Evening star., 1897-03-27
she ever fail to pay per cent to the own
erS.
Cure for SlumA.

Sne ever Ial 10 pay - per cent 10 the OWL
erS
Cure for Slums.
AS there is but one cure for cancer the
knife, SO he thought there is but one cure
for slums. and that is to tear them out.
Formerly the method was to order these
houses closed, and if they were repaired to
the satisfaction of the health department
they were allowed to reopen them for ten
ants. The recent method is to tear down
houses that are unfit for habitation. In
New York the board Of health. he said. are
constantly tearing down insanitary houses.
In speaking of the methods of caring for
property. as prLctlced by Miss Hiil he
showed that her. efforts had resulted in
building up sanitary houses out of slum
houses merely by applying regularly por-
ton of the rent she received to an improve
ment fund. She took the agency of any
house. providing only that she should pay
the owner but ) per cent, all above that
profit being spent for the Improvement of
the houses. 1t being known to the tenants
that prompt payment resulted i'm getting
improvements for them. the tenants felt
greater interest in the payment of their
rents. This system has been followed in
Boston. to some extent in New York. and
recently Octavia Hill association has
been formed in Philadelphia.
President Whitman of Columbian Uni
Tersity spoke of the mora! features in the
work of providing better homes Cor the
poor. He said it would be found that the
mote was to produce better men and
women rather than merely building better
houses. and bringing the people into a con-
ception of life that would give them
arger rational enjoyment. When an at
.empt is made to better a mans condition
1t is the physical that is first reached: then
comes the spiritual. Physical well being is
a means OF grace. We shall find by inn
proving the physical condition of these peo-
pie we will get them into a condition OF
we'll being only to impress upon them high
sr ideals of life. He also spoke of the obli
cation of men to help better the condition
of the poor
The speaker referred to his experience In
his city during the past week in being ac-
costed on the street by men begging for
help. He did not know what that meant
except that it meant that men would rather
beg than work.
Homes for the Poor.
They can't get work. called some one
Of the audience
DR.. Whitman said he did not wish to
lack charity, and he thought if the con-
dition of the country was such that men
were really ready to work and vet could
not get work that condition was indeed
deplorable and needed correction. He con-
unued to tell instances in which impos-
tors had sought to secure living by fraud
rather than by honest work and concluded
his remarks by plea for giving the poor
better homes.
At the close of the meeting the presiding
officer invited any of those present to make
sugge estions regarding the object of the
meeting. Mr. A. Keep remarked that as
there We're 10000 vacant houses in this
city he thought it would be well to lower
the rents and allow the people to occupy
them before further building up the al
leys.
Or. Sternberg replied that the plan un-
der consideration did not contemplate
building up the alleys. the law as now
framed forbidding any further building in
alleys less than forty feet wide and opening
al each end streets