UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES WHY THERE ARE VAGRANTS A STUDY Based upon an Examination of One Hundred Men REV. FRANK CHARLES LAUBACH, M.A. Submitted in Partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Political Science, Columbia University NEW YORK, 1916 WHY THERE ARE VAGRANTS A STUDY Based upon an Examination of One Hundred Men REV. FRANK CHARLES LAUBACH, M.A. Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Political Science, Columbia University NEW YORK, 1916 cr TABLE OF CONTENTS PARTI DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION CHAP. PAGE I. Introduction 5 II. Where and How the Study Was Made lo PART II individual factors leading to vagrancy III. Moral Disqualifications for Work and for Thrift 25 IV. Temperamental Disqualifications for Work and for Thrift 40 V. Mental Disqualifications for Work and for Thrift 48 VI. Physical Disqualifications for Work and for I? Thrift 60 c PART III social factors leading to vagrancy VII. Vagrancy and the Family 67 VIII. Vagrancy and Economic Maladjustments .... 72 IX. Vagrancy and Misapplied Philanthropy 82 X. The Effect of Governmental Laxity 95 PART IV summary and conclusion XI. Measures for the Prevention of Vagrancy . . . 108 Bibliography 124 (3) 205342 PART I DEFINITION AND DESCRIPTION CHAPTER I Introduction The public is slowly arriving at the conclusion that the subject of vagrancy is worthy of careful study, yet only persons in close contact with the situation realize that it is becoming more critical. For years the embers of social hatred have been smouldering in the vagrant class, but not until recently has the fact seemed ominous." At last the world of the "hoboes" has begun to attract notice in the front pages of the newspapers. It is learning how to advertise, how to make demands. Its power is increasing, not only because its population is greater, _ but because its members are learning how to work together to produce results. Judging from the number killed annually in stealing rides on the railroads, the late Edmund Kelly' estimated that there are approximately 500,000 tramps in the United States. In addition to this particular class there are thousands who remain in and about large cities from year to year, seldom or never trespassing on the railroads. How pernicious the influence of this vast army of vagrants might become, should the class struggle develop, is suggested by the following description of con- ditions just before the French Revolution:' "Vagabonds, the rebellious of all classes, 'baton-car- riers', mangy, scurfy, emaciated and savage, these were begotten by the abuses of the system, and upon every social sore they multiplied like vermin. Already in 1752, not far from Paris, there were assembled fifty or sixty, all armed for war, comporting themselves like a foraging party in good order, infantry at the center and cavalry at the wings. They inhabited a forest where they had an enclos- ure entrenched and guarded, and paid scrupulously for all ' Elimination of the Tramp, G. P. Putnam's Sons, N. Y. ' Taine, "L'Ancien Regime", Livre Cinquieme, Chapitre III. (5) 6 iriiy Then' Arc I'agnmls — A Study they took for their living. . . . The population sym- pathized with the brigands against the police. They re- late the exploits of Mandrin in 1754, how his troop of sixty men brought packages of contraband and despoiled the deputy, how his expedition lasted nearly a year, how he entered twenty-seven villages without resistance, how he delivered their prisoners and sold their merchandise; it was necessary, in order to conquer him, to establish a camp and send 2000 men ; they could take him only by treason, and even today the peasant families are proud of his parentage and declare that he was a liberator. No symptom is more grave than when the people prefer the enemies of the law to the defenders of the law, for then r^_,* society begins decomposition and worms develop. ■ / Adding to these true brigands, assassins and thieves, Mer- cier estimated that France had an army of more than 10,000 brigands and vagabonds. "Twenty-five years before the revolution it was noth- ing unusual to see fifteen or twenty fall upon a farm for a night's lodging, intimidate the farmer, and demand from him all they pleased. . . . "The starving and the marauders all marched to- gether and necessity made itself the accomplice of crime. Thieves, convicts, rogues of every species, 'it was these who, in the insurrection, were the advance guard, and in- cited the people to ultimate violence.' After the pillage of the house of Reveilon in Paris, it was observed that, 'among about forty of the rogues taken, there was not one who had not been previously taken by justice and whipped or marked.' In the whole revolution the dregs of society mounted to the surface. Such were the leaders or super- numeraries of the Revolution, at six francs per head, be- hind whom the people saw fit to march." One cannot read this description without being reminded of the "Hoboes' Convention", the mobs directed by I. W. W. leaders, the invasions of churches and hotels, the alarming in- crease in bomb throwing and dynamiting, and the increasing number of people without property or who are living from hand to mouth. The great social reforms which already characterize our age and which promise to become still more radical in the near Based on E.vaiiiiiintion of One Hundred Men 7 future, may be brought aliout tlirough peaceful evolution or by violeiU revolution. At present no one is able to predict with certainty that a bloody revolution will not come upon us. The class struggle has only just begun, and there is as yet nb obvious solution of the perplexing problems which it presents. These manifestations of social unrest are products of eco- nomic conditions, of which equal opportunity is plainly not char- acteristic. While men are perceiving the broad implications of the doctrine of equality more clearly every day, there is also becoming daily more conspicuous the vast difference between those who have wealth and those who have nothing they can call their own. The chasm between these two classes is ever widening. Whether, as Marx predicted would happen, the poor are growing poorer or not, certainly the rich are growing far richer, and the poor are becoming more envious and discon- tented. The most dangerous class of poor people is that whose members have no work and cannot see where the next meal is coming from, who are driven to dishonesty or mendicancy for a living, and whose hearts become fertile fields for seeds of hatred against everything and toward everyone who is success- ful. When the hour of reckoning comes which shall determine whether or not we are to have a sanguinary class struggle, the number and power of our vagrants, who have been trained by years of harsh experience to live lawlessly and irresponsibly, will have much to do with deciding our fate. Worthy labor movements are joined by vagrants who have drunk the cup of bitterness, and who are anarchists at heart. These men are guilty of conduct which reflects upon the entire movement, and which gives to the employer class its excuse for condemning the cause of labor. Thus the flames of class hatred are fanned and the feeling of each side that the other is unjust crystallizes into conviction. Vagrants injure and defile the cause with which they are connected, whether they are hired by operators as gun-men, or commit depredations in the name of the International Workers of the World. There is not much danger that the vagrants will ever rise up and rebel against society as a class, for they are too timid and too distrustful of 8 IVhy There Are Vagrants — A Study one another for such a movement, but there is reason for appre- hension because of their influence in demoraHzing movements of worth to which they may attach themselves. Legislation and public opinion today are against the rich parasite. But rich parasites are dangerous and stand in the way of progress, the parasitism which is the result of poverty is a still greater menace because from it is bred the mobs. It is true that there have always been beggars, and that there was a time when beggars were relatively far more numer- ous than they are at present, but it should be remembered that the same distinctions of caste are no longer taken for granted, and that a large number of mendicants were such because of their religious vows. During the middle ages beggars were content, and even sometimes happy, to be beggars. It seemed to them that it was their duty to submit to the afflictions of the Almighty and that rebellion would be impious. Today the sen- timent from the top to the bottom of society is that poverty is^a rank injustice which ought not to be tolerated, and which is displeasing to God and man. It is this difference of spirit which makes modem vagrancy so dangerous. It was a combination of this new spirit with poverty, in France, that led to the French y^ Revolution. It is this .same combination of the ideal of equal rights with the stubborn fact of unequal opportunity which is bringing us dangerously near to the explosive point in the United States today. What is our definition of vagrancy? M. H. Dawson^ di- vides the homeless class into: i. The nomad of the highway, who is always moving. 2. The urban type, who haunts the side streets, but never goes out into the country. 3. The three-quar- ters idler and one-quarter worker. 4. The fallen female. Ben- jamin C. Marsh* divides vagrants into: i. Those who are really looking for work. 2. "Hobo mechanics", who lose their work periodically through debauches. 3. Beggars. 4. Yeggmen, who beg and steal. ' Society's Attitude to the Tramp, Fortnightly Review, Vol. 74, p. 953. ' Causes of Vagrancy and Methods of Eradiction, Annals Amer. Academy Political and Social Science, Vol. 23, p. 445. Based on Examination of One Hundred Men 9 Funk and Wagnall's New Standard Dictionary defines "vagrant" as follows: "i. A person without a settled home; an idle wan- derer : a beggar ; vagabond ; tramp. 2. A roving person ; rambler; wanderer. 3. Laiv: A person who wanders from place to place, begging, or living without labor or visible means of support. "By various statutes the term vagrant is made to em- brace idle and disorderly persons, rogues and vagabonds, unlicensed peddlers, common prostitutes publicly behaving in a riotous and disorderly manner, persons making fraud- ulent pretenses to obtain alms, fortune tellers and such as use any craft or device by palmistry or otherwise to de- ceive or impose upon people, persons who wilfully refuse or neglect to support their families, so that they become a public charge, persons indecently exposing themselves, tramps, persons escaping from legal confinement, etc." In Europe the word "vagabond" is universally used in- . stead of our word "vagrant". When Americans use the word "vagabond" they usually mean to express more disapprobation, and more of the idea of worthlessness than when the word "vagrant" is used. In this study the word "vagrant" is used in the broad legal sense expressed in the above definition. It includes those who are spoken of as "hoboes", "down-and-outs", "bums", "beg- gars", "driftwood", "pan-handlers", "homeless men" and "tramps". Some vagrants never leave the city, yet they are homeless and wander from one part of the city to another, man- aging to keep out of jail and make a living. Others are true "globe-trotters", never remaining in one town more than a few days or weeks, except in extremely cold weather. Aside from the fact that vagrants are homeless men, there are two other respects in which they are peculiar. They do not work steadily in one place, and they do not save money — that is to say, they are more or less idle, and they are thriftless. They differ from other tourists in the matter of their mode of trav- eling and making expenses. They do not depend upon finan- cial resources, for they seldom have any, but upon their ability lo ll'hy There Are Vagrants — A Study to make the public pay their travelling expenses, or transport them free of charge — usually the latter. The question: "Why are some men vagrants?" will, there- fore, be almost completely answered when we have determined why men do not work long in one place, and why they do not accumulate property or wealth. /The reasons for vagrancy fall into two general classes : First, those bearing upon the character of the individuals them- selves, and, second, those bearing upon the social conditions in which they live. In other words, the problem presents both in- dividual or personal factors, and social or environmental factors. Women vagrants are not dealt with in these pages, nor are those nomadic families which are found throughout the coun- try during the summer months, and whose members are com- monly called "g\'psies". The summer vagrant in general is not included in this investigation. It is a study of vagrants as they appear in the city during the winter, and its purpose is to learn why they are what they are. CHAPTER II Where and How the Study Was Made A woodyard is operated by the Charity Organization So- ciety of New York City. Men who ask for assistance are given a few hours work in the woodyard, for which they receive moderate compensation. It has been the writer's privilege to study the men as they work, and to give them a helping hand. It was impossible to meet their various needs without studying their characters and histories, to learn what causes lay at the bottom of their economic failure. Only a small percentage of the men was selected for observation, and these were studied as intensively as possible. In order to keep the men at close range as long as it was desirable, a dozen beds were provided just back of our ofifices, and thus it was possible to study the vagrant while on and off his guard, while at rest and at work. It is customary to keep records in institutions of confinement, Based on Examination of One Ilnndrcd Men ii but few attempts have been made to study vagrants under con- ditions of perfect freedom and good will. The vagrant as he sees himself, and the vagrant as others see him, are two differ- ent personalities. Much has been written from the standpoint of the vagrant, and something has been written from the stand- point of the theorist and the examiner. In the following pages an attempt has been made to be severely just, without failing in appreciation of the vagrant problem. Almost all of the in- formation is first-hand, obtained from the wanderers them- selves, or from correspondence with their acquaintances. Careful records were made of the men interviewed. For this purpose a "Homeless Man Record Card", printed by the Russell Sage Foundation, was employed. This card is of reg- ular letter size, eight and one-half by eleven inches, and con- tains spaces for answering the following questions: Surname Case No. Date .\ddress Man's first name Middle name Aliases Mother's Maiden name Single Married Widowed Divorced Separated Wife's first name Height Weight Hair Eyes Nose Ears Peculiarities School and college education Business training What Where How long Left school Age First position Where Chief occupation Union Began work .Age How Long Other Occupations Longest employment at what Last employment How long At what Idle How long Date Largest monthly wage received At what Last steady employment How long At what Employer's Name Address Date-P'rom To Wages Position Dept Foreman or boss Physical condition Mental cond. Drinks Drugs Vices Begs Good Good Moderate Kind Occas. Poor Abnormal Excess Excess Reg'ly No No Causes of disease and defects Medical opinion Handicaps Facts regarding accidents Date Place Fault Damages How spent Promise of employment Penal History From Name of Prison Jail Reform School, etc. Offence Family Age Address Wife Children Married Single Institutional Care From 12 IV hy Tlicrc Arc Vagrants — A Study Relatives Friends Reference Kinship or connection How long in America State City Reason for coming to city Sources of information Date Reasons for application. Treatment Advice Clothing Food Lodgings Medical Aid Money Loan. Tools Transportation Work There were other facts to be recorded regarding the pecu- liar characteristics of each individual. All correspondence with and regarding the men was preserved. In the succeeding chapters, the reader will observe frequent allusions to a particular group of one hundred men. These men were selected from the most complete of our records, for the purpose of making tentative statistical estimates. Three objec- tions to taking the estimates as final will at once occur to the reader. First, the number of men is too small. Second, in se- lecting only those records which are fairly complete, the investi- gation eliminates a class of men who shrink from investigation. Third, many of the items are matters of taste and opinion, and are not measurable by precise standards. On the other hand, the statistics, so far as they go, owe their chief merit to the fact that I knew every one of the men personally for periods ranging from a week to a year, that I was by their side while they worked, and that I was their friend. I was enabled to gain much information which would have been impossible at a first interview, and to correct scores of the in- accuracies and deliberate lies which flow volubly from vagrant tongues. For convenience in making comparisons with other similar studies, the statistics of this group of one hundred men have been collected in the following pages of this chapter. If other equally intensive studies should be made by men placed in advantageous positions for observing vagrants, the sum of all our studies ought to be of great value. Standing alone, the statistics which follow must be taken as purely tenta- tive and suggestive, rather than conclusive. The statistics of our one hundred men were collected for purposes of comparison and correlation in six pages: Based on Examination of One Hundred Men 13 HABITS OCCUPATION RELIGION V JH u J3 5 is < QJ •o CO rt U n 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 IS 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 u .5 o C _- "^ ■^ .ii ^ i? "^ •- rt ■- TS t/3 Ph ^ » J, < J (fl ho c *" ^ " o « ,1 n^ ' C rt r> * * * * * * * * * * ,2 n ^ ■S& c n S •T3 S — ■S — (h * ■g § -S & I .E g ■- n] o « .- CO t; Q cfi O O U^ CL, HH : j= j: 6 S — • u ^ i: .s « D. ■•-' O *- _ K rt u o o ^£ O Ph < i<. Vj 14 ll'Iiy There Are Vagrants — A Study HABITS OCCUPATION RELIGION j Q ra aj 2 S >- ^ 2 -3 S -o s :: -g 5 a a a ii ° -^ U cq t« i. -= <: 51 52 . * . . . 53 ... * . 54 * * . . . 55 ♦ * . . . 56 * ... . 57 * ... . 58 * ... . 59 * . * . . 60 * ... . 61 . * . . . 62 . •* . . . 63 * ... . 64 . * . . . 65 . * . . . 66 * * . . . 67 * * . . . 68 * * . . . 69 ♦ . . . . 70 * ... . 71 . . * * . 72 * * . . . 73 . . * . . 74 * * . . . 75 * * . . . 76 * * . . . 77 * . * . . 78 . * . . . 79 . * . . . 80 * * . . . 81 . . . * . 82 . * . . . 83 * ... . 84 . * . . . 85 * * . . . 86 * ... . 87 . . . * . 88 * . * . . 89 ... * . 90 * * . . . 91 * . * . . 92 * * . . . 93 * ... . 94 * . * . . 95 . * . . . 96 * . * . . 97 . . * . . 98 * * . . . 99 * . * . . 100 . * . . . a t V 3 * * * * * * * * * tn tin t^ ^j U « ' M a< H I lDcq;ScnJ.Ji-lwa E 3 o I- J- « -- rt H Q tn "^ w ■ .« :^ « ■- rt u ti, eu » * * * * * * * * + + + *** * * * * (U = 3 : rt w ™H « £ o •a ■^ S .^SS^o ° >- ^ •2 1 -.(0 1) 4» ■=• ^ ii .i PS a i;^ C .C X rt S *- o •- „ 1> ^OO rt K <-» o j^ Basal on Examination of One Hundred Men je NATIONALITY PERSONALITY S 2" Erne's siU^ 'Z •" =o- 5 s « E ■•= g 1 g S » •■= g- 8= 1 s 2 -n §■ i §■ ^ S S -^ t S c 8 ^ ,«; 2 3 ^ ," a 5 .-^ ,J( ^ .2 >5! '-3 ," § ," iJ ,^ «° ," ► , v? rt x^ •— 1 54 2 42* *...*....*.**..* * * 3 50* **.*.**.*...* *** 4 66 * " ^ ! ..*....'..'.'.*...'..' 5 21 * * * * * 5 3Q .... * *.**...*.*....*..*.*.* * ■* 7 48 * **....**..*...**.*..'*** 9 26 .'...*..... . .*.'..**.....'.'....'..'.'.'.'..'.. \Q 28 * *.****.***..*..*****.****** jj 22 * *_*********__ -t * if * 12 25 .*..'.. ^ ] *''.....*'.'..*..'.'.'.'.*..[,',' 13 29 * *.**.*..* 14 27 * *....* * * ' ' 15 42 * ,...'. 16 47 . * * * . . * 17 39* ** **** * 18 19 *'......... . '. '..*'.'.'.'.'.'....*.'.'.'.'..'.. 19 48 * *....* * , * 20 24 * * * . 21 -JC * ....** * * * 22 5Q* *.**..*..**.*..*....****' 23 19 * ! ...*** ' * 24 53 .* **.♦.*..**.* ** 25 23 * *_**_***_ __*** + *3tc if if 26 51 ...* **...**..* **** 27 40 * *.*..*.*....* ** 28 33* ***** *** ** 29 25 * ***** *_^*** 30 48 * *..** ********* 31 48* *** ** :(;* *____*__*** 32 38 . * **...**..* * . . 33 41 * * . * * * * 34 39 * . **....**....♦..*..*.. 35 40 * * *..'.'.'.'.'.'. 36 38* * *...*..*..*...**... 37 40 .* ***** *** t* 38 36 ' . . * ****.'.'.*..*.....*'.'.'.'.'.'... 39 55 ....* *....*..*.* ...*.. ..*** 40 36 . * *...**.* 41 45 * * * . * 42 52* ***_***_*** * 43 34 * *....* '.**... 44 19* * *....*... 45 49* *** *.* ** ********** * * 46 30 . ^ * *.*.'**.*...*..* 47 35 ♦ ** ** *.* 48 51 * **..***.*.*...**.*.* ** 49 32 * * . . * .*..*......'.'... 50 42 * * * * * * i6 //7;v There Are Vagrants — A Study NATIONALITY PERSONALITY 51 22 * ***** 52 39* ***** * **** __ .*.... 53 37 *'.'.'.'..'.'..'.. ...'.....*.'.'.....'.'.*'.'..'.'.'.'.'. 54 35* * ...*...*...** ** 55 34 * 56 35 * 57 24 * 58 28 * * * * * 59 28 * * 60 35 * * 61 34 * * . . 62 55 * 6j 28 * * . . * *....*.. 64 22 * * 55 19* **. ** * **** *** 55 50* *.***** *** ..*.** 57 31 * *.**..*... ** ..* 6& 26 .'*'.'...'.... . ..**...'...'.'.'...'.'.'..'.'.'.'.'... 69 48 .... * **....* 70 35* ** ***** *... 71 44* ** ** ** ****_ 72 30 * . . * * . ................*.. 73 47 * . . . . * 74 38 . * •■ * * * 75 40 * * * * * . 75 45 ...* *.♦ ** * ****,.. **.*.. 77 42 ' * !. ^ ^ ^ ! ! *'..'..'..'.'....*'.'.'....'..'.. 78 21 * * ... * * 79 53 * *....* *** * 80 45* * ** **..* ** 81 25 . ' * ! ! *'.'...'.'.'.'.'..*'......'.'.'... g2 74 * **■....*..**.*.* 83 28 * ! ! " ^ *'.'.'..'.'............'..■■ . 84 35*.... *,* * * **_* ***_ 85 50* *** ****** *_ 85 45 ....♦ *.* ** ** *..*..*....**.. 87 48 *'!'." ^ ...'.'.*.'..'.'..'.'...'....... 88 45 * * * * 89 26 * * * * 90 53 ....* *** *** ***** 91 55 ...* **. ******* 92 26* ********* * *.*....****.*. 93 45* *** * ^ ***.*....**. 94 32 * ............ 95 35 *... *.*** * * . *********^ 95 41* ** ** * *** 97 30* ** * *...**...*.** 98 40* *_*** ..**..*..***.*.*...** 99 32 * * 100 28* . ... ********** *** *_* * ***** * * * Based on E.vaiiiination of One Hundred Men 17 HEALTH EDUCATION HISTORY J * *.*.. * *..* * 2 ....*....* * * '* * *! ^ ^ •}• -I- ■■■ -i- -(■ * * * * 5 g * -K * * * * * 7 * * -■'■■■ * * _ _ * * _ g ** ** ** * + * ^ * 9 *. * * * * * * IQ * * * **** * 11 ..*....*...*... * ** 12 ' ' ' ' * 13 . . . 14 . * * . * . . * * * * * * * 15 . . . * * * 16 . . . 17 . . . 18 * * * * . * . . * * * * * * . . . 19 . . . * * 2Q * * * * * _ * _ « t 21.* .* **_*** 22 * ... * . * **..*...* 9? .*** *++ 24 ...*..*,.. * . * **....*.* 25 *..*...* * * .*..*. .* * * 26 *.*..* *.. ..* ** *.* 27** * *.. *.* * 28*.* * ** * * 29.* * **....*.* * 3Q ..**.*.**.*.* *** * * *** ^l *_* *..... * * ** 32 * * ...* * ..* * ?3 ,...*.. * * * * * * ' ' ' ' 34 ....''...■ * '..*'.'.'.'.'. ...... "^ ..*.'.'.'. '. 35* * ...*.*.. **....*..* '■6 *...*...* * * **....*. * 37 * * * * * ^ * ' * ' ' ' ' 33 *...*....* * * * ' ' ' ' * 39 ....*. * *....* *...'* 40 * ..*..... .....*■...*.... 41.* * * **..*....* 42 *** **** ^ ;(: :)c ^ 43....* *. * * *¥___*** 44 ** * . * *...* ** 4^ ***** * ** 46 . * * *....*..... 47 * * * *....'.. *.*...* 4S.***.* * ****.*..*''"'* 49....* * * '....*..* 50 * * * *.*..*..* t8 //7;v Tlicrc Arc Vagrants — A Study HEALTH EDUCATION HISTORY C ro c o u a K w o tfl >> IP r Disease ically Sol ally Soun 3 F ^ W K^ C u a u o S a ^>'?. E o X >. **** * ** * ** u 51 . 52 * 53 . 54 . 55 * 56 . 57 . 58 * 59 . 60 . 61 . 62 . 63 . 64 . 65 . 66 . 67 . 68 . 69 . 70 . 71 . 72 . 73 . 74 . 75 . 76 . 77 . 78 . 79 . 80 . 81 . 82 . 83 . 84 . 85 . 86 . 87 . 89 * 90 ...*.. * 92 * ... * 93 . * ! ' * ^ . . . . * 94 * 95 * 96 . * 97 *...*.... 98 .... * * 99 * *....*. 100 . * * *....* * ..* ** *.* » * ♦ * * * * * * * * * * * * . . * . . * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Based oil Examination of One Hundred Men 19 It is at once seen that many of the questions answered are purely matters of opinion and are not conclusive. This obvi- ous difficulty is not so serious as others which do not appear on the surface. For example, I fmd that I have unconsciously eliminated young men to some extent, and that this is likely to occur in any selective study. The ages of 18,606 men, taken at random, at the Municipal Lodging House, compared with the ages of my one hundred, illustrate this : 18,606 men. 43 per cent. 46 per cent. 1 1 per cent. Under 30 years. From 30 to 50 years. Over 50 years. 100 men at woodyard. 