Arizona republican., 1898-11-09
WOMEN AS RENT COLLECTORS.

When, nearly thirty yGaTS Ggc, MISS Oetavia Hill first demonstrated that
 women cctld cclicct rents from tilc poorest class Of t;pdnt5 without injury 1 SEhemsalves. and sWiih ;baneti to those with whom they were thrown, shs opened door for other women tc e2t- 1 ter Slowly and timidly at first, r | followers in this country began to try l the experiment., but q the present time
 it has ceased to be an experiIa ent, and i become all e3t&bI -sh sd fact, that women
 can do this work, and do It well. HaV- | ing been f-r years q rent collector my 1 self, 1 can speak with positive knCWi-
 edge of the great satisfaction tenan s l feel in establishing psrsGnal relations
 with the landlady She is not (or at least she ought not to bel a person to l collect rents only; she should be the l friend of the tenants, tIcir counselor
 in case Of trouble, and their reliance in
 any extremity A good rent coll2ctor will see that roofs are tight and drains sound, that small repairs are attsnded to promptly, and that unruly neigh5o s
 are not allowed 10 distrub the comfort Of the deserving tenants. But she will
 also see tha. if family is in distress, some means is sought to alleviate their
 suffering; that if child is dangerously i'll it is sent to the hospital; tat if a young girl is out of work she is Gi- ract7d to place where she may find
 safa and suitable emplCym snt.
 It is to encourage this friendly reia- tion between tenants and collectors that I advocate strongly the house-eo-
 house collection of rsnts. How is 1t pcss1Die fer an agent, sitting in an of | T 1. 4I, ,ty114 her. to know what is the condition Of
 the rooms or oi their occupants? How can any intimate K1 owledge cf fam fly be gained by 3 brief iuterchange Of ciYilitics as the rent is paid to the col lector over counter? Although it
 may mean mere work for the landlady CT, agent, l am sure she will be amply rzpaid by the knowledge she will gain Of each family. and the pleasure the tenants will feel in the more personal frelaticnship which is established by house-to-house, and rccm-tG-ro9m, eel lection.
 Thsre are thr1e points on which I
 dwell carefully in instructing a new agen, in regard to her duties: First, that fer the pTctecti3n Of other tenants
 and cf the property. all references fur
 Eishtd by tenants shall ba inquired in
 to most thoroughly; second, tha- Lcuas-t s-to-hQUae collections shall be
 made; and, third. that god faith, eX-
 tending even to the smallest matters,
 shall be kep- with the tenants. If a
 landlord cXacts prompt payment Cf
 rent, he should be equally exact in at
 tending to repairs. If he expects uni
 fCrnly fair treatment from the tenant,
 he should be. willing to give the same commonly made by tenants than tb's: My landlord will net dc anything for
 m mc'-wnich means too often that drains are neglected and leaks allowed to, r1nlaip, CT that wall paper, paint and whitcwash: are unr5new2d. The
 best lessons which c@n he taught the t-aaats is'that a moral. obligation, ex.
 ists Cn both sides. That il prompt
 payn nenc is ex2cted raa5on&ble de-
 hlands will be compiled with. The unwritten law Of courtesy to each and all is an important fact-r in this work. The cne thing which has been b-rne in On me through an experience cf almost twenty years as landledy is that ten ans like to be treated as wa would wish to be treated ourselves, were the positions reversed. The nearer We can approach tc this simple application Cf 'Ile golden rul2, th3' more lfke;y are we 10 succeed in this especial form of wcrk.-Alice N. LincC!n in Municipal Affairs.