiah Flynt both Of whom
tramped with the tramps. These
books bring wildly home to one
the social waste and deterioration
that 30 with vagrancy, but also the
lure Of freedom and adventure
which leads men into 1t.
When it comes to scientific study
Of vagrancy, remarkably little has
been done, considering what a largo
fraction Of the nations labor supply
it absorbs. Perhaps the best thinr
that can be found in this line is a
study Of 1000 homeless men made
by Mrs. Alice Willard Solenbereer
for the Russell Sage Foundation
She studied carefully a thousand
men who applied for aid to a GER
tain organization in Chicago. She
found that of this thousand only,
220 could be properly classed as
tramps-that is, men who wandered
for the sake Of wandering.
The distinguishing thing about
the tramp, she found, was that he
had an overpowering nomadic i'm
pulse. He is almost invariably a
man who Graves wandering as some
others crave alcohol. In some the
craving was incessant and kept
them always on the go. In others
it was periodical. Some men de-
serted their families regularly at
intervals OF years. wandered for
while, and then returned and set
tied down as usual. In yet other
cases, the men had controlled the
impulse to wander until some mis-
fortune overlook them. Usually
this was either the death OF a wife,
which broke up the home, or a
failure in business or the loss of a
sum Of money. Such men usually
deteriorated rapidly on drink and
drugs, feeling that they had lost
their proper places in society.
The continuous wanderer, on the
other hand, is often a man who en-
joys his way of life and keeps his
self-respect. Tramps OF this class
come from all grades Of society, and
include a considerable proportion
OF college men. Many Of them
have ways of making money along
the road. Some of them are very
accomplished beggars. Many OF
these inveterate wanderers are in
telligent men who differ from
others chiefly In that they cannot
endure the routine of a settled life
and must wander. Explorers, pro-
fessional globe trotters. literary
and journalistic vagabonds, are OF
the same type, but have had the
good fortune to find a way of maxi
ing a living that is congenial to
them, and approved by society.
1t is said that crime is the con-
science Of society. That is, every
crime points to some imperfection
in our social organization. The
feeble-minded murderer would not
have killed if he had been properly
studied in the public schools and
isolated.
Neither would the seasonal work
er and the hobo be a menace, per-
haps, if their cases were intelli-
gently studied. The seasonal
worker is necessity. Crops could
not be gathered, nor boats manned.
nor ice harvested without this army
of floating labor. But society
makes no proper provision for this
man who is necessary to it. His
numbers could easily be ascertain
ed, his movements directed. Gov
eminent could see to it that his liv-
Ing and working conditions were
decent, as IT does in the case Of set
tied factory workers. AS it is,
when he works he is provided with
the most degrading sort OF sur
roundings, for the most part. The
typical lumber camp. with it's YER
min and dirt, is an example. When
he has finished his work in one
place and starts for another, he
becomes a hunted animal. The po-
lice keep him moving, give him IL
hours to leave town. The railroads
throw him of when he tries to ex-
ecute the order. Only the tramp
lodging house opens its doors to
him, trusts him and welcomes him.
So he is hammered down into the
ranks of the confirmed Migrants
and criminals.