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About The North Platte semi-weekly tribune. (North Platte, Neb.) 1895-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 10, 1908)
LEM OF THE AMERICAN TRAMP HOW SHALL VAGRANCY EVIL BE CHECKED? Lawn of Various States Have Proved Unequal to the Task Elaborate System for the Cure of Habitual Idleness in Force on the Continent of Europe Is Striking Contrast to the Futile Efforts That Have Been Made Here in the United States. KV YORK. Tho course of tho vagrant's llfo Is In a vicious cir cle Street, park bench, cheap lodging house, court, Jail, street, brnko-bonm, court, jail, etc.; ho It K008, from month to month, from hand to mouth, from city to city. More ac curately Htated, tho vngrant'a courso Jh spiral and downwnrd, with accel orated momentum toward demoraliza tion, dlsoaHO and death. Along IiIh rond aro certain "ro8cuo stations" charltablo societies, missions, curb itono hrendllnpR, Industrial homos, jiersonul vlnltalloiiH In ulcoholln wiirdB, ThoBO nro effort b to oxtend tho help ing hand, to bwKcIi tho vngrnnt from tho circular track to tho "straight ahead lino." Hut generally the mo mentum Ih too great. Failures aro re corded far In oxcosh of oven imagined HticcoHieu writes O, F. Lowlu of tho Ohnrlty Organization society In tho New York Timon. Whon wo Keek, by Imprisonment, to deal with tho Individual "vng," what do wo find? Generally Ineffective, In ndoqunto, unjunt methods of punlsh mont, so futile uh to ho rldlculoiiH, woro thoy not ho tragic, Wo llnd cor rectional mothodH In Jail that, lnutcad of correcting, debase, mellindn aB vagrant ns nro the prisoners. Wo bo llovo that each man who Is nblo Hhould contrlbnlo his fihnro of the day'n work. Nnturo abhorH a vacuum, and tho community In gonorul abhors tho constitutional Idler. If tho drone work not, nelthor shall ho ent. Wo bollovo that crime should bo punished. Vagrancy In a erlmo undor tho law, Punishment In generally and nocos Barlly effected by tho restraint of lib erty, within a ponnl Institution. Vag rants nro imprisoned generally In Jails or workhouses. Dut how? , What are the conditions of Ameri can jalls7 Do thoy check vagrancy? Do thoy punish Justly? Do they reform? AN ANSWER hnii rocontly boon mndo public which Is a scathing arraignment of conditions In a great innjorlty of American county Jails, nil tho more scathing and daggering bo causo mado aftor a careful Investiga tion by a committee of the National Trlson Congress, which doos not sook Honsntlnnnllsm. Tho following para graphs nro nlinost random quotations from tho roport: "If tho only or chlof purpoBO of Jails woro to koep wild boasts in cages, most of tho Jnlls nro well enough adapted for this purpose. . . . The cuHtomnry mode of serving food U re volting, demoralizing and often dun i;oroua to health, , . . Often wo must lmaglno bunk over bunk, In tho Bamo coll or cago, crowded until tho horrors of stench or suffocntton aro Indescrib able. . . , Under an opon Jail systom tho filthiest, vilest prisoner punlshon or tortures thoao who havo not yot mink to his level, . . , Tho very iitruc- Table showing tho prisoners commltto In 1904, the length of senteucoi,, for various periods, turn of tho ordinary Jail Is radically wrong, nnd offends against tho laws of health. . . . Almost all the reports from Jnlls record tho dull, monontou otis, maddening tramp of prisoner walking aimlessly up and down tho corridor, ... It la tho path of lunacy. Why not havo wallod ynrds In tho upon nlr, partly sheltered from rain, covered over with stool wire to pro vent escnpo? Hut thin plan Is rarely thought of. , , . Card playing is tho uulvor6al resource for passing the dull and anxious waking hours." Many oxamploa nro givon of oxcoo hIvo overcrowding. dbqo -. -Wr" "" . if ru-. m-J. L u,k m ph m h m "In Birmingham, Ala., 210 men In 72 colls; 25 women In ton cells, . , , Tho Inmntos of Julls nro chiefly of two classes thoso awaiting dial and con victed tnlsdomennants. . . . The ordi nary term of convicted misdemean ants, vagrnnts and Inebriates Is too short for any sort of Industrial train lug or Hystomntlc production. A care ful utudy of the situation In ull pnrta of tho land has long ago driven many to the conclusion that we must havo district labor colonies or workhouses for thoso convicted of offenses, and that tho term of degenoratcs must be at least two years, If wo really Intend to lit