New-York tribune., 1882-12-31
THE CONDITION or cry TEYEuEyrS..

Officers oi the state Charities AID Association and
of the New York society for Improving tic COudi-
tlon o. tIe oor have had mucn difficulty IA press
ing complaints against tcnemcnt-hO.scS because
their owner were not known Ia the attempt u
compel pTOuerty-OWuers TO make ter mcht-hou,rS
more healthy it has been necessary to seek the
.'..isIuncc of The courts. Recently President
Chandler of the Board oi Health, was asked to
suggest way 0uj OF me dilncuiN' ana
he Onercd The Of certain records III tie Initary
Bureau. An expert atcoouhIah'' eHployeu
by the two associations. has been at work Tor more
than two weeks examining The records OF tenement
h uses kept III the Bureau tie has been able 10
r. the addrcs,c. of the owners OF about twelve
Hundred tcucmtuts together Win the number 0i
,,.r>,u. yho have died IN each house III recent
wears Armed with the information which he Will
turIsh The ohic.rs of he associations hope to BE
able 10 prompt reforms III many Ot the build
ms where poor families are sheltered.
Henry H. PclieW Ono Of the VICE presidents OF tue
Society fOr Improving the Condition of the Poor,
epoSo last night 10 Il tribune reporter III relation
~, the work OF the association the tenrmcnl-
mousse districts IN this city. Our ann hc SAID,
Aas been to secure 10 tho occupants oi the tehe,
ment- houses those degrees - comfort, decenry ana
sanitary To.ec,uOn that are absolutely necessary
f,r their existence. We have found many things
To contend with, the most important OF them beng
tb. reluctance of the tenement house people To
make complaints. Although Ihey are aware that
the prevailing condtlon of their Is such
as 10 MAKE fearful Increase III mortality Yet they
arn 4fraId to complain of the negligence of their
landlord because of tho terT0rS OF eYlctmeuts. Our
association has advertised that tue Complaints
would be received by Ii IN strict confidence and
lh5 course HlS produced encouraging results, ana
i'm this manner we are cnab ed 10 discover evils
tnat escape the not &C of tue health inspectors.
W. have Il attempted many remedies, Dut we nave
fotud that our attemp nave created "A feeling Ot
rivalry on the part OF The Board OF Health. We
know by experience that IL Is useless for rs 10 at
tempt To improve the tcueinrnt-hOuNeS unless we
ara i'm prrleCt harmony with the au hOrltlcS and
our work supplements that OF the Health board.
one object II our association, as well as tna of the
State Charities AID Association, y 10 make the
owners OF tenement houses post their names aud
addrcsse, or those OF their agents IN Conspicuous
parts OF the buildings me laws OF 1867
the penalties for their violation are large.
ihe pcIsJu who does not observe the statute Is
guilty oi Il mlsGemeanor, aud ~ pGhlsnape ny 4
hue of not lc75 than $40 Tor every day thdJ sucn
violation shall continue or by both fine and ln-
prist lmeut. The Board OF Health informs Us that
Its officers are unable 10 enforce the law he ase II
Is contrary 10 the feelings OF the propcry-OW
ana thcvwill not comply with t. II II dlflcu tor
us TO ascertain the names of the owners Ot parcu
lar buildings. lrOm Oillcd sources, Tor " many
cases taxes are PAID IN bulk 40 hot know "I one
instance where tlIslmportan law has Deen observed
| remember special ease in Muiberry-st., where
the condition OF the building ds3ra, etul, 3ut
remedy. Our statistics are not as compete as We
could wish but We shlll cndcavor tp force the
pr1pcrt y-OWuers TO have some respect for the law
nave mentioned should We tan, then our only Te-
source viii be the moral pressure upon
particular cases We have an abundance of good
laws, bul We have no means OF enforcing them
80 / here Is a subject which has a decided bearing
upon the sanitary condition of tho teneuent-hOuo
aud which we have carefully investigated. X Is
that OF stree cleaning. lhere great improve
ucnt the condition of the streets ldht summer and
for that Improvement tie association IL thankful
but laticrly we have been greatly disappointed
Tne streets are not clean, aId they affect tue health
of tn tenants Of tcnement-hOusrs in very markcd
ana serious manner lha majority Of deaths from
| Zymotc di eases can be attributed to the poorly
cleaued streets We have our own inspectors and
We have seut them through the thOr0ughiafrs
where the tenement houses are AID the reports Ho
receive from them are far from being encouraging.
Ii is true that the Street Cleaning Department has
no power to enforce tie laws, bat the police have,
and should be held responsible. for their Violations