The independent. [volume] (Lincoln, Neb.) 1902-1907, 1905-04-13
souALID DISTRICTS DISAPPEAR
Applied PopuIism Brings Health and
Happiness TO English Cities
(Ciyfh Article

In 1875 the most Squalid district in
England lay like fostering sore adj
jacent to the business center of Bir-
mingham. 1t was thus described by
Counselor White in an eloquent plea
before the town council for improved
conditions
1T is not easy to imagine the dreary
desolation which acre after acre in the
very heart of the town presents to
those who will take the trouble to visit
it. Little else is to be seen but bow
ing roofs, tottering chimneys, tumble
down and disused shops, heaps of
bricks, broken windows and coarse
rough pavements, damp and sloppy. In
one case l found house of only two
rooms, about nine feet square and six
and a half feet high, and in this howell
lived husband, wife and four children.
Amid such deplorable conditions H.
900 of our fellow townsmen are spend
ing their lives, with no bright thing
about them and nothing Of joy or glad
ness in their homes"
Joseph Chamberlain was then mayor
of Birmingham, and the city had not
yet attained the proud distinction of
the metropolis of midland England,
nor had that brilliant young man
climbed far toward his present fame.
He had evinced marked talents in mu-
nicipal affairs and was an enthusiast
tic advocate of public ownership-so
much so, in fact, that his political en-
emies declared him a socialist. 1t
was due to his efforts and energy that
Birmingham had purchased the gas
plant and the waterWorks from private
owners, and the success which fol-
lowed these ventures gave him pres
tige Of which he was not slow to take
advantage. The desOlate tract pOpu
lated with thousands of miserable per-
sons aroused his sympathy, but he was
more than social reformer he was
one of the shrewdest business men in
Great Britain. He surveyed the field
as a general does one of coming bat
tie. He formulated plan, one SO
startling in it's originality, SO radical
in it's scope and so stupendous in it's
magnitude that his friends and sup
porters hesitated when he proposed it
to them.
Mr.. Chamberlain urged that Bir-
mingham proceed to purchase every
foot of land in this contaminated area,
and he included in it fifty or more
acres practically in the center of the
city. He proposed to ignore all exist
ing street lines and to devote a large
percentage of the land to broad thor
oughfares. He proposed to demolish
every house in this district, to lease
part of the site to reputable landlords
who would erect dwellings under the
supervision Of the city authorities and
to lease the remainder of the land for
business purposes. He admitted that |
for years this investment would i'm
pose burden on the taxpayers, but |
contended that in the end it would
prove a splendid investment More |
than that, the eradication of the slum
area would increase the value of every |
foot of property in the city.
/. The future statesman formally intro
duced the matter to the town council
and, in one of the most mastery |
ton. He claimed that Birmingham |
COuIu never aspire 10 IuO commercial
supremacy of it's natural territory so
long as it permitted thousands of it's
townsmen to live in misery.
Il believe" he said, that the town
and, above all, the next generation,
will have cause to bless the town coun-
Gil of Birmingham if it carries out |
this scheme and exercises what l ven
ture to call sagacious audacity. We
know how from time to time upon our
coast vast operations have been under
taken by which large tracts of land
have been redeemed from the sea, and
what was formerly the sandy bed of
the ocean has been converted into
smiling fields. / say that no less meri-
torious and no less necessary is the
work which we are undertaking in
this inland city by which we hopa to
wrest from the fell grasp Of disease,
misery and crime whole populations
which would otherwise be abandoned |
to them.
Il heard it said the other day that
the position of these people was their
'swn fault. Their fault? Yes, it is le-
gally their fault if they steal, and