New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1879-02-24
TENEMENT-HOUSE REFORM.
EARNEST ApPEALS IN MANY CHURCHES.

duty of the Church Il eeyating the life OF the
common people. At large meeting in the
Anthem Memorial Church, presided over
by the Rev. r. Hcber Newton, addresses
on the evils of tenement-house life were
made by The Rev. Drs. John Cotton Smith
and G.. II. Hepworth. and by DR.. Stephen
Smith and Dorman b. Eaton. The Rev. Dr.
Tucker presided over the meeting at the Mad
ison Square Presbyterian Church. and speeches
were made by DR.. D. b. st. John Rosa. Dr.
Charles Harris and others. Sermons were also
preached on this subject by the Rev. J. w.
Kramer and the Rev. DR.. Morgan Dix.
HOMES OF THE NETWORK POOR.
me Eeg. Dr. MaTrin T.. Vincent at me church Of he
COtrndnt tTTesbv'ertan)
The Rev. DR.. Marvin X. Vincent, pastor Of the
Church Of the Covenant. at Park-aye. aud Thirty
fthst., took mp the subject of tenement houses for
the poor in his morning sermon yesterday and
supplemented his pointed remarks on the duties of
wealthy and property holding Christians, with IN
array of facts that present q vivid picture al the
tenement house evil His text taken from the
Lords Prayer. Matthew vi, l.: GIVE Us this
day our daily bread
God as n Father and as n King, said Or. Vincent,
undertakes 10 provide in HIS administration for the
bodily az well as for the spiritual necessities
of His subjects and children. Our Heavenly
Father makes MANY Of us the agents of answering
our own PRAYER: Give us bread That He throws
His poor very largely upon the superiority which
He gives 10 the rich for the answer to their prayer
for bread. Prayer tor bread Incudcs strength 10
work for bread. We do not pray for the bread of
idleness but for that which shall become ours by
our earning it. We are committed also to dlscre-
ton in bcBcfcicncics. Ia the discouragcmeut of
idlcueSs and the promotion OF sei-hclp IN those to
whom minister
II NAV be asked what docs God contemplate by
tI.. told IN a.
bread, forgiveness. escape from temptation and
evil knowledge of IIs name and will. subsection IN
lis kingdom All these mean for the individual
character. manhood, wOmanhood, bearing tie mark
Of Heaven. hey mean for society, good citizenship,
the best social conditions. order and dCcency, har
mOny between social ranKS-each man in his true
relation to God and to his teOwmcu. Our prayer
and our work as Christians ought to contemplate
the same end that we ought 10 pray. and 10 plan,
aud TO work always with the ultimate purpose OF
making good men and women. and therefore
good citizens Now follows naturally the question.
What provision does our Christianity require H. To
make for the poor and the degraded IN order 20 raise
them to true manhood Evidently We are 10 pro-
vide both spiritual and material things. Material
provision is expressed by the word Bread a
representative term including all that is necessary
tor mans HE on me material si'e the pace Wheic
he iIyrs a. well as the food that be eats the
nomic laws of his bic the question OF his LABOR;
hs having the right kind Of food what KIND of air
he brc9tAcs: what goes to promote his health
and his cnlldren's, and what to impair il.
These things are matters of religion. You
!
Christian liyc' are under Christian obligation
to care TOR these things As truly rs 10 pray or 10
attend church. Preaching and tracts ana sabbath
schools alone will not make true men and women.
The church ought 10 have something 10 say about
what people eat. The peoples drink Is not matter
to be left to he temperance societies The church,
determination to regard amusement with suspicion.
ii not with positive dislike, and her failure or re-
fuSal 10 sec that religion Is the only power which
can safely he trusted to regulate amusement, have
cost her dearly. Infection aud drainage and ven
ulation are not for the exclusive consideration II
health boards. They are religious questions as
well as sanitary ones. When Charles kingsley.
/ going into sick peasants house and iuuing the
atmosphere of the room pestllcntlal, procured IN
| anger and bored holes above the beds head for
| ventilation, the anger was as much a religious
instrument as the pTayor-bOOk. Nothing that i,
nv wrong can he morally right. Religion
must r,itcrate the truth that natures laws are
Gods laws.
The Christian Church Of Ncw-York has provided
with puuceiy hbcIahty Chapcls, sabbath-sch0nlS,
teachers, tracts and books for tic moral education
OF the degraded classes, and yet the result ptla-
bio compared with the outlay She cannot afford
todI.prIsc with single one of these agencies she
need, more Of them. " 10 attempt, SAYS Mi. Brace,
TO prevent cure the ieartu moral disease, OF
lowest CLASSES without Christianity IS like trying To
carry through a sanitary reform IN city
without sunlight: but tho neglected. and ruitan
class are IN no way affected directly by such
influences rs Bibles, tracts and piaycr-mrctlugs.
SAYS another: Religious teachers are beginning
to give tuls class past an remedy until their
physical condition ID improved Their Intellect,
are bluntcd and their perceptions 80 perverted
I
aud the all-peryading hlth IN winch they
live, that they aIe not susceptible to moral
and religious influences. Hence while We
want no fewer dlstluctlycy religions influences,
we want them supplemented By others which con
ccrn ihc body rather than the soul
Let lis consider THESE principles applied to a
siuoir practical uurssun-the homes OF the New
York poor. LDrd BeacOn,held, in his eloquent adj
dress al the opening OF the Victoria buildings at
BatterSeI said d" Ibe home Is the unit OF cIYiliLa-
lion From It spring all those influences which give
a character to society, either tor good evil. \
man that fc,ls that his home ~ Home, Sweet
Home Is prouu of the community IN winch he
dwrls but the man tho feels that his home is
den OF misery and crime Immediately
sails that Soclety of which he believes
! tr.titnony that comes from the hospitals,
relormat0Iics the Magdalen asylums, the 1ombN,
Black wells Island, the police stations and the Pot
es Field, and see II you do not Use from tho h0IrI-
HE 0uest saving New Ork can never be saved for
Christ and for purity and decenCy until Christianity
means Gods sunlight aud Cod, pure arr and clean
illness aud better homes Tor the poor. he devil hts
the church at a disadvantage when Sabbath lhilu-
ences are Offset by six days of life in the Sqnalor and
confusion and POISONOUS ar ana demOralllIg assoc
Citations of the tenement house.
Fully 500, 900 people, nearly balf ;he population
of NeW-l York 1--we III tenement houses, tho RTst OF
| which were biut only forty years ago. In the
! first ten years 7,Oil were built. and IN eighteen
months 500. There are . 900 of these houses IN
the cIiy to-day, The better class of them are 1--we
six stories high, the ground-ilOor and cellar often
used "A grOg shop or Il dSllery The middle
rooms often receive no daylight at all. physician
! who visited one of these houses III the northern
part of the island reported that there thirty
! two rooms receiving light and ventilation from
! other rooms. -Four families occupy each hOOr A
| set of rooms consists of a living loom, l2AlO,
/ and ono or two dark closets for bedrooms. he
/ halls are, as n rule dark. nallseating and unyent-
lated provision of the law fOrbids the erection Of
house the rear of lot of which the front is al
| ready occupied without space of at least ten
| feet between the two buildings, with tho addition
! of five feet for each additional story. As tho law
SAYS nothing about erecting building on the front
of lot wncn the rear Is already occupied this Gub-