The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 97, July 1993 - April, 1994 Page: 28
754 p. : ill. (some col.), maps, ports. ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
living without any means of support, and making no exertions to obtain
a livelihood, by any honest employment," the law encompassed a large
variety and class of individuals. Vagrants were persons such as fortune-
tellers who were not licensed to exhibit "tricks or cheats in public"; pros-
titutes; professional gamblers or individuals who kept houses for them;
beggars of alms not afflicted with a disablement, physical malady, or mis-
fortune; habitual drunkards; or "persons who stroll idly about the streets
of town or cities, having no local habitation, and no honest business or
employment. "
If the fine had not been paid "within a reasonable time," then the in-
dividual could be forced to labor for the town or county as provided by
the police court or municipal authorities.
At stated periods, they would "make regulations prescribing the kind
of work at which vagrants are to be employed." This generally meant la-
boring on public works or roads. The guilty vagrant who refused to work
for the town or county and failed to pay the fine and costs would be
lodged in jail in "close confinement, on bread and water, until he or she
may consent to work." To ensure that local jurisdictions would receive
some benefit from vagrants, days spent in incarceration would not be
computed "in estimating the time for satisfying the fine and costs.""39
To prevent the freedmen from carrying pistols, the legislature made it
unlawful for anyone to carry guns on the "enclosed premises or planta-
tion" of any citizen without the owner or proprietor's consent. This pro-
38 Gammel (comp.), The Laws of Texas, V, 979, o2o-10o21 (1st quotation), 1021 (2nd-3rd
quotations); ". .. a synopsis of laws respecting persons of color," Jan. 3, 1867, S. Exec. Doc. 6,
39th Cong., 2nd Sess., 224 (footnote quotations), 226. The statute mandated that sheriffs, jus-
tices of the peace, and county civil officers report to the judges of the county court "all indigent
or vagrant minors" and also those minors whose parent or parents did not have the means, or
who refused to support their youngsters. The county judge initiated the process to apprentice
these youngsters to some "suitable or competent person" under court directed terms, "having
particular care to the interest of said minor." The legislature did not intend to provide extensive
protection for the rights of children or vagrants who would be apprenticed. Although non-dis-
criminatory on the surface, it was essentially aimed at black children who would provide whites
with a cheap source of labor.
89 Gammel (comp.), The Laws of Texas, V, 979, 1021 (1st quotation), 1022 (2nd-4th quota-
tions); ". .. a synopsis of laws respecting persons of color," Jan. 3, 1867, S. Exec. Doc. 6, 39th
Cong., 2nd Sess., 226-227. Youthful and juvenile vagrants would be sent before the police court
to be bound out under the apprenticing act. The fines and penalties prescribed in the vagrancy
statute "shall conform to the provisions of the Criminal Code in relation to the same offences."
County courts, justices of the peace, mayors and recorders of incorporated towns and cities had
the power to order the arrest of vagrants "of their own motion," or on written complaint by some
"credible person." After a magistrate issued a warrant, a peace officer would arrest and bring the
offender before the court. If a law official were unavailable, it could be directed to any "private
person." Upon appearance of the alleged vagrant, the court had to determine if the evidence
substantiated the charge. The accused could demand a trial by jury. If convicted, a fine of not
more than ten dollars could be levied but the defendant could not be released until the fine and
court costs were paid. Gammel (comp.), The Laws of Texas, V, 1021 (2nd-4th quotations), 1022
(1st quotation). Richter views the vagrancy law as part of the Bureau's "legislative desire." Over-
reached on All Sides, 95.
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 97, July 1993 - April, 1994, periodical, 1994; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth117154/m1/56/: accessed May 7, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.