them for useful lives." TUB committee plainly sljows that under prosont condltlons-.nd lav8 the county Jail must provldo for mnlcu and females; children, youth and adults; first offenders, habitual crimi nals, vagabonds, pioslltutes; wit nesses held for their testimony; poor dobtoni whoso crime Is their poverty; Idiots, Imbecjlea, lnsano, eplloptlcs, persons arrested on suspicion, ami npoploctlcn whom tho snplont pollco man could not distinguish from drunk ards. All thoso, says tho report, aro often under ono roof mismanagement, In a building so built that cries and whispers travel along a corridor with cngos opon at tho sldo. Now, what chanco Is thoro In tho nverago Jail for tho reformation of tho Imprisoned vagrant? Wo may think that Jack London draws the long bow In his plcturoBquo descriptions of llfo on tho rond, but In his tnlo of lmprla onmont In tho Erlo county Jail ho novor wrote of audi horrifying condl tlous as aro described by tho report of tho commlttoo, of which Prof, Charloo It. Hondorson of tho Univer sity ot Chicago waa chairman. What chance, above nil, ban tho dotalned witness or Biispoct, hold In tho Jail for hlo tostlmony, and innocout before the law until ho Is proven gullty7 What chanco has ho of not suffering con tnmlnallon and gaining a hatred of bo clety that will not die? In mnny coun ty Jails tho only oxorclao "enjoyed" by tho prisoners Is In a common largo room, with stool grating separating It from tho surrounding corrldorn, and cnllod in Jail parlance tho "hull pen." RE wo not then In n wrotchod dl lomtnn, wo who urgo that tho vagrant rocolvo treatment that will dotor and reform? Shnll wo, know Ing Jail condltloriB, allow him to roam nt largo? Uut tho vagrant habit Is fos terod by Jdloness, mendicancy nnd tho absence of prosecution. Evon as It In, the unwillingness of many pollco ofh clnls or magistrates to prosecute tramps Is well known. When the vagrant is told to "get out of town or bo run in" ho of courso decamps, and tho town finances nro spared, while the neighboring community rocelvcs tho shifted burden. Yot If tho con victed vagrant Is Bout to Jail ho bo- coinoa a source of contamination to 75 r M " 5 a v ;" ::"i&r a'1.1 1 '.:i&- KAiAH tUtXi 1W.U Mn Ml d In tho Unltod States for vagrancy ana the percentages of commitments other Inmates, and In addition he Is ofton glad to hlbornnto or spond n fow weeks whore warmth, food, Idleness and tho company of vicious fellows Is usBurod, Aro wo not often, by admlfi istorjiig tno law, condemning the vng rant to further depths of degeneracy wimi uo uio roporta or chiefs of po llco show? Tho writer recently re coivoti oxtonuod reports front 60 chiefs, representing us many dlfforont cltloB, representative of Inrgo and small municipalities. Tho lettorn Bbowod that In must Instances v:i rants aro committed to Jails, less fro ijueuuy io worKuousos, ana III a fow Instances to the prnltent.nry. Boston, Lowell and other Massachusetts towns report Bending some vagrants to tho state farm, where there Is n nlno months' sentence. In those Jails and workhouses the labor required, when there Is any, consists generally of bronklrig Btono In quarry or In Jnll yard, rondmaklng, chalrcanlng, chair making nnd farm work. This work Is on paper." Thoro Is little or no ef fort mado to bring reformative Influ encen to bear on thbso nerving short sentences or to teach a trade. Even at the Massachusetts Btato farm, where the workhouse conditions are far bettor than In most correction Institutions where misdemeanants of tho vagrant or Inebriate class aro con fined, the Industries maintained seem to bo far more largely carried on ns sontencea than as chances to earn n living. MANY of tho cltler, uso tho Ilortlllon systom of Identification measure ments. Ono chief reportu asking the 'usual questions," nnothor tho "name nnd nddrcBB" as though a vagrant's nnmo and nddrcsa would bo of vulue! Whnt a contrust Is this to tho olabor ato Ilolglan system ror tho Idontlllca Hon of vagrants, which centers in tho easier contralo do vagabondnge," a goneral identification bureau at Ilrus boIs? In Belgium tho proceBS of trying an arrested vagrnnt Is speedy nnd thorough. As soon as tho police arrest a vagrant thoy communicate by tele graph with Brussels. Within a fow houra thoro Ib sent buck from Brus sols by tolograph a full description of tho vagrant and of his previous career, If anything of tho prwonor Is on rec ord. On