New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1866-08-28
RENTS.

If high rents are a sign of prosperity New
Orleans ought to be one of the most prosper
aus cities in the world. And, as a general
1glle, the rise Of rents is in direct ratio tc
the augmentation of veSlth, commerce, popu
lation--all those elements, in fine, which con
stitute what is called prosperity. Hence as
a general rule when rents fall we should infel
that this phenomenon is concurrent with an
era of decrepitude and deeay--that trade is
falling, that wealth is seeking other shores,
that houses, tenantless and vacant, are gap
ing, open-doored, for occupants But not
always Let us ut least, hope that when
rents begin to fall in New Orleans, we shall
not be on the eve of commercial and indus
trial decline. Otherwise we might be en-
barrassed to choose between two very serious
evils-the loss Of that metropolitan character
! 10 which we aspire, and a burthen which is
becoming almost too much for our strength.
Everybody that lives in New Orleans, and ex-
periences that inexorable necessity of getting
his living in one way OF another, knows that
rents are exceedingly, not to say astopishingly
high. The man who has to hire house is
made painfully aware of this disagreeable
fact when he is asked hundred dollars a
month for an Unconditional dwelling which,
before the war, when in good order rented
for forty dollars. The bachelor, in search Of
apartments, feels it keenly when he has to
/ pay fifty or sixty dollars month for rooms
which formerly rented for fifteen or twenty.
The boarder-out discovers it when his ami
able landlady gently informs him that, on &C
count of the advance in rents, she is reluc-
family compelled to raise her terms.
The poor people feel it grievously when
several families are obliged to huddle to-
gether in one house, for actual lack Of the
means to pay for separate tenements. And
still the process goes on. 'Excelsior p"
seems to be the landlords motto There
might be some hope that the thing would Ill
timately regulate itself, BY a general advance
Of wages and prices if rents would consent
to stand still for time. But this expecta-
ton seems to be abandoned, and people have,
apparently, resigned themselves to the con
temptation Of a rapidly approaching period
when they will be turned bodily into the
street, to make room for less impecunious
competitors.
What is the cause of this state of affairs
{ Extortion is favorite explanation. Popu-
lar resentment attributes an almost super
human covetousness and a quite diabolical
insensibility to the landlord. But, after all,
landlords are not to blame for rise in
rents any more than cotton planters are to
blame for rise in cotton. That inexorable
law Of supply and demand rules house
owners just as imperiously as it governs any
other class Of the community. The most
amiable and tender-hearted man in the
world, if he sells goods will take just what
his goods will bring, and will ask as much for
his house as he is likely to get. Political
economy is cold and calculating science
else, indeed, it would not be science at all.
1t takes no note of amiable weaknesses, or
benevolent impulses; of sentiment, or fancy
because those are elements in the problem
which cannot be reduced to dollars and
cents. They may effect the result, but
their influence is not calculable picori.
Hence they must be eliminated from the cal
culation, or we shall be involved in reticu-
lation of perplexities from which there is no
escape. Admitting, then, that landlords are
not necessarily extortioners and swindlers,
because they take for their property what
their property happens at the moment to be
worth, what is the cause of the enormous
rise in rents in this city The cause is very
simple indeed. There are not houses enough
for the people. Since the close Of the war
there has been vast increase in our popu-
lation; but no increase Of any mo-
ment, in the amount Of our available house
room. Even during the summer the city has
comparatively full of people, and
yet in the face Of the reopening Of the business
season, and of a large accession to our popu-
ation, no building is going on.
The remedy is just as simple as the cause.
Build houses enough for the people and rents
viii fall to their normal standard. OF course
capital will finally be attracted by the induce
ments offered in New Orleans, and then house
room will be provided for our unhappy peo-
pie. Capital is quick to perceive a fair open
ng and generally comes where it is wanted. !
But, IN the mean time, if there are any public
spirited men who sympathize with our house
ess condition, perhaps they would like to
alleviate our miseries and earn our gratitude
BY forming building associations on the plan
which has been so successful in London and
other cities. Surely such associations are as
much needed in New Orleans as in any other
place in the world
s.as 81 ---