31 per cent. 58 per cent. 13 per cent. A carefully selected group of 2000 men investigated by a score of trained investigators and phy.sicians at the Municipal Lodging House in February, 19 14, shows the same unconscious elimination of the young. The average age of those 2000 was 36 years, while the average age of my one hundred was 37 years. Siiininary of Preceding Tables ATIONALITY French I Natii'e Born 70 Spanish I Irish parentage 16 Russian I German parentage 7 Personality Yes No French parentage I Childish or silly 34 66 English parentage 6 Dependent 17 83 Italian parentage I Low Ideals 58 42 Native parentage 40 Stubborn 27 7Z Foreign Born 30 Hasty Temper 38 62 Irish 13 Nervous 28 72 Scotch I Mind wanders 29 71 English 4 Taciturn 28 72 German 6 Stupid 34 66 Scandinavian I False pride 29 71 Danish 2 Repulsive face 34 66 20 IVIiy There Arc Vagrants — A Study Personality Yes No Gray hair 20 80 Poor memory 9 91 Treacherous 32 68 Untidy 26 74 Fihhy 18 82 Eccentric 33 67 Sarcastic 1 7 83 Exasperating 32 68 Pessimistic 22 78 Jealous 13 87 Uninteresting 20 80 Unsociable 27 y2> Timid 24 76 Irresolute 27 73 Rude I 7 83 Vulgar 15 85 Habits Bad Alcoholic 48 52 Steady drinker 45 55 Periodical drinker 21 79 Moderate drinker 16 84 Abstainer i 99 Lied about drink at first interview 54 46 Drug user 8 92 Beggar 20 80 Liar 45 55 Wanderlust 55 45 Lazy 56 44 Slow 20 80 Listless 40 60 Lacking punctuality 30 70 Inaccurate 19 81 Pervert 27 j:^ Thief 8 92 Hypocrite 23 yj Habits Yes No Immoral 30 70 Scandal-monger 13 87 Profane 15 85 Occupation Transient labor 29 71 Drivers 15 85 Farm Hands 10 90 Stable Hands 2 98 Sailors 6 94 Longshoremen 3 97 Clerical 14 86 Electricians 3 97 Dish Washers 6 94 Saloonkeepers 2 98 Cooks 3 97 Carpenters 3 97 Firemen 3 97 Painters 3 97 Iron and steel work- ers 7 93 Soldiers 5 95 Janitors 3 97 Other skilled 10 90 Other unskilled 14 86 "Jack-of-all" 21 79 Obsolete trades 2 98 (Note: Many of the above men had two or more trades.) Religion Catholic 46 54 Protestant 40 60 Claimed active mem- bership 3 97 No religion 13 87 Skeptic I 99 Based on Examination of One Hundred Men 21 Health Yes No Education Yes No Tubercular 7 93 Collegiate I 99 Venereal 26 74 Business 8 92 Bronchial 4 96 Professional I 99 Feeble 14 86 Broken English 6 94 Feeble-minded 29 71 Deformed 4 96 History Senile 16 84 Drink at home 26 74 Maimed 14 86 Father drank 45 55 Malnutrition 17 16 87 Mother drank 17 83 Exposure victims Neuritis 83 84 Wife drank Single 13 38 87 62 Poor sight 9 I 91 99 Widower 14 86 Poor hearing Desertions 26 74 Impediment in speech 2 Other diseases 6 98 94 M a r i t a 1 relation doubtful 22 78 Physically sound Mentally perfect 22> 28 77 72 Orphan at 16 City raised Village raised 59 63 19 41 81 Education Farm raised 6 94 Illiterate 19 81 Orphan homes 12 88 Little education 20 80 Ex-convict 12 88 Common school 28 72 Parents autocratic 25 75 High school 23 77 Though many of the questions in the original question- aire have been omitted, there are in the above charts sufficient kinds of data for some five hundred statistical associations. In the great majority of cases the number of instances is too small to be of any value standing alone. For purposes of comparison with other similar studies these associations would have value. As an illustration of the impossibility of accepting con- clusions derived from so small a number of instances let us compare Nationality with Hasty Temper. Hasty Temper 24 34 per cent. li 8 61 percent. it I 100 per cent. it I 25 per cent. a 3 50 per cent. (( ti ti I 50 per cent. ii ti it 22 Why There Arc Vagrants — A Study Association of Hasty Temper zvith Nationality. Number. Percentage. Natives with Irish Scotch English German Italian Scandinavian Danish French Spanish Russian Here the numbers are too small to have statistical value. If ten or more men were each to make a similar study and the sum of their conclusions were obtained we might gain some interesting suggestions as to the correlation of nationality and hasty temper. It would be safer to depend upon the conclusions of several investigators, particularly on questions like those given under Personality, Habits, and Health, for the reason that these questions so closely touch differences of standard and taste. A partial list of associations — positive or negative — which would be valuable if the number of instances were sufficiently great, is as follows : Age with Childishness, nervousness, taciturnity, stupidity, pride, gray hair, memory, untidiness, filth, eccentricity, pessi- mism, sociability, timidity, irresolution, rudeness, vulgarity and stubbornness. Nationality with each of the above. Bad Alcoholism with each of above items under "Personality". Drug user " Wanderlust " Immorality " Occupation " Religion " Based on Examination of One Hundred Men 23 Health with each of alxjvc items under "PersonaHty". Education " City, village and farm raised " Parents autocratic " Age with Bad Alcoholism, use of drugs, begging, wander- lust, slowness, laziness, inaccuracy, stealing, immorality, gossip- ing and profanity. Nationality with each of the above items under "Habits". Occupation Religion Health Education Drink in early home Father drank Mother drank Wife drank Marital relation Orphan City, village and farm raised Ex-convict Parents autocratic Health with each of the items under "Occupation". Occupation with Education. Religion " Health with father and mother drank Health with ex-convict. Health with city, z'iilage and farm raised. Education with drink in early home. Education with father and mother drank. Education with orphan. Education with city, village and farm raised. Education with ex-convict. Vakiable statistics from other sources which serve to throw light upon the above questions, will be found in appropriate places in succeeding chapters. The facts regarding the lives of the one 24 //7;_v There .Ire Wujrants — A Studv hundred men need not be given here, as the more important of them win be used to support the arguments which will appear later. It is not to be supposed, however, that only illustrations taken from these one hundred men were employed. The books mentioned in the bibliography at the end of this volume were useful secondary sources of information. Probably the most valuable source of information outside my experience at the woodyard was an examination of 1488 men at the Municipal Lodging House during March, 1914. Each of the men appeared before a trained social worker and a physician, and every tenth man was given the Binet test to determine his mental condition. This investigation had the advantage of covering a large number of cases, and the element of bias was eliminated through the employment of several investigators. Since the interviews were for only a few minutes each, and were compulsory for all men selected, there were no doubt many errors of judgment on the part of the investigators, and multi- tudes of deliberate lies on the part of the men under examina- tion; yet this examination stands as perhaps the most compre- hensive attempt to determine the facts about homeless men that has yet been made. Unfortunately, the complete results were not available for use in this book, but preliminary reports have been used many times. Based on Examinalion of One Hundred Men PART II INDIVIDUAL FACTORS LEADING TO VAGRANCY CHAPTER III Moral Disqualifications for Work and i--or Thrift Our study of the individual factors in the making of vag- rants falls naturally into four divisions : 1. Moral disqualifications for work and for thrift. 2. Temperamental " " " " " " 3. Mental 4. Physical The experience of large numbers of social workers proves ■ that it is impossible exactly to classify individuals. Every man is played upon by a nuiltitude of forces, both from within and from without, and, as Tennyson says of Ulysses, is a part of all that he has seen. For this reason, percentages, showing so much moral influence, so much temperamental influence, and so much environmental influence, are unsafe and misleading. It is possible, however, to determine major and minor causes at work in shaping the problem of vagrancy; to discuss what factors are personal or ethical and what are social. The more closely one studies the character of the vagrant, the greater importance moral influences are seen to assume. Bad habits are often the last thing which a man is willing to confess to one whose attitude toward him he thinks may depend upon his good morals, because he fears that if he lets his bad habits be known he will be jeopardizing his chances of getting work or help. Moreover, a man with bad habits is forever resolving that he will soon break them. It is necessary, there- fore, to have more than the man's own word, in order to find out the weaknesses of his character. An inexpert interviewer of vagrants, therefore, almost invariably misses the most vital moral 26 Why There .-Ire J'agrants — A Study factors which have led to the man's condition. Only one who has taken the time and the pains to probe deeply into each man's history realizes the extent to which the average man of this class is corrupted by vice and crime, and how great must be the effort, both of himself and of others, if he is to be pulled out of the mire. Under the moral factors we shall consider: (a) vices, (b) crimes, (c) untrustworthiness. The vices which may play the largest part in disqualifying men for work are: (i) drunkenness, (2) drug habit, (3) sensuality, (4) gambling. The Committee of Fifty learned by comparing the esti- mates of thirty-three Charity Organizations that 22.J per cent, of poor males are so because of drunkenness. A comparison of reports from almshouses gave the information that 42 per cent, of males were inmates because of their own drunkenness. The Municipal Lodging House investigation resulted in the discovery that 44.4 per cent, of the men investigated drank to excess, while 42.9 per cent, drank moderately. From the evi- dence before him, Mr. Whiting, Superintendent of the Lodging House, estimated that "30 per cent, had entered the life of vagrancy through the saloon". It is, of course, inaccurate to speak of all of the men who are staying at the Municipal Lodging House as "vagrants". Great numbers of them were out of work only temporarily, and could be called vagrants only in a very unrestricted sense of the word. My own experience with vagrants has convinced me that liquor has been an exceedingly important factor in their undoing in the large majority of cases. Out of one hundred vagrants whom I studied as carefully as possible, eighty-five are now slaves to rum to such an extent that they crave it as food and could break away from it only by the greatest struggle. I pre- fer not to estimate how many of these men were originally driven 'to vagrancy by liquor. One fact is undeniable. Liquor is now a principal factor in keeping them in that condition. We are not able as yet to make more than a very rough estimate as to the number of men who are now vagrants who Based oil Ilxaniination of One Hundred Men 27 never would have fallen into that life if they had not used liquor. Students of the problem differ so radically in their calcu- lations that the ratios given b)- them vary from 5 jier cent, to 95 per cent. There is apparently too much prejudice for us to accept the judgment of any one man or body of men on the question. A study of the ways in which liciuor may lead to vagrancy by causing men to lose their positions, shows that it is often an indirect or contributory cause, though its influence may not be discovered immediately. There are hundreds of jobs lost through sprees, of which the following cases are illustrative : A. H. is a man of extraordinary ability as a sales manager. When sober he is saving and cleanly. Periodically he goes on a spree, loses his employment, spends all his money and pawns his clothes. For weeks he is transformed from a useful citizen into a vagrant. He has been growing steadily worse for the last fifteen years, and is now divorced from his wife, who had faith in him as long as she could. This story is descriptive of scores of cases. No profession or trade is free from members who are first rate in every respect but for the fact that they will "break loose" every now and then, throw up their jobs and indulge in prolonged debauches. Many men who are amiable when sober are altogether too belligerent to maintain peaceful social relations when using liquor. They repent when their jobs are gone and the mischief has been done. But after they have exhausted the patience of their acquaintances they are obliged to beg for work among strangers and are without recommendations. The man who is reduced to this extremity must usually take a poor position and frequently can find none. A painter, D. G. by name, is a case in point. He works along contentedly for several weeks until he feels a desire for drink. After he has had a few drinks he feels dissatisfied with everything and quits work in disgust. C. H. was a civil engineer, but was discharged because liquor had rendered him unreliable. He drifted into unskilled labor, 28 Why There Are Vagrants — A Sliuiy then took up dish-washing, and at length found even that un- available. Even when men are as capable as ever, the fact that they drink may cause their removal from good positions and start them downward. C. P. taught school for twenty-three years, but because he was drinking too freely he was compelled by dis- satisfied patrons to give up his school. He went away among strangers, became a handy man in a hotel and ultimately sank into vagrancy. In a large number of lines of business, drunkenness is recognized as dangerous and expensive. Railroads are becom- ing more strict in their rules concerning the use of liquor. The American Car and Foundry Company announced that any of its employees in Berwick, Pa., who signed a petition for a liquor license, would be discharged. Motormen, conductors, chauffeurs, drivers and others who are in a position where a false step might mean disaster, are being laid off every day because they have been caught drinking. Several bartenders who applied to us for aid had been dis- charged because their employers would not tolerate heavy drink- ing behind the bar. One of the commonest answers men give to the question why they lose jobs is : "One of the bosses got sore and fired me for drinking; but I hadn't been drinking much." If liquor ever becomes unpopular, the most important reason will be that the working classes were compelled to abandon its use in order to find jobs. We have not discovered final causes, however, until we know why so many men allow liquor to get such a hold upon them. The first reason which presents itself is, of course, bad home training. This will be treated in connection with the chapter on "Vagrancy a Failure of the Family". There is undoubtedly a great difference in the power of resistance to the excessive use of liquor. Some men are reduced to drunkenness in a few years; others require many years of hard drinking to reduce them to bondage to drink ; while a large percentage of men — indeed more than half of them — use liquor Based on Examination of One Hundred Men 29 with impunity throughout their Hves. The power of resistance varies in different famihes, and in different races and nationali- ties. Where the father or grandfather was an excessive user of alcoholic beverages, his children are very likely to be intemperate. Horsley and Sturge "' say that : "Careful and scientific investiga- tion shows that the children of inebriates inherit a faulty organ- ization and an impaired type of nervous system, which often leads to their also falling victims to the craving for alcohol, especially when surrounding social and industrial conditions encourage indulgence in its use. "In order to elucidate the influence of heredity as a direct or indirect cause of inebriety, a prolonged investigation, lasting thirteen years, was undertaken by a committee of doctors in America. . . . Dr. Crothers, their chairman, reports that the histories of 1744 cases of inebriety have been obtained, which may be classified as follows : Distinct history of heredity 1080 Disease, injury, shocks, strains and infection 390 Starvation and infection 180 Exposure, ignorance and mental contagion 85 Causes too complex for classification 9" One of the commonest replies to the question, why men drink to excess, is that they "don't know". Something, they say, seems to possess them which they cannot explain. In the great majority of cases this reply comes from men whose fathers have been heavy drinkers. Such tales as the following are common : A. B. had three sons, all of whom were unable to resist the appetite for alcohol. The father had been a heavy drinker in his early days, using, as he said, "all the liquor he could get hold of". When he saw the grip liquor had upon his sons he stopped drinking entirely, and today he hates the sight of drink. What he was able to do, his sons cannot do. They have lost the power of resistance. One of them has died of acute Bright's disease as ' Alcohol and the Human Body, Macmillan & Co., 1908, p. 339. 30 iriiy Tlicrc An- I'ayranls — A Study the result of excessive drinking, the other two are hopeless drunkards. F. O. is in a sanatorium for drunkards. His son carries to the pawnshop every article of value which he can get in his possession, and uses the proceeds for liquor. For years he has repeatedly sold the shirt oi¥ his back and the shoes off his feet. His will seems gone. When asked why he drinks, his reply, like that of many other men, is that he does not know the reason. He thinks he must be a Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde. The father and both the grandfathers of M. B. were heavy drinkers. He was taught by his mother to hate the sight of liquor, because she thought that he might become addicted to the habit. He never drank until he was twenty years of age. At that time he went to work and his fellow-workmen called him a "sissy" because he was an abstainer. He began to drink a little just to "show that he was a man". By the time he was twenty- three years of age, he was turned out of home a depraved drunkard, and has been a "sot" of the worst type ever since. The power of resistance to the desire for strong drink would seem not to be the same among the different nationalities. For example, the Irish appear to have a very much larger percentage of excessive users of liquor than the Italians. This may be explained in part by the fact that the latter race has acquired a certain degree of immunity by hundreds of years of constant usage. Also the kind of liquor consumed in each case may have something to do with the difference in the effect produced. The Irish are more inclined to the use of whiskey than to the milder drinks, while the Germans use beer, the Italians use wine, and the Hebrews use kiimmel. It is a significant fact that while one- fifth of the population of New York City is Hebrew, there are comparatively few Heljrew drunkards. On the other hand, con- sidering the relatively small number of Englishmen in New York City, it is surprising how many English inebriates appear at the woodyard. The custom of "treating" is said by more than half of the hard drinkers to be the cause of their intemperance. It is very common to hear a hard drinking man state that there ought to be a law forbidding people to "treat". Based on Examination of One Hundred Men 31 A. N. declared that treating ought to be a capital offense. He would never have become addicted to excessive liquor, he declared, if treating had not practical)' compelled him to use much more than his appetite called for. After he had acquired the habit of using large quantities, he could not find the satis- faction he desired in moderate quantities. This testimony is almost identical with that of Jack London in his confession, called "John Barleycorn". London declares that it was the attempt on his part, when he was still a boy, to drink as much as his comrades, though he disliked the taste of liquor, that led to the acquisition of an appetite which he would now find it exceedingly difficult to break, if he were to try. E. W., a splendid fellow at heart, but a vagrant through his appetite for liquor, says that when he drank alone in his younger days, he never drank to excess, but that when he was with his friends he and the}' nearly always got drunk. Though only thirty-two years of age, he is now so completely ruined by liquor that a charming wife and baby, both of whom he loves, but whom he has deserted, have not proved sufficient to save him from the appetite which has caused his downfall. The case of J. B. deserves a place in this list also. He lost an excellent position as engineer on the New York Central Rail- road as a result of drinking, and went into the hotel business. He promised his wife that he would never drink another drop, at the time he opened his bar, but he found it inexpedient to refuse to drink with his customers. His wife mixed burnt coffee .vith water, and he drank this from a special bottle of his own, ivhile his customers drank whiskey. When this trick was dis- covered he had no alternative but to use the real thing. Li a few years he lost his business and deserted his wife. He is today.^ a drunken vagrant. Associating with a fast crowd is one of the quickest paths to intemperance a young man can choose. There are many excellent illustrations of the dangers of bad company, which one may find at any street corner of the slums of a great city. Domestic infelicity has driven many a man to drink. Fre- quently it drives both man and wife to intemperance. Just as 32 Why There Arc J'ogrants — A Study frequently it is the drink which produces the domestic trouble. In many cases it is difficult to determine which was cause and which was effect. C. F. never drank to excess until his wife's death, but has had few solder days since. B. P. became disgusted because his wife spent nearly all her time with her women friends and failed even to provide meals for her husband when he came home in the evening. A bare table seemed to him enough to drive any one to drink. B. D. declared that there was no reason in the world for his using liquor excepting loneliness. He had no friends and was frequently seized with fits of despondency. Drinking was the most effectual means of reviving his drooping spirits. This phase of the subject will be given fuller consideration under the chapter on "How Vagrants are made by Economic Conditions". It is significant tliat the vagrants who are most intemperate say, in the large majority of cases, that they have been engaged in one of the following occupations : Trainman, houseman, hotelman, seaman, painter, driver, entry clerk, salesman, cook, soldier, longshoreman, printer, tran- sient laborer. One man who was engaged in the preparation of furs said that everybody in that business drinks in order to endure the odors. Painters often give the same excuse. Drivers assert that they drink to keep their blood at an even temperature sum- mer and winter. Exhaustion is hinted at by many men as a contributing cause. The investigation at the Municipal Lodging House brought out the interesting result which follows : Industrial factors dominant — young- — one-fifth drink ex- cessively. Industrial and moral factors combined — middle aged — one- half drink excessively. Moral factors dominant — getting old — three-quarters drink excessively. Based on E.vaiiiinatinn of One Hundred Men 33 This would seem to indicate that industrial conditions are of importance in the production of drunkards. The number of men who have received their first downward impetus through habits induced by conditions surrounding them in the day's work, is. however, not to be arrived at by means of this rather crude calculation. Young men are inclined to blame conditions, rather than themselves, for their misfortunes. They would be the last to admit that they drank excessively, or that drink had anything to do with their failure. Moreover these figures are based largely upon the testimony of the men themselves. In addition it may be said, however, that the evidences of intemperance are never so apparent in young as in old men. It requires years of debauchery to stamp the effects of liquor on the face so that all may see them. A young man may be plant- ing the seeds of his ruin without realizing it himself and without . giving an investigator any intimation that this is the case. The steps downward are usually gradual. By the time the victim of the excessive use of liquor is at the bottom, he is so far in time and circumstance from the experience of beginning to fall that it is hard for him to give a clear explanation of it. He may have held a responsible and lucrative position for months or years after he began using liquor. Then it is probable that when he found himself losing grovmd, he blamed everything else but drink. With the arrival of dull times it is not easy for him to find the work he wants. He must take anything he can get, which is likely to be a porter's or dish-washer's job. As the effects of liquor become more pronounced the class of restaurants in which work is obtainable becomes less and less desirable. At last his work becomes unendurable. The following letter from one of my friends, who was at one time one of the worst of drunkards, tells briefly and strik- ingly the story as the inebriate usually views his own history : "Speaking as a periodical drinker, I disavow the theory of heredity. "My study is that inclination breeds habit. As a young man I embarked as a travelling salesman, and being thrown among those older than myself, I was inclined to follow in their ways; the cocktail as a breakfast appetizer -y 34 JJ'hy There Are Vagrants — A Study became a habit. Extending hospitalities to help my trade further strengthened the drinking habit until I became a confirmed periodical drunkard. Finding myself, in such periods, incapable to discharge my duties, I would resign my position before I was requested to vacate. Then to the old haunts, and between remorse and the old associates one meets — the same old story. If one wants to find congenial companions, he seeks them at such times, most naturally, in the den of iniquity, the saloon. If you are known to be a good spender, delicate bar-room courtesy is extended, and you are king-pin while your money lasts. You are a good, jolly fellow until you ask for credit : 'Well, Bill, I'll give you this one drink. We sell liquor and can't afford to give it away.' This is the period of last extremity to the drinker. He will barter honor and soul to satisfy his insatiable crav- ing for drink, after friends have been dunned to the limit for loans, and everything of value has lieen disposed of. Any methods, honest or otherwise, to procure money for drink is the all-absorbing question. Statistics prove the majority of men incarcerated in penal institutions are there through drink. There are rare exceptions : when the home life is not congenial, when the nagging, extravagant, untidy or unfaithful wife drives a man to desperation, he yearns for companionship, and foolishly permits the saloon to allure him — another victim to pay the toll for the devil. I know of several cases where women have had their husbands committed to asylums to be rid of them, some to get control of property, others to lavish their afifection upon another. In conclusion I may add that domestic felicity is truly a safeguard for men to avoid saloons. Drunkenness, crime and insanity would be far less common it homes were made the 'Tabernacles' an all-wise Creator has intended them to be." Users of drugs are more difficult to detect than inebriates. There is no distinctive odor to the breath and no give-away color on the nose. In many instances nothing short of a careful medi- cal examination leads to discovery. Drug users are nearly always disqualified for doing good work. An excellent example of incapacity as the result of drug- using is that of C. T. He came to the woodyard without under- wear and with one of his trouser legs torn about a foot at the Based on E.vainiitation of One Hundred Men 35 knee. Upon being questioned he declared that he had never used hquornor tobacco in any form. After two or three days I learned that for some mysterious reason he had degenerated woefully Nvilhin a very short period. He had stood at the head of his class in school, and had associated with young people who would have nothing to do with him later. I found him so lazy that I suspected a case of hook-worm. The mystery cleared upon the discovery that he was a user of heroin and cocaine. He contracted the habit as a result of using remedies for nasal troubles. Since that time he has been steadily going down hill until he is now worthless as an employee. After staying at the woodyard for three weeks he suddenly disappeared, and nothmg has been heard from him since. We had an excellent illustration of the tendency of "birds of a feather to flock together" during the time when this young man was in our rooms at the woodyard. I had obtained the confidence of one of the men who was constantly associated with the other occupants of our rooms, and he informed me that first one and then another of the men had been seen "sniffing". AH of them were on intimate terms with the young man described in the preceding paragraph. There were seven of these men m all. Thinking that I would make a grand coup I began to make inquiries as to the best way to cure or to dispose of them. Within a week every man had disappeared. My confidant declares that the first young man, C. T., secured the "happy dust" for the others, and that he had taught at least one new man in the wood- yard how to use the drug. Even after we have discovered that men are users of drugs it is difficult to determine just what drug they are using. The moment they suspect our knowledge of their habit they disap- pear One man, however, was caught in the act. While work- ing in the woodyard he lost his pocketbook. The foreman found the pocketbook and gave it to the superintendent. A very ner- vous man came to the superintendent's office and claimed the pocketbook; he described all the articles which the pocketbook contained, except a hypodermic needle. When the superin- tendent told him that he had found such a needle the man broke 36 Jl'liy There .