New-York tribune., 1905-03-22
HOUSING PROBLEM
Bad Environment Causes Intem per-
Grce, Says DR.. Strong.

My friends. tenement house reform must pre-
cs6e temperance reform Nay. tenement house re-
form is temperance reform. The Church has been
for centuries appealing 10 man as II he were pure
spirit thousand reformers have put forth efforts
that fruitIess because they did not recognize
that is bottom animal and that he is
profoundly affected by his physical environment"
This OF many striking things in the ad-
Dress which Or. Josiah Strong. president OF the
American Institute OF Social Service delivered yes
terday in the womans Municipal League course of
morning lectures AT the Berkeley Ilyceum. 1t
q partnership lecture subject Of the housing
problem. DR. Strong preaching he called il,
the supreme Importance Of the housing problem.>
which Dr. ". II. Tonan. secretary Of the insti-
tUte. followed with a profusion Of lantern slides
aDo description OF present and past tenement
house conditions in London. Glasgow, Liverpool
and New-York.
The housing problem" said Dr. Strong. lies at
the root Of national destiny and character be
cause II lies al the Of the family Heredity.
within certain limits fnal-t determines. for in
stance whether shall be born a child or an
animal an Anglo-Saxon Mongoan. But be
yond these limits it is environment that tells.
Take the case Of the Kaiser and King Edward.
Both had German father and an English mother.
TIE Kaiser IS by heredity about much Of an
rnglisbr1sn as King Edward but all his ideas are
German his ideals are German. he thinks like
German and in personal appearance he Is
2 tvpicsI German. On the other hand King Ed
ward who is about a much OF German as the
Kaiser is in ideas ideals. habits of life and per
sonal appearance typical Englishnan Why?
The environment of the one has been German, Of
the other English.
HELI.s KITCHEN AND DRINK.
Y have = friend. rector. with an interest in
human problems. who took room in the Helfs
Kitchen district and went TO live there The first
morning when he awoke he had headache; the
second morning he got UP with sore throat He
vas afraid he was going 10 be i'll. but day or two
s.. the country put him all right, and he returned to
his room
The next day he awoke with headache. the
second morning with i sore throat Again he took
little trip 70 the country. and caTnexack all right
only wake up the first morning afreI ms return
- HeT's Kitchen with a headache. and the morn
ing after with 4 sore throat
ITO make sure. he went back and forth seVeral
times always with the result He was all
right but sleeping In that room made him SICK
snealiug 10 me about it. he said: After night in
that room every nerve in my body called for drink
y required all my force Of VIII 70 resist going into
The nearest saloon and calling for glass OF
vniskey.'
II he : man of splendid physique. with fine
heredty an elevated character and a strong WILL
could say that what Of the thousands who have
none Of these safeguards. and who sleep every
night Of their lives in rooms like that?
Then Dr.. Strong went TO say that it Is the
modern city. and the change from an agricultural
70 At Industrial form OF life which has made the
modern city that is responsible for the housing
problem. .-,....-,.,
The civilization Of the future is 70 De industrla,
Al the beginning OF the nineteenth century per cent
of our population lived in cities At the end, S9
Der cent Already three-f0urths Of the wealth and
almost all the power in the cities. The city is
10 be the dominant power Of the future II Is the
city which IS TO be the supreme problem or the
twentieth century The government OF the city is
- hs is political problem; the evangelizatlon Of
cities. its religious problem.
NO RETURN TO THE SOIL
The cry Back to the soil" is pernicious. There
csn be back 20 the SOIL The causes which
have produced the city are permanent. There is
70 oe sn ever increasing part Of the population
earning its living by the mechanical and fine arts.
And Il would help II you 10 put 10000
men from the cities into the country They would
crlNe lVJeB farmers the city. Why2 Because
ne human capacity for food IS limited With in
Ne csl eaL more Of them But consuIne