The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1904-12-09


tistlcs show terrible increase in NOR
tality.. and especially In infant mortal-
ity. in overcrowded tenements The
live in one room. and It appears that in
these one-room tenements the average
death rate for number of given cities
at home and abroad Is about twice what
1t is in a two-room tenement, four
times what IL Is In three-room tene-
ment. and eight times what II is In a
over. These figures vary somewhat for
different cities, but they approximate In
each city those given above; and In all
| ca2cs the increase OF mortality, and es-
pecially of infant mortality, with the de-
crease in the number of rooms used by
the family and with the constant over
crowding Is startling. The slum exacts
a heavy total OF death from those who
dwell therein; and this Is the case not
merely in. the great crowded slums OF
go, bat in the alley slums of Washing
ton, In Washington people can not at
ford to ignore the harm that this
causes. No Christian and civilized COM
munity can afford to show happy y-go-
lucky lack OF concern for the youth of
| today; for. IL so, the community will
| have to pay terrible penalty of nnan-
cial burden and social degradation in the
| tomorrow. There should be severe child
| labor and factory-inspection laws. 1t is
not work in factories. The prime duty OF
| the man Is to work, to be the bread
! winner; the prime duty OF the woman Is
l
questions of tariff and finance sink into
utter insignihcance when compared with
the tremendous, the vital Importance of
trying to shape conditions so that these
| two duties of the man and OF tho woman
can be fulfllled under reasonably fav-
orable circumstances. II a race does not
have plenty of children, or IL the chill
| dren do not grow up, or IL when they
| grow up they are unhealthy In body ane
stunted or Vicious In mind, then that race
is decadent, and no heaping up OF
afNla dor nf mn MT n n r.
tal prosperity, can avail in any degree
as offsets. ,.-
The Congress has the same power of
| legislation for the District OF Columbia
| which the State legislatures have for the
various States. The problems incident to
| our highly complex modern Industrial
| picking tendencies both for good and for
evil, are far less sharply accumulated
| In the city of Washington than In most
other cities. For this reason II is easier
| to deal with the various phases of these
| problems In Washington, and the Dis
| trict of Columbia government should be
| a model for the other municipal govern
ments of the Nation, In all such matters
| as supervision of the housing of the poor.
the creation of small parks In the dis
Itricts inhabitated by the poor, In laws
affecting labor, in laws providing for the
| taking care of the children, In truant
laws, and in providing schools.
In the vital matter of taking care OF
children, much advantage could be gain
| ed by careful study of what has been
! accomplished in such States as Illinois
| and Colorado by the juvenile courts.
| The work of the juvenile court Is really
| a work of character building. 1t Is now
| generally recognized that young boys and
young girls who go wrong should not be
| treated as criminals, not even necessarily
as needing reformation, but rather as
needing to have their characters formed,
and for this end to have them tested and
developed by system of probation.
Much admirable work has been done in
| many of our Commonwealths by earn
| est men and women who have made
special study of the needs of those class
es OF children which furnish the great
est number of Juvenile offenders; and
by their aid, and by proflting by the ex-
periences of the different States and cit
les In these matters, 1t would be easy to
provide a good code for the District of
Columbia.
Several considerations suggest the need
for a systematic investigation into and
Improvement of housing conditions In
Washington. The hidden residen ial al
leys are breeding grounds of vico and
disease, and should be opened into minor
streets. For number of years inuen-
tial citizens have Joined with the Distric,
Commissioners in the vain endeavor to
secure laws permitting the conformation
of insanitary dwellings. The local death
rates, especially from preventabie diseas-
es are so unduly high as to suggest that
the exceptional wholesomeness of Wash
ington's better sections Is Offset by bad
conditions in her poorer neighborhoods
special Commission on Housing and
Health Conditions In the National Cap
ital' would not only bring about the ref
ormation OF existing evils, but would al
so formulate an appropriate building code
to protect the city from mammoth brick
tenements and other evils which threat
cities. That the Nations Capital should
be made 4 model for other municipaIi-
ties Is an ideal which appeals to all pa
triotic citizens everywhere, and such
special Commission might map out and
organize the citys future development
IN lines of civil social service. just as Ma
jor LEnfant and the recent Park Com
mission planned the arrangement of her
streets and parks.
1t is mortifying to remember that
Washington has no compulsory school
attendance law and that careful inquir-
les indicate the habitual absence from
school of some twenty per cent of all
children between the ages of eight and
consider the problems of neglected child
Hfe or the benefits OF compulsory educa-
tion In other cities that one of the most
urgent needs of the National Capital Is
a law requiring the school attendance of
all children. this law to be enforced by
attendance agents directed by the board
of education.
Public play grounds are necessary
means for the development of whole
some citizenship in modern cities. 1t Is
important that the work inaugurated
here through voluntary efforts should be
taken up and extended through Congress
sional appropriation of funds sufficient
to equip and maintain numerous con-
venient small play grounds upon land
and reserved as smail-park play
grounds in densely settled sections of the
city which now have no public open
spaces and are destined soon to be built
up solidly. All these needs should be
met Immediately To make them would
entail expenses; but corresponding saw
ing OF streets and leveling Of ground for
purposes largely speculative In outlying