The advocate and Topeka tribune., 1892-08-24

by large odds than among the sturdy work
ing classes.
Let us see who tells the truth about
this matter. We propose TO give a
glimpse of the lives of a few of that
class to which our congressman from
the Seventh district referred. We
do not suppose either Joe Hudson or
lis fellow patriot, Botkin, will read
| it, but the people will, and that is all
we care for. We shall first quote
from the valuable work of Jacob A.
Riis, "How the Other Half Live" 1t
is a sad story of New York life. Speak
ing of the population of that city, he
says:
To-day three-fOurths of its people live In the
tenementS, and the nineteenth century drift of
the population to the cities is sending ever-in-
creaSlng multitudes to crowd them. The 1900
tenant houses that were the despair of the sanl.
tartan In the past generation have swelled to
over $1,000, and more than 100000 persons call
them home. The one way Out-rapld transit to
the suburbS-has brought no relief. We know
now that there Is no way out; that the system"
that was the evil offspring Of public neglect and
private greed has come to stay. a StOrm-center
forever of our civilization. Nothing Is left put
to make the best Of It.
Is it possible that this is true-that
the bossted civilization of this en-
lightended nineteenth century, in
this land of bossted liberty and in
telligence, there is no remedy for this
condition? Men and women Of
America, do you say there is "no way
out" Then is liberty farce, civili-
zation a sham and Christianity a
fraud!
But let us see if men are forced to
sell their honor. Mr.. Riis, speaking
of the people who are attracted to the
city in search of fortune, says:
Nearly all are young men, unsettled In life,
many-most Of them perhaps-fresh from good
homes, beyond a doubt with honest hopes OF
getting start In the city and making way for
themselves Few Of them have much money to
waste while looking around, and the cheapness
Of the lodging Qn the cheap lodging houses
offered is an object.
The young men thus focking to
the city with little money but with
honest intentions, fail to find work,
their slender means gradually fade
away, until starvation forces them to
crime. Inspector Byrnes, speaking of
this class, says:
In the last two or three years at least four
hundred young men have been arrested for
petty crimes that originated in the lodging
houses, and In many cases 1t was their first step
in crime.
Mr.. Rlis says these things have
been charged to habits of drunken
ness, but he continues:
The first legislative committee ever appointed
to probe this sore went deeper down and un-
covered its roots. The conclusion forced itself
upon it that certain conditions and associations
of human life and habitation are the prolific
parents Of corresponding habits and morsls,"
and itrecOmmended the prevention Of drunken
ness by providing for every man clean and
comfortable home"
Continuing respecting the lodging
houses, Mr.. Riis says:
According to police figures, 4,974,O25 separate
lodgings were furnished last year 1850 by these
dOrmitorles, and, adding 147,634 lodgings fur
nished by the station houses, the total Of the
homeless army was 5,121,659.
About election time, especially In presidential
elections, the lodging houses come out strong on
the side Of the political boss who has the big
Oeet tGharral The tyIctorv In nolIfical oonfaafa