-ire I'agrants — A Study down and confessed that he had contracted the habit while in the army. He had been injured and was kept under the influence of morphine for a long while. After he had recovered he had an extreme longing for something, but he did not know what it was. One of his comrades told him that the drug which they had been giving him was morphine; he purchased some of it, found that it satisfied his longing, and has never broken the habit since. It is a matter of general knowledge that a large proportion of the users of drugs contract the habit through having them administered medicinally. Recent exposures have brought to light many secret dis- pensers of drugs who are using drugged candies and other means to teach school children the drug habit. Sexual vice, although not universal, is, as might be expected, very common among homeless men. James Forbes " describes what he calls the "Jocker" a boy enslaved by a tramp for immoral purposes. "As he becomes exhausted by excesses he comes to know more and more the peril and hollowness and misery of the life he leads, and can see no possible way to escape from it. He is able to achieve momentary forget fulness only by the use of stimulants. When liquor fails to produce the effect, he often resorts to the hypo- dermic syringe. Possibly five years after the commencement of this career he will appear in the streets of great cities, a complete wreck, morally and physically." Sexual degenerates constitute the most pitiful and often horrible class of vagrants. There are thousands of them. They I are so utterly inferior to a man who has no other vice than alcoholism, that it seems a shame to put them both in the same category. Some drunkards are fine, likable men. The pervert \_ is far on toward insanity, and is usually loathsome. A large majority of vagrants are found to have venereal diseases. Frequently the case is so virulent as not to be con- cealed and the man is willing to tell the whole story in the hope V •Mendicancy Officer of C. O. S., N. Y. Charities, 1903, Vol. II, p. 432. Based on R.vaiiiination of One Hundred Men 2)7 of obtaining relief. The ghastly eyes of a victim of gonorrhoea who has rulibcd the poison into his eyes, and the peculiar sup- purations of syphilitic origin, are frecjuently to be seen in the haunts of "down and outs". While gambling is not so important as the vices already enumerated, it is unquestionably a factor in the downfall of hundreds. Such examples as C. L. show that it may sometimes exist as the only cause of vagrancy. This young man seemed so dis- tinctly superior to the other men who appear at the Charities Woodyard that I made a special effort to learn his story. He said that he was a graduate of a Western university, but had taken to betting as his profession after leaving college. He had visited all the principal gambling centers of the world at Monte Carlo, in India and South America, at Goldfield, Nevada and New Orleans. He had been successful vmtil he risked all he had on a horse in Charleston, S. C, and lost his bet.' He was working to obtain enough money to get to Belmont Park, and assured me that once he got back among his friends he would be able to borrow enough to start gambling again. The following testimony written by a one-time gambler, describes the manner in which gambling may lead a man to financial ruin and crime : "Eventually Frank and myself began to gamble, play- ing cards, horse races and dice in saloons. For several months I had not been drinking — the old, old story. En- vironments enchant temptations. Frank and myself had formed a sort of partnership in our gambling ventures. As the fickle wheel of fortune goes we had won and lost. Eventually the crisis came — we were financial bankrupts. We had to make good, no matter how we got it, to keep in the swim with our fast company. Up to that time I had not been guilty of any dishonest transaction. Frank sug- gested various manipulations, and I admit I readily and freely cooperated. The inevitable; our defalcations, etc., discovered. I had ample time to get away, and Frank implored me to do so. Satiated with the damnable drink, to forget past, present and future, I existed in a maudlin state, and in such condition was arrested. Secretly got word to 20534. 3'^ " /'.v There Arc I'oijranls — A Study Frank to leave. I was despondent and hopeless and cared little what my fate should be — my only concern that my parents should be spared my disgrace. Plead guilty and was sentenced to an indeterminate term (two to fourteen years)." After considerable persuasion and cross-examination a man who at first insisted on his excellent character, admitted that he had lost all his money at gambling. He had learned, he said, to gamble in a church club for men, and was sexton of the church at the time. Something like 12 per cent, of the vagrants whom I have interviewed at the woodyard confess that they have served sentences of long or short duration in jail or in the penitentiary. L. Vervaek estimated that 40 per cent, of the vagabonds of Belgium have had a court record. A few of the men whom I interviewed admitted that they ought to be in prison, but that they had escaped being caught. One talkative fellow said that he had used a gun in such a way that he would have been in prison long ago if the authorities had found him out. Exactly what he had done he refused to tell. We have a number of men who are apparently kept in a state of vagrancy because pf their prison records. It has not been easy to find employers who are willing to give law-breakers another chance, and the few employers who will do so are swamped with applications. Fortunately, there is growing up a feeling that law breakers have not received the treatment they ought to have had in prison. This feeling is finding expression in efforts to help ex-convicts to their feet, and the number of vagrants who are ruined by their prison experience may be ex- pected to decrease. More men are rendered unemployable because of their un- reliability than because of actual crimes. This irresponsibility follows naturally in the wake of drunkenness and other vices, though it is sometimes the sole cause of failure in men of other- wise good habits. A striking illustration of the moral blind- ness of many vagrants is that of a young man who told me with evident pride that he could give me a three years' reference Based on ExainiiiutUm of One II iiii(lri\l Men 39 from a man whom lie had never met, lint who werpetually silly grin and an insant look. He said his mind was peculiar, and he did not know what ailed him. He never could tell what he was goyig to do the next minute. \\''hen asked if he drank, he replied, "Everything I can get." J. N. declared that he was elected congressman from Rhode Island, hut that because he was uneducated, "they took another man by the same name and never said anything more about it," and continued, "I can never prove I was the right man." In this kind of rambling talk he indulges all the while. He says he has wandered all over the United States and Europe. W. P. is sevent3^-four years of age. He is a simple- minded, itinerant musician, traveling from one mission to an- other, wherever he can find a welcome, and singing songs when- ever anyone will listen to him. He discourses on the subject of grading roads, at which he thinks he is the greatest expert in the United States. A. H. informed me in strict confidence that he was "suffer- ing from the curse of God". When I asked him what it was, he said, "The curse of God, that is all." I could not find that it was anything in particular that he had in mind, excepting his bad luck. He said, "I have been under the curse of God for seven years, and the last year is just about up : then I am going to have the blessing of God for about seven years." This is all he could be persuaded to talk about. A stunted, feeble-minded boy, who said he was twenty-two years of age, but looked about fifteen or sixteen, wandered into the woodyard one day. He had worked in coal breakers ever since he could remember. L. M. has the saddest voice and most pathetic appearance one could imagine. His face bears a look of agony and despair. He said he had served a term of six years in the penitentiary, and that he had been unable to get any kind of work since he had been discharged. Upon inquiring at the penitentiary where he claimed to have been incarcerated, I learned that he had not been there under the name which he had given me, and that they did not recognize his description. Based oil ILvaiiiinalidii of One llundrcd Men 51 It happened that a near-l)y factory needed a hand, and I sent L. M. over to get the job. He sta)ed there three days, but find- ing the work too difficult gave it up. He did not come to see me, but I received a letter from him which was so striking and so superior to that of the average vagrant — or of the average man for that matter — that it deserves publication. From it the extraor- dinary fluency of the man ma}' be inferred, but it does not cor- rectly reveal his unspeakable despondency of manner and voice. "Dear Sir:— "In making use of your permission to write to you, I do so not solely in the hope that you will help me still further. While this hope is largely responsible for this letter, there is also a wonderful consolation for me in the fact that there is someone to whom I may speak about myself, and be assured of his sympathy. I could dwell at length on this point and on my feeling of happiness to have found a friend — what a word — but I do not want to weary you. So I will briefly tell you the facts about my present condition. ". . . Please, sir, accept it as more than a figure of speech when I say to you in closing that I feel very grateful to you for the handshake and sympathy and help you have given me. May the great power that must be above us give it into your heart to see me through. "I am, sir, "Very respectfully yours." L. M. never returned, but about two weeks later my eye was caught by a letter on the front page of the "New York Globe" which read as follows: "To the Editor of the Globe : "Sir : Last night I chanced upon a copy of the Globe of the 22nd inst. Therein I read an article 'To any Boy', by Mr. Hapgood, concerning criminals. This gave me the idea to write to yoix — for I am, or was, a criminal, having but recently been discharged from a western penitentiary. Six years. Unfortunately I do not belong to Mr. Hapgood's good criminals. I was guilty and convicted for stealing. Just a thief; not habitually and by instinct, but I was guilty all right. Perhaps you will read on. I promise to be very 52 Why There Arc Vagrants — A Study brief. I don't wish to steal any more. What is left of my spirit and body, after six years of lock-step and cell, cries out for a straight life. At first, in prison, I was unruly and got the worst of it, of course. Now I am free, a total stranger. I need work. I need a friend. I can exist until tomorrow. Then what? No money, no references, the hangdog look. I cannot seem to look up straight. I realize the folly of expecting a stranger like you to take an interest. "It is simply and literally the story of the straw and the drowning man. But here goes : "Would you try to find for me some kind of work for today or tomorrow, so I could tide over Sunday? Some- thing might turn up Monday. I am forty-eight years old, single, a stranger here. Not strong now, but willing to tackle anything honest. If you are in when I deliver this at your office, I'll wait a few minutes for a possible answer. "Please do not take my abrupt style for disrespect. It is only a case where it takes all my courage to keep on living for another day, and I have no heart to beg my bread at fine writing. Just one more very earnest and very respectful request, sir. I know this is a forlorn hope and I expect to be turned away, but do not advise me to go to some prison society or charity or mission or such like places. I have had all I can bear of being classified and measured and stared at by some hired underling who cares only for his salary. They delight in making old sores bleed. If you care at all, try to find me a day's work. The power that must be above knows that I mean business. "If there is an answer please send it out to yours very respectfully, "G. M. of Minnesota." The identity of the unusual phrase "the power that must be above" in my own letter and that published in the Globe together with other striking resemblances rendered it practically certain that L. M. had written the letter, and signed it with another name. I telephoned to the City Editor of the Globe, who recognized my description at once, and who informed me that the letter had been the means of bringing for L. M. contri- butions amounting to more than $;iO, considerable clothing, and a ticket for a job in Connecticut. Dr. Frank Crane, I learned, had taken upon himself the task of being his adviser. Based Oil Examination of One llitndrcd Men 53 It would seem that no one could have a more favorable opportunity to make good than L. M. now had. Yet in answer to a note of inquiry I received the following disappointing letter : "My dear Mr. Laulmch: — "In the latter part of last year the man . . . was helped by The Globe, also by me and by a cotton manufac- turer whose name I ha-ve forgotten. We got him some money, some clothes and a ticket to go to Connecticut to take a position in the cotton manufacturer's works. He disappeared, and I have never heard of him since. He never took the job. "Very truly yours, "Frank Crane." This story has been told at length because it is typical. The man whom it describes belongs to a class of vagrants who make an excellent first impression, but who have some defects that render them incapal)le of functioning in society. There are mul- titudes of homeless men who appear so perfectly normal that one cannot believe that the fault for their condition lies in them- selves, until one has spent days or weeks in their company. It is not to be wondered at, therefore, that men like L. M. wander about the country arousing sympathy and receive aid wherever they go. It might be unjust to call L. M. a clever rascal. He may mean all that he says or writes, for the time being, yet sufifer periods of melancholy and despair that are literally paralyzing. Such men are very likely to be condemned as "dead beats" when possibly in individual instances they should be treated as are the demented. H. N. believes that he is a prophet. He says that he can hear messages telling him what he ought to do. He thinks he can see the spirits of dead people about him where other people are unable to see them ; good spirits are bright spots and bad spirits are dark spots. His religious ideas seem to be peculiar to himself. His fanaticism has led him to sell everything he pos- sessed and wander about the country in the belief that in doing this he is obeying the voice of God as he heard it in one of his 54 iriiy There Arc Vagrants — A Study visions. He says that his call to prophesy came to him while he was prospecting in the Rocky Mountains, and that the call re- sembled that of St. Paul in almost every particular. He has written me a great many pages of almost meaning- less matter. The following letter, written in 191 3, is an example of what his vagaries are like : "... I hope to God you believe there is nothing new under the sun, and we can create nothing, we can destroy nothing ; all things are created by God our creator. Since the fall of Eve and Adam, all people died. I told you in the letter before, I say again, when we die, the soul only departs from the body, but the soul comes back again by intercourse, man with women. God gives always the soul a body according to our lives before. I know Multitudes of people here in the flesh according to the Bible. That miserable Serpent which deceiveth Eve is that Leviathan in the 41st Chapter of Job. He knows all secrets. He is the King of the Children of Pride. It is that miserable Serpent, Emperor William H, the Kaiser of Germany. He did the same thing years ago with Eve, and brought all the trouble over the house of Adam Friedrich August, King of Sachem. Please read the life of Louis of Toscany; you can get it in some of the Library's. Cain is that Czar Nicholas of Russia. The time is growing ripe — Trouble zvill come from the North — .\braham is Pope Pius X. I hope you understand me right. The same soul which was in Abraham, the same soul is in Pius X : the same soul which was in Cain, the same soul is in Czar Nicholaus of Russia, and it is the same with Adam and Eve and the others. I am born a Protestant, but there is not a man which loves Pius X more than I do, because he works on the same line as I do against secret lodges. There is not such a thing as secret lodges in the kingdom of heaven, we must overcome here in the body, not up in the air. Pius X will be a sign to the people of Niniveh. That means that he will get out of the Vatican, those vipers, Free Masons, will drive him out of the Vatican. ... I will show you plainly the New Testament contradicts the old — one of the two is wrong — it is either Jehovah or Christ. We learn by history and the bible Christ was a deceiver, according to his own teaching. . . The church which Jehovah put in Existence about 6000 years ago, was the holy Kath. Based on Exaiiiinalitut nf Onr I htiuhwl Men 00 Church. . . Peter was the first pope. Christ estab- hshed koine. Christ was the anti-Christ. Christ was that deceiver which deceived the whole world. The time is ripe for all the children of Israel, the Protestants, and all those who believe on Christ, to get tired of that confusion, that Babylon, that fornication and murdering spirit which Christ called Love. They will come back to Jehovah. We will worship Jehovah the same we did in time of old. Sulzer in the past, and all those learned; Murphy, Tammany is stronger than them. There is only one which can help Sulzer and that is Jehovah, h'or long, long years I tried to work with those leaders of the churches. It seems to me they are the furthest away from God. I tried to get a per- mit from Ex-Mayor Gaynor, and Mayor Kline, but they did not answer. "I believe there is more good in iniidels nowadays than in the average of those leaders of the churches. It is my heart's desire to give out that truth. It is my duty accord- ing to the plan of God to speak to the people. Mr. Laubach, friend in God, would you please give that letter to other people. . . . God made me free from the desire for money. I was what might be called rich in the past. I spent all. God he give me the beginning of all secrets. I know well that if I am free of a desire I will not build that up again. I am thankful to you if you let me split wood so I can earn that little I need b}' working. I hope to God you believe that letter. I hope to God you let others which are for truth read that letter. "Your truly friend in Jehovah." Whether insane or not this man's fixed ideas are complete disqualifications for a life of prosperity in the world as it is now organized. His fondness for writing letters has at last gotten him into trouble. He has been arrested and sent to the workhouse for writing threatening prophesies to Mayor Mitchell. E. S. is an innocent looking boy with curly hair, and one would wonder at first glance how it happened that he became so unfortunate. His references prove that he is a notorious liar, a thief, a drunkard and a seducer of innocent girls. We had him examined by an alienist, who declared him to be a moral imbecile, 56 IV hy There Arc Vagrants — A Study beyond all hope of recovery, yet "not bad enough for institutional care." E. A. imagines that the entire Jewish race is in league against him and that they have prevented him from getting a position wherever he has gone. They are plotting, he declares, to compel him to marry a Jewish girl whom he does not want. He travels so as to avoid coming under the control of these plot- ters. C. R. said that the fates are against him. He knew this be- cause he had studied Solar Biology and Astrology. He soon wandered off to the subject of "the wonderful spiritual woman with lofty ideals." The tears came into his eyes, his lips quiv- ered and his face became red. He shook his head with intense fervor, his eyes were turned heavenward, and I feared he was about to have a spasm. He had hydrocele, for which he had un- dergone an operation. He has frequent headaches and after a sudden jar, he experiences an unpleasant sensation at the base of his brain. He is a typical case of dementia praecox. Illustrations of this kind would fill a volume. Now and then a man shows his mental inferiority so plainly that it is readily detected, although the casual observer sees nothing un- usual. We had a man at the woodyard for a week before we dis- covered his hallucinations, yet he was positively dangerous. He furnishes the best possible example of the ease with which one may be deceived. When he iirst appeared at the woodyard he claimed that he had been robbed the night before and that his ticket to the West as well as all his money had been stolen. He requested the Charity Organization Society to ad- vance him a loan on property which he possessed in Cincinnati, Ohio; if we desired we might telegraph a "certain party" in Cincinnati and satisfy ourselves that he did possess this property. Plausible and convincingly told as his story was, it was necessary to abide by the rule always to look up a man's refer- ences before sending him away with money. No reply came to any of the references. We put him into one of our beds while he waited for a reply, which he was certain would come every Based on E.vdiiiiiniliuii of One II inulrcd Men 57 day. He was so scrupulously clean ami ileal that we hired him to take care of our bedrooms. For the first week we were delighted. On Saturday night, however, our man went on a spree. He did not allow it to interfere with his work and was forgiven. Then he vouchsafed the information in strict confidence that the reason he left the West was because he had powerful political enemies who had plans against him, and had prevented him from getting small political offices, for which he was very ambitious. In a few days these enemies had developed in every part of the United States. Some of these enemies had put him in an asylum in order to get him out of the way, as he knew too much about them for their own good. He began to exhibit intense hatred toward the Catholics in the woodyard and had a fight with one of them. Then it was discovered that he kept a loaded revolver under his pillow every night. Upon being asked for an ex- planation of this he said it was to protect him against his ene- mies, who were scattered all over the city. He declared that the second day he came to New York City, a policeman on Brooklyn Bridge looked at him and grumbled something to a fellow policeman ; then he knew they had him spotted, and that he was bound to have trouble in this city. This was the man who, but for the strict rules of the Society, would have gotten carfare to go to Cincinnati the first day he applied ! All grades of mental inferiority are to be found among vagrants, from that of the out-and-out criminal to that of dull, stupid, untalkative men who will never do any harm, yet who have not enough initiative fo provide for themselves. No one can come into close contact with these men without the conviction that our provision for the mentally abnormal is inadequate. So long as they are allowed to roam at large, such men not only menace life and property, but they are breeding feeble-mindedness wherever they go. Segregation would be an enormous additional burden to the public in this generation, but it would save the next a heavier burden. Alexander Pope could have found no better proof of his dictum that "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing", than is to 58 Why There .