The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless ManAnderson, Nels
General
The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man
Anderson, Nels
Chicago (Ill.) -- Social conditions; Tramps
3. Another I.W.W. talked twenty minutes on organization.
He argued that the rich man organizes and for that reason
is successful. He does not want the poor man at the bottom
to organize because he fears that he will not be able to
keep him at the bottom. He didn’t blame the rich man for
organizing; he blamed the poor man for not organizing. He
gave some literature away and sold some.
4. A speech on superstition followed. It lasted twenty
minutes and was aimed at a mission group that was holding
a meeting across the street. The argument was that the
Bible and the church were the most powerful instruments in
the hands of rich men for keeping the poor man down. No
collection was taken.
5. A twenty-minute speech on the economic organization of
industry was given by a man who took great pains to remind
the crowd that he had spent seven years to learn all about
it. He made a plea for the co-operation of labor to combat
the organization of capital. No collection was taken.
6. The next man argued that the unemployment problem is
caused by two things; the overcrowding of population and
the concentration of wealth into the hands of a few.
Eighty-five per cent of the people had but 15 per cent of
the wealth and 15 per cent of the people had 85 per cent of
the wealth or more than they could possibly consume. This
man usually takes up a collection on the ground that he is
handicapped physically, but he did not on this occasion. He
spoke for twenty minutes.
7. No more speakers wanted the box so a drunk got on
the stand and asked for the attention of the crowd. He
furnished amusement for fifteen minutes. He was witty but
easily led from subject to subject.
No speaker talked long enough to bore the crowd. Each
speaker, when he had finished, yielded the box to his
successor. The crowd was a characteristic Hobohemian
gathering, willing to stand so long as they could be
interested. Like most such gatherings, it kept diminishing
and increasing in size. Some would stand in front and
listen for an hour while others would only stop a few
minutes on the outer edge of the gathering. The reaction
to the speakers was for the most part sympathetic.
Occasionally a man on the sidelines would be seen to frown
disapproval but it is the habit of those who are not
interested to worm their way out of the group and go their
way.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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