Daily Kennebec journal., 1904-12-07

power 70 revise rates and reSuia tiol!S , 'iis
revised rate to at once GO INTO tuct'' @ ai.''
| to stav in eff CT unltss and until the court
| of review rcVerStS II.
Steamship companies engaged ~ inter
state commerce and proiecteu ~ o"i
coastwiSe traffic should be heid 70 Il
strict observance OF the interstate com
merce act.
City of Washington.
| In pursuing the set plan to make the
| CITY OF Washington AN example 10 othei
American municipalities several points
should be Kept in mind ~ the itSiSialors'
! IN the hrst place. the people OF tn'S couli-
try should clearly understand tlid' nc
amount of industrial proSpe rliH, ana
above all no leadership in International
| industrial competition. can in any way
atone for the sapping Of the vitality OF
| thoEe VINO are usually spoken OF as tlr
Worklns classes. The, farmHiTs,, me me
| chdhltS the skilled and unSkllled l3hotvi,-
The small shop keepers, make up the o!lk
| OF the population of any county: ana
| upon their well-beimg. 2cntlall"h alter
genera ton the weli-hein2 Of The country
and the race depends. Rapid development
! in wealth and industrial leadership Is a
good thing. but only il 1t goes mana IN
| hand with Improvement. ana not detefi-
oiallon, physical ana moral. Inc over
/ CioWdlnS OF cities ANA the dfalrlnS OF
! country districts are unhtalthN ana even
diAnstrouS symptoms in our modern ne.
! We should not permit overcoming IN
! cities. In certain European cities 1t is
provided by law that the population oi
| LOW NIIS siidIl not De SI4DNfb " tNt''t
very limited density Tor a given area Sc
| that the increase in density must be con-
I tinually pushed back into broad zone
around the center OF the town tElS zone
| having great avenues or parks Wltnln II.
! ! he death-rate statistics snow terrible
! increase in mortality. and especially i'll
| infant mortality. in ovtrcrowdcd tene-
mentS. The poorest families IN tenement
| houses live in one room. and IT appears
| that in these one-ruom ten, mentS the
average death rate for a number of given
clues at nome and abroad Is aho'lt tWlct
what 1t Is in a two-room tenements. four
times what ii is in shr"e-l Dom tvnt-
ment and eight times what il is in tene-
mel't consisting of four rooms or over.
cities. but they approximate IN each city
mcrease of mortsty %' ana eepc";aiv ', nI
infant mortality. with the decrease in
the number of rooms used by the family
and with the conSequen, oVercrOWdino is
startling. The slum exarts heavy total
Of death from those who dwell therein:
and this is the case not merely in the
great crowded slums OF high buildings in
New York and Chicago. hut in the alley
slums Of Washington. In Washington
people cannot afford to Ignore the harm
that this causes. No Christian and civil
lized community can afford to show a
happy lucky lack OF concern for the
youth of today; for. il SO, the community
! Will have to pay terrible penalty ct
financial burden and social degradation
in the tomorrow. There should be severe
! tNllu-IdibT ana factory Ills ptctlbn laws.
II is very, desirable thai married women
should not work in factories. The prim"
duty Of the man is to work; to he the
hrtatwinner: the prim" duty of tn"
woman is to he the mother, the house
wife. All questions OF tariff and finance
sink into utter insignihclnce when com
pared with the tremendous, the vital i'm
nortance of trying t. share conditions 50
that these two duties of tho man ana Of
| the woman can lac fulfilled under reason
ably favorable circumstances. If a race
| does not nave DlenIN OF children /
the children do not grow UP. if whcr
they grow up they ar" unhealthy IN body
ana StUnt"G or vicious i'll mind then tH-
race is d"cacent: ana no hcalinS up of
wealth, no splendor OF ni.,mentarv matcri-
al prospi lity, 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
don't 10 our highly complex modern in
d',>trial civilization with its manifold ard
, perpleXinS tendencies both for good and
for evil, are far less sharply accentuated
other cities. For this very reason it is
| easier to deal with :he various phases OF
these. problems in Washington. and the
! District of Columbia government Shoitlu
BE- a model for the other municipal gov
"rnmen's of the Nation. in all such mat
ters as, supervision Of the housing of the
poor. the creation of small parks in the
districts inla hited ny the poor in laws
affecting labor. in laws providing for the
taking care of the children. in truant
| laws and in providing schools.
| In tine vital matter OF taking care OF
children; much advantage could be
gained hy a careful study of what has
'heen accomplished in such states as lii
pois and Colorado by the juvenile courts
| The work of the juvenile court is really
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. hut rather as
needing to have their characters formed.
and for this end to have them tested and
developed by 4 system Of probation.
Much admirable work mas peen done in
many of our Commonwealths by earnest
men and women who have made special
STUDY OF m" needs of those classes of
children which furnish the greatest num-
! her of juvenile offenders. and therefore
! the greatest numher OF adult offenders;
and by their aid. and by profiting by the
| experiences of the different states and
cities in these matters, it would he easy
| to provide n good code for the District
OF Columbia
several considerations suggest the need
| for systematic investigation into and
imprnveme Mt OF housing conditions in
! Washington. The hidden residential al
leys tre breeding grounds of vice and
| disease, and should be opened into minor
streets. For number of years influential
| citizens have joined with the District
| Commissioners in the vain endeaVor to
secure laws permitting the condemnation
| OF inSanitary dwellings. The local death
| i'tttS, tSlItt ldllN from preNentaDle us
eases ar" unduly high as to suggest
| that the exceptional wholesomeness of
| Nashingtan'S better sections is Offset by
| bad conditions in her poorer ncighbor-
| hoods A special commission on HouS-
/ ing AID Health Conditions in the National
! Capital would not only bring about the
| reformation OF existing evils. but would
also formulate an appropriate building
/ code 20 protect the city from mammoth
/ brick tencmcnts and other evils which
! threaten to develop here as they have in
other cities. That the Nations Capital
! should toe made a model for other munich
| palitieS IS an ideal which appeals to all
| patriotic citizens everywhere, and such a
| special Commission might map out and
| organic the cityS future development III
! lines of civic social service. just as Major
| l.. Erfant and the recent Park Commits
| Sior planned the arrangement of her
| streets and parks.
1T is mCrtifNing to remember that
! Washington has no compulsory school at
tendance law and that careful inquiries
| indicate the habitua absence from school
| or some twenty per cent. of all children
! between the ages of eight and fourteen
| IL must h" evident to all who consider
the problems of neglected child life or the
| benefits OF compulsory education in other
| citlcS that ono of the most urgent needs
Of th' National Capital is "A law requiring
the school attendance of all children. this
| law 10 %" enforced by attendance agents
directed by the board of education