Morning journal and courier., 1880-12-15
Wednesday Morning, Dec. 15, 1880.
THE ARTISANS DWELLING ACT.

THE ARTISANS DWELLING ACT. | How to prevent the crowding together of the ] poor in cities in tenement houses not fit to
 live in is a problem which has received much | attention from philanthropists, but they have
 thus far met with little success in their eff
 forts to solve it. Grasping landlords and the l poor themselves have been too much for the l philanthropists. And now the failure of a l plan from which much was expected, and which was put in operation in London, is an- nounced.
 In 1875 what was called the Artisans Dwelling act was passed by the British Par 1 lament. The object of the act was gradually
 to rid the crowded parts of London of old tenement houses which were the abode of | filth, immortality and disease. For this pur- | pose the Metropolitan Board of Health were I authorized to condemn all such buildings and tear them down. Before the buildings could be removed, the Board were obliged to pay the owner fairly assessed valuation for his property. The structures could then be
 razed to the ground, and the site or lease be sold to the highest bidder who would agree to put up improved tenement houses.
 This act has now been in operation five years, and it's result is not encouraging The Board of Works have condemned and torn l down the foul rookeries which covered six
 large areas, and sold the ground to landlords
 who promised to build better houses They
 have paid high prices for buildings which were totally worthless. In this way they have made it object for landlords to al- low their tenements to rot and almost tumble down without the least attempt to save them from ruin by timely repairs. The owners have actually taken pains to call the attention of the Board to the dilapidated structures in order to procure the condemnation and the high prices which the Board were always compelled to pay. On the six areas already mentioned the loss to the Lonion taxpayers has been e562, ,OO0. It would probably have been more had not the Board of Works for tunately found purchasers for all of them in the Peabody trustees. On eight other areas of ricketty houses which have been bought and torn down the estimated loss will not be less than e5OO,OOO
 It is stated that the Board will not longer persist in this folly, as they feel that the Ar tisans' Dwelling act has been sufficiently tested. As for the poor dispossessed persons they have not been benefited. In fact, most of them are worse off than before They have been deprived of homes for which no better substitutes have yet been found. For, while the Peabody trustees have covered all or part of their six areas with so-called model dwelling houses, other of the cleared spaces have not been built up. As a result the tenants who have been turned into the street are driven to seek bad quarters else where. The London authorities declare that the tenement districts of the city are more overcrowded than ever. The net conse- quence of the act is undoubtedly a positive harm to the London poor. And this harm has been inflicted at cost of million or more of pounds to the taxpayers.
 Some such plan as this has been frequently advocated in various cities in this country. The theory is taking one, ,zbut its working in London seems to show that 1t is imprac- ticable.