The morning call., 1894-04-16
AN "ARENA CLUB
The First Organized in
This City.
BY THE UNITARIAN CHURCH.
"The Tenement House Curse"
by Rev. Mr.. Sprague.
MANY HOMES HoTBEDS OF VICE.
Evils of Local SIums Plainly In
dicted From the PuIpit-Land
Values.
MANY HOMES HoTBEDs OF VICE.


Second Unitarian Church in this city, and
other prominent clergvmen of that denomi-
nation. has expressed itself in favor OF
radical measures for social and economic
reforms.
Mr.. Sprague preached sermon yester-
day on the subject of "The Tenement
house Curse" which created quite sensa-
tiop. and resulted in the formation of an
organization to be known as the Arena
Club. Its purpo Sc will be to debate and
in every proper way further social and
economic reforms, to improve morals OF
the community and the sanitary condi-
tions Of the people in crowded cities. par
ticuary in San Francisco.
The sermon which gave such enthusiasm
and impetus to the movement was eloquent
In its delivery and still more eloquent in
the array of melancholy facts. Mr..
Sprague did not hesitate 10 bring the cold
figures of statistics into the pulpit. He
stated that during the last week be had
visited eleven large tenement buildings.
and what he saw and heard there cor
vinced him that the t-house evil is
a curse above many other evils.
In answer to the question why is it
minds of his hearers, The speaker said the
lenement-house system and its lines of life
affect the very center of nome and all
social conditions. The home life should
be conf rtable, attractive, pleasant and
happy No such conditions can exist in
the wretched places that so many people
are forced to call homes. The father turns
to the saloon for recreation and rest, the
mother IS usually out a work or elsewhere,
the children are forced 10 play in the
streets If they play at all. and their train
ing is that of the companions of the street..
The tenement evil is city evil. Without
pleasant and comfortable home surround
ingS the worst things in city life tempt
young and old. The great evil of the
teDement-house system is seen in the fact
that its condition is largely beyond the
control of the tenants. The condition OF
the buildings and premises depend upon
landlord, VINO usually entrusts all to an
agent, whose only care is To get the largest
possible returns. Even with a good land
lord-and there are few such-the tenant
must depend upon others for the general
condition of the immediate surroundings.
Only a small percentage OF the houses IN
America are to-day owned by the people
who live in them. The renting system de-
velOped the tenement system. When the
landlord desires more rent, larger income
from his Investment, he divides the rooms
by more walls. The tenant desiring
cheaper rents accepts smaller and smaller
quarters. According TO the last United
States census. the tenementhouse quar-
ters in New York City contained so, 800
buildings, with a population OF 1903, 701. 1t
has been stated by other authorities that
in the region referred to there are no less
tnan 1.225, COO tenement residents This Is
more than One-slXtieth part of the popula-
tion of the United States residing in
in Nn Y orb ttxyu ula
Then by an estimate of the percentage of
tenants in Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago,
St. Louis, San Francisco and all other large
cities, some idea may be formed of the ex-
tent of the evil. Formerly one-thirteent th
of the population of the United States
lived in cities; now the cite, contain fully
one-third of all the dwelers in the land.
"WIth such cr6wdlng," said the
preacher, there is necessarily congestion,
especially as the changes are SO rapid.
Every year thousands and thousands of
IeOple leave the country with its rural
comforts and 90 into the cities to be tram
pied down in the struggle for existence,
and thereby swell the ranks of the SUBJ
merged. immigration is one of the princ-
pal causes of the evil. Ignorant and half
starved thousands come 10 our coast each
year and enter the slums of the cities. n Not
knowing where to go or what else to do,
they enter the sweating-sh0ps and submit
TO even worse evils.
The industrial changes in society are
also bringing about the evil results-the
great stores and factories which require
that the employees be near their places of
labor. Ike speculative condition of trade
is largely to blame Laud is held and
sold, not for what it s actually worth for
occuuancy, but for what IL will bring un-
der ali sorts of pretenses and prospects
Under these conditions it is practically i'm
possible for a working man to own his
own home His position is never secure
He depends on another for an opportunity
TO earn his living. The money which
should 90 to build and improve home Of
his own is paid out in rents, few months
here, few weeks there.
without any reference to land tax or
single tax" continued Mr.. Sprague, "or
State ownership of land, or anything of
that sort. Il may be said that land specu-
lation is directly heluing to cause this con-
gestion of humanity in the slums. Land
is everywhere held at an artificial and
speculative value. 1t is really worth no
more now than 1t would bring interest on If
q house were built on it and rented at such
a rate as the average labOrer's Income
would warrant the laborer in paying. But
all land is held far above this valuation
and as consequence vacant lots abound
even near the congested slums. ou and
/ and all who help 10 increase the specu-
laiive, grasping insatiate spirit of our age
are to blame for these conditions"
In further enumeratDg The evils of the
tenement system Mr.. Sprague referred to
the overcrOwding of premises. 1t often
makes all privacy and decency impossible
1t is not uncommon to find but single bed
for whole family-father and mother and
Young girls and boys at is a wonder
that there is as much virtue left in the
world as there is" exclaimed the speaker.
He asserted that tenement houses are the
greatest breeders of vice and crime of all
kinds and that criminals come largely
from this class of society.
As a remedy for all these evils. Mr..
Sprague suggests that the people should
first learn all the facts and then develop
public opinion. This latter duty he holds
should pro oferly fall upon the shoulders of
the clergy and church people generally
He advocates the condemnation by law OF
tenement buildings improperly con-
structed and unwholesomely arranged in
the interior, and the building OF new ones
after better models; the restriction of i'm
migration and the making OF country
ard suburban life more attractive.
Immediately after the close of the morn
ing service the congregation adjourned TO
the lecture hall of the church. Rev. Henry
Frank of New York made short address,
- ~.