The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-11-18
JOHN BURNS SENDS NOTE ID P|TTSBURG Feature of the National Civic
 Meetings INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS Shorter Hours, Shorter Weeks, Better 
INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS s
Shorter Hours, Shorter Weeks, Better Houses, More Parks and Counter Attractions to Saloons Are
 Among Things Desired.

 was feature of the joint opening ses- sion here last night of the National Munic- ipal league and the American Civic asso- citation. Burns has been for a lifetime the foremost labor leader of England, and has been hailed this fall as one of the conservative forces of the present liberal ministry in dealing with the important economic problems which are facing the British empire. He has visited America and Pittsburg, as a member of various commissions
 Burns was asked what recommendations he would make for improvement of civic and labor conditions in the Pittsburg steel district.
 Six days work week instead of seven," he said. Three shifts of eight hours instead of two shifts of I2; no 24- hour shifts; better housing; counter at fractions to the saloon; more parks and open spaces: the improvement of the river front the humanizing of labor instead of the brutalization of toll. There you are. Those are Pittsburg's marching ordersl"
 Pittsburg is on many counts the most distinctly industrial city in the country. This fact has played a large part in the makeup of the programme of the con ventions. The opening joint session last evening was given up to the Pittsburg survey. Under this name a close range investigation of economic and social con ditions in the American steel district has been carried on throughout the past year | and half It has been called survey because the methods employed have been those of the social and civic engineer A staff of from 10 to 30 persons has been | engaged in the field work, including phy- | sicians, lawyers, sanitarians, draughts- men, map-makers, detectives, stausti- clans, interpreters and professional work CTS in a score of lines of social work. It has been called the Pittsburg survey, not because its findings apply solely to l Pittsburg, but because the Pennsylvania steel district has been the laboratory where the work has been done. The survey has been carried on by the na- tional publication committee which pub fishes Charities and the Commons" and l it has been financed by the Russell Sage foundation for the improvement of liv- ing conditions. It has enlisted some of | and civic work and has had frst-rate cooperation on every hand from the pro gressive men and women in Pttsburg. ] The survey is the first undertaking of 1 it's kind for an American city.
 1 Robert w. de Forest vice president of the Russell Sage foundation, and former 1 tenement house commissioner of New York city, presided at the Monday evening session. Robert A. Woods, director of l South End house, Boston, and one of the foremost civic leaders of New Eng land, spoke on "Pittsburgs Civic Prob lem" MT. Woods sketched the marvel ous growth and power of the Pittsburg district which has developed under the 'fnsistent and unceasing spur of a world demand for two or three of the funda- mental utilities of civilization" He main tained that the public physical we'll being is coming to the very front as an issue of patriotic foresight
 Chicago's Reformation.
 1 In conclusion Mr. Woods said, We all i remember how Chicago, on account of some of the crude moral byproducts of ] its growth, came to be an object of scorn 1 from many sources at home and abroad. ] By creating the Worlds Fair and by the exceptionally intelligent organization of l civic and social betterment, Chicago has compelled the respect of the country and i, the world. Pittsburg succeeded Chicago | as the chosen example Of the cynics; Pittsburg Is substantially taking to heart these large plans for associated and pub | lie enterprise through which alone, as all the world is finding, twentieth cen tury citys prosperity goes hand in hand with it's honor."
 City Planning and Housing was dis . cussed by Grosvenor Atterbury of New York 1ity, architect of the Phipps Model tenements, who is now carrying on ex- tensive experiments in new methods and models for low cost dwellings. He de- scribed the cooperative housing move ment which is spreading like wildfire over England and Germany, under which houses are built in large numbers and held by joint stock companies in which the tenants, instead of owning their houses. own stock The plan, has many advan- tages in rapidly shifting industrial cen tefs.
 President English Talks.
 The function of business bodies in im- proving civic conditions was discussed by II. D. w. English, formerly president of the Pittsbura chamber of commerce, who | water, bad sewerage, bad housing and bad air are 6 species of indirect taxation on business interests. They not only increase taxes hut lessen output. Remarkable ad- vances have been made in the last three years by the Pittsburg chamber of com merce and the reform municipal admins ktratior in laying hold of these problems.
 In presenting the facts brought out by the Pittshurg survey, the director, Paul U. Kellogg, marked the sharp contrast between the superb development of Pitts burg as an industrial center and its de- velopment' along lines of well-being as a community With the merging of Ale gheny City, Greater Pittsburg has be- tween 5c0OOo and 600,0O0 inhabitants In comparing death rates per 100000 for pe- riod of five years with a group of other cities comparable in size, Boston, Balti- more, Cleveland, St Louis, he showed that while Pittsburg ranks fourth in deaths from pulmonary tuberculosis, 1t ranks highest in typhoid, highest in diar- rhea and enteritis. highest for pnen- mona. highest for bronchitis and other diseases of the respiratory system and highest for violence excluding suicides The lack of adequate and sanitary hous-