New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-11-22
NEGLECT AND GREED.
4t Root Of Horrible Condition Of
Poor in n. y, Says Nr. YeijIer.

That there are to-day fifteen or twenty places in
kew-York that are veritable danger spots, to be
tut cut like 50 many malignant growths' b. ne
surgeons knife. that there are $4,000 windowless,
fnrk interior rooms here INTO which the Hight never
enters and that The neglect and greed Of man, not
the laws OF nature are at the root OF the
miserable conditions IN which the poor of this city
i've, among the striking points in the lecture
which Lawrence Weller secretary of the City Club,
gave yesterday morning before the School OF
Philanthropy Of the Charity Organization Society.
The lecture was the drst IN course Of ten on
the social problems of large cities. and was on
The Life Of The Poor in the Large Cities" being
INTENDED 70 form general Introduction TO the later
lectures
Speaking. as he did at first hand. out OF his
perienoe as Settlement worker. then with the
Charity Organization Society, the Tenement House
Commission and the City Club. Mr. WELLER was
listened to with the closest interest
Is It necessary" asked Mr. WELLER at the begin
ming Of his lecture that nine thousand lives should
be lost in New-York annually from tuberculosis.
when all th-t Is needed fresh air and sunlight
end good foodc Is it necessary that there should
te twenty thousand fresh cases of tuberculosis
every year? That from Is 900 10000 Jews should
be unable supply themselves with the necessarles
Of life without assistance? That 5000 children
should be deprived of their parents love and
brought up in institutions wards OF the State?
That S259o0oco should be paid out annually by the
State for charitable purposes?
The city problem is the great social and polit-
cal problem Of time" he declared. SO grave
las il become that many thoughtful men seriously
question the adequacy Of the democratic form OF
government and doubt whether IL any longer covers
the conditions prevailing In large American cities.
Certainly il not IL the thought OF the trainers
Of the Constitution that within hundred years
ze should have cities OF several million inhab-
fsnts each. drawing their populations from every
country % Europe. alien 70 life and thought,
ignorant % our customs even Of our language
OF the thirty-fOur thousand children in New-York
State institutions twenty-five thousand, or nearly
'hree-fourtks. from the city Of New-York and
the population Of the jails and reformatories are
recruited almost entirely from the large cities Of
The State"
Referring TO that city of tenement houses that
stretches along the shores of both rivers" MI
WELLER said that New-York might serve as a hor-
r5le example Of present tendencies in all large
American cities-the prototype OF what they would
all become. unless those tendencies We're checked
g time. lie rldculed the popular notion that
heredity counted for everything. One who works
much among the poor knows that heredity counts
for little. environment for everything"
The main evils which so to make up the misery
OF the poor. Mr. Weller enumerated as follows:
Lack Of sufficient light IN the homes. lack Of
fresh AIR not Only in houses and courts. but even
in public streets, unsanitary and filthy conditions
in cellars. yards and courts; defective plumbing
'haoequate and artiquated sanitary convenlences.
"FeTcrowQlng. excessive rents, congested streets:
-aek q opportunity for heaIthful play for chill
"feh difficulties Tor recreation. amusement and
----t social intercourse. restricted opportunities
20 e-lc3tlon. conditions OF labor that almost
--l--att-a4 slavery with constant temptations on
- s1e 10 incompetence ana vice a welcome
Lt.Ise rom intolerabe social and Industrial con-
zen, turning To the consideration Of the lower
Is 2iG' ~ continued: Here. oue small por-
non 81 Manhattan Island, south OF Fourteenth-st
go 'a7. NJ tle BDwcry. dwell over five hundred
'-'-Se.-a human ireings-a population in itself
sI-a'tr itai mat Of any other American city ex-
- y tA-t-so, Philadelphia, ST Louis Boston and
E-'-i.' g. -Iedttr, inaeed than the entire p0puIa-
~ eaCA ot the following states and Territories
I 5ai LAY are Idaho. Montana, Nevada North
So-til Dakota, Oregon. New II Tnrshfre
Myo, .9sSloo Rhoqe Island Utah Vermont and
would oner sufficiently serious orok n1Ii4 i.
socsI y Z city OF aliens brought up un5er ot nv
roYT- 80 Ro4tcal institutions ignorant az - 80
with danger o s''1aion is one fraught
crowded oa Is IS ne physical effect Of the o,er
Ees4cF -. 's'e OF tenement house IN - %
49, S{feeI i IS no worse than The ." ne me con,
- ne prevalence Of tIlb,rc,,Sy ial ana
~ -1'ltlly epidemic here Of IictS1 DS s which
80 -t::J- prove now the vitality ~ - present
~ rrr fr,-.. -: ytlli illnc the yea L1,5t-
Iha-y me loss Of faith, the new itlse!iee OF
20 many persons living IN such ciose result Of