Page 239 - down-and-out-in-paris-and-london

XXXVI

want to set down some general remarks about tramps.
I When one comes to think of it, tramps are a queer prod-
uct and worth thinking over. It is queer that a tribe of men,
tens of thousands in number, should be marching up and
down England like so many Wandering Jews. But though
the case obviously wants considering, one cannot even start
to consider it until one has got rid of certain prejudices.
These prejudices are rooted in the idea that every tramp,
IPSO FACTO, is a blackguard. In childhood we have been
taught that tramps are blackguards, and consequently there
exists in our minds a sort of ideal or typical tramp—a re-
pulsive, rather dangerous creature, who would die rather
than work or wash, and wants nothing but to beg, drink,
and rob hen-houses. This tramp-monster is no truer to life
than the sinister Chinaman of the magazine stories, but he
is very hard to get rid of. The very word ‘tramp’ evokes his
image. And the belief in him obscures the real questions of
vagrancy.
To take a fundamental question about vagrancy: Why do
tramps exist at all? It is a curious thing, but very few people
know what makes a tramp take to the road. And, because of
the belief in the tramp-monster, the most fantastic reasons
are suggested. It is said, for instance, that tramps tramp to
avoid work, to beg more easily, to seek opportunities for

Down and Out in Paris and London