Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1894-01-04
TENEMENT HOUSES.
REV. MADISON c. PETERS DISCUSSES
AN IMPORTANT QUESTION.


Nurseries of Crime and the Abode OF Dis
ease and Death How Philanthropy
Might Help the Poor and Tighten the
Burden ON Shoulders Heavy Laden.
Much has been said and written of the
New York tenement houses, their gloom,
filth and squalor, of the cruel landlord
ism, and know from personal investi-
CATION that the wretchedness in which
thousands of our unfortunate brothers
and sisters live has not been overdrawn.
The most skilled artist would find his
pencil lie broken before him if he at
tempted to delineate upon canvas the
wretchedness of the slums. The most
acute conception of the reporters fancy,
the most graphic description of the ora
tor, the boldest flights of the poets i'm
agination would be inadequate in exc
cutting q descriptive scene of the woes OF
our poor and our abominGble landlord
ism.
NURSERIES OF CRIME.
These tenements are not only the nurs-
cries of IS per cent of our crime, but they
are also the abodes of many worthy
poor who are struggling against their
surroundings to improvetheir condition,
and give their children better chance
in the race Of life than they themselves
had. The death rate in Hester street is
40 per cent higher than the average
made BY the plague in Drazil. and
throughout the tenement district the
deaths outnumber the births, so that if
it were not for the continued stream of
immigration the tenement house prob
lem would soon solve itself.
vIoLAToRs OF HEALTH LAWS.
The vast majority of our down town
and east side tenements are not fit to DO
inhabited. The landlords do not pre-
tend to obey the laws of health, yet the
tenants are paying large enough rents to
yield landlords and estates from 10 to 20
per cent. A recent writer in The Forum
says: Zone man boosted that he draws
IS per cent on his tenement investments. :"
Rear lofts and subcellars rent from $l.50
to 81 week. Talk of evictions in Ire
land. they are nothing compared to the
evictions and cruel landlordism of our
slums!
Tho landlord is often an enormously
wealthy estate, which hires an agent,
whose only business is to show a large
balance of profits, and the poorer the
tenants the larger the profits. o land
lord or estate, too busy to collect your
own rents, it is your duty TO glorify
God in your property as well as in your
body and soul. 1t is for you to know
how your agent can bring you from II
to 30 per cent profit on your tenement
investments. The enormous sums that
our wretched poor pay for the most
wretched accommodation seem so in
credible that hesitate to present figures.
PRACTICAL PHILANTHROPY.
Our large moneyed institutions which
find it difficult to secure safe Investments
at per cent should take hold of this
tenement question. Philanthropists with
big bank accounts should look in this
direction as a field in which to uplift
their fellow men. There is greater DC
mand for this class of benevolent invest
ments in New York than there is for
added cathedrals, churches, colleges or
charity organizations.
The greatest benefaction that could
befall this city would be the replacing of
our tenements by such buildings as the
Victoria square in Liverpool. On this
square once stood miserable tenement
houses. Today magnificent structure
stands there, built around hollow
square. u large portion of which is given
up to a playground for the children. All
arrangements in the house are according
to the demands of modern science. No
room is smaller than 10 by IS feet and G
inches. The ceilings are 8 feet high.
Three room tenements rent for 81 "A q
week, while one room quarters are let
at 81 cents week The total expendi-
ture on the building was $33S, 900. and
though built as a philanthropic enter
prise the returns are estimated at II per
cent. Who among the many millionaires
of this city will lead off in some such
crusade that will give to our worthy
poor healthier and cleaner shelter?