Omaha daily bee., 1892-12-18
NATIONAL STUNNING.
The Heather within our Gatcs.-N Lively
Law Scrmnn hN MIas INatc EIeld.

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lay ''r"''" Ny "'SS ""'' '"'"'
Mr.. III. W. SpoffOrd, appointed by congress-
10 Investigate the slums OF all cities having
population of over 20O.OOO, has begun his
mission with a visit to the sweating shops
and tenement houses of Chicago This in
spcction is merely preliminary, to give Mr..
Spoilord an idea of the number of assistants
required. The real investigation will begin
III New York next month
Does anyone stop to asl, what this mcansl
asks Kate Fields Washington 1t means, in
the first place, that if Christ were alive he
would denouncc Christian churches more
vigorously thun he denounced the money
changers in the temple, and with far moro
reason, Those muuCV-ChuugCrs made no pro-
fessiOns. In taking tie name of Christians
we brand ourselves us u generation of vipers,
being nothing more nor less than hNpocrtcs
llNpocritcs are consigned 10y the new tcsta-
ment to the lowest depths of hell.
What is the beginning aud end of practical
christianity? To do unto others as we would
have others do unto us-to love our neigh
bors as we love ourselves. DO we! 1t is un-
necessary to answer this question Every
thinking human being knows that if we did
obey the Golden Rulc there wOulu he no
physical suffering except from accident and
disease. and no sorrow except that entailed
by death, The fact that there are slums in
towns proves that the rich take no thought
the misery of less fortunate fellow creatures,
Ns many tcnemonts belong to them, and the
rents collected thcrefrom are 80 much
' greater lnan lnOSo CcllStlCu from nlSuVr
class dwelling houses in proportion to the
capital expended as to make them highly
desirable Investments. Take New York for
example. | have tried in vain to find out
who owned filthy tcncments swarming with
humanity. The owners are represented by
agents who will not divulgc the names of
their employers 1t is the business of these
agents to do the dirty work of woll-to-uo
citizens who no more concern themselves
with the welfare of their tenants than they
concern themselves with customers buying
from them dry goods and groceries In the
latter case customers get their moneys
worth; in the former they are at the mercy
of landlords and must pay what is asked or
| be turned into the street.
| What is the rent of this room?' | asked
| a poor blind woman who with Il drunken
husband n GOOD son and n dog occupied IA
| dark and small apartment iii one of New
| Yorlis blind alleys. .....-
"Seven dollars and a half month" she
| replied
"How can YOU afford it,"
Good only knows The landlord isn't very
! hard on us and pay when | can. There's u
| butcher, Jew, who is good to us. My son
works for him at 81 30 week, and he sends
/ us meat every day
! Seven dollars and half month! A mis-
| erable broken down house, containing
| twenty rooms Yields n rent at the
| rate of 81 500 Il year Is ii not
! shameful? New York tenement apart
| mcnts consist, as a rule, of one room
| with one or more windows opening into q
Z
| and one or two pieces of furniture. The
| room is used for kitchen and parlor The
| closet is slept in From three to five per-
| sons occuDy such an apartmcnt-man. wife
! and children. Sometimes dodgers are taken
to help exc out the rent!
| In one room of "A regular lodging house,
| abounding in fifth and humanity, have seen
| n man and wife in bed in one corner two
| drunken women in bed in another "A single
! man i'm the third corner on straw and IA
| woman on a sofa in the fourth corner. The
| occupants of the different corners were
| strangers to one another The man and his
| wife-he n broken down soldier with hcnor-
| rhage of the lungs and no pension-paid iif-
| teen cents a day for their awful corner of an
| awful room At this rate one room brings
| Sl6 so a month or $50. 60 a wear A lodging
| house containing ten rooms will thus yield an
, ANIMAL income of - Ol6 believe it is usual
| to LET lodging houses to one person, who
| again subjects to the miserably poor The
| kecper of the house lives on what is made Off
| these wretched dodgers. OF course drunken
| ness and brawls arc common. None but
| ANGELS can remain decent with such envi-
ronment
| hid the rich bcstov their own aims, going
| omong tho moor TO learn for themselves the
status Of the lowest strata of society," L
bnlieve there would he an awakening to the
dntv of the hour So long as they leave to
/ nCrnts not only the collection of their rents
Int The disbursement of their charities, the
gnn between classes and masses will grow
1yiaer Nh and wider
+ ilra innSInrd like town. The individual
HAVING neglected his duty, it is not to be ex-
nncted that the corporation of which he Is
| n mil will bestow any Thought whatever on
mn ifln Ia