The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1893-09-23
ABOUT CITIES.
DIR. Lewis &. j mes Tells of the People Who
Help to Make Them.

DIR. Lewis &. j mes Tells of the People Who
Help to Make Them.
In 1890 the number of people living
in cities and towns having population
of more than 5000 was scarcely three per
cent. of the total population of the count,
ry. Now, thirty per cent. of cur
population live in such cities aud towns,
cities of less than 5000 inhabitants, it is
doubtless true that fully onethird of our
people are now living under city govern
ment. More than half the people in
New YORK arc New England are today
dwelling i'll cur cities. There are not
less than 300 incorporated cities in the
United States. The probl ms which
excite us the deepest interest are those
which touch directly on the health,
morals and intelligence of the masses
of the people in cur cities-problems
forced upon Us by the imperative cond!'
tons OF cur city lie. Such are the
problems of securing light and air in the
houses of the poor; public breathing
places accessible TO all the people; easy
access to suburban homes; the righ
disposal of our sewerage; the removal o
dust and dirt from our city streets
especially in the poorer neighbOrhoods
the sufficiency aud purity of our f0oC
supply; the providing of cheap anc
nutritious food, AID abundant fuel fol-
the lower classes without the enormOu.
tax assessed; the evils of class separator
and isolation; the true remedies for vice
crime aud pauperism; the wise aud gen
erous provisions for the intellectual
moral and manual education OF all the
children OF our great cities. According
to the social philosophy of evolution the
city should constitute the highest type
of social organization.
Some Of the sadder phrases of oul
city life are thus described by writer
who is especially interested in the prob
lClli do IL uSdlS upOu lbO iOJ VI
New York City has at least 100000
childworkers, 5000 of whom mako envel
opes at three and quarter cents &
Thousand. There are $50, 600 working
women, some of whom work on boys
waists at two and a half cents a dozen.
There sire Is, 600 children and 60, OOO mer
aud women, without homes, wandering
in the streets by day and sleeping il
them by night under any fugitive shelter
they are able to obtain.
There are thirty acres of land thai
have II, 900 people crowded on then
AS many as fourteen people are iount
in one bedroom. One cold night las
winter 800 human beings fought for th'
| privilege of sleeping on the bare plank
of the police station lodging houses.
There are 1000 known professional
gamblers, yet, startling as the cold state
| ment OF these bare facts, it is impossib,
| from this alone to form any ade
quats conception at all of the misery,
| degradation and death caused by man
inhumanity to man. in this the Empr
City; and New York is no exception
All the cities Of the world are alike, it
only matter of degree. But, if vic
| finds greater opportunities under the
conditions of city life, so also, doe
virtue, and statistics show that in spit
of these adverse conditions the city as
whole is still in advance of the rural dis
tricts in all that pertains to social, inte
lectual and moral advancement.