tho following morning the magistrate, who is a graduate of tho university, has heforo him Btifllclent material about this particular vagrant 'J f 1 1 11 i iwiV VAtswud. UffiDtr. oltoiain xT- to in ligfi PRISONERS COMMITTED IN THE UNITED 8TATES DURING 1904. The table classifies the principal offe nses, showing total number of sen tences for each offense and perce ntage of each class of offenses to total number of sentences, 149,691. to onablo him to form an adequate Judgmont of tho enso. Coupled with this carefulness nnd completeness of Investigation, regis tration, nnd ndoquacy of Judgmont is tho Bolglun syBtom for tho punish ment of vagrants, which differs so cb Bontlnlly from our opportunist moth odB ns to bo staggering at first to con- tomplato. Wo "bunch" our vagrants In law. In Now York stnto tho man with no money, no work, and no vIbI blo means of aupport Is a vagrant. That such n man la not ofton Jailed, unlcBB tho caso la aggravated by other factors, la not tho fault of tho law, so to Bpeak, but la duo to tho un willingness of magistrates to commit tho unemployed homeless, or to tho ludlfforonco of tho authorities. But in Belgium tho stnto of "no work, no homo, no money" Ib not n crlmo, un ices thoro la added to that tho state of intentional Idleness. BUT when Belgium does commit n vagrant, thon woo to tho liberty of that vagrant for a long porlod! Con viction la to a dopot do mondlclto for from two to aoven yours, Tho dopot do mondlclto la nt Morxplna, a groat Industrial colony with accommodations for about C.000 prisoners. Hero thoro occurs a classification, tho worst ele ments being at night placed In soli tary confinement and otherwise placed undor strict discipline. Intensive) la bor Ih carried on, tho work being graded according to tho physical abili ty of tho Individual Inmates. Tho Belgian treatment of vagrants brings out prominently several facta. In tho first pluco, Belgium bellovos In getting vagrants off the atreota and lilghwnys. Somo years ago tho minis tor of Justlco declared thnt thero wbb no vagabondage In Belgium. This statement needs Interpreting. Thoro Is probably fairly llttlo vagrancy along the highways, becauso every vagrant miiBt bo apprehended nnd mudo to show cnuae through his pa pora, or by tho absence of a record nt Brussels, why ho should not bo sent to the depot do mondlclto. The fact that Morxplna contains about D.000 in mutoa, and that tho average porlod of detention la 18 mouths, and thnt the majority of tho Inmates nre returned to Morxplas for succeeding offenses of vagrancy, shows that vagrancy In Belgium la not eradicated from tho so cial body, but removed as much ua much ns puuslblo from uocloty. SECONDLY, Belgium doea not ro gard all vagrauta alike. If .there nro extenuating circumstances, or If the case of vagrancy seems tho result of physical Incapacity, the apprehend- od vngiant Is gent to a malson do ref use, which, besides nctlng cs a kind of almshouse for the aged and handi capped, servos somowhat us do tho voluntury colonies of Germany for those wandorors who at the tlmo of their coming within tho law nro unfit through Ignorance, Illnoss or Inefficien cy to make tholr living. Thirdly, Delglum does not expoot that any lnrge proportion of Its vag rant population will be reformod. Most of the vagrants at Morxplas aro recidivists, repeaters, who havo reached their present position through drink. Fourthly, Belgium hellovea that va grancy, being a social dlsenso devel oped through months and yea's, can not bo cured by 30 days of Idleness In a demoralizing Jail. The average torm of detention la in months, long enough to effect a considerable euro, If euro Is possible. In Germany and In Switzerland tho troatmont of tho habitual vagrant is slmllnr to that prevailing In Belgium. Thoro aro 24 compulsory labor colo nies In Germany, the average length of sentence hoing ono year. Numerous Industries are carried on nnd tho cost is comparatively small. Theao work houseo have diminished' vagrancy, while the 34 voluntary labor colonies, accommodating nearly 4,000 persons, show no ovldenco of any substantial Improvement resulting from tho time spent In tho colonics. In Switzerland thoro nro several compulsory colonies, tho sentences being from six months to two years. THE Swls3 colony of WItzwyl, which Mr. Edmoml Kelly has recently de scribed in detail In bin book on "Tho Elimination of the Tramp," Bhowa that In a certain proportion of cases tho lnmatoa committed to a compulsory ;-- tjv . :.