NEWS OF THE WEEK.
THE march of the unemployed on Washington has at last roused the alarm of the national Government. From 'every State outside New England, the wretched, and the tramps and the loafers, aided by a few fanatics and Socialists, are -forming bands, usually from five hundred to twelve hundred -strong, with the intention of reaching Washington, and there demanding of Congress a vote of £100,000,000, to be divided among the States, and expended in providing work. In some places they seize the small towns, and are provided with carriage by the people anxious to be rid of them. In others '-they tramp on foot at the rate of twenty miles a day, demanding provisions from the villagers, and sleeping where they can. In others, they seize trains, and compel the drivers -to carry them on two hundred or three hundred miles. The national Government have set themselves against this last inethod, a proclamation has been issued declaring it illegal, and the United States troops have been placed at the disposal of --the authorities to rescue the trains. It is supposed that many bands will thus be arrested, but not all, as the move- ment is seizing States nearer to the capital, and it is not certain that a march on foot, or in waggons " voluntarily " provided by frightened citizens, is illegal, and large crowds are expected in Washington by May 1st. The Government has therefore strengthened itself, and, if necessary, will take sharp measures, even using cavalry and Gatlings.
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