Eaton weekly Democrat. [volume] (Eaton, Ohio) 1866-1875, 1870-03-24
Prevention Better than Relief.
From the Philadelphia Ledger -

i BrSaI HHOD1emS OF tnls Time, as IL Qas
been Sof all times. Modern regarc
for theunit Of humanity has incfeas
4 ed the difficulty, and shifted a por
ton OF the burden from the poor tC
the rich. Time was that the pool
i were considered as a separate class
and regarded as born for penury and
Ldeprfvation of comfort. Their re-
1questssfor anything better was re-
garded as presumption and as to 8
demand for o remedy to their disa-
bilities, such thing was counted re-
bellion against order. But now that
4 the u,lit Is recognized as an indi-
lyidual who will bleed If you prick
him, and starve. If he gets no food,
the class necessity of poverty is be-
i ginning to be considered an obsolete
/ error. Especially In this country,
+ where the millionaire of to-day is the
tpoor man of yesterday, is the conve-
nient hobby of oid-fashiQned political
Economists discarded. THE ecaste
things as the Alps, are with US al
most as difiicult to point out as the
imaginary parallels of latitude, or
the isoth lines. ~ .Frf,a.
1 Still we have poor. And, as we
have said, modern philanthropy
| finds the poor very costly burthen.
Moreis done for the INDECENT than
Lever before. And yet, the evil of
Epoverty asesss The danger grows
that whiIe we deny the caste theory
we have the unfortunate fact of
hereditary poor. Children are born
of such fparentage, and reared, amid
such surroundings, that they can
hardly be otherwise than INDECENT,
| and sometimes this inherited poverty
| forces its poor victims into places
where their children can hard -es-
cape vicious habits. Our philanthro-
pists seem to accept the situation,
and the utmost they hope is to make
increasing provision for an increasing
evil. Would it not be better to try
what can be done in the way of1pre-
vention ? The heaviest single item
in the expenses of the man ofmoder-
ate income is mouse rent; and abso-
lutte inability to provide a suitable
residence for his family forces some
of the worthy poor into quarters
physically insa1ubrious and morally.
malignant. Our civilization should
be competent to provide remedy for
this, by removal of the cause of the
misery. Yet even Mr.. Peabody, who
has come nearer to the practical un-
derstanding of the difficulty than
most other men, has had his gener-
osity coupled with such conditions
LIE tAA6SCC0 gAAaS LIE OAAaAACJ AAAO
nearly all charities, runs some risk
of becoming a reward for improYi-
dence. A, man must be so poor that
even to pay his rent is struggle,
before he is q fit tenant. A person in
stated and remunerative employ
ment Is not a fit tenant. In word,
the tenant must be SO poor that the
tenements are to him sort of refuge;
before he can obtain admission.
What all large cities need is some-
thing which may enable an honest,
hardsworking man to preserve his
independence and to give his money
only in the large cities, but in every
town where there are people of limit
ed or moderate means, that the op-
portunitya should be created by
which rent should be made to bear
less disproportion to other expenses.
They want the possibility extended
to hard-working men and women to
own the houses they live in. And
while capitalists, by providing these
Imneh desired facilities, may not
make unreasonable profits, they may
at least derive a reasonable Interest
for theiramoney, cand prevent their
tenants from coming under the desig-
nation Of paupers. In Philadelphia
we are much better Off in this respect
than any other Atlantic city, and
have a number of systems in. active
operation to promote ownership of
homes, and to tighten the burdens of
rent. Still we may consider q sug-
gestion from abroad. s.--';.-.
A correspondent of the Newark
Daily Advertiser, who strengthens
his argument by offering to provide
a portion of the necessary capital,
sketches q plan. 1t is for capitalists
TO build houses at the lowest posi-
BILE cost censistent with comfort and
convenience, and sell them, to eligi-
BILE tenants, the payment to be diVi-
ded through number of years, and
to include rent and taxes. Upon the
lastspaymentth the deed is to- be, given
ito the purchaser. The houses are to-
besbuilt so as to-oommand all the ad-
vantagess of capital, wholesale, not
retail.n This plan has some of the
advantages of what are called "Build-
ing Associations" without the dis
advantage of the competition which
other greater disadvantages which
attend the building of q house with
the drawback of high prices, conse-
quent ON limited purchases of build
ing material. Something like this,
it seems to US, would be a wise em-
ployment. of capital. The returns
should not be large, for the objects
aimed at are assistance to the deserv-
ing and provident, not the making
the most money out of their necessi-
ties. Practical men could 50 arrange
the details that the investment
would be safe for the builder and at
the same time the contract, lease or
deed, call it what you please, could
be 30 arranged that the tenant could
be assured in the saving of the money
he invests. Too often the unsuceess-
full attempt to buy or build results in
the loss of all the money advanced.
But on this plan the tenant might be
guaranteed that whatever money he
applied should be returned to him,
with a reasonable deduction for the
wear and tear of the property, in case
that he found 1t expedient or neces-
sary to give up his bargain; or he
mig the right to sell on GER
tain specified conditions. His annual
payments should constitute a claim
similar to a mortgage. The sugges-
ton deserves the attention of those
who desire TO prevent rather than
simply to relieve poverty.