-Ire I'ltyrants — .1 Study be had from a study of vagrants. Their stories illustrate abun- dantly how useless is a one-sided, poorly adapted education. Vast numbers of country boys are ilocking into the cities, be- cause they have read and heard much about the marvels of the city, while they remain totally oblivious to the more marvelous possibilities of their own occupations on the farm. After reach- ing the city many of these boys fall in with evil men and ulti- mately degenerate into vagrants. This is the story of T. L. He was the son of a Scotch shepherd. His people were sturdy, conservative and contented, but could neither read nor write. When the boy went to school he became deeply interested in geography, and never ceased to dream about the great world which his parents had never seen. At length he succeeded in running away from home, and went to sea. The wanderlust seized him, and he has traveled over the world for forty years, never contented and never very successful. The diffusion of science, literature and art is giving the laboring class desires which no laboring man can satisfy without abandoning his steady work. E. R. said that he had quit his work because the long hours did not give him any time to read. He prefers three hours' work in such a place as the woodyard because he can spend the remainder of the day in libraries, read- ing the newspapers and magazines. In still another respect education frequently has an unfor- tunate result. Because a majority of educated men do not labor with their hands, the idea is prevalent that manual labor is a sign of ignorance. It is not difficult for the man who is attracted by the life of vagrancy to bring himself to believe that it is more honorable to beg than to work. When a man who asked for twenty-five cents was ofifered a wood)-ard ticket, he was highly insulted, declaring that he never condescended to such menial tasks. On the other hand, the educated man is usually restrained from sinking into vagrancy by his self-respect. He has too much foresight to leave one position before he is fairly sure of another. He would feel the degradation of failure and vagrancy most keenly. The circle of his friends requires him to have a fixed Basal on Exaiuiinition of One ihindi'cd Men 59 income. He will be ostracized if he is an economic failure, even if his failure be an honorable one. The educated man usually spends more thought and time in proxiding for future security than the average illiterate man. The man with intelligence has farther to fall and more to lose by the fall than the ignorant man. Therefore, very few educated men become vagrants, unless they are dragged down by some vice too powerful for them to master. Educated \agranls form a distinct class. They are usually victims of alcoholism or some other vice. They do not associate with the illiterate vagrant and wish it to be understood that they are "gentlemen". They are unable to conceal their education if they choose, for there is a wide gulf separating the college-bred vagrant from the untutored one, which appears the moment he speaks. One illustration will sufifice. W. L. was educated for the priesthood, but became too fond of liquor to complete his educa- tion. He was a good Latin scholar, and can cjuote pages of Latin to this day. I happened to know something from Catullus, which he translated at once, with the information that my Latin pronunciation was poor. He was able to talk on all the subjects which we brought up in a way to excite admiration. His sister was still hopeful of his ultimate salvation and persuaded him to go with me to Chester Crest, a home for in- ebriates. A week later he told one of the other men at this place that he could not stand the monotony of sober living much longer. The following day he disappeared and was ne.xt re- ported with his crowd, all of them educated drunkards like him- self, all of them "panhandlers", who "hang out" on Bleeker Street. Writing poetry is decidedly chic among these "high-brow bums", as the other vagrants call them. Perhaps the best, and certainly the briefest of the many verses which they have pre- sented to me are the following : "MEMORIAL DAY Hail, glorious Columbia, proud land of the oceans. Greetings a thousand to thee we convey ; Garlands of flowers and bright laurels of nations We proffer thee, queen, on thy proud natal day. 6o PVhy There Arc Vagrants — A Study Gemmed be this day in the annals of glory, Writ in the glow of celestial light Columbia, our greetings each star of thy glory Emblazoned shines forth like the proud orbs of night. The joy bells of freedom ring loud from each steeple, Sound liberty's tocsin, till shriven the clouds! Roll trumpet and drum mid the songs of the people, Wave high thy starry flag, proudest of shrouds. D. K., ist U. S. Inft." Four out of every five of the men of high-school or college education, who became vagrants, owed their downfall to liquor. Two educated men in a hundred were drug users and two de- clared that they were victims of sexual excesses. Mr. Rice finds from the Municipal Lodging House investi- gation that 27 per cent, of the men investigated had received no American education. Forty-six per cent, admitted that they had no business or trade training of any kind. More than half of the men had left school before they were fifteen. More than one- fifth had left school at the age of twelve or less. Mr. Whiting concludes from this data that 54 per cent, of the men have "had no adequate schooling or- trade training". CHAPTER VI Physical Disqualifications for Work and for Thrift. In Chapter II if was stated that only twenty-three of the one hundred men were free from some more or less serious phys- ical disqualification for doing the work for which they had been trained. Seventy-seven were temporarily or permanently below normal working ability because of their physical condition. Thirty-four of these disqualifications were permanent in charac- ter. Forty-three could be removed by medical treatment. The report of the examining physicians at the investigation held in March, 191 4, at the Municipal Lodging House, on the physical condition of 2000 men gives the following data : "One thousand two hundred and forty-seven, or 62 per cent., were considered able to do regular hard manual work ; Based on Exaiiiiiujfion of One Hundred Men 6i 354, or i8 per cent., could perform moderately hard work; 173, or 9 per cent, could do light work; making a total of 1774, or 89 per cent, who were able to do some kind of hard work, and only 226, or 11 per cent., unable to work. Of these 80, or 4 per cent., were temporarily disabled, leaving only 146, or 7 per cent., who should be considered as per- manently unfitted to do any sort of manual work". Mr. Rice, by comparing the reports of the social workers with those of the examining physicians, learned that 21 per cent, were disqualified for work, 9 per cent, temporarily, and 12 per cent permanently. Mrs. Solenberger, in her study of "One Thousand Homeless Men", found that 627, or 62.7 per cent, of the men were de- fective in health. The various kinds of physical disqualifications include. Sickness, Sight and Hearing, Crippled Arms or Legs, and Old Age. "I have just come out of the hospital", is one of the com- monest statements made by vagrants. It has been estimated that in New York City there are 1 100 per cent, more vagrants treated in our city hospitals than other people. All diseases to which man is liable are to be found among these men. Of the one hundred men, 7 had been pronounced tu- bercular, 26 confessed that they were or had been suffering from venereal diseases, 4 had bronchial trouble in an acute form, 13 were suffering from malnutrition, 17 had contracted pleurisy, pneumonia or the grippe as a result of exposure. During the time when I knew them, 16 were suffering from neuritis, and 6 from other diseases. Mr. Rice reports that of the two thousand men investigated at the Municipal Lodging House, there were permanently dis- qualified for all kinds of work, on account of tuberculosis 13, heart trouble 8, epilepsy 4, venereal diseases 2, and other 8. There are two marked effects of these periods of illness. The first is a gradual lessening in the earning capacity, the second is an increase in necessary expenses. Each illness leaves the man in poorer condition to exist than before. 62 Why There Arc J'agrants — A Study Frequently the illnesses are attributable to drink or im- morality, but more often perhaps, they are attributable to ex- posure, irregularity of eating and wretched food. _ Sickness drives a considerable number of men from the ranks of the employed into the ranks of vagrancy. The man who has been able to make ends meet before his illness, is con- fronted with staggering bills just when he is recovering from ill- ness, and has nothing to look forward to but years of indebted- ness. In such a period of misfortune one of the easiest avenues of escape is to desert the family, for charitable organizations must provide for the women and children if there is no man to provide for them. Nine of the one hundred men had defective eyesight and one was unable to hear a word. Mr. Rice found that 20 of the 2000 examined at the Municipal Lodging House, or exactly i per cent., were permanently disqualified for doing all kinds of work on account of defective vision. There is today no reason for totally blind persons being vagrants. Manj' men who are not blind, yet who have defective eyesight, are more unfortunate than the blind. H. C. is suffer- ing from the gradual growth of cataracts over his eyes. He was compelled to abandon his occupation as maker of watch screws, at an age when it was too late for him to learn any other trade. Yet he is not sufficiently helpless to be taken care of by any in- stitution for the blind. , The most common of all the industrial accidents with which vagrants meet is the loss of one eye. Those who are totally blind are provided for, but the man who has lost one eye is greatly to be pitied. The disfigurement prevents the victim from holding any position where appearances are of consequence. Railroads and most factories consider it unwise to employ him. Unless he is extraordinarily careful an unpleasant odor will come from the socket of the absent member, and no vagrant can be very cleanly. It is easier for the man with one eye to obtain charity than to ob- tain work. People will pity him for his misfortune, who will not have him about as a workman. For this reason it is extremely Iniscil on Exaiiiiiiation of Oiu- IJuiulrcd Men 63 easy for a man w ith one eje to lapse into mendicancy as a means of livelihood. Deafness is a serious handicap alone. Associated with alco- hol it becomes well nigh unsurmountable. Unfortunately, the deaf have a tendency to become melancholic and are very likely to drink in order to drown their trouble. Jones was stone deaf. I took him to all the societies for the deaf in the city, but one whiff of his breath was enough to convince every person whom we interviewed that nothing could be done for the man. Four of the one hundred men were deformed and 14 were maimed. Of Mrs. Solenl^erger's 1000 men, 254 were crippled or maimed. Mr. Rice found 12 out of 2000 men permanently and completely disqualified for all work on account of a crippled con- dition. ., From these figures we may infer that while not many men survive accidents and remain permanently unfit for work, a great many men are rendered inefficient by accidents and are no longer able to compete as they once did in the labor market. Day after day there appear at the woodyard instances like these: O. B. is an honest, hard-working man of fifty-five. He is an illiterate laborer and cannot write his own name. He never was able to save enough money to feel safe in marrying. Re- cently his hand was badly crushed, and he came to the Charity Organization Society as a last resort. He is a victim of igno- rance and improvidence. J. K. is a powerful man, who has worked in a meat market for twenty years. A quarter of beef fell on his leg, permanently disabling him for all heavy work. He is too ignorant for anything else. M. C. D. was thrown from a truck and has been so injured that he can do no hard work. P. R. had his right hand cut off by a thresher. One is impressed with the extreme likelihood of a laboring man being injured. The man who escapes being laid off for a few days now and then is unusually fortunate. When such ac- cidents come, entailing the loss of income and the payment of doctor's bills, the vast majority who had just enough to keep them from starvation before, become the victims of want, unless they 64 Why There Are Vagrants — A Study are protected by some kind of accident insurance. The ignorant, unskilled laborer, whose wage is smallest, is likely to consider the insurance rate too high and to decide to take his chances. He knows that if he is out of work, he will not have money to pay his premiums, and his policy will lapse and his money be wasted. Employers' liability, which is discussed in later chap- ters, will be a great blessing to laboring people of this class. • The most pathetic and perhaps the most excusable cause of inability to get work is senility. Many aged vagrants were steady, hard-working men until they became too old to follow their vocations. Then they hacj to choose between living in some Old Folks' Home and the free- dom of vagrancy. iVfany alms-houses are revolting. The public pays enough, but the public usually gives very little thought to the way its money is spent so long as the comfort of the public itself is not affected. It is not surprising that so many men pre- fer to shift for themselves. The age at which a man is unemployable depends upon the nature of the work in which he is engaged and the condition of the man's health and appearance. Gray hair is often a handicap. A structural ironworker told me that he was too old to follow his trade at the age of fifty. E. B. is a painter, but he has been pushed out of his profession at the age of fifty-five by the compe- tition of younger men. In a city like New York, common labor- ers are superannuated the moment they show the first sign of weakness. To one who has come into intimate contact with vagrants, this army of hoary headed homeless men is very much more than a matter of cold statistics. Faces arise one after the other in the memory, faces haggard, weary and the more pathetic because they are so hopeless. The only escape from their misery which one can see is death. There is Hunt, a huge Scotchman, half paralyzed at fifty-one; McSweeny, a feeble, superannuated painter at fifty-four; Smith, tottering at sixty; Reisedorf, still hopeful, but "out of it", at fifty-three; Heilshorn, fifty-three and one eye gone; Hogan, fifty-eight, without one eye; Dowling, sixty- Rased on E.vaiiiiiiation of Our Hundred Men '65 eight, too feeble to work, too proud to ask charity; Halleran, stooping at fifty-five; Nutall, who looked twenty years more than forty-nine, which he gave as his age; Ryan, fifty-nine; Lester, fifty-seven; Miller, fifty-six; Keller, sixty-three; Roach, still do- ing common labor at seventy-two; Heil, fifty-seven; Oram, an Englishman of sixty, proud of the fact that he has been a coach- man for a past generation of Vanderbilts; Lyons, sixty-seven; Schmidt, fifty-nine; O'Brien, sixty-three; Wood, fifty- four, dis- charged from the Hippodrome because of his age; all of these are old men at ages when others who have not suffered hardships are doing their best work; all of them are refused jobs day after day because they reveal their senility at the first glance. Numer- ically, they are but few compared with the numbers of younger vagrants, but in the memory of the social worker their wrinkled appealing faces linger when those of the others have faded. I estimate that 16 out of my one hundred men were dis- qualified to a serious extent by senility. IMr. Rice found that 1 16 men out of 2000 were unfit for work on account of age. Mrs. Solenberger called 132 of her 1000 cases "homeless old men". Mr. J. H. Larson compiled from the records of 18,606 men interviewed at the Municipal Lodging House during 1911-12 the following statistics: Under 30 years 43 per cent. Between 30 and 50 years 46 per cent. Over 50 years 1 1 per cent. Mr. Cook, from the records of 12,448 men interviewed in 1909-10, found 12 per cent, over fifty years of age. This 11 per cent., or 12 per cent., is almost or altogether past the age of use- fulness for laboring men. There should be a "Home of Hope" for all homeless men who have reached the age of fifty, and are no longer able to find employment because of their physical condition. It should not be a Blackwell's Island, but should have the comfort and refinement of Chester Crest, and, like Chester Crest, should afford the men a chance to earn all they get. There might be a variety of indus- tries, but the first and finest industry in the world, agriculture, 66 Why There Arc P^agranfs — A Study particularly berry and fruit growing, dairying and chicken rais- ing, would probably prove best. The state is perhaps not the best maker of such a home. Some man who loves farming and who desires to be of service, could get land at small cost in the vicinity of New York, and should make a success of the project. With such a home, men could spend their declining years in the peace and comfort wliich a civilized people should accord to its ag-ed. Based on E.viniiiiialioii of Our 1 1 mid ml Men 67 PART III SOCIAL FACTORS LEADING TO VAGRANCY CHAPTER VII Vagrancy and the Family It fainily_jdeals_are_hri£ure and low, vagrancy will result. /ivlore frequently, however, the breaking up of a family because of til e death of "orie^or "both parents or of the determination to separate on the part of its principals, may result in the vagrancy of one or more of its members. Statistical demonstration of the effects of low family ideals in producing vagrancy is dithcult. Such test questions as attend- ' ance at Sunday School or Church in youth, or what kind of books were read, lead to the conclusion that a very small proportion of vagrants has come under religious or ethical influences that have had an}- appreciable effect. Perhaps, a more accurate index of the effect of home ideals is obtained by asking whether the pa- rents were given to inebriety, or to what extent liquor was used in the home, since we have found that such a large proportion of vagrants are slaves to the drink habit. Out of the one hundred whom I asked the question whether their father drank to excess, forty-five declared that they did. Seventeen of the same hundred men admitted that their mothers were victims of the drink habit, while twenty-six declared that liquor was consumed freely in their homes while they were chil- dren. Twenty-five out of the hundred men said that their fathers were either harsh or unjust. Great numbers of vagrants state that they ran away from home because of ill treatment by their parents. J. C, a Philadelphia boy, played "hookey" from school. His father whipped him without an}- good results. At length the exasperated parent took his son before a magistrate, who sent 68 U'liy There Are Vagrants — A Study the lad to the House of Correction. There he learned all the bad things that boys usually learn at these institutions. After he had stayed two years his father helped him out, but was so cruel that the boy ran away from home at the age of sixteen years. He joined the marine corps and served in the army for six years, when he received a dishonorable discharge, and has been a wan- derer on the face of the earth ever since. . Stepparents are frequently cited by vagrants as a cause of waywardness. Fifty-nine out of one hundred men said that they had been left orphans before they were sixteen years of age. For a long time we tried to persuade a young man to go back to his parents and cease wasting his life, but nothing the parents or we could do had any effect upon him. He declared that his step- mother had made life impossible for him and that he never wanted to see her again. L. V. was asked the question which opens men's hearts as no other does, "Are your parents living?" "No," was the reply, "I never saw my mother. She died when I was born. iVly father died when I was three years old. The man I lived with was a rummy. One da)' when I was fifteen years old he cussed at my mother (I called her mother), and he picked up the butcher knife to hit her. I reached over and knocked him down, and beat him up imtil he had both eyes blackened. 'There', I said, 'that pays for the way you have treated me for the last ten years. I have been waiting for the time to come when I could do this.' I would have killed him if his wife hadn't stopped me. "I had a good wife, but I had to spend $800.00 on two operations, and then she died. Isn't that enough to make any man discouraged? Since then I have been knocking around without getting anywhere. Not long ago I had $300.00 in my pocket which I had saved up for six months. I went on a drunk, as all of us working folks do, and spent it all in ten days. I had a buddy who stole a suit of my clothes. I got a gun and went after him, and I hunted for him for two days. If I had found him I'd have been hung long ago, but he got away from me, and I have never run across him since." Based on Exaiiiiiialion of One llnntlrcd Men 69 This man has a good heart and will do anything for his friends. Where he is dri f ting is only too evident, and it is what one might expect from his early experiences. Twelve of my one hundred men said that they had been in orphanages. This proportion is not far from that discovered by the Municipal Lodging House investigation, in which it is stated that 9.3 per cent, of the men said that they had spent time in orphanages. The injury done to children when both parents work outside the home during the day is clearly seen in the life stories of many vagrants. A young man who looked as though he ought to be occupying a good position, and who was, nevertheless, wander- ing about the country, said that his father and mother had both been cigarmakers ever since he could remember, and that he had started in the same business at a very early age. He said that he had never had any pleasure at home, and that he had wandered away because he wanted to enjoy life. Sixty-three of the hundred men said they had been raised in the city, nineteen said they had been raised in towns, and six said that they had spent their early years on farms. Everypa- rent who tries to train children iti cities 'realizes how powerful are the distractions of thg city\streets and how difficult it is to keep children from demoralizing influences. ^ Almost every day the interviewer hears the story of one who says that everything was going well until his wife died, or until some trouble separated the family. After the family had broken up he never seemed to be the same man again. At least twenty-six of my one hundred sample cases had deserted their wives, fourteen men were widowers, and thirty-eight were single men. Such notes as the following have been made by me in the course of this investigation : "Says wife went insane and he took to drink to drown his grief." "Lost four children and wife through tuberculosis, and has had no interest in life since." "Wife turned on gas and killed herself. Had held job for years, but gave it up and has not held a job more than a month at a time since. Drink does not bother him." "Wife mistreated his r 70 Jl'liy Then- .Ire I'agrants — A Study son — her stepson — resulting in quarrel and separation. He has been a tramp since." "Handsome man . . . had domestic trouble some years ago, nature of which he refuses to divulge, but declares he has learned his lesson. Heavy drinker." "Lost job by going on spree at time wife died." And letters like this: "In reply to your inquiry on . . ., we beg to say that he has worked for us as stated about three years. . . . Owing to some domestic trouble we have often advanced him money, but his trouble took him away to court cjuite frequently." Men are usually cautious about telling facts such as the last quoted letter reveals, because it is likely to lead to prosecution for non- support. The psychology of these cases is not difficult to understand. The knowledge that he has a wife and family dependent upon him will normally make a man willing to endure and to work as he would not if they were taken from him. Rising at five in the morning, bending to one task until sunset, hearing of attractive races, games, amusements, excitements^ but never having time to attend them, this is sacrifice, and the/man without sufficient in- centive will often get into the habit of caring too much about these pleasures, and will tear himself from incessant, grinding toil, when those for whom he was willing to suffer are gone. Even comparatively easy labor becomes irksome when there is no motive for performing the task.' The laboring man does not have the pleasure of seeing the results of his labor, he moves his hands or feet a few times, makes his particular article, and sends it away, never to see or hear of it again. This is very well if he has children or wife to dream of and to plan for, but when they are gone, it is small wonder that he longs to break loose and enter into the excitement of a care-free life. When the attraction of the home has been taken away, a man finds the street suddenly grown attractive, for it occupies the mind and relieves the sense of loss which oppresses him. Unfor- tunately, street influences are largely of a kind that lead to self- abasement and ruin. If the lack of anchorage which a family makes is one reason for vagrancy, any condition which makes for celibacy must be Based on E.wuiiiitation of One Hundred Men 71 harmful. \\ lieu men are asked why they have never married, we get the reply: "Me? What have I got to keep a wife on?" Usually it is uttered without intent as an indictment of modern economic conditions. It is often asked why women do not become vagrants in as great numbers as men. There are perhaps three answers to the question. The first is that they do become the female kind of vagrant, namely, prostitutes, in many instances. The second answer is that society will not tolerate in females the same kind of vagrancy that it will tolerate in men. The third is that per- haps most women do not have the same roving disposition as * 'vV men - It has been men who have done most of the exploring in history, who have manifested most of the spirit of adventure and love of taking chances, and who have constituted the radical wing of society, while women have been domestic and conservative. -~,. 