The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1876-05-02

Ine OvcrcroWueo dwellings o. the
Moral and physical degradation are the
Legitimate offspring of poverty and unclean-
illness. 1t is not difficult to trace the gene
are found side by side with it, and the
genesis of depravity is limited to a record SO
short that it enables us to recognize at
glance the close relationship which exists be-
tween tho prime cause and the latest effect
We must not, however, confound natural
depravity with the failings which are forced
on man by the conditions which surround
and control his actions. While we regard
crime with adherence we must not be too
hasty in condemning the criminal, but must
see if, by reason of defective laws or the total
absence of proper legal restraints on his
mode Of life, society is not in a large meas
ure responsible for his faults. 1t is impos-
sible to imagine more fruitful source of
moral and physical disease than that pre-
sented by the tenement house system Of
New York and Brooklyn. Overcrowded
communities always produce the dangerous
classes for the simple reason that moral
ideas lose all their restraining influences
when the barriers are removed that keep the
social atoms decently separated. The unit
of our social organization, which the family
represents, is destroyed in the ten
ement house dens, where coresidency
and consequent familiarity establish the
closest intercourse between the occu-
pants. Border rufianism and city crime
alike result from the inability of the law to
reach and punish criminals. The solitudes
and the oyercrowded tenements conceal Of
tenders who ply their nefarious calling with
impunity, and encourage others to follow
their evil example. But there is another
and, if possible greater evil connected
with the tenement house system, which
must be regarded as o perpetual men
ace to public welfare. The consequences
of overcrowding the dwellings of the
poor, when viewed from q sanitary stand
point, present most alarming spectacle.
From time to time elaborate reports have
been published in this country as we'll as in
Europe which contain shocking details re-
specting the decay of populations under the
influence of the unsanitary conditions that
surround them. The annual report Of
nishes abundant statistical proof Of the fatal
influences of overcrowding on the growth Of
the population, and makes q statement which
goes far to prove the truth Of all the State
Boards deductions:-.'H Half the population
OF the city (New York; was lin 1879 re-
siding upon IN area so crowded that less
than seven square yards Of ground area was
allotted to each tenement house occu-
pant" And again, of the whole in
FAINT population eighty per cent is found
in tenement houses, and ''of these scarcely
one-half survive their second birthday"
Thus the young, the mature and the aged.
alike fall victims to the pestilential poisons
generated in these laboratories Of disease.
Can legislation remedy this monstrous evil
and prevent the annual sacrifice of thousands
of lives to the avarice of tenement house
landlords? Without question, if Legislators
will only grapple with it unawed by the
clamor of those who reap the harvest of
death. We regulate by law the erection of
houses SO as to prevent, if possible, loss
Of life and property by fire; we surround
the construction Of railroads and steamships
with certain restrictions calculated to insure
safety to the travelling public. We interfere
in almost every private enterprise which is
undertaken with view of reaping profit
from public patronage. Why, then, cannot
we by law declare that no apartments shall
be offered for rent in any tenement house
which do not possess all the qualifications as .
to size, mir space, ventilation and all the
other sanitary safeguards which the law may
require? The capacity of all rented rooms
for the proper accommodation Of tenants
should be certified to by public inspectors
Tenants should not be permitted to sublet
their holdings to boardcrs and others unless
within the legal restrictions against over
crowding This would be followed quickly
by a removal of the principal causes of crime
and epidemic, because the former would
cease to find refuge and the latter q home.
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