Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-01-30
HOUSING OF THE POOR.
rwR1r1rn FOE TIE prspArcH.

The industrial revolution OF the past CEN
tury has with extraordinary rapidity built
up great aggregations of population within
narrow limits, presenting social issues with
which the ancient or medieval cities were
altogether unfamiliar. The complete en-
frGnchisemept of the working classes, their
superior intelligence, and finally their organ
ization have made them factor in munich
pal affairs of primary Importance. Tney
have become conscious of their power, and
in the advocacy of their claim to wider
recognition by reluctant capital, they appear
no longer as suppliants but rather as cred1-
tors. That their claims are measuraDly
justified seem to be pretty well acknowl-
edged. Although there is manifest ten
dency in many quarters to belittle the I'M
mistakable improvement in their condition
which this century has witnessed, the in
creased longevity of the race is an unfm-
peachable witness of their favorable pro-
gress, even if it we're not readily possible to
demonstrate that in the compensation OF
labor, in clothing, and in food supplies, they
are more happily situated than their fore
fathers. Their habitations also have to some
degree improved, although in this respect
the march of progress has sadly Jagged be-
hind the other elements of improved con-
dition.
Capital has here remained in undisputed.
possession of the field, and has not hesitated
to abuse its opportunity. 1t is true that in
many respects our tenement dwellings COM
pare favorably with those of foreign cities.
We certainly have no blind alleys, like those
of Naples, in which at the very hour OF high
noon the residents must needs uiSpel the
gloom by the light of an undying lamp.
Neither certainly do we possess more un-
healthy or dangerous slums than those or
the QUARTER du Temple and the Barrieres of
Montmartre in Paris, or of the Whitechapel
district of London but in one respect we
outstrip them all and that is in overcrowd-
ing. 1t is well known that certain parts of
New York are more densely populated than
any section of the known world, containing
more than twice as many Inhabitants to the
acre as the most thickly populated quarters
of London; that is to say, we house more
individuals under single roof than any
where else.
Poverty Not Great Cause of Crime.
The latest study in criminology has salts
factorily demonstrated that poverty is by
no means so Sreata cause of crime as it is
popularity supposed to be. The carefully
prepared table of criminal statistics by Mr..
Morrison indicate that we must look else
wher- for the sources of the lawless spirit.
A recent French Parliamentary inquiry,
dealing chiefly it is true with prostitution,
found the main source of this vice in the
want of proper home and maternal care.
The lottery, the gambling house, the
saloon, the house of prostitution must all
take rank behind the tenement as a
source of human degradation. 1t is GER
tainly the primary department, graduating
the scholars into these higher institutes of
vice, That there can still exist and even
flourish in our poorer tenements the fair
flowers of purity and virtue, is little short
of miraculous: but in spite Of the tremend-
Gus disadvantages they continually appear.
Yet we must acknowledge, with great Ger
man economist, that the statement true in
ITSELF that in every condition of life the viI-
tues can exist and talent be developed when
used as weapon against the demand for the
elevation of the material condition OF labor
ers il perfectly dull"
Doubtless this want of home. when prop
erly considered, will be found TO contain
elements OF danger to society somewhat
startling. But this is a feature of social life
over which tine workingman has little or no
control: he cannot own home in New York
City, for example, without being at once
transformed into landlord, and it does not
take him long in that position to develop
the worst features oflsndlordism; moreover
in that city the limitation of space places in
the hands of the property owner an extraor-
dinary power.
Tenement House Profits In New York.
There are very few kinds of property that
can be made to return a surer and better
rate of interest than tenement houses; that
is to say, those houses which are constructed
with the most grudging consideration of
the requisites of the tenement house law.
But no tenement house can to-day be con-
structed upon the ordinary New York city
lot, in which provision is made for what
may reasonably be called the essentials
of a home, and yet pay per cent interest on
the investment. 1t is true that the I'M
proved Dwelling Association, owning the
fine buildings on First avenue, Seventy-frst
and Seventy-second streets, in New York,
earn nearly 81 per cent per annum, but they
Investments could be made on q large scale
with safety and profit. The Sloane model
tenements in Mulberry street pay probably
a higher rate of interest than this; but they
were also erected upon land fortunately
purchased good many years ago. The
large buildings on the corner of Fourteenth
street and Avenue C, which are more re-
cent, pay about ~ per cent; yet all these
structures are on large SCALE and no build
ings similarly equipped could have been
erected on a lot 100x25 feet and have been
able to show an income half as large.
How Sums Have Been Purified.
What then is to be done if we would have
the wageworkers keep pace with the march
of civilization and enjoy with US the bene-
fits of progress? We catch an answering
echo from the other side of the ocean that
cannot sound musically in the ears of prop
erty owners. The London Social Union, Mr.
j ohm Morley President not long ago pro
posed introducing bill into Parliament to
the effect that buildings in the slums Of
London should be pulled down and new
ones erected upon the site at the expense of
the property owners. This is nothing short
OF appropriation, and though radical is not
altogether illogical. Our own building de-
partment condemns a building that is ad-
judged unsafe, and it is promptly
there be no experts who may
decide when house is hygienioally unsafe?
We are fortunately no. without one pre-
cedent in thai directio Some Is years ago
the city of Glasgow undertook to purify its
pull down some 10000 dwellings, harboring
more than $1,000 OF the very poor, and to re-
house them in suitable habtations. The
gain to the whole city was enormous. as the |
the unusual figure of 29.6 per 1000, fell after
the improvements to 25. There was also a
marked decrease in crime.
Right of the State to Interfere.
Is there any way in which the State can
intervene? This question necessitate. a
brief consideration of the reasons that
govern the laborer's choice of residence To-
cality. The workingman and his only mar
ketable commodity Uabor) are inseparable,
and he must therefore bring it himself to
the market But in this respect he is not a
free man; he has no choice of destination.
Capital has, for various sound commercial
reasons, chosen to concentrate indus tries in
situations, and thereby con-
stituted the modern cities. 1t thus at once |
determines not only the general locality of |
the laborers abode, but also to degree the !
definite site of his home; he must frequently |
live in badly ventilated houses filled with |
the germs of disease. OF course those cir |
spring from purely economic |
causes, and capital does not exercise it's |
power with any intentional in |
hunanity But the dogma of Kant that no |