1^ It may be that ivandcrlust is allurement to which the male sex is most susceptible. Successful men usually pay glowing tributes to their moth- ers. Such tributes are conspicuous for their rarety among va- grants. I have sought to arouse men to a sense of shame by ap- pealing to them as evangelists often do, to remember their sainted mothers. In the majority of cases the sainted mothers proved to be myths, unless they were mothers who died while the children were very young. Frequently the allusion to a man's loving mother elicits the reply, "I never had the kind of mother other people had." Some of the attempts to glorify mothers are pitiful. One young man informed me that he had a good mother — before she ran off with another man, leaving him with his father. Men the world over are too chivalrous not to stand by their mothers to the last, but few vagrants can speak with truth of their mothers as noble women. If we look for ultimate causes of vagrancy, they are often to be found in the lack of good mothers. As one associates for a long time with vagrants he is driven to realize that primarily we are creatures of heredity and second- arily of environment, and that it is unscientific to condemn with- out measure those who go wrong, as though the responsibility were all theirs. "JT, II'I'V There Arc Vagrants — A Study CHAPTER VIII. Vagrancy and Economic Maladjustments The supply of vagrants varies with economic conditions. There is no better way of testing the economic situation at a given period than by computing the number of vagrants. Unfortunately, the man who loses a position during hard times does not easily regain it. Moreover, for many men of the wage-earning class, a few months of idleness have a bad efifect, especially if they resort to ways that are parasitic. In many cases where such means of relief are made use of, hard work is often avoided permanently. It is far easier for a man to con- tinue in a life of idleness than it was for him to fall into it orig- inally. When the pride of independence and self-support is lost, the whole character of the man is changed. A period of enforced idleness for any large number of men is, therefore, a permanent injury to a nation, an injury whose im- portance it hardly is possible to overestimate. That economic or industrial conditions are alone responsible for vagrancy is, however, not to be deduced from any study of the vagrant class. In every case with which I have come into contact the personal factor enters also. In fact, it is exceedingly diiificult and often quite impossible, to determine whether the economic factor is the larger or smaller. In practically every case the trouble is with the man himself — that is, in his moral, temperamental, mental or physical make-up. In every trade men may be graded from the very efificient to the very poor workman. Whenever for any reason there are more laborers in a given trade than there is demand for them, the inefificient are laid off first, because the employer finds it un- profitable to use men of an inferior grade at that time. The in- elificiency of the man is, therefore, in part, to blame for his dis- missal, yet if the supply and demand for laborers in that trade were equal, every man who could do the work would be em- ployed. In periods of panic, this weeding-out process may con- tinue until it includes large numbers of men of average or more Based on Examination of One Hundred Men y^ than average ability. Under ordinary circumstances it includes only those who are below the average in efficiency. A particular class of the unemployed is comprised of those who have spent their lives in trades which, for some reason, are out of date. These men constitute, of cour.se, a relatively .small percentage of the total number. If the man is of average ability, under ordinary circumstances he can easily take up something else, and has no good reason for becoming a vagrant. Individual idiosycrasies, however, are usually to be found cooperating in such cases. For example : L. M. was a coachman for a wealthy New York family dur- ing a period of thirty-five years. During this time he became fat and lazy. His services were rendered unnecessary by the intro- duction of the automobile, and it was then hopeless for him to at- tempt to learn another trade, on account of his age and his habits. N. J. was a blacksmith, who ran a small business for him- self in a small city, but his business became so poor that he was compelled to give it up. He attributes his failure to the fact that automobiles are taking the place of horses. It does not require a long acquaintance with the man to realize that a large part of the fault lies with himself. J. R. was a footman, valet and butler. He says that these positions are not as numerous in proportion to the supply as for- merly, because so many people are moving into hotels and apart- ment houses, while at the same time many Englishmen in his profession are coming to America. While this explanation is adequate for J. R. himself, a brief conversation would convince anyone that his failure is also to be explained by his eccentric character. He is vain and insolent. N. S. says that he has not been able to secure a position as stableman for many months because the use of horses is decreas- ing. L. O. was discharged as telegrapher because the railroad for which he was working installed the telephone instead of the telegraph. J. M. is a sail maker. He says that the steamships and ma- chinery together have made the demand for hand-work on sails and on tents far less than it used to be. 74 ll'liy There Arc I'agrants — j{ Study A considerable number of moulders said that they lost their jobs because moulding is being done by machiner)-, and that tliey had not been able to find anything else to do. Practically all of these men are hard drinkers. The same thing is true of most drivers, who are out of work. An interesting case is that of H. J., who has been a box-office man, selling tickets of all kinds. He says he has been run out of the profession by girls, who are occupying nearly all of the box- offices. All that men need in order to become vagrants is a start. It is a matter of only a few weeks or months before they dis- cover that it is possible to live much more easily by charity than by work. There is a certain excitement, a certain good sport in making a living by one's wits, which, once tasted, appeals to a class of men much more than their humdrum occupations. The pity of it is that while these men are not as steady and re- liable as the men who have good jobs, many of them have in- itiative, originality and an adventurous spirit which, properly directed, would accomplish something worth while. Because part-time work is often supplemented by making a living by one's wits it leads frequently to a life of vagrancy. It is significant that over sixty per cent, of the men who visit the woodyard give as their employment some kind of work which is likely to be dull during a part of the year — such work as railroad track work, painting, carpentering and roofing. M. R. is a bricklayer with excellent references. Much of the year he is idle because it is impossible to lay brick when the temperature is below 30 degrees Fahr. Having no family con- nections, he associates with men of the vagrant class when he is idle. G. D. is a granolithic and cement worker. He roams about the city during cold weather, accepting whatever charity will give him. Though he makes good wages when at work, he saves nothing because he has learned that he can get along without saving. L. W. is a gardener. During his season of idleness in the winter he hibernates in the city, depending upon free lunches and charitable sources of food supply. Based on lixauiination of One Hundred Men 75 A. (j. is a good tanner. Six months out of the year he works. While his tannery is idle he is a vagrant. When asked which he preferred, work or idleness, he replied that he liked both for a change and did not want either all the time. The number of drivers who apply for aid increases consid- erably after the Christmas season, when, they say, they have been laid ofif. During the depression in the iron and steel industries in 191 3-1914, there were large numbers of men from these indus- tries, and from stores and factories which ordinarily use all of the trained workers they can get. The failure of several large stores left unemployed an unusually large number of salesmen who applied for assistance. Miss Jane Addams, writing in the Ladies' Home Journal on the labor problem, declared that from one-fourth to one-third of the wage earners of the country are out of employment for various periods each year. This is not only demoralizing to the workmen, but it is an enormous waste of energy for the nation. We might look upon this loss of time with compla- cency if the men out of work had sufficient money to supi^ort themselves, but when so many of them are reduced to poverty and are unsuccessful in obtaining work, the situation is deplor- able. During the summer months work is abundant, but in mid- winter, when necessary expenses are highest and poverty entails the greatest suffering, the labor market is always over-supplied in large cities. Mr. Whiting finds from the Municipal Examina- tion of March, 19 14, that 15 per cent, of the men examined were at the Lodging House on account of the seasonal nature of their employment. This was an extraordinarily hard winter. During the month of January, 1910, which was an average year, there were 93 requests from men to be committed to the Work- house for periods of one, two, three and six months, on the ground that there was no work to be had outside at that time of the year. When a man does that he is hard pressed. Mr. H. F. Cook relates an experience so familiar to all social workers that it is worth quoting: 76 Why There Arc Vagrants — A Study "Last summer ... I used to go out into the vicinity of Twenty-second Street, trying to secure men to go to work at the construction camps at Croton Falls and Brewster, to do piciv and shovel work and receive $1.50 in return, a commissary being furnished where they could purchase their food, and buildings provided, called shacks, where they could sleep. At that time I had great difficulty in getting men. If I had an order for twenty, I was for- tunate if I secured eight or ten, and only these after much effort. I found very few men who were really capable of doing the work. I found others who simply refused, ask- ing me why I did not do the work myself. "Now, however, winter is here and another picture is presented to us. Then the Municipal Lodging House housed 97 lodgers ; now it must provide for over 800. Then business was good ; now everything is closed. Shipping is tied up ; farming is over ; construction work finished ; many trades closed down or running half time; summer resorts deserted ; country districts and smaller cities sending in their quotas of men to the big centers of industry like New York — everything cjuiet or at a standstill and we have nothing to offer. . . . Now, when everything is dull, when good mechanics, when industrious honest men are beg- ging us for work, stating they are willing to do dishwashing, laboring work — anything — to work even for their board for the winter months, we have nothing to offer." Some trades are always over-supplied with labor, largely because the work is comparatively easy and may be done by men who are disqualified for more important or difficult tasks, as well as by boys. For example, there are usually more ele- vator men, porters, dish-washers, and waiters than there is de- mand for them. Probably the most worthy men who come to the wood- yard, so far as character and habits are concerned, are immi- grants who do' not know where to find work. Many of them cannot speak enough English to understand directions, and not infrequently they are so unfamiliar with the city and the state in which they are residing that they do not know what to do, even after they have received instructions. The question as to whether we should restrict immigration is not answered by Based on Exmnination of One Hundred Men yy stating how much land we have in the United States, but by answering the question whether those who come to us are being assimilated without too great a cost. It may one day be dis- covered that too much immigration is liable greatly to affect the problem of immigration, not only because the immigrant often finds it hard to get steady work and easier to make a living by begging, or working upon people's sympathies, but because some of them were vagrants when they were in Europe, and were driven to America by laws operating against them there. Often these ignorant foreigners are given a miserable job at starvation wages, and run away, not knowing where they are going. They are arrested, or helped by kind-hearted people, or possibly find other employment no better than the first, until at last they have picked up a slight knowledge of tlie English language. By this time they have acquired a preference for 3, roving life, which they have found quite tolerable. Much is being done to inform foreigners regarding suitable employment, but it is far from enough to meet the needs of the three-quarters of a million of the foreign-born who come to this country every year. It seems to be human nature to take advantage of a man's dependence. The moment one man becomes wholly dependent upon another for his living, he will find his wage reduced to the very lowest amount that will keep him in working condition, in the large majority of cases. Of the many illustrations of this fact perhaps none is more striking than the treatment which foreigners often receive at the hands of farmers, to whom they are sent soon after reaching this country. One example will be sufificient. A stalwart Dane of twenty-six was sent to a farmer in Pennsylvania. This immigrant was an honest, hard-working man, as we learned from experience with him at the woodyard. Two weeks later he wrote the following letter: "Dear Mr. Laubach: "I hope you have got my postcard all right. Today is Sunday, and I will send you a few words how things is getting along here — not very fine after all. When I come 78 Why There Arc I'agrants — A Study here he told me that as I was not used to American learn- ing, he could only pay me a little. Last Wednesday he told me that before spring he could not pay me any money, but would give me some boots and working clothes, so I told him that I would leave, but when I was dressed he called me back again and said that from the first of Febru- ary, he would pay me $10 a month and board and lodging. And what should I do — he know that I am poor and have no money to pay my fare back to New York again, so he thinks that he can do everything with me that he like. He can't get an American to work for him, therefore, he has men from the Emigration. We work from five o'clock in the morning, and from eight to nine o'clock at night, and nobody will stand that except newly arrived immigrants. Well, Mr. Laubach, you can't help that, and I am very thankful for what you have done for me, as soon as I get money I will send you the two and one-half dollars I owe you after all the last of February. "I know very well New York is not very good in the winter time, but there I have the chance to look out for work every morning, and some day a job may turn up. In the meantime the work in the woodyard would let me live and have a roof over my head. Do not think that I am afraid for the hard work here, that is not the thing, but I will have to keep warm clothes, long boots, gloves, etc., so this little wages will easy go to that. "And another thing as I not have told you is that I am engaged to a young girl of a good family in England, and she wants to come over here to me. Of course, I have not told her that I am at present so bad situated, but promised her to send her a passenger ticket as soon as I could. I have a letter from her telling me that her father will give us everything, linen, etc., for a household and £50, about $250 in American money. I have wrote to my father- in-law and my girl that times is bad here at present, so we must wait two spring times, . . . You understand that Em going to save every cent until I can send her the fare, $40, and, therefore I want a job where I can earn some- thing, and beg you to remember me if you have anything better than this I have now. My girl is working now in England as housemaid, and when she comes we will marry and take a job together. Based on Exawination of Our Uundrcd Men 79 "Now Mr. Laubach, please let me have a letter from vou what vou mean about staying here or go^-'^^j!" f^^ York and I hope vou have a good Christmas. Here we was working as^ll other days. For the first t.me n. my life I worked on Christmas night. "I am always . "Yours sincerely I sent mv Danish friend money to return, and placed him on another farm, whose owner I knew by reputation. 1 h e young man so pleased his employer that money was advanced L nable the English lass to come to America and he p take °r of he farm It was a great day when the proud D^me Zl :L sweetheart at Ellis Island and carried her off to the. new home. He was a fortunate foreigner, but if Ik had no known the English language or had run away ^-- ^.s fir^ employer, instead of taking the manly course he did, his story would have been different. • , , „f fnr The exploitation of unskilled labor, particularly of for- eigners, bv employment agencies, is notorious. There are numer c^s accusations by men that employment agencies are in eague w h fake employers, who keep their employees a week and then ^i^. g them on some pretext, in order to enable the employ- men agencies to get fees for the same jobs from other appli- ed" Th re are authenticated instances of employment agents wCare also operators of commissaries. There is in such a "uat on the strongest luotive for making conditions so oppre - e hat men wilHeave their jobs and make room for others. Th s i preci-lv what scores of men have told me they are con- y^ce is leing done. There is usually not so much complaint b^ working conditions on railroad or public construe ion job. tutL men are unanimous in their condemnation of the pa- dr ne svstem on state highway construction jobs and connec d . -th one railroad in particular. Exorbitant prices, spoiled^ dried p or wormv foods, dishonest weights and measures and pad- L the bills" are among the charges most frequently heard^ A ir^ H Larson says, it seems that "The concentrated efforts o the padrone and his agents are directed toward gettmg as 8o Jl'Iiy There Arc Vagrants — A Study large a percentage of the men's earnings as they can and give the least possible returns." There are two theories about the best paying way to treat a horse. The first is to take excellent care of him so that he will last as long as possible. The second is to use him as hard as possible and sell him as soon as he is broken down. In the treatment of men the same theories are put into practice. If those employers who believe in driving men until they are ex- hausted were less numerous there would be fewer vagrants than there are today. Ernest Poole," quoting "Cap" Mullinbach, says, "It seems sure that for many years ahead America's work will create a swiftly increasing ariny of wandering, homeless workers. To keep them working, to save them from becoming bums, I believe that we need, first, a comprehensive system, run by nation and state and city, of places like this (referring to his own employ- ment bureau), but vastly improved; great free employment bu- reaus with free transportation, to shift the idle masses to the distant regions of the country where employers are crying for labor." The deadening effects of monotonous toil upon the mind are always to be noted in any group of vagrants. They are especially to be observed in those who entered the monotonous occupations when they were still boys. We have had examples of breaker-boys, boys from the cotton mills and from all kinds of factories in which child labor is used, who seemed stupefied and who have become vagrants long before they arrived at maturity. Many of them are stunted and dwarfed both physi- cally and mentally. The abolition of child labor will undoubtedly reduce the number of these vagrants. One unfortunate result of our industrialconditions is that such a large proportion of our population is being raised up dependent upon others, without initiative, unprogressive, with no ideas of its own — always waiting upon others to plan and execute. The small minoi-it\- which is depended upon to find ' Everybody's Magazine, 1908, Vol. 18, pp. 649-59. Based on E.vaiiiiiiation of One Hundred Men 8l something for the large majority to do, is neither clever nor altruistic enough to live up to its obligations. Brain-work is done by a relatively small group of men, who sometimes strive to meet their responsibilities, Init who seem to be finding the task more than they can manage. In the days when every man worked on the farm and had to do his own thinking, a certain amount of practical good sense and a healthy sentiment for saving and careful business was fostered throughout our entire population. Today, while one-tenth of the population is talking about ef- ficiency and careful business methods, nine-tenths are spending as they go, with never a thought of using any method at all in their affairs. It is doubtful whether the public school will be able to remedy this unfortunate state of things. Certain it is, how- ever, that this lack of foresight, this happy-go-lucky way of liv- ing, which leads people to spend before they earn, are tendencies that should be regarded with less apathy. The dangers of va- grancy are increasing with the toleration of conditions that create them. It is almost impossible for those who live within a wide mar- gin of economic safety to realize how close the ordinary unskilled laboring man is to that social abyss which is termed vagrancy. His income is not sufficient for him to get any money ahead, and usually he is as far behind as the condition of his credit will permit him to be. When he has passed the prime of his life and his earning capacity has decreased, his family often con- tinues to increase. If he has any debts he becomes either the slave of his employer or of any creditor or friend who may have helped him out. He is a strong man if under these circum- stances his nerve is not sometimes shaken and he does not become reckless. He is likely to make some false move which will injure him, and he is fortunate if he does not find himself and his family on the sidewalk. Or, under the discouragements and de- privations of poverty it is so easy for man and wife and child to lose patience and become quarrelsome. These conditions may easily lead to the breaking up of another family, to the making of another vagrant and of another deserted wife, who must sup- port her children or allow them to become a public charge. 82 Why There Are Vagrants — A Study It is small wonder that laboring people should cherish the hope that their children shall have so much education that they will not have to do hard manual work. Everything is against the laborer, rheumatism, bruises, injuries, abuse and constant peril. Moreover, the long hours, the low wages, the exposure to cold and heat, aud a social ostracism by skilled mechanics and professional men, cjuite as rigid as that which the vagrant suf- fers, do not make things easier. His is an unenviable lot, a lot in which he has little choice, but which places him in the hands of his employers. It is small wonder that he longs for a means of escape for himself and his children. It was a happy day for the laboring man when the labor union brought him hope of emancipation, not emancipation from his class, but emancipation through his class, and with his class ! It is a hope which inspires men with altruism and makes the class struggle a religion. It promises emancipation not only of the body but of the mind, for it furnishes the working man something to think about, something which he himself can affect by his thought, something of which he is one of the bosses, and it transl'orms him into a thinking individual. It was a portentous day for the exploiters of labor when the first labor union was formed. How real the influence of the labor union has been in a material way is seen in the small number of union men who must depend upon the city for aid. Mr. Cook found that out of 12,448 men whom he interviewed 59 per cent, were common laborers, 41 per cent, were skilled laborers, and only 7 per cent, were members of unions. These figures would seem to indicate that the union movement is more important to the imskilled laboring man than becoming a skilled mechanic. CHAPTER IX. Vagrancy and Misapplied Philanthropy ^ If I were asked to state as briefly as possible the reasons why we have the vagrant problem, I should say tliat it is because ^certain men do not find it easy to get work and they do find it easy to live without working. Based on Exaviination of One Hundred Men 83 'Economic conditions tend to drive men to vagrancy. Un- wise philanthropy makes the life of the vagrant attractive. Philanthropy, wisely directed, might greatly diminish vagrancy. Foolish, sentimental charity, distributed blindly, as it is being done at present, makes the real solution of the problem difficult. I do not mean to say that too much money is being expended in philanthropy, for there is not nearly enough. The difficulty is that it is being misdirected, or rather, is being given without any direction at all, and the ways in which it is most needed are frequently most neglected. Wherever charity has become or- ganized the attempt to relieve poverty and distress is usually rational and thorough. The aim is carefully to avoid pauperizing men. Those who refuse to cooperate to this end because they feel that it is not just to expose the individual whom they are helping, are often doing him the greatest injury. Missions tirelessly strive to lift men out of drunkenness to lives of usefulness, and to restore to them self-respect and hope. Occasionally the power of religion is strikingly and spectacularly demonstrated among the "down-and-outs". Yet missions are employing at least one means of keeping the vagrant where he is. Meal and bed tickets, which are commonly given out at the end of religious services at the missions to all those who have indicated a desire to abandon their former life and become Christians, are often inducements to remain in a state of pauperism. Many men take advantage of this opportunity to obtain food and lodging. For every real convert there are from ten to fifty hypocrites who make their "professions" for what they can get in the way of "graft". The missions would do better to require some simple work test, and thus rid themselves of these impostors. Many have declared that from their observations, mission workers are insincere, because those in charge of the meetings know well enough that the men who go to the benches are, as a rule, lying, yet they allow themselves to be deceived. When even the vagrant is disgusted by such conduct, it is time for missions to do something in the matter. If a man is sincere in his religious profession, he will insist upon earning wliat he §4 llliy There Arc Vagrants — A Study gets, and he will pride himself in becoming self-supporting just as quickly as possible. There could be no more effectual way of separating the sheep from the goats than to require every man who has been given anything by the missions to do a fair amount of work in return. A number of vagrants who have become my friends tell me that they have used the missions in this way for months, and that they would never have stopped doing so if their hypocrisy had not been exposed. In some instances the exposure of the fraud was the beginning of genuine reform. H. I. testified every evening for more than three weeks to the power that had taken drink out of his life, and received each night a bed and meal ticket for his testimony. Happening to drop into the mission one night, and hearing this testimony, I asked him how he could lie to people in this way, when his breath was reeking with the fumes of liquor at that very moment. He replied, "Don't say anything to these people, for they are treat- ing ine fine." From that night he began an honest fight for a clean life, and is today sober and useful. He has often said that he would never have stopped drinking but for that frank treatment, for he had not realized what he had been doing until someone else called his conduct by its true name. A striking illustration of the feeling of many vagrants toward this aspect of missions is found in the following letter from a one-time drunken vagrant. It is representative of a hun- dred statements which I have seen and heard. It is, I think, a very much distorted criticism, but so is the judgment of vagrants regarding most things. "It has been my privilege to visit many of the various Missions in New York City, and in my extremities I was forced and glad to accept assistance in the way of a night's lodging. To secure such it is generally expected, yes, I may add, enforced to go to the 'Penitent Bench', confess Christ, and say you are saved — not believe you are. These are the words which the Leader as a rule compels the supposed con- vert to testify. I, as one, have been of the many who have much such testimony — absolutely for the sake of ma- terial needs — ignoring the spiritual requirements and with Based on E.vaininalion of One Hundred Men 85 no faith in Uicm. The men comment rcgardinj^ such and admit their hypocrisy. In return for testimony they are usually sent to some cheap lodging house on the Bowery, and regret to note — cleanliness is not included with the scant comfort afforded in tlouble deckers. If you are fortunate enough to make a favorable impression with the Assistant or Acting ]\lanager of a certain i\Iission on the Bowery you may find accommodations in the Mission proper — you are expected to do a little work around the Mission, and usually can remain there for an indefinite period — if you conduct yourself as a 'supposed Christian' — naturally it is expected if you secure employment to add your mite — which is only right. The average positions secured are menial — men lose their ambition and accept anything to keep them from actual starvation, as they do not receive sufficient substantial food at the Mission to sustain them. There are many reforma- tions no doubt to the credit of the Mission's efiforts in gen- eral — yet, I dare safely quote, rare regenerations. They eulogize those very few, and play them as 'gallery heroes' oft'times to the detriment of some who are sincere in their struggles to conquer sin. When any distinguished person, or a generous contributor with a large assemblage is ex- pected, you are asked in a patronizing manner — 'Now boys, remember, good testimonials tonight' — (May I infer not to the glory of God — but to boost the Mission). Attend cer- tain Missions nightly, and listen to the monotonous chants of testimonies. Even the seeking Christian doubts the cred- ibilities of such, and many f^r that reason absent them- selves from meetings. Will admit that they do good, but have failed to find — being close in touch and confidence with men — why not a larger percentage of recruits as workers in God's vineyard to the credit of Missions?" The missions can remedy this state of affairs by the