New-York tribune., 1908-05-22
TRANSIT PROBLEM.
Dir. Wright Tells a Hopeless Tale
to MuniciDaI League.

cal solution the rapid transit problem was the
dismal prospect held up before the Womans Mu-
nicipal League by Henry c. Wright OF the CITY
Club. in his talk the leagues headquarters. No
ls East 2sth street yesterday morning. Mr. Wright
offered a whole string theoretical solutions but
then proceeded make them look like srnal
boys card houses when the small boy has preatheo
them
The district below 3sth street. he said, is the
largest manufacturing district in the United states
If you judge by smoke you may think Pittsburg
larger one. but ii isn't. Below S4th street III
New York there are between 100000 and 100000 peo-
pie who make things. The City Club mas been III
| vestgating bit to find out who Of these thou-
sands go out into the country to live and VINO
stay in the tenements of lower New YORK we
found that 80 per Of the printers live OUTSIDE
| of New York City. Printers have an eish'-hour
day and pretty good wages. A smaller percentage
of workers in foodstuffs-whose wages are snnaler
and whose hours longer-ive OUTSIDE, anu
still smaller percentage of garment workers VINO
fare worst of all in the matter of hours Feople
who work long hours have got to 1--we "lthih VAIN
ing distance of their work
What would il mean. anyhow. to try 10 trans
port all these people back and forth from the
Bronx say every day? According TO an estimate
lately made It would require fourteen subWays,
and where is your room for fourteen subWays!
Moreover. the existing subway. though It's course
is such that il gets much OF the noh-rush-houi
trafic-from the theatres, shopping districts anu
the Grand Central-is not paying at rate 10 III
duce canitalists to put their money into others
and that's the reason there are no nlds Ana II
would cost the city more to build sup"ays IMAM II
would private capital
why would it cost the city more oernhnoeo
Municipal Lacquer
Because of politics Bosses would have their
contractors work in. and II you can get rid of
the political boss said Mr.. Wright TO the fnqur-
Ing Municipal Lacquer, ''you'l-wen, you'h be a
very famous person.
Another Lacquer wanted 10 know why traction
lines nav badly here when they pay well in Europe
What European lines pay we?' asked Mr.
Wright
We'll. the Berlin elevated
About the only European line of its kind that
does pay said the speaker. Turning TO the New
York surface lines, he said they were certainly
misr1anaged. But it to be inevitable mis-
ma ma cement" he added They ruined by
overcapitalfzation watering Of stock; but if the
Nrnicipal League tries that it will have
tall order If il wasn't for this n1ismanagement
we might have magnificent surface system, and
with douhe-decked could carry many more
people that way than at present. But the sur
face lines are too slow a method TO afford a prac-
tical solution of problem, The Second ana
Third avenue elevated lines might. if rightly man
aged carry twice many people as they DO But
when alIs said, the workers have got to 1--we near
their work.
Now. lets imagine solution that Will meet
that necessity. the factories in this city could
he moved orIt-strung along the Harlem River,
along the Brooklyn side. the Connecticut Ine and
If lust outside these work zones were residence
zones for the workers-then the congestion prob
lem would be solved. Sounds nice. doesn't it? But
I said to manufacturer 1 know, whose factory is
down on the East Side: Why L said don't you
move your plant to Queens where your ground
rent would be about one-twentieth as much as
here?'
There's q man in my line out in Queens said
he and il costs him much TO freight his prod
,,c+s over the two miles that divide him from New
York CITY that we can pay big rents and win
| out in competition with him at that
As long as local transportation companies
| charge prohibitive freight rates" added Mr..
Wright, you won't convince manufacturers that
! it's TO their interest to move outside the city
And it's not only local rates.
| The tendency is to centralize, It's good deal
| cheaper and simpler for a manufacturer TO land
| his raw material from the West right here in
| New York than cart it several miles outside
| the city. You see, the problem gets more COM
| plicated the we look at it,
] Then Mr. Wright proceeded add 70 the cheer
| by dwelling the bad effects of tenement house
| life And not alone the physical health he
| said Life in tenements and apartment houses
| DESTROYS the sense of citizenship You live in q
| fat and 10 TO you don't know the family across
| the hall The fat dweller is a stranger in
| strange land. There's growth of community,
| of mutual interest Moreover, while the fiat
dweller certainly a taxpayer he pays his taxes
I 10 the landlord Unless he property he has
no intercourse with the city government, and
that's bad weakens the of civic re-
! sponsibility. and while city exist with a
/ big death rate it can't exist with citizens who
! are weak backed morally"
! Only one little ray Of light f1ickered through
Mr.. Wrights remarks. He suggested that sub
ways might be built by taxing property owners
whose property would be benefited by them. If
the first part of il could be raised in this
way" he said, that problem would be solved, for
| the subways, once built, would pay"