The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-01-04
THE HOUSING OF THE POOR
ADDRESSES BY TITO BEST 4 UTHORI-
 TIES ON THE SUBJECT.

Richard Watson Glider and Mrs. Alice Lincoln at United Church Last Evening
 Methods Followed in Tenement Re-
 forms and the Difficulties Met With Interesting Facts Brought Out.
 United church was well filled last
 evening with representative New Ha- ven audience to hear Mrs. Alice Lin coin of Boston and Richard Watson Glider of New York speak on the meth
 ods of tenement house reforms and the great moral and physical good result ing to the poor of our cities from these reforms. Mrs. Lincoln, 1t will be re-
 membered, spoke in this city about a year and a half ago to a large audience in the First M. F. church on the same topic, the occasion being the national convention of the Associated Charities
 organizations of the country. She is well known for the great reforms in the building of tenements and other
 schemes for bettering the condition Of
 the people in crowded, filthy tenements which she has inaugurated in various
 cities, especially i'll Boston. Mrs. Lin-
 coin is lady of wealth and refinement,
 and for many years has used her ener-
 gies and wealth in endeavoring to solve
 the problem of housing the poor The
 results of her labors in this field attest
 that she has been eminently successful,
 and there Is probably no more compe- tent authority on the subject in the country than she.
 Last evening Mrs. Lincoln outlined the work she has been doing and the methods she has pursued. She told or the many difficulties met with in en- deavoring to carry out her reforms and said that instead of repairing old build | ings and improving their sanitation and ventilation, a more feasible plan l is to tear them down and erect on their sites new buildings after modern ap-
 proved plans.
 She mentioned a large tenement | house recently erected in Boston by | the Boston Cooperative Building asso- | citation, of which she is a leading mem- | Der, and said that the building was | erected around an open court in which was a grass plot The building accom-
 modates eighty-four tenants, and for $3 | per week four rooms are rented, each
 room with separate entry from the | hall and with the best modern plumb | ing and ventilation. Yet with this l comparatively low rent rate the build | ing pays to the association over 5 per | cent, on the investment each year. In | this building each sitting room looks l out upon a street, and the windows of 1 the Kitchens look out upon the neat grass plot of the court. All the estates | owned by the association are managed l by women agents, as it has been found | that women know better what Is need- | ed by tenants than do men. They also l can spend more time in looking after 1 details which is indispensable in order l to carry out successfully tenement 1 house reforms.
 | Mrs. Lincoln said that two of the l questions which she is oftenest asked | in regard to her tenehent house man
 agement were the following: What is done with tenants who do not deserve
 to be retained, and what nationality
 has been found most satisfactory for | tenants? | In answer to these questions she said | that it was the intention to provide tenements for good tenants and not for | bad ones. The whole house, rather | than individual tenants, must be re- garded. and when one tenant is found | to be dangerous to the welfare of the
 others he Is let go. The law of the sur vival of the Attest is followed accord | ing to nature.
 In answering the second question
 Mrs. Lincoln said that it had been
 found that clean, respectable Irish i families are preferred to all others. They rise and make the most of the | advantages which they possess, and
 Irish children, although perhaps born
 in the old country consider themselves
 American citizens.
 Mrs. Lincoln further said that there l should be a recognition of the fact that i the poor have to a certain extent the
 same needs as their rich neighbors. If | they prefer a 1owly condition it should 1 be our duty to educate them to some-
 thing better They need the same priv 1 ileges that others need and protection
 from bad neighbors who would render
 their lives miserable. The landlord is
 bound to fulfill his duties to his ten
 ants in regard to drainage, ventilation, 1 etc.
 After further showing the great good l which results from building and main
 taining good tenements, Mrs. Lincoln l considered the matter as a pure busi-
 ness undertaking and showed that it is 1 successful in this respect.