estab- lishment of industrial departments, such as have been started by the Open Door Mission on Hudson Street, and by the Bowery Mission. These get all the work out of men they dare without driving them away. Unfortunately there are so many missions which ask practically nothing in return for their assistance that that it does not require much work to scare "mission stifYs" away. The way for missions to put an end to "being worked" by hypo- crites is to get together and agree to set their converts to work 86 Why There Are Vagrants — A Study earning a living. They could have a common industrial building, or perhaps make arrangements with the woodyard of the Charity Organization Society, or with some similar institution, to give their men employment. Among those who by indiscriminate giving prevent the solu- tion of the problem of vagrancy are tender-hearted clergymen, upon whose sympathies the tramp, or other wayfarer, may safely rely. It is pathetic to see these short-sighted philanthropists stint themselves and their families in order to provide for some rogue, who spends more money in the saloon in a week than the average minister spends on his family table. A representative of a New York church once came to the woodyard and demanded that the man whom he had sent to us should be given food and lodging without being compelled to work for them. To him it seemed wrong to ask a man to do anything in return for charity. Churches fail in this matter in supplying work for those who apply to them. An appeal should be made to the members of churches to give idle men work. At present it is easier to collect a charity fund than it is to induce men to give employ- ment to those in need. . The truth which all ministers need first to learn, and then to preach to their congregations, is that the one supreme need of all men is to enjoy work, and that the greatest danger to all men is that they shall learn to enjoy living without working. The day that poverty-stricken persons are given something for nothing they begin to degenerate. In a few months they are often rendered permanently helpless. The establishment of that particular form of charity which has come to be known as the "bread line" has introduced another source of supply to be drawn upon without cost to the consumer. If the same amount of money was expended upon an industry with accommodation for all the idle men who can work, the army of vagrants would diminish. It is the kind of giving which is likely to aggravate the condition it would remedy. The real source of graft for the professional panhandler, however, is the individual on the street. It is illegal, and there- fore hazardous to ask for money on a public highway, yet many Based on nxtimiiiation of One 1 1 undrcd Men Ry men have made their living- successfully for ten or more years by street begging without being caught. Almost every class of society is "good picking" for the man who knows the trick. Young ladies are especially susceptible to a tremulo in the voice and a tear in the eye. Business men throw a man a nickel to get rid of him. University students are "easy money" while those in theological seminaries would prob- ably not be able to sleep for the pricking of their consciences, if they did not give a beggar money when he asked it on the street. This is the reason why there are more beggars in the vicinity of Columbia University and Union Theological Seminary than on the Bowery! Crowds coming from church are also especially open to appeal. Missions, churches, bread lines, and charitable individuals in general now, as for generations past, convert vagrancy into a profession, just as much a profession as that of the salesman,, and requiring quite as much art. Nowadays it is called pan- handling. In many instances it is more lucrative than the occu- pation of a salesman. I am personally acquainted with a man who has failed as a salesman and has succeeded as a pan- handler. Begging has the advantage of requiring no investment of capital except for old clothes, and clothes one must wear at any rate to keep out of jail. This profession has a fascination all its own. There is an element of sport in it, the craving for which is satisfied by the majority of people in other ways. I refer to the instinct for taking chances, for running into hazards. Of course many people look upon beggars and vagrants as dis- honorable, but that is one of the facts which a glass of beer helps the beggar to forget. The clever vagrant who knows how to present his case often receives sympathetic treatment. It is amusing and gratifying to him to witness that condescending sympathy and the tears of pity which fill the eyes of many of his benefactors. If he succeeds in persuading a kind-hearted man to aid him, the panhandler gives his art the credit, and not the generosity of the giver. One man took me into his confidence and told me that he knew how he could get three good meals a day and a decent 88 IV hy There Arc Vagrants — A Study lodging twelve months out of the year without ever turning his hand to work, and without staying in one place more than a week at a time, and proceeded to enumerate the individuals and the charitable institutions upon whose aid he had relied for main- tenance. One is tempted to publish the list which he gave. The only reason that this panhandler is not satisfied with his condi- tion is that he has a fine wife and baby, and hopes to be re- united with them as soon as possible. Drink and a violent temper were the causes of their separation. He dreams of the day when he shall go back to his family with money and clothes and a good reputation, but he does nothing to bring his dream to pass, the call of the life of vagrancy is sweet to his ears and there is small hope that his dream of a reunited family will ever come true. A young man was heard to remark: "Well, I've been 'stem- ming' Sixth Avenue since two o'clock, and I'm three dollars to the good." Beggars are unanimous in calling New York City an "easy mark". The following taken from the "New York World" of March 14, 1914, is not at all incredible: " 'What's the charge ?' asked Lieutenant Bauer, when Detectives Fallen arid Bryan led into Mercer Street Station, shortly after 6 o'clock last night, a slender young man who wore a fur coat with a Persian lamb collar and a diamond ring valued at $300. " 'Soliciting alms,' said the detectives, 'we picked him up in front of No. 20 East Fourteenth Street a few minutes ago. His right leg has been amputated at the hip. He leans on a crutch and asks for money.' "The young man nodded. " 'My name,' he said, 'is Jesse Skinner, nineteen, an actor of No. 84 East Fourth Street. The $8.65 in change you've found in my pockets is the fruit of one hour and a half's work on Fourteenth Street tonight. " 'My average earnings are $30 a day. I employ two men for $1.50 a day each to protect me from policemen and detectives. I give a poor old widow $2 a day. She'll have no money if you don't discharge me. Based (III Examination of One llnndrcd Men Stj " 'Also I must attend ;i rclicarsal of "The Floppers" in Astoria Hall in a little while. The act will be spoiled with- out me. Please let me go." " 'Flopper' is an underworld term for a panhandler who throws fits and otherwise simulates bodHylUs'. "IMagistrate Corrigan, in Night Court, gave Skinner thirty days in the Workhouse. The police said he had been there before." Because it is so easy to make a living without working, the idle class is becoming more and more particular about the kind of jobs which are acceptable. It is difficult to induce the ma- jority of vagrants to leave New York City during the winter in order to take a position, and it is still more difficult to induce them to stay out of New York once they have left. This is illustrated in the case of a corporation in New York City which has sent a number of men to Connecticut to work in the cotton mills. The president of this concern writes: "There is a general feeling among employers around the country that operatives imported from the cities will not stay with them. VVe have sent as many as one hundred up to our plant from New York at one time, paying their ex- penses, and had not one left at the end of sixty days, as they want the lights of New York and will not remain in a small town. I was talking recently to the president of one of the largest tire companies in Akron, Ohio, at which time he wanted two thousand men and I offered to get in touch with the Charity Organization of this city and see what could be done in regard to sending them on to him from New York's congested population. He referred to the same experience and was of the opinion that imported labor is not to be relied upon. The only way we have ever found it to work is to send individuals who have shown sufficient desire to work and who have understood the conditions, but it is a foregone conclusion that if these idle men, who, I understand, have largely drifted into the city, would drift out again into the cotton mill section described, and would apply at the mills with a real desire to go to work, and stay at work, a great many of them would have no trouble getting work. . . ." Unfortunately, the accusation that idle men do not w^ant work, and will not take it if it is offered to them, is true in far too many instances. 90 Why There Arc J'agrants — A Study Yet there is something to be said for their side too. Often they are considered and treated by employers as "bums", and every effort is made, as it seems to them, to exploit them. If they are sent on farms, their employers expect them to do as much work as a hardened farmer, not realizing that they are weak from deprivation and excesses, and often they are given less to eat than they have been accustomed to in the city. Society seems to the vagrant to be intent upon keeping him in his present condition. After a few feeble attempts at reformation he gives up and decides he will let things drift and take his chances. If the unorganized attempts to reduce vagrancy which have been made on every side, are failing, a laissea fairc attitude would be even more intolerable. We cannot retreat, we must go on to greater efficiency. Fifty years ago charitable institutions worked independently in their attempts to relieve destitute families. Each was igno- rant of what the others were doing. To avoid a deplorable waste of effort, charity workers were compelled to organize in every city in the United States. In our treatment of the "homeless man" we are almost as ignorant and careless of results as they were in the Middle Ages. Beggars are becoming more expert each time they approach an institution for assistance. At the same time institutions are compelled to be more suspicious. Nobody is satisfied with things as they are now managed. The first thing to be done is to call a conference of all churches, missions, settlements and institutions in touch with homeless men, for the consideration of plans for cooperation. The necessity of cooperating should first be made clear to all social and religious workers. A scheme of organization which would be practicable and acceptable to all whose cooperation was desired, should then be tried. Dr. O. F. Lewis suggested a conference of this kind in 1906, but the Joint Application Bureau was not considered the proper body to call it, since it was not a separate association, but only a bureau run jointly by The Charity Organization Society and The Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor. The Based on E.vaiiiination of One Hundred Men 91 matter seems to have faUcii througli because no inflcpcndent society ventured to take the initiative, although, as Dr. Lewis writes me, he very strongly believed at the time, and still does believe, that sufficient cooperative effort in the city of New York has not been developed in the treatment of vagrancy. The practical results of the series of conferences held here some years ago to consider questions relating to the improvement of hos- pitals, lead one to hope that if those interested in the problem of the homeless man were to get together, a more comprehensive and effective means of solution would be tried. There seems no good reason why either of the great societies mentioned above should not call such a conference. It might be called also by the Federation of Churches, or by the public officials of the city themselves. The following suggestions for the establishment of a home- less man's clearing house are offered by one whose acquaintance with the difficulties now met with in dealing with the vagrant has opened his eyes to the need of applying the efficiency method to the task in hand. I. To be used by all individuals and institutions. (a) Make a publicity campaign. Let every man and woman in New York City understand that it is an absolute hindrance to the solution of the problem for them to give an^jnoney to beggars ; that it is criminal to attempt to get rid of them in this easy way, and that it is selfish and against the public interest. Educate the entire population to do one of the follow- ing things: ( 1 ) The best way — Bring the man to The Homeless Men's Clearing House. (2) Telephone to Homeless Men's Clearing House, asking what to do. (3) The poorest way — Put the man on a car and pay his fare to Homeless Men's Clearing House. Never give the man money under any circumstances. 92 IVJiy There Arc J'agrants — A Study (b) All institutions which are now caring for home- less men will enter the names and full descriptions of such men at the Homeless Men's Clearing House, with the guar- antee that these men will be fully provided for at such institution. When discharged the men are to be sent to the Homeless Men's Clearing House for further provision in all cases. 2. The reception committee of the Homeless Men's Clearing House might consist of men only, who would show the utmost courtesy. No effort should be spared to make the greeting of the homeless man by his interviewer as kindly as possible. The homeless man is far more sensitive about the way things are done than about what is done. By all means we should avoid the condemnation which has been heaped upon the Municipal Lodging House because of the uncivil treatment of poorly dressed lodgers. 3. A careful study of the mental and physical condition of each homeless man should be made. Finger prints should be taken as the best means of identification. A complete record should be kept, similar to that in Chapter H of this book. 4. During the course of investigation the man should be kept in close touch with the Clearing House Committee. For this purpose a lodging and boarding place should be provided in the immediate vicinity. This place should be homelike, and it should be under the direction of a man gifted in making men feel comfortable. Every effort should be made to get a social response. A piano should be pro- vided for those who can play. Mr. Gilpatrick, of the Chrystie Street House for Young Men, tells me that they do not expect to get the confidence and the information which they desire until after the young men have spent a night of social enjoyment at his house. Something should be charged for board and lodging; about the same amount as is now charged at the Bowery Y. M. C. A. — five and ten cents for a meal and fifteen cents for lodging. Based on Examination of One Hundred Men 93 To enable men to pay for their lodging there should be a woodyard, and for men not able to chop wood, other industries, such as broom-making, which is successfully done in the Whosoever Mission, Philadelphia, or chair- caning, such as is done in the Industrial Christian Alliance in this city, might be established. 5. After the committee has decided on the best dis- position of the men with whom it is dealing, every existing institution, so far as is possible, should be utilized for pro- viding exactly the treatment or environment which they need. A certain proportion of the men will be found to need only a jolj — perhaps a job of a particular kind, and among a particular kind of people. In order to furnish such men with exactly the sort of position they should have, it is absolutely necessary to be in touch with a great employment' agency such as is recommended in Chapter X, or else to have a special employment agency for the Homeless Men's Clearing House. The National Employment Exchange, which was organized by leading social workers of New York City, did not, however, accomplish all that was hoped for it. For the men who refuse to agree to the plan, and who have no other source of livelihood, we need institutions, remedial rather than penal in nature, to which they may be committed. We need also to have enacted such laws as will enable us to obtain their committal. As these institutions for commitment are necessarily public institutions, they will be discussed at length in the next two chapters. Another need which no existing institution fills is a comfortable, cheerful home where men who are too old to compete with the average laborer, may do enough work to pay for their expenses and a little besides. The Salvation Army Industrial Homes are far from ideal places for this purpose, though they are efforts in the right direction. Such homes for old men should be in the suburbs or in the coun- ^0 94 iriiy There Are J'agranis — A Study try where there is quiet and freedom from temptation and annoyance. 6. There probably will be found to exist one other need, namely, a force of men who can explain misunder- standings, pour oil on the troubled waters, and act the part of apologists for the Homeless Men's Committee. There is no class of people in the world who can spread slander and vituperation more rapidly than the vagrant, and the majority of people are easily misled by their misrepresenta- tions. This committee should not wait until criticism be- comes oppressive, but should make an aggressive campaign of education, and constantly keep in touch with the institu- tions of the city, and so far as possible with the public, in order to anticipate and allay all suspicion of injustice or poor management. We must secure and maintain the con- fidence of the entire community. The Homeless Men's Clearing House involves starting nothing new in New York City, but only the extension of the already large functions of the Joint Application Bureau at 105 East Twenty-second Street. The efficient Social Service Ex- change of the Charity Organization Society at the same address could be used for recording names of inmates of all institutions now caring for homeless men. Its officers are exceedingly anxious to get the names of all such men. The Bureau of Advice and Information of the Charity Organization Society could ex- tend its already important advertising and apologetic functions. The Charity Organization Woodyard could be adapted to the industrial requirements without alteration. The Clearing House for Mental Defectives at the Post-Graduate Hospital is eager to make a mental examination of all vagrants requiring it. The Municipal Lodging House has a plant which might be utilized for the lodging of men during the period of examination. In the Charity Organization Society and other institutions we have the beginning of such a great clearing house. What is lacking is the cooperation of social settlements, churches, mis- sions and individuals, who insist upon establishing rival philan- rc-f> "^ • thropies and thus defeating the ends of intelligent charity. Based on ILi'miiinatioi of One II iindrcd Men 95 CHAPTER X. The Effect of Governmental Laxity When they feel safe and tliink they have an appreciative Hstener, some vagrants are fond of boasting. One of the things they love to tell is the ease with vvhicli one can keep out of the clutches of tlie law in New York City. The politicians, so these men declare, are afraid to allow the "Ijums" to be punished because the "down-and-out" vote is the strength of the "ma- chine". It is evident that vagrants think they have little to fear from the police so long as they do not get caught committing flagrant crime. A glance at any park bench on a summer day reveals the fact that mere loafing and drunkenness are not dan-- gerous so far as enforcement of the law is concerned. L. G. declared that New York is the town to which all who do not wish to work come, because here they will not be molested. He left Massachusetts, his native state, he says, because it is no longer safe to stand about the streets of Boston unless a man can give a good account of himself, adding, "If New York were as strict as Boston, there would not be a dozen bums in the city by the end of the week." This last statement is corroborated by the Sixty-seventh Annual Report of the New York Prison Association, which says, page 163: "It is the opinion of Tramp Officer Barrett that most of the tramps who formerly infested Massachusetts in large numbers cross over the State as quickly as possible from Connecticut or New York to Vermont or New Hampshire. The State can readily be traveled at any point in a day's travel over the road." If New York's laisscz faire attitude were the result of a well-considered policy for the benefit of vagrants or society at large, there would perhaps be less to say. It is not the result of any policv. but a consequence of the complete absence of constructive planning. As a matter of fact careful consideration 96 Why There Arc Vagrants — A Study of the vagrancy problem always results in a more strict super- vision. There have been enough excellent reports and carefully developed plans presented to the public, but a block has been thrown under the wheels every time an attempt has been made to get municipal or state action. The Inebriates' Colony in Orange County is a good illustration. Tlie land has been purchased and the foundations have been dug for some years, but it has thus far been impossible to procure the necessary appropriation for putting up the buildings. Until this Farm for Inebriates is established it is impossible to take the first important step toward the sequestration of the most objectionable vagrants. Since 1913, the city government has been making such numerous and radical changes that many of the nuisances which we have so long endured are becoming matters of history. What is said in this chapter, is therefore not necessarily a criticism of the present conditions, but is merely illustrative of the ways in which the lack of supervision, far from helping vagrants, tends to keep them in their wretchedness. Mr. H. F. Cook says he overheard the following conversa- tion: "I am going to get sent up for six months." "Don't you do it. Those who are committed volun- tarily are treated worse than ordinary criminals. Steal something." "If I see a woman on the street with a handbag, I will grab it." "I wouldn't steal from a woman, but I would from a man." Here is a man so hard pressed that he is on the verge of becoming a criminal. The only thing the city can do for him is to send him to the Workhouse. Even at the court he is liable to be refused this alternative unless he is willing to spend six months at hard labor in the Workhouse. The Municipal Lodging House, it is true, gives a man three days of existence without jeopardizing his liberty. After these three days are up he is compelled to find lodging in some other way. Everything about this is wrong. In the first place, Based on Exaiiiinatioii of One Hundred Men 97 the able-bodied man_should noi _ba given even one day's keep without earning it. Some form of employment sliould be fur- nished for every man who comes to the Municipal Lodging House even for a single night. In the second place, it is consummate folly to send a man away from the Municipal Lodging House after he has been there three nights with no other provision made for him. It is legal for the man to remain three nights, but if he comes back on the fourth night he is likely to be arrested as a criminal. Why a man should be a criminal because he desires to sleep four nights in succession, is a difficult question to answer. Mr. Whiting, who is now Superintendent of the Municipal Lodging House, says, in an unprinted report, it is necessary to make careful classifications of the different kinds of men who come to the Lodging House, and treat them not as vagrants but as particular kinds of vagrants ; give work to the able and willing; force work upon the able and unwilling; provide for those who are unable to work ; give medical treatment for those who are physically or mentally in need of it ; and see that the criminals are punished. So long as these measures are not taken, the city is inviting, ignoring and condoning vagrancy. Mr. Whiting's plan involves a thorough physical and mental examination of each applicant at the Lodging House. When as many as a thousand men come in one night this would mean a large expense and many difficulties, but it seems to be the only possible way of dealing with the problem in an adequate manner. It is altogether likely that if supervision became so strict the number of Municipal Lodging House patrons would fall ofif enormously, so that those who still came could be given proper attention, except that in the severest winter weather more would apply than could be taken care of by the regular staff. A clearing house such as that suggested in the preceding chapter would be of enormous service to the Lodging House. It might have such a clearing house within its doors, if one could be certain that it could be kept out of politics. Sending men to a stoneyard to crush stone which could be crushed by machinery more advantageously, as a repressive 98 JJ'liy There Arc Vagrants — A Study measure is a wasteful makeshift. If the city were to employ these men to do some of her work, particularly her construction work, and pay them something for their services, the results would be much better both for the men and the city. The effects of our present prison system are now so familiar that it is unnecessary to do more than mention them as one of the evidences of the absence of constructive policy in the treat- ment of our problem. The city hospitals are res]ionsible for many vagrants, be- cause, in their overcrowded condition it is necessary to send men away whether they have any place to which they may go or not. If every homeless man could be sent to a Clearing House such as we have described in the previous chapter, to make sure that he was adequately provided for, these cases of vagrancy would disappear. Provision should be made to the end that a man should not be discharged from a hospital without assurance that he will have support or employment as soon as he leaves. The inrperfect execution of the laws of New York City in regard to the sale of liquor is responsible for a great deal oi vagrancy. There are scores of instances of men who acquired the appetite for liquor long before the law allowed them to buy it, but who never thought of obeying the law. The city administration ought to make a determined attack upon the sale of liquor to minors. Numbers of men have testified also that they were ruined by cheap liquors alleged to be drugged to give the required shock. One of my vagrant friends writes as follows: "I am not familiar whether the Pine Ford Law in- cludes liquor — if so I would suggest that a representative of that body investigate certain Italian grocery stores, and five-cent 'shock' houses, and convince themselves that the law is openly and grossly violated. You can purchase at