New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1895-09-03
LIFE IN CITIES NOT so BAD
DR. KINGsBURYs PAPER BEFORE THE
SOCIAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION.
c,,r,c,svs OLDER THAN HISTORY MODERN
CITIES NOT so BLACK AS THEY
HAVE BEEN PAINTED
rBY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRIBUSE.l


raY TELEGRAPH TO THE TRTBUNEl
c.,.,oga Y Y Sent. 2-There was a dls,'n.
,ushed gathering present this evening al the OPEN
jne OF the annual meeting Of the American Social
Science Association The president +. j. kingsoury,
H. d. OF Waterbury. Conn, made the opening al
dress his subject being THE Tendency OF Men 10
Live in Cities" The speaker said that recent
writer has remarked that the great fact In the so
ciaI development in the white at the close Of
the nineteenth century is the tendency all over the
world to congregate In great cities Doubtless this
Is true but IL is not new nor even modern ten
dency for when the earliest dawn OF authentic his
tory sheds ts pale light on the darkness which lies
beyond II shows us cities as large, as magnihcent
as luxurious az wicked and apparently az old as
anv that the world has since known" Babylon,
Nineveh Memphis Thebes and Damascus were
cited by the sneaker as examples. our earliest NJ
erature too shows the prejudices against them
In the minds Of the people that now exist THESE
preiudlces must then have been very old. or Cair
Il Is sa,d as something apparently TO MS discredlL
And he bullded a city" From that day TO THIS
cities have been severely criticised They have been
regarded as the breeding places OF vice and the
refuge OF crime. Thomas Jefferson called them "u-
GERS on the body polite" Max Nordau goes into
detail and attributes to them the most debasing ana
degenerating Influences both moral and physical on
the human race. Numerous citations In PROOF OF
this position were made fron Nordau and several
autnOre-SOme
tcs-and DR. Josiah Stronss works were referred to
cor tanning much more in the same line. Especial
reference was made to the corruption OF municipal
government and the difficulties encountered in any
attempt at reform.
The inference would TO be, said the speaker.
that life IN the city so bad and In every
way dangerous that every man or woman
would flee. as Lot did from Sodom. and never look
back. Precisely the reverse Is true, ana an I'M
ne Df
gregariousness which LEADS people to be willing 10
many other more distinct advantages for the sake
OF human society, even when that means more or
less OF constant fight the prevailing form Of
social intercourse Doubtless the increased racii-
ties OF travel have had much TO DO with H. Modern
Industrial life tends to concentration as matter OF
economy. and this point was illustrated by several
examples. Cities as places of human silence
have been vastly improved in the last halt-centurye
Neither New-York nor Boston had publ water
works until about that time and very few cites
had either water or gas Streetcars had not been
thought OF. Now all small cities supplied with
both water and Light and The lmproyet H. S or e,
are modifying the whole subject OF the distribution
OF population II Is by such apparently unmpor
swayed and welded in its evolutions. and no man
can an, foresse whittier they lead &c, -.
economic reasons. large part OF the work o. tss
good things Of life are easiest Of attainment there;
third. change from city TO country portion OF the
year is desirable ana attainspie; fourth me cry
fifth Efforts 70 relieve the congested condition by
deportation OF homeless children. etc, are good, bu.
only touch the surface: and city degeneration must
mainly be fought on its ground and eco
nome and not sentimental lines; sixth. just now the
country life needs attention much as tire city.
The whole problem sociological. Is compa ratiyey
new. bur progress has been made and the future Is
full of promise.
+. b. Sanborn OF Concord. Mass. the general
secretary. IN his annual report gave brief history
OF the association, which was organized thirty
years ago i'm Boston.
Added to the neurological roll during the year
were the names of James W. Carter. who 10
have taken a leading part in the present meeting.
and a corresponding member. Professor Charles
Secretan, OF the University Of Lausanne. Switzer.
land.