-i , 1 -!.' .im'KH :'iodT, yiiHi.ii LLC " 'teotiiik msuWimCvMSm a- sy. zy. " labor colony dp not reform and rejoin tho ranks of the Indtmtrlal army. A trained English Investigator Btatod recently, regarding WItzwyl, that thoro is no doubt that tho fact of hav ing worked hard for a yenr or 13 months makes a man npt to get into tho hnbit of working, and this la be llovod to bo tho actual result in Switzerland. What, thon, Bhnll wo say regarding tho treatment of vngmncy In tho Uni ted StntcB? First, that at present it Is thoroughly Inadequate. As statis tics and tho accompanying diagrams show, C7 por cent, of tho commitments to penal Institution!) nro to county Jnlls and workhouses In which tho comlltlona nro often exceptionally bad. Drunkenness, vagrancy nnd dis orderly conduct woro responsible for more than half tho commitments dur ing 1001 to penal Institutions in tho United States. For thoso throe of fenses tho county Jnlls nnd work houses, to which tho largo majority ot offondorB aro committed, offer prno tlcnlly no reformative lnlluoncea. For more serloua crlmoa, such as burglary, robbery, assault, forgery, etc., thoro are reformatories and utato prisons, In which latter Institutions somo reform atory lulluonco la felt. Tp HE sontences for vngrancy nro In i over 00 por cent, of the canes for six months or loss, and the largest percentage of commitments Ib shown lo bo for less than ono month. No euro for vagrancy can bo had undor such conditions. Now York stnto loads all other statos of our country lu the number of Its commitments for vagrancy. Tho burden of vngrancy In tho United States was represented In 1901 by over 2S.000 commitments, be ing about 20 por cent, of all commit menta to penal Institutions (luring that year. This brief romime of tho present conditions Inevitably points to tho uecoBMity of a material change In our system of comlmtlnit vagrancy. In this connection It Is of spoclnl Inter est thnt within rocent months n bill has beon draftwl In Saw York state providing for (tit iNtabllHhment of a farm colony upon lines vory nlmllar to that of tho Swiss compulsory colo ny, WItzwyl. This bill, which has tho npprovnl of the leudlng charltablo so cieties of New York city anil of uuv eral trunk lines ttmnlnntlng n Now York, Hud which will bo Introduced Into the next ltulslature, provldos for the oetablfshtuent In Now York stnto of a compulsory labor colony, with In determinate senteuce, rogulnr labor, reformatory Influences and classifica tion of -prisoners, AND UNTREATED PRJLJ j j Jnmdi '.mm. "Timber thoroughly treated with proper preservatives will last almost Indefinitely," says n government ex pert who Is nn authority on wood preservation. "Engineers have known for years that this la trim," he con tinues, "but up to tho present time, at least In America, complicated and ex pensive plants have beon necessary for the work and wood preservation has ofton been too expensive an opera tion to nllow treated timber to come into general use." Methods In wood preservation have undergono a marked change In the lust fow years, however, and the work which a fow yoara ago was limited to a fow experiments cnrrled on In scat tered parts of tho United Stato3 has grown with such rapidity that wood preservation hna become a business which flgurea most prominently lu tho Industrial llfo of this country. Each year railroads aro treating an Increasing portion of their cros3 ties, minora their mine props, farmora their fence posts and tho men of many other Industries nro bringing preserva tives into play to closo the pores and proparo tho timber they uso to resist tho fungi which causo decay. Tho work points the way to ono of tho chlof means of tho conservation of tho nation's forest resources, for as tho length of tho llfo of timber la In creased tho drain upon tho forests Is lessoned, and more wood mudo avail able for use. In nearly all localities In tho Rocky mountain nnd l'aclllc states Is found an abundant supply of certain kinds of timber which hnvd only a slight commercial Importance. Engolmnnn Bpruce, lodgopolo and other kinds of pine, nspen, and cottonwood nro only a partial list of tho kinds of wood which aro strong enough nnd abun'dant enough to win high valuo for construc tion purposes, wero It not for one Blngle defect which has proventod their goneral adoption. When