certain Italian grocery stores for five cents, a three-fourths filled half-pint of whiskey, rum or gin. In the so-called 'shock' or 'death' houses, for five cents you can purchase a drink the size of a large whiskey glass — any drinking per- son can tell vou the difference in effect mentally and ])hysi- cally. I contend that no spirituous liquor is beneficial to the Based on Examination of One Hundred Men 99 constitution, yet those which I have mentioned should ab- solutely be prohibited ; they are a menace to both health and life. I have sufYered very much from these drinks both in my vision and in the continual contraction of various muscles. Many a death toll has been counted in a certain district adjoining Bleeker Street from the u.se of that adul- terated death-dealing drug. This is not an exaggeration but can readily be proven by an inexpensive census in that one particular neighborhood." New York is not the only city which shirks its responsi- bility for vagrancy. Mrs. Solenberger ^" says that "a few years ago a letter was sent to the chief of police of one hundred cities, asking them what they did with tramps. More than half replied, 'Give him so many hours to get out of town'." It has been a common practice to pay the fares of tramps from one county seat to the next and to send along with the man a note requesting the official of the neighboring city to pay his fare to the next county. Of course this is exactly what the tramp wants done and exactly what ought not to be done. Mr. O. F. Lewis," after studying the effective methods used in Europe, makes the following recommendations for ade- quate governmental action: First, We must deal with the tramp evil along broad na- tional lines; Second, We must reduce the railroad's trespassers; Third, Make the cost of the maintenance of vagrants a state charge; Fourth, Do not allow vagrants to be in almsliouses and mingle with the comparatively innocent poor; Fifth, Provide special officials to arrest and prosecute ; Sixth, Do away with short sentences and idle jails; Seventh, Establish a National Vagrancy Committee; Eighth, Establish a comprehensive form of free employment bureau; Ninth, Provide lodgings only in return for work done; Tenth, Clean up the low-class lodging houses; Eleventh, Prosecute all street begging; Twelfth, Provide for the education of young men between the ages of 16 and 20. "One Thousand Homeless Men, Russell Sage Foundation, 1911. "Sixty-seventh Annual Report, N. Y. Prison Association. lOO Why There Are Vagrants — A Study Mr. Lewis has investigated the farm colonies for vaga- bonds in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Switzerland. He re- ports on the results of these experiments: "The great service rendered by foreign compulsory labor colonies is to act as a segregating center for the half efficient and intentionally idle, and as a deterrent for those who can foresee that a life of vagrancy will mean frequent segregation in the colonies. The European countries would not think of giving up the forced labor colonies." Mr. W. D. P. Bliss '- finds that labor colonies for the unemployable have been particularly successful in Germanyivj "Labor colony", he suggests, is a bad name, for the reason that the colony exists for those who are inefficient. A brief description of the colony at Wilhelmsdorf will give some idea of all of them. Tramps who come here are not com- pelled to stay and are not driven to work, but have the alternative of leaving or obeying the rules. A "Hausvater" is in charge of the colony. Religious services are prominent in this and all other labor colonies. The soil is miserable, the inmates of the colony are fewest in the summer when they are most needed, and expenses are high, so that the colony is not self-supporting and is not expected to be. Conditions are favorable to temper- ance, good morals and industry and a few men are rescued permanently. The colonists are paid wages (6 cents a day in summer, 5 cents in winter ) and are expected to pay for their clothes and extras out of this. Meals and lodging are given in return for labor. The religious influences are such that several men have been trained for religious work outside the colony. Similar experiments have been made in many parts of Germany, France, Switzerland, and England. Certainly they point to work of a kind that might be undertaken in America without opposition from our sentimentalists. The experience of Europe is that these voluntary colonies do not possess great value as reformatorv institutions, but thev do awav with all Bulletin of Bureau of Labor, No. 72, pp. 897-974. Basal on Examination of One Hundred Men loi excuse to beg, and they make it [xossihle for vagrants to earn a large part of tlieir living. The segregation of the physically defective, inebriates, and epileptics is a well recognized principle and it will be carried farther in the future than it has Ijcen up to the present time. To a practical cjuestion as to wiiat industries have been successfully carried on in laljor colonies, the ex]ieriments tried by various municipalities in Eiu-ope may suggest a possible answer. Agriculture, road making, house building, clearing and keeping things clean are the most common forms of employment undertaken by them. In one colony a nursery for pine trees, birth trees, alders, ashes and Canadian poplars was successful. In another, horses, cattle and chickens are raised and sold. Mar- ket gardening has been tried with success in an English colony. In another labor colony, the work included smithing, brick- making, fence making, shoe making, harness making and cart- ing. In another a great swamp was drained and made into good land by means of dykes. Many men have been used to break stones, to construct new streets, and to dig sewers. The Berlin Colony for unemployables experimented with silk worm culture and flower cultivation without much success. The men did not stay long enough to learn their trade well. The making of straw wrappers for shipping bottles, of door mats and similar articles also failed. Brush and broom making and the manufacture of boxes and kitchen furniture have made better progress. Joinery work is now the main employment in the colony. Cutting, binding and transporting kindling wood from ad- jacent forests has also proven practicable. Butter and cheese making has been found to pay in a number of places. Among other employments successfully tried are: basket weaving, bread making, laundering, gathering of cast off clothing, repairing of furniture, collecting bottles and old corks. Belgium, which perhaps stood foremost in the practical solu- tion of these problems, established a large penal colony in which all of the labor of construction was the work of the colonists I02 IVhy There Are Vagrants — A Study themselves, the gas house and the machines, the furniture, and even the carvings, were all the products of the colony. Buttons of all kinds were made there. But the chief occupation was agriculture. Since the excessive use of alcoholic liquor appears as a great immediate factor in vagrancy, something like 50 per cent, of our vagrants should be treated as alcoholics. An excellent statement of what ought to be done for drinking men is found in a pamphlet entitled, "The Treatment of Public Intoxication and Inebriety", published by The Standing Committee on Hos- pitals of the State Charities Aid Association, March i, 1910, (2d Edition). The following proposals were made: 1. To establish a board which shall have general control of the problem of dealing with public intoxication and inebriety. 2. To provide a graded series of remedies dealing appro- priately with first offenders, the occasional offender, the inebri- ate who can be helped and the confirmed inebriate. 3. To release first offenders after their cases have been in- vestigated without bringing them to court. 4. To provide a central bureau of records of persons ar- rested for intoxication, in order that the first offender may be separated from the "rounder". 5. To provide that a person previously arrested within twelve months may be: (a) Released on probation. (b) Released on probation with additional fine to be paid in installments. (c) Committed to the Board of Inebriety for treatment, the commitment to be indeterminate, but not to exceed three years. 6. To provide a hospital and an industrial colony in which persons committed may be treated, the treatment to include work for able-bodied patients. 7. To provide for the commitment of habitual drunkards who do not appear before the courts for intoxication upon their Based (III I'-xiunination of One lluiulrrd Mt-ii lo.^ own application, or upmi liif application of friends or relatives and upon proper medical certification. 8. To provide field officers to act as probation officers, and investigate all cases of arrest for intoxication. 9. To provide for the parole of persons from the institu- tions at the discretion of the board ; a person so paroled to be under the supervision of the field officer. 10. To provide for commitment to the Workhouse of per- sons who prove refractory and do not yield readily to the dis- cipline of the institution established by the Board of Inebriety, such commitment to be for at least one year. 11. To provide for commitment to the Board of Inebriety of "rounders" in jmblic hospitals. The recommendations of Mr. O. F. Lewis are made pri- marily with regard to vicious, incorrigible, vagrants who do not want to work. The recommendations of the State Charities Aid Association deal with inebriates who are incapacitated for work. There remain the idle who are employable and anxious for work, but who are unable to find it. They are not vagrants, but they are under constant temptation, because of their un- employment, to become intemperate and vagrant in their habits. A constructive plan for preventing these worthy idle from becoming unworthy lies within the realm of preventive meas- ures, which will be discussed in the next chapter. Mr. W. D. P. Bliss/^ who made a careful study of the un- employed in European countries, finds that governments there are very much more efficient in handling the problem than those in the United States. The first great reason for this efficiency is that in Europe a careful discrimination is made between the dififerent classes of the unemployed, and the remedy applied which is best adapted to each class and as far as possible to each man. Germany has been so successful in her treatment of the vagrant classes that " Bulletin of Bureau of Labor, No. 76, May, 1908. I04 Why There Arc Vagrants — A Study it has even been said that there are today no tramps in Germany, though only comparatively recently the Empire was infested with them. This is doubtless an exaggeration, though, in view of Germany's efficiency record, it is well within the range of possibility. In the United States this classification of the unemployed is based almost entirely on what is called the work test. ^ This test is usually made on a woodpile or a farm, and is not ade- quate. I have seen lazy, worthless men excel skilled mechanics of known ability, because worthless men were accustomed to wood- piles, while many mechanics had had no previous practice in using a buck saw. Again the farm fails to show the value of a city bred man, who has learned to earn large wages in a factory, and by specialization has disqualified himself for general out- door work. You cannot apply the work test satisfactorily until you have tried the man upon the kind of work he knows how to do. Even then you have no clue as to the man's trustworthi- ness or temperament. Something always brings a man to need. The work test may tell you what the difficulty is, but it is very likely not to reveal it. In Germany there is no need for the work test. Every man's record is kept from the day when he first goes to work. When a young man leaves school and seeks employment he gets from the police an "Arbeitsbuch", which contains all necessary means for his identification. This book he hands to his em- ployer. When he leaves for other work he takes the "Arbeits- buch", containing the date of his departure, to his next employer. Thus a man cannot escape from his record and there is every inducement for him to keep it good. The man who cannot give an account of himself is liable to arrest. There are also in Germany citizens called "Armenpfleger", whose duty it is to watch all who are in danger of becoming needy, and help them before disintegration of character takes place. "Herbergen", or home shelters, are provided where men out of employment may live at little cost, or free, if they will do some work in return for their support. Here an effort is made Based on E.vtiiiiiiialion of One Uundi-cd Men 105 to help the men i,a't work. TcIl-iiIioiics connect tliesc lodging houses, and information is exchanged regarding opportunities for employment. The great triumph of tiermany in dealing with unemploy- ment is its system of Public Employment Bureaus. There are private bureaus but they meet witii the same criticism which is heard in this country. The public bureaus have been so success- ful that the trade unionists, who at first bitterly opposed them, are now making very extensive use of them. Usually a buffet is operated at the employment bureau where seekers for employ- ment may purchase food practically at cost. These bureaus know, from the careful oflficial records which are kept, the exact worth and the particular line of each man. Employers have learned to trust the judgment of bureau officials. Statistics show the great success which has attended the efforts to bring the man and his job together. In 1904, Stutgart was able to fill 74.3 per cent, of its applications for help and 67 per cent, of its applications for situations. The low expense at which the public bureaus are operated is illustrated by the fact that in Cologne 28,200 positions were filled in 1904 at an average cost of 8 cents. Many of the bureaus charge no fee, while some charge a nominal fee — for example, in Berlin there is a charge of 5 cents. Switzerland has been the first country to attempt a na- tional or federal system of employment bureaus. They were established there in 1907. Conditions in the United States are so different from conditions in Switzerland that the fact that the federal system in Switzerland is a success, can hardly be a valid demonstration of their feasibility in this countrj^. Yet it would seem that the United States has much more reason for establishing a federal system than Switzerland. Several attempts have been made in Europe to get people back to the land by means of free colonies. Holland has had several such colonies for the last hundred years, and while they have never been brilliant successes, they have done much real good. At one of these colonies at Frederiksoord there are 400 io6 ll'liy There Arc Vagrants — A Study families living peacefully and quietly, though they lack the spirit of progress and self-reliance "which free men should have". Germany has tried these colonies with moderate success. As in almost all such colonies, religion constitutes the chief con- solation and is a powerful stimulus to the colonists. There are both public and private colonies, but the private institutions seem to have met with the greater success, possibly because of the religious factor. Subsidies are granted by various countries to trade unions for payment of unemployment insurance. This is known as the Ghent System, so called because it originated in Ghent, Belgium, in 1900. At the same time a plan was formulated for insuring non-union men, but this has been a failure. Grants to labor unions have given good results. Through a special commission the municipality or state makes an appropriation to the labor unions for the purpose of insuring against unemployment, this grant is proportional to the unemployment benefit paid by each of the unions. France, Holland, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Switzer- land and Scandinavia have followed the example of Belgium, and the Ghent system seems to be increasing in popularity. There have been numerous experiments in Switzerland and Germany in state insurance against unemployment, in some in- stances limited to old age, sickness and accident insurance. In others no limitation of the causes of unemployment is desig- nated. There has been great diversity in detail, but the general principle has been to demand weekly dues from the insured. As these dues have been inadequate to meet expenses, there has been a certain amount of disguised charity in the majority of cases. None of the experiments has met with favor, largely because of the opposition of the labor unions, which have much more power under the Ghent system. England has experimented with relief work on a large scale, for those who are out of employment. There has been wide division of opinion as to whether this does more harm or good among the unemployable. Mr. Bliss quotes Mr. Percy Alden as making the following deductions from the English experiments: Based on li.vaiiiinatiun of One Hundred Men 107 The main conditions of success in relief work are as follows: 1. The work shmikl he really useful in ciiaracter. 2. It should be of such a nature that any willinj^ and in- dustrious man who is accustomed to manual labor can be em- ployed in it. 3. Such work should not be regarded merely as a test of character, but every attempt should be made, by means of in- quiry and classifications, by proper supervision and superintend- ence, to insure that a fair return is made for the wage paid. In German cities special work is given to the unemployed every winter as a relief measure. This work is not intended for strikers, nor for seasonal workers, but for those who are rendered idle by unusual conditions. The employment is chan- acterized as "earth work" of various kinds, and is not given out to contractors but is carried on directly by the municipalities. The cost of this work in German cities is somewhat higher than for the same work under other circumstances, but the relief afforded is considered worth all that is expended. A constructive program for the prevention of vagrancy will be attempted in the next chapter. io8 Why There Arc Vagrants — A Study PART IV SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION CHAPTER XI Measures for the Prevention of Vagrancy. Those who would rid society of vagrants must place far -^more emphasis upon means of prevention than they are doing at present. Redemption, restoration, suppression and segrega- tion are more spectacular and require the fighting of less power- ful interests than preventive measures, but they will always prove inadequate. iVIr. Homer Folks, speaking to the students of the School of Philanthropy on tuberculosis said, "Not having enough hospitals for the tubercular patients, they did the novel thing of educating the community to the prevention of tubercu- losis, instead of asking the State for more hospitals." This is precisely what we should do in regard to the homeless man. If we begin establishing labor colonies we shall soon find that we have not labor colonies enough, but if we start on the pre- ventive side we shall presently find that the need of labor colonies is less pressing. When a government makes extraordinary ef- forts to provide for all the vagrants within its jurisdiction, it may get ahead of them for the time, but the tide of vagrancy rises until it fills and overflows all the institutions prepared for it. Private philanthropies discover the same thing to be true. They never seem able for long to meet the demands made upon them. Usually they attribute this to the increasingly hard times, or to the degeneracy of the nation. The truth is that new accommodations attract vagrants from all parts of the country. There are times when the vagrant population seems like a rising tide and the efforts of the social worker to deal with it, as futile as sweeping it back with a broom would be. What is it that swells this tide? Why do we not get at its source ? Based un Examination of One Hundred Men 109 To make a study of the causes of vagrancy is the thing of practical importance. It is necessary for us to see clearly what lies at tlic bottom of liiis unfortunate social condition, before it is possible to hope to change it. These causes now lie before us. The more clearly we see them, the more difficult the task of removing them appears. For we must strike directly at the iieart of enormous and powerful vested interests; we must run counter to some of tlie funda- mental policies of our industrial leaders. In many instances the thing which ought to be done will prove impracticable and Utopian, and we shall have to rest satis- fied with measures less thoroughgoing but more opportunistic. Remedies have already been prescribed in the chapters deal- ing with causes and it will be unnecessary to do more in this concluding chapter than to refer to the plans there presented. In Chapter II it was found that drunkenness is the great- est immediate factor '^ in the making of vagrants. If we can eliminate drunkenness we may tlierefore greatly reduce va- grancy. It was also found that a certain proportion of drunkards cannot successfully be dealt with unless they are removed from the temptation to drink. There are two w;iys of accomplishing this. The first is to take the men away from a community hav- ing liquor, and the other is to take liquor away from the community. The first of these two methods has been tried ex- tensively, and generally has proven a failure. There are many institutions which receive hard-drinking men from the city streets for a few weeks and seek by means of religious instruction to make sober men out of them. Chester Crest, in the city of Mount Vernon, permits a man to remain five weeks. The Keswick Colony of Mercy near Whitings, N. J., permits a man to remain permanently if he desires. Very natur- ally the men soon long to return to tlicir families or their friends, and tire of a monotonous environment of more or less jjenitent "The question of hereditary defect, weakness, or other inadequacy is not now being raised. no Why There Arc Vagrants — A Study ex-drunkards. For this reason almost none of the men stay permanently. From the superintendents of both of these insti- tutions I learn that the cases in which permanent cure is effected are exceedingly few. So long as the men remain in the col- onies they are, as a usual thing, well and free from the desire for liquor. When they return to their old environment, where they see saloons and smell liquor, they have a craving to satisfy the old appetite. Inebriates themselves agree with religious and social workers, that the only way to prevent the majority of hard drinkers from drinking is to separate them from liquor permanently. Segregating the drunkard from society is not only an enormously difficult task, but it does little or nothing toward preventing the rising generation from producing its proportion of drunkards. The "nation-wide" prohibitionist claims that the surest way of drying up this source of vagrancy would be national prohibition, if it could be put into honest execution. The vote taken in December, 1914, in the House of Representatives on the proposed amendment to the Constitution forbidding the sale and manufacture of alcoholic liquors in the United States, which resulted in a majority for the resolution, though not the neces- sary two-thirds, is an indication of the way the public mind reacts to the problem at present. The experiences of the States which have sought to enforce prohibitory laws, give warning, however, of the difficulty of depriving the masses of people of the liberty to drink. Until we shall have a more unanimous opinion that prohibition is desirable, than we seem to have at present, particularly in our large cities, it seems wise for us to remain satisfied with local option. /While the drug habit is not now responsible for a large pro- portion of vagrants, the number affected by it is unfortunately increasing. It is widely asserted by those favoring the sale of liquor that wherever prohibition has come into effect, the increase in the consumption of drugs has been prodigious. It cannot be denied that this has been true in some instances. The situation needs to be handled promptly and firmly. The ravages of the Based on Exiviiinotion of One Hundred Men 1 1 1 opium hal)it in China warn us that it might Ijeconie far more serious than the liquor evil. A drug fiend is usually more un- scrupulous than an alcoholic inebriate, and more difficult to cure. The menace is fully appreciated by leading members of the medical profession, and measures are Ijeing taken to arouse public opinion to a sense of the danger. A considerable body of people who believe that safety lies in ignorance of evil, has deplored the publicity which already has been given the subject. However desirable ignorance may be, enlightenment is our only safety in a land where legislation is as sensitive to public opinion as it is in this country. Sexual immorality, one of the causes of vagrancy, is itself a result of other conditions. Often it is attributable to improiKT home training, often to lack of instruction in matters of sex, often to bad company, often to the reading of unwholesome literature. It is coming to be seen more clearly every year that sexual immorality is fostered enormously by certain effects of modern industrialism. Inadequate wages, craving for excite- ment and variety, hopelessness of matrimony, will-destroying fatigue, all these urge thousands upon thousands of girls and young men to immoral lives. Many unfortunates suffer through life because their mothers were compelled to toil up to the day of their birth, and then were not able to give them sufficient nourishment. Religion, culture, ethical education, and legal sup- pression of vice will all help to bring about a more wholesome state of things, but it is clear that the betterment of economic and industrial conditions must first be realized. There seems to be a widespread feeling that the dangers of gambling have been exaggerated. The opposition to card playing is looked upon as mere religious sentimentalism. Yet it seems to me clear that the number of young men who are ruined by gambling is bound to be inversely proportional to the abhorrence on the part of the parents of all of its forms. In Chapter III were discussed the temperamental character- istics of the vagrant. It would be impossible and undesirable to standardize people so that all of these temperamental differences should be eliminated. On the other hand, the failure is often 112 U'hy There Arc J'agrants — A Study that society has no way of utilizing the peculiar qualities of its members. For example, stubbornness is not far different from the firmness which has been praised as the cardinal virtue of Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Grant, Cromwell and a thousand others. Yet modern industrialism is inimical to stubbornness. Eccentricities may wholly disqualify men for industrial employ- ment. Many peculiarities of temperament are anti-social and can- not be tolerated in any social order without injury to the group. Hasty temper, extreme egotism, treachery, filthiness, roughness and "grouchiness" belong to this category. Some characteristics, like silliness, stupidity and nervousness, presumably are heredi- tary; others, like untidiness, pessimism, unsociability