Pueblo chieftain., 1921-05-05
RETURN OF THE HOBO

tain type come to prefer 1t. Freedom
and wandering are the things that we
all dream of, and the man for whom
the alternative is 10 hours "a day at
some monotonous mechanical task can
not perhaps be altogether blamed If ne
prefers a life in which labor and lels-
ure alternate and there is change OF
scene and occupation.
Unfortunately society makes no al
| lowance for men of that temper;
regarded as a vagrant He is hunted
| by the police and pitied by charity.
He and his pocketful OF savings are
the proper prey of all kinds OF vice
and fraud. No place is open to MN
but tho lodging houses. which are
| of the drug habit and of other haoits
which unfit men for norma social re
lations. Hence the seasonal worker
generally deteriorates into a confirmed
| tramp. beggar, or thief.
study of Trnmps.
There has been much romance writ
ten about tramps. and also several
honest realistic books. The best OF
these are by Jack London apd Josiah
F'lynt, both of whom trampcd with
| tramps. These books bring vividly
home to one the social waste and de-
| tcrioration that go with vagrancy,
but also the lure of freedom and ad-
venture which leads men into II.
When it comes to scientific study OF
vagrancy, remarkably little has been
done, considering what a largo frac-
| tion OF the nations labor supply 1t ab-
serbs. Perhaps the best thing that can
\ be found in this line is study of one
| thousand homeless men made by Mrs
Alice Willard Solenberger for the Rus
sell Sage Foundation. She studied
carefully a thousand men who applied
| for aid to a certain organization IN
Chicago. She found that of this
thousand only 20 could he properly
classed as tramps-'that is. men who
wandered for the sake of wandering,
The distinguishing thing about tho
| tramp, she found. was that he had an
overpowering nomadic impulse. he is
almost invariably a man who Graves
wandering as some others crave al
cohol. In some tho craving was in
cessant and kept them always on the
go In others 1t was periodical. Some
men deserted their families regularly
at intervals of years, wandered for q
while. and then returned and settled
down as usual. In yet other cases. tho
men had controlled the impulse TO
took them. Usually this WAS either
tho death of wife, which broke up
| the home. or 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 enjoys
his way OF life and keeps his self -re-
spect. 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 invcteratc wanderers are IN
| telligent men who differ from others
| chiefly in that they cannot endure tho
routine of n settled life and must
| wander. Explorers. professional CLONE
| trottsrs, literary and journalistic vaE-
abonds. arc of the same type. but have
had the good fortune to find way OF
making 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 imperfcction IN
our social organization. The feeble.
minded murderer would not have kill
cd II he had been properly studied In
the public schools and isolated.
Neither would the seasonal worker
and the hobo he a menace, perhaps. II
their cases wcr intellircntly 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 asccrtained.
his movements directed. Government
could sec to IL thnt his living and
working conditions were decent. as II
does In the case of settled factory
workers As Il Is. when he works nc is
provided with tho most degrading sort
Of surroundings. for the most part.
| The typical lumber camp. with It's
vermin and dirt. is an example. When
he has finished his work in one place
and starts for another, he becomes a
hunted animal. The police keep him
moving, give him IL hours to leave
town. The railroads throw him OIL
when he tries to execute the order.
Only tho tramp lodging house opens
its doors to him. trusts him and well
comes him. So he Is hammered down
into tho ranks Of the confirmed vaE-