exposed to the soil and weather thoy decay bo rapidly thnt they have to ho renewed too often to Justify tholr use. Dead timber ot lodgopolo plno nnd othor species also Is found In largo tracts, but is sharply discriminated against by all constructing engineers and contractors. As a matter of fact, the dead timber, provided It Is sound, la Just as good as green tlmbor of tho samo species; and Indeed, In somo ways, la ovon mora valuable. For It la well known that thoroughly sea' aoned timber la both stronger nnd mora durable than tho samo tlmbor when green. Timber which was killed by ilro or Insects, and which Is still in a Bound condition, differs from green timber chlelly in being thor oughly seasoned that Is to say. It Is stronger, moro durablo and Hghtor. And so not only nre tho freight rates considerably reduced, but a bettor grado of tlmbor la soeurod. Even In a thoroughly Benaonod con dition, lodgopolo plno. Engelmnnn spruce, Rtid the othor speclea men tioned nbovo, nro by no menus dura bl woods when compared with Doug Ins fir. Oregon codnr, and the other kinds of wood which nro used so ex tensively In construction work. And before they can successfully competo with aueh tlmborH. in splto of their lower price, thoy must bo mndo to last longor undor unfavorable condi tions. Aftor several years' study, the United States foroat Bervlco has proved that In mnny ensoa tho com plicated and expensive plants nro not neuossary for tho proper treatment of many kinds of timber; and thnt ninny of the tlmbors which decay most rap Idly In the natural state, aro among tun easiest and choupost to treat. Many of tho species montlonod abovo offer little resistance to tho entrance of the prosorvatlvo. Tho prlnelplo of the method la to Immerse tho thor oughly BonBoned wood lu n hot bath of tho liquid, leave It In for n few hours, nnd then either plunge It Into a cold bnth of a preservative, or else run out tho hot liquid from the trentlng tank, and fill It up again with liquid of n lower temperature. This requires only tho simplest kind of machinery, and the cost of operation la so slight that even cheap timbers Uko fenco' posts nnd shingles can he treated by tho nvorage farmer of smnll means. Although the forest service, by ex tonslvo experiments In nil portions of the country, considers that tho prac ticability of the process has been con clusively proved, moro or leas diffi culty hns been encountered In Induc ing othera to ndopt tho process on a commercial scale. In order to demon strate beyond any doubt thnt tho process la adnptcd to commercial mm mm Chestnut Pole Showing Decay at Ground Line After Few Years' Service. treatments, tho Bervlco has arranged to erect small treating plants soml commercial In size on several of tho national forests. Testa will bo made on tho local timbers, and careful record kept ot tho cost of tho work. Tho treated timber will then bo placed In permnnont position, whero Its fu ture durability can ho compared with untieated tlmbor of tho anmo or other kinds. Three such plants will bo erected, and It Is expected that they will bo In successful oporatlon during tho summer. According to tho prosont pinna one plant will bo erected at somo locality on or near tho Black Hills National forest, South Dakota another on the Holy Cross National forest In Colorado; nnd tho third on tho Henrya Lnko National forest, near St. Anthony. Iduho. Tho investigations In wood preserva tion by tho uso of croosoto, which la nothing moro than tho dend oil of coal tar nnd zinc chlorld, aro considered of such Importance by tho government that ono branch of a bureau In tho department of agriculture tho "Of fice of Wood Preservation" In tho for est service Is given over entirely to tho work of experiments In coopera tion with railroad companies, mining corporations and Individuals who do siro to prolong tho llfo of tho tlmbor which they use. Advlco nnd practical assistance Is furnished all who re qiiOBt It of the forester nt Washington. Klnematograph In Medicine. Tho results which I havo obtained with tho klnoniutograph na an aid In tho teaching of uervoim dlseaaes, and which 1 have beon nblo to denionstrato nt the Mlddloaox hospital and else where, hnvo mot with expressions of eneoutagoinent from my collcaguea and othor menibora of tho medical pro fession. Lancet. Now York olty'a pollco department has recovered about $400,000 In stolen property during tho last year.