The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1874-04-26


Der the sweet fields on the banks OF the river
And sing OF salvation Tor ever and ever.
Houses W.. Homes.
In great cities like New York it seems to be
impossible for people of ordinary means to
have home. The rich can have palatial
residence, the poor can have garnet, but
the man of small income and growing family
can find no place in which to establish himself
comfortably. We have houses thirty feet wide
for the millionaire, and other houses " the
same block fifteen feet wide for the man who
is willing to spend all he has rather than not
live on the avenue, but ne dwelling place
for those who are just beginning life or WHIP
are trying to make both ends meet on the
salary of o clerk or the moderate profits OF
ordinary business. Matters are becoming
more complicated every year. The class that
gives health and strength to city politics ara
compelled to live few miles in the country,
while the nine-o clock-in-t he-evening popula-
ton consists of the rich, the determined-to-
appear rich and that vast crowd of the un-
kempt who are like soft clay in the hands Of
shrewd and willy Office seekers.
While we complain Of the Irregularities Of
business life, by which mild word we ara
accustomed to designate some Of the worst
crimes, we forget that the folk who commit
them have had their moral consciousness low
cred to zero by the customs and usages OF
society. The thousands of clerks who pour
into the city every year come from comforta-
BILE and happy homes. They do not alight as
birds Of prey, or with any predetermined plan
to rob their employers, or to live fast life.
They come with honest intentions and with o
reach the city they find themselves cut adrift
from every healthful influence. Their only
substitute for o home is an uncomfortable hall
bedroom in the fifth story of some overflled
boarding house. The Christian Association
takes no pains to hunt them up, for it has
grown rich enough to become Indifferent to
that kind Of work. The churches af-
ford no shelter, for young men are
left to cool themselves in the YES
thule, while the exclusive and fashionable
worshippers slam their pew doors with such
emphasis that even the most obtuse under
stand that only those who carry gilt-edged
prayer books are welcome, and that though
the Gospel is preached to the poor it is not
preached to the poor Of that particular neigh
borhood They cannot marry and begin life
on small scale, because rents are too high in
the first place, and, in the second place. be-
cause girls are very carefully taught that
though love is very romantic, bullion is very
l. - hcx
without love than to have love with
out money. They won't even nod to
young man who has not lavender
kids and gold-headed cane. If he is
the fortunate owner Of these necessary pre-
requisites to an ertrfe into good society no
one will ask or care how he came by them.
It is quite enough that he has them. If
he can only manage to drive tandem team,
all houses are thrown open to him, and sly
hints are dropped from the painted lips of
mamma that Mary Jane would never think Of
saying no if he should present her with his
heart, his hand and his unpaid bills
The most genial companionship he can
finland companionship Of some kind he
must have-is of that questionable character
which augurs i'll for his future He can drop
into the well-lighted drinking saloon and find
welcome so long as he has Mr.. Spinner'a
signature in his vest pocket The trapdoor OF
every gambling house swings on it's well-oiled
hinges, and he can eat cold duck and spend
his money to his hearts content When this
is all gone and he abstracts few dollars from
the safe Of the firm, he is sent to Sing Sing as
an ungrateful wretch and his once possible
career is ended in darkness. The clergyman
of the immaculate necktie uses him for Sum-
day mornings text deplores the immoraIity
of the times during forty minutes of fashion
able stupidity, signs in an asthmatic sort of
way and then visits the treasurer to draw his
dues.
As a matter of political economy and social
progress these facts demand attention. New
York can't afford to lay traps, and then punish
those who fall into them. Neither can it
afford to neglect any means by which the
general integrity may be preserved. Men are
not made sanity by the ordinary diet or &C
commodations OF the boarding house. We
want more home life, and in order to make
this possible our domestic architecture must
undergo change. A dozen large buildings,
in good locations and with reasonable rentals,
SO divided as to afford accommodations for
small families would do more just now for
moral reform in New York than the same
number of fashionable churches, with fashion,
able and high-priced ministers. We have
Gospel enough for the present. in
printed form, but not enough in the shape
of honest and independent living A little
less preaching about reform, and little more
practical application of it, would produce
healthy if not startling change. Null
tinlv our homes and YOU multinlv the