New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-06-09
CHILDREN " THE CITY

The story Of the Brooklyn family which on
account OF five children is unable even In that
Tar famed borough OF homes and baby carriages
TO secure a suitable apartment would make nm
excellent piece Of marginalia for some OF the
treatises so much in fashion on the duty of
fecundity. We are sometimes inclined to looI,
with suspicion on the tales of discrimination
against children by New-York landlords. Ger
tainly there is no lack Of children I'm the CITY.
They swarm in the East Side tenements. They
are by no means few in f1athouses Of every
grade and size elsewhere If there is n CON
spiracy 10 penalize the rearing Of children here
an astonishing number of families succeed in
circumventing it. Nor are these families all
poor and thoughtless. Those having q higher
standard OF comfort are doubtless more eau
tious In this respect, but that is not q trait De-
culiar to New-Yorkers. Families IN this city
have about the same number OF children that
families Of comparable means would have else
where, in spite OF the manifest disadvantage Of
bringing up children in apartments. So we are
sometimes inclined TO suspect that the mo
children" plea is often made pretext by real
estate agents for excluding persons who for
other reasons are thought to be undesirable
The accounts Of this homeless family in Brook
Ign, however, do not suggest anything of the
kind, and it is reasonable to suppose that there
is a real difficulty in finding home OF the
class desired and at the price desired for a
family Of five children.
What is the remedy Of the sociologist for
such a situation? 1t is easy to get ND and de-
nounce as q clergyman IN St Louis did few
days ago, the FIVE room fat as the enemy Of
family life. But the five room fiat is not the
root Of the evil. Putting seven rooms in all
fats would not help matters, nor would the
abolition Of fats and the universal substitu-
/
is worth money In NewYork. and nothing is
gained In the evolution of family life and the
propa CATION Of the species by making homes for
people which they cannot afford. 1t is easy to
blame the landlord for not extending a hearty
welcome to children, but the landlords posi-
ton IS perfectly natural. Children are noisy
and destructive. His other tenants want quiet
Possibly, under the pressure Of our rushing life,
! their nerves are too much on edge and they
| cannot stand what their grandfathers cou5.
Possibly, also the children of this undisciplrssd
! age make themselves more of q nuisance 10
| their elders than did a former generation Of
| youngsters. biographer of Wesley tells how
the great mans mother brought up what would
now be regarded as an enormous family of chill
dren, in small parsonage, and yet secured rea-
sonable- comfort for herself and her husband
without spelling childhoods Joy. The four
weeks-old baby had already learned the lesson
OF obedience, and the larger children were not
/ allowed to forget it. We imagine that If all
| the infantile fat jewellers were little Wesleys
the landlord would open his doors much more
| freely. 1t is hard to blame him and his tenants
| for Directing to the ruin Of property and the
| flight Of all comfortable peace at the hands of
inconsiderate and lawless boys and girls. Peo-
| pie who unblessed with small children and
who rent fats are paying money for quiet homes
for themselves, not 10 solve knotty problems In
sociology. Every family is doubt convinced
that there ought TO be q comfortable home
somewhere for the most uncomfortable neigh
bor but nobody wants ii next door.
The problem of housing children in the city
is an inevitable result of congestion. The fiat.
OF course, is no fit place for them. The people
who do not mind q human rabbit warren de-
serve no credit They are simply In . low stats