Many of these tramps prove on close acquaintance to be interesting pathological characters. Various stages of outspoken paranoia will be found to exist among them. It is not unusual to find that certain among them have acquired the idea not so uncommon now among large classes of humanity, that the world is so unjust in its treatment of the labouring man, that work seems to them almost a persecution that must be undergone for the sake of the pittance derived from it. Sometimes there is the actual extrinsic idea of personal persecution for some fancied wrong done to a large corporation during a strike, or labour troubles, which they cherish as the reason for which they have had to give up a fixed habitation, and resign the idea of supporting themselves honestly and respectably. This persecution stage of paranoia easily turns to the second phase of this affection as already described, that in which the fancied victim of persecution becomes in turn the persecutor. Tramps thus readily give way to even organised attempts at revenge upon social order, and are led to believe themselves justified in attempts to burn and otherwise destroy property because of their enmity towards property holders and employers generally. Not infrequently the third stage of paranoia, in which there are delusions of grandeur, may be observed. Personally I have known two tramps who wandered about the country with these grandiose ideas. One of them thought that he had in his possession immense wealth in the shape of large checks, signed supposedly by various important capitalists, and even foreign rulers. These checks were actually signed in the names of these personages, at the tramp's own request, by any chance passer-by or acquaintance. This patient died in a country insane asylum in the demented stage of paranoia, having gone through all the usual phases of the disease. Another tramp was confident that each recurring election he was to be elected to one of the highest offices in {298} the state, or even to be made President of the United States. Not every one was taken into his confidence in this matter, however. The simplest declaration after the election from any chance acquaintance would assure him of his success at the polls, and on more than one occasion he turned up at the Capitol to claim exalted office, but was generally inoffensive in his ways, and was rather readily persuaded that his term of office did not begin for some time. It is easy to understand that a person might come into the possession of the idea that the official holding office in his stead should be removed; the result might very well be one of the sad tragedies supposedly due to anarchism, but really to paranoia.