and vul- garity, may be largely matters of habit and training. Scientific methods of dealing with abnormal children may do much in the future toward making useful citizens out of human material heretofore unsocialized. Eugenics may some day lessen for us many of the anti-social traits. Until that time comes, there will be social outcasts, temperamentally made. In Chapter IV on Mental Disqualification, attention has been called to the fact that there are abroad a large number of the feebleminded whose freedom is a positive menace. It is not fair to these men that they should be compelled to compete on even terms with those who are normal mentally. They should be the wards of the state. Even more important for society is the segregation of this class of persons. If we allow the congenitally degenerate members of our communities to roam at large and to reproduce their kind, we may be certain that offspring will inherit their undesirable characteristics. The awakening of public at- tention to this fact, adequate legislation and the provision of suitable homes for men and women of this class, are develop- ments which it is hoped will soon be brought about. Experiments in industrial education may also show us how to accomplish better things. The farmer boy might not leave home to see the world and to work in the city if he saw the possibilities that lie in his own soil. The industrial worker might find a great deal more pleasure in his toil if he had a clearer Basc'i! on E.vaiiiiiiation of One Hundred Men 113 understanding of the relation of what he is doing to the whole field of industry, and, especially, if he knew that he was being fitted for promotion in doing well the task before him. The "cultural" education of the high school, private academy and college raises the self-esteem of a man who comes under its influence, but unless one elects to follow some such profession as teaching, journalism, or the ministry, or has inherited money, one is likely to discover that his training does not qualify him for making a living. The temptation often comes to him to leave the community in which he is known and engage in some get-rich-quick scheme, with the idea that at a future day he will return in a position to live up to his tastes. Taking it in the large, our educational system is still under the influence of past centuries, when only the leisure classes were educated and when, therefore, education was directed toward aiding men in spending their leisure, rather than toward aiding them in functioning as workers in society. Just in so far as this is true the tendency is for men to be attracted by the life of leisure rather than the life of service. All this is changing as the spirit and the purpose of education change. Not the least of the benefits to be derived from industrial education would be the freeing of labor from the evils of sea- sonal employment. A man who knows only one small part of an industry is in desperation if his particular job stops, but the man who is able to adapt himself, who has a practical knowl- edge of several branches of industry would not be subject to the loss of money-earning opportunity that must now be met by many laborers. If young men and women felt that their school work bore directly upon their vocation, they would be much more vitally interested in what they are studying, and there would not be so large a proportion of boys and girls dropping out of school at the age of fourteen. Those who are physically disqualified for work usually have three ways of getting on which have already been discussed in Chapter V. For those who are really unable to make tlieir own living the state should provide. At the present time there is no 114 Why There Are Vagrants — A Study provision for the sick who are discharged from hospitals without a source of income and with no prospect of a position. The hospitals are doing much to remedy tliis condition of things, but the large number of men who appear at the woodyard every week, with proof that they have just left hospitals, but who are too weak to work as a man ought to be able to work, in- dicates that there is need for much greater effort in this di- rection. Men who are unable to work because of age or physical defect and who cannot prove that they have friends who are properly providing for them, ought to be compelled to accept comfortable homes provided by the state. But first of all the homes should be as homelike and comfortaljle and "uninstitu- tional" as possible. This second means of saving physically disabled men from vagrancy would be offered by some form of industrial insur- ance. The laws bearing upon this matter of insurance now being passed in many states will doubtless lead to experiments which will substantially reduce vagrancy. There is a growing conviction that it is the duty of the state to give the laboring people this security. The third, most difficult, yet most important method of saving the laboring classes from the evil effects of temporary or permanent physical disability, is to teach them to help themselves. If they can be taught the value of the kind of thrift which so many country people have, they will seldom need to be taken care of in public or in private institutions. While many laborers are living on less than they need, there are many who are squan- dering what little surplus they have, for no other reason than that thev have not acquired the habit of saving. Penny provi- dent banks and postal savings banks are helping many to become thrifty. If people can be taught to invest their small savings in perfectly safe bonds, they will have something to work for and life will be richer and happier for the added purpose this will put into their lives. The government might encourage this by offering to small buyers, $io or $25 bonds. In Chapter VI vagrancy was looked upon as a failure of the family. This is not in any sense a censure upon the modern Based on Examination of One Hundred Men i 15 wurld. 'Ihere has been long, steady, painful progress in fam- ily life, down through the centuries. There are far more homes today in which virtue and usefulness are being l)rcd than there ever were before. Modern industrialism has introduced new conditions into family life, and to these we have not yet become adjusted. The congestion in the great industrial cities is a serious menace to all the best in family life. This menace shpuld be met by fear- less and wise legislation, providing wholesome sanitarv condi- tions at work and at home, shortening of the hours of labor, increase in earning capacity, securing better means of s])cnding leisure time, and aiifording ample playgrounds for children. Schools, trades unions and churches are beginning to do much by way of supplementing the work of the home. One of the most hopeful tendencies of the present day is the emphasis of Christian churches ujxm social betterment. This emphasis has resulted in the larger activity of the Young Men's Christian Association, in the Big Brother Movement, the Institutional Church, and the federation of churches for the improvement of social conditions. There is much talk among conservative church people that this tendency has gone too far. The truth, the present writer believes, is that it has not gone nearly far enough. The reason, or one of the chief reasons, why saloons and gambling halls at- tract young men in great numbers is that nothing else so com- pletely meets their social demands. Saloons have thrown out every sort of inducement to the young man. They have pool and billiard tables, bowling alleys, dancing halls, club rooms at a low rental, free lunches, public toilets, tickers where news may be received, and tables at which men may play games or discuss matters of interest as long as they please. They glare with bright lights, stand out as near the sidewalk as possible and are open at least as long as the law will allow. Usually they are democratic, admitting all who can buy a drink or a cigar. Thousands of young men whom the church does not want to see more than once or twice a week and then onlv in their ii6 IVhy There Arc Vagrants — A Study "good clothes", are welcomed into the saloons any time they go, with anything they have on. Young men would not prefer the saloon if pleasure and comfort and ease and excitement and welcome were as freely offered them by the church. Already the institutionalization of the church has attracted thousands of young men who have made the discovery that they may actually be connected with a church and still be free from sanctimony, cant and discomfort. This is of vast importance. The influence of such a church for a period of years would be likely to have a lasting effect. The social control of religion may be made more powerful than all legislation and all the police. Vagrancy might be called a failure of the church with c|uite as much truth as it is called a failure of the family. Industrial conditions undoubtedly have a direct bearing (../ upon vagrancy. It is possible that if all the influence urging men to the excessive use of licjuor could be determined, it would be found that the fatigue and the monotony of their work, and the hopelessness of their lives of unremitting toil had much to do with their resort to the overstimulating effect of alcohol which ultimately incapacitates them for work of any kind. Certainly the men, who want work but are prevented from doing so because other men who own the tools with which they work will not employ them, have a claim upon society, which should see that they were given a chance to earn a living. The difficulty is more than simply to find an ideal solution to the industrial problem. The only solution which will ever be ap- plied is that which can enlist the support of the greatest eco- nomic and moral forces in the country. As the pressure of public opinion increases progress takes place along the lines of least resistance. Scrupulously avoiding the term "Socialism", legislators are adopting many of the more moderate proposals of the Socialists, and labelling them "New Liberty" or "Progressivism". Thus we shall gradually rise as a railroad winds its way to the top of the mountains, if our engineers are skillful enough. Based on Exaiiiinalion of One Hundred Men 1 17 Meanwhile mucli may be accomplished in tlie immediate future to prevent idleness. The evils of seasonal employment are beginning to be understood by the public, and many em- ployers are trying to respond to public opinion by extending their employment throughout the year. If we are to make a determined effort to reduce enforced idleness we shall need to do more than stimulate sentiment, for there arc always many employers who are very little affected by public opinion. If seasonal emjiloyers were made responsible for the time during which they allowed their employees to go idle, they would soon learn to cooperate in such a way as to keep their employees busy throughout the year. Employers must be made to share the losses of their employees before seasonal employment will stop entirely. Perhaps the best way to solve tlie enforced idleness prob- lem would be for the Government to undertake to keep all labor- ing men busy. This, we know, has been done successfully in Germany. In our great cities, where the unemployed gather in great numbers every winter, a large force of labor would be available for making improvements which are now being mad"? in the summer months. Drainage work, road building, snow shovelling, street cleaning, levelling for playgrounds, cleaning lakes and repairing public buildings, may all be done at a time of year when there are great numbers of unemployed, though efficient, men in the city. During the winter of 19 13-14 there were very heavy snows in New York City and so great was ihe dissatisfaction over the slow progress that was being made in the removal of the snow from the streets, that the job was taken out of the hands of the contractors and done by the Street Cleaning Department, which hired thousands of idle and homeless men. I know personally of hundreds of men to whom those few days of work were a veritable godsend. During the same winter the City of New York experi- mented with a municipal employment bureau for the benefit of the vast crowd of men who were idle. While moderately suc- cessful, this effort did not begin to meet the need. While it ii8 ll'Iiy There Arc Vagrants — A Study could do something to break the power of the usurious private employment agencies, it could not cope with the larger aspects of the problem, such as the improper distribution of the labor supply. It should be the obligation of the state to give us preventive legislation. Much has already been done for union labor and something for unorganized labor, through the publication of monthly reports, carefully compiled statistics, the establishment of the various Boards of Arbitration, inquiries in regard to abuses in certain trades and industries, inspection of mills and factories, and laws requiring shorter hours, better wages and fairer working conditions. The Workman's Compensation Laws which are going into effect in one state after another, will be the means of saving thousands from the despair which leads to vagrancy. While no one state has within its borders a sufificiently great variety of occupations to employ all seasonal workers, the United States as a whole has such vast undeveloped resources, and so great a diversity of climate and industrial activity that there is enough for every man to do the whole year round if each can but find the job that needs him. The natifin as a whole is not usually subject to the annual ebb and flow of labor to the same extent that each individual state experiences them. The Federal Government alone can deal effectively with these men who call no state their home, and who find it neces- sary for their peace of mind, to travel north and south, east and west like the migratory birds. Wanderlust might then become a distinct advantage to the nation, as well as to the individual. The Departments of Labor and Agriculture are feeling their way toward some solution of the problem. They are dis- posed to act cautiously, however, through fear of appearing too socialistic, and they will doubtless encounter constitutional diffi- culties. In a speech made at Indianapolis, in January, 191 5, President Wilson declared that it was the duty of the Adminis- tration to help laboring men to find where their services are required. We may hope for legislation to this end in the near future. Based on Bxamination of One lliiiuircd Men 1 19 The Federal Government might relieve the labur situation in at least three ways, as a bureau of information, as employ- ment agent, and as employer. Bureaus of information could be established throughout the country as meterological stati(3ns are now distributed. From these stations daily information as to the specific needs of em- ployers in the various communities, could be sent to a central bureau, from which it could be distributed to communities which could supply those needs. Still more satisfactory would be the operation by the United States Government of a great number of federal employment agencies, such as we find in Germany. It might be advisable to make them a part of the Post Ofifice system. That constitu- tional difficulties could be obviated is apparently shown by the fact that such an employment agency already exists as a branch of the United States Department of Labor in New York C\iy. Farmers and other employers from all parts of the United States may apply to this office for labor, sending carfare to the laborer in advance if necessary. The question of paying transportation in advance has seemed a difficult one, however. Many vagrants have told me that if this were done, the men would "beat it" as soon as they reached their destinations. The only way to overcome this difficulty would be to exercise a strict sur- veillance over all men who apply for aid, as is done in Germany. With such a system of surveillance, the fact that there would be but one source of employment or of labor should be of great advantage to employers and worthy employees. The em- ployee would be encouraged to do his best, knowing that his record would be on file with the government. There would be a distinct premium on good behavior. Itinerant laborers are less amenable to social control than any other class of persons, and one of the services the government could perform for these men would be to make them responsible for their conduct, so that they could not escape from their misdeeds by the easy proc- ess of leaving the city or the state. A thorough system of identi- fication, involving the photograph and fingerprints, would make it difficult for the transgressor who hoped to get a position else- i I20 Why There Are Vagrants — A Stitd^ where to cover his tracks, and would exercise a most wholesome restraint upon the members of the laboring class who were crim- inally inclined. This would also be of the greatest advantage to employers. At the same time the government would have opportunity to exercise that strict supervision over industry which the public conscience now recognizes as essential for the protection of the laboring classes. Once the National Government assumed responsibility for keeping all worthy laborers busy, it might be found necessary for the government to become the employer itself during seasons of greatest unemployment. Since the passage of the National Reclamation Act of igo2 the government has undertaken the irrigation of 3,198,000 acres of land at a cost of $60,000,000, and there does not seem any prospect that this work of reclama- tion will cease for decades. There are about 70,000,000 acres of irrigable land yet untouched and some 60,000,000 acres of swamp and overflow lands, which when drained will average $100 an acre. In making these improvements the government might be able to adjust its schedule so that it could utilize the labor that is set free from farms and construction work at the end of the summer. It is largely a matter of recognizing that human conservation is quite as important as any other thing the government could undertake. Keeping men busy throughout the year is by no means all that is needed. It is important also that the evils arising from the specialization of labor should be overcome. The reaction of human nature to monotony and fatigue must be looked out for. There is a growing opposition to compelling a man to labor until he is completely exhausted, and this is excellent, yet in some respects simple monotony is even worse than fatigue. Fa- tigue uses up surplus energy. Monotony represses expression and does not give opportunity for that normal escape of energies which is essential for health of body and morals. Overwork is harder on the individual, but safer for society at large, than monotony. Sailors "break loose" at the end of a voyage. Lumbermen indulge in excesses when they come to town. Cowboys are no- Based oil Exaininalion of One Hundred Men 121 torious for "shooting-up-lhc-tnwn" escapades. The longer and tighter the safety valve is held down the more violent is the reaction. Some men can endure s;imencss longer than others, but for all there is a limit. This reaction of human life to re- striction has been called man's "moral holiday". Whenever work becomes so monotonous that the reaction is dangerously violent, then it is the tdil that may he said to he immoral rather than its victims. Every man should have the right ie) use his varied gifts, and society will not have solved its problem until every man gets the opportunity to make his full contribution, to use himself to the limit, but not beyond the limit. Every man should have the right to work, and the right to variety. An enlightened public opinion and legislation for shorter hours and better working conditions are hopeful signs that we may one day provide for these necessities. If the workmen were given a share in the industry in which they were engaged', work would have a direct interest for them, and lift them out of a dull mechanical existence. Above all, it must be recognized that human life is worth more than large economic returns. But this will take time. The process of educating the public conscience is a long one. Our progress from year to year seems small, but the aggregate is very large. We have made great strides in the past, and there will be equally important achieve- ments in the future. Each step costs the effort of a multitude of men consecrated to the cause of human betterment. The laboring man can do more for himself through the trades unions than anyone else will do. The number of union men who become vagrants is relatively much smaller than the number of non-union men. Frequently men who have fallen into vagrancy admit that they allowed their membership to lapse before they "went to pieces". The union is a deterrent to vagrancy in more than one way. First, by establishing a fund against evil days, the union is able to provide for its members in times of idleness. In the second place, the union is able to bargain with employers on terms much more nearly equal than those of employer and individual em- ployee. The corporation is not able to discharge union men with 122 JVhy There Are Vagrants — A Study quite the impunity that it discharges non-union men, and the union is able to make effective demands for improved working conditions. In the third pkice, the union can help to create pub- lic opinion and direct legislation. By cooperation men learn initiative and independence in the school of experience. Men who liave improvements thrust upon them from sources independent of their own efforts gradually lose self-reliance from disuse of that faculty. It is best to help the laboring man to help himself to better conditions, because he is achieving character at the same time. In Chapter VIII on Misapplied Philanthropy a plan was suggested for dealing with mendicants in such a way as to dis- courage deception without working too much hardship upon the deserving. In general the purpose of philanthropy should always be to render itself unnecessary. Philanthropy is failing to do its duty unless, beside its treatment of individual cases as they arise, it is doing all in its power to improve the conditions responsible for distress. This principle is now well recognized, and is being put into practice in such enterprises as Chikl Welfare, Anti- Tuberculosis efforts, and -Community House movements, and in Tenement House, Poor House, and Prison reforms. It is the duty of the Government to reduce the sources of vagrancy, and it is fairly accurate to say that a goi'crnmcnt is successful in dealing with the problem of vagrancy in propor- tion as it applies preventive measures, so that punishment, dis- cipline and cures are rendered unnecessary. Legislation is not a panacea for vagrancy, but it is indispensable. It can never precede public opinion, however. Legislation should endeavor to make it against the interest of each man to do what is contrary to the interest of the group. Perfect legislation would bring to pass a condition in which every man would bless himself by being a blessing to society, and would hurt himself whenever he hurt others. Legislation would thus become a very high art indeed. The genius of the Germans lies in part in their ability to make it serve the interest of each man to serve his country. With our imperfect social organiza- Based on Exainiiiation of One Hundred Men 123 tion the great majority of people fiiul that it ])ays to profess altruism but to play fast and loose with it in their eonduct. Most of us are hypocrites witliout knowing it. Of course legislation is not enough. It is a poor substitute for idealism and morality. Law making must take its place as supplementary to ethics as inculcated through social intercourse, education and religion. The principles of honesty and justice should play a far greater [lart in our relationships than fear of the law. Afifection is gaining in inii)ortance as compared with dread, in each generation. Upon the higher emotions we sliall have to depend in the end for our approach toward better things. Morality goes within and gets after the real culprit. Tn this respect it stands in striking contrast to legislation. The majority legislates against the minority and always overlooks its own contribution to the evils it opposes. Vagrants are produ.cts of employers, consumers, voters, in short, of society at large, as well as of heredity, yet society will not blame itself or deny itself, but places all of the hardship of reform upon the victim, where it does a minimum of good with a maximum of suffering. To legislation we may look with confidence, therefore, only when it is representative of the convictions of the majority of the eiTective thinking public. It is well that legislation is no easier, for in the process of securing it the public is being edu- cated, and that, after all, is the most important thing to be at- tained. Once the public conscience is thoroughly aroused, we may rest assured that fitting legislation will ultimately follow. For the diminution of vagrancy we must rely upon the training of the public conscience, upon the strengthening of in- dividual character, upon the leadership of men with the genius for effective organization, upon the insight of men wiio study the larger meanings of conditions, supplemented at the proper time by adequate legislation. It is the old way, but there are no short cuts across the fields to perfection. Finis. 1 24 Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY Adams, C. E., The Real Hobo: What He Is and How He Lives, Forum 33: 438-39. Je- '02. 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Age, 258: 179-81, Jl. 18, '08. Turner, Chas. James Ribton, History of Vagrants and Vagrancy and Beggars and Begging, Chapman and Hall, London, 1887, XX, II, 720 pp. 128 Vita VITA Frank Charles Laubach was born in Benton, Columbia County, Pennsylvania, on September 2, 1884. He entered the Benton Public Schools at the age of six, and was graduated from the Benton High School in the class of 1899. He was gradu- ated from Bloomsburg State Normal School, at Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1901, after which he taught in the Public Schools of Columbia County for three years. He entered Perki- omen Seminary, Pennsburg, Pennsylvania, in 1904, and was graduated the following year. In the fall of 1905 he entered Princeton University where he received the degree of Bachelor of Arts in 1909, and was graduated with honors in this as in the preceding institutions. He spent one year gaining practical ex- perience as a Slum Worker in the Settlement House of the Spring Street Presbyterian Church, at 244 Spring Street, New York City. In 1 910 he matriculated at Columbia University and at Union Theological Seminary. In 191 1 he received the de- gree of Master of Arts from Columbia University, and in 191 3 he was graduated from Union Theological ' Seminary. The same year he became "Social Secretary" at the Woodyard of the Charity Organization Society of New York City, where he made the study which is presented in this dissertation. University of California SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 405 Hiigard Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024-1388 Return this material to the library from which It was borrowed. V (ML0CT16 19?5 «MWI72OO0 UNIV^ jf CALIFORNIA Un