The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1909-05-02

T through wisdom, kindness and
determination San Francisco has
been saved from the horrors Of
the tenement evil-a fate fore
cast as a :.concomitanL OF calamity re-
construction. This comfortable truth is
confidently declared, now that the cru
cisI three years are all but over This
does moi. mean that there are all the
needful building laws on the statute
books but that the city has gone so far
along fn*the right. road that there could
be no,excuse for a step In the wrong d.
rectfon now. Unless this community.
treacherous- to itself, is unmindful of its
blessings and. opportunities. the years
10 come viii find it. like Philadelphia,
"a city Of llosnes'
Nhen the problems Of housing per
manently the stricken poor of this city
had 10 be met the relief committee
looked oyer. the situation and wondered
where to begin and what would be the
ends o. the outsider the solution
might have seemed. an easy mat
ter. because there was a general i'm
preston that. there was money enough
In the relief fundsto meet al demands
generously. This was not the case.
On3y the most judicious management Of
the amount available made adequats
sss5stance possible.
When the days Of the tents and refu-
gee cottages were officially numbered
maj account had to be made of the
people occupying them. The able
bodied and not actually dependent had
"a. he eliminated" There were some Of
these thriftily living out their refugee
oa<is, insisting that they could find
r Mace to rent A small percentage
OF the park jewellers were able to
start on their way when assisted to
the extent Of a few months rent. The
men and women able TO take care of
themselves and of independent spirit
were not long in the refugee camps
So when the relief committee had
sifted and sifted the cases they were
faced at last with the disposition of
several hundred families that might
easily become public or semipublic
: charges. They were not the vicious
or really indolent, but the inept, the
people who could not initiate anything
for themselves, those who through
misfortune and circumstances had lost
moral courage. The outlook was not
encouraging, but with this unlikely
heritage Of the calamity a miracle was
wrought Hundreds of these depend
ents are now property owners. Iso-
lated families from this company are
districts Of the city, but for the most
part they have formed new settlements
with pretty names. They have learned
lessons Of thrift; they are getting some
aid to living" from the soil; they
have learned no end OF things con-
tributing to their well being and hap
piness. the best Of all they are learn
ing the art Of home making.
Tenements Seemed Unavoidable
For the most part the refugees were
reasonable and tractable after having
the way to usefulness and independence
pointed out to them. They soon com
menced to help those who wished to
help them, There were some beIliger-
ents whose determination ito get all
that was coming to them" gave spice
10 the negotiations, albeit they were
also bother. The situation, however
was really so complex that even the
most enthusiastic philanthropists stood
aghast. Many OF them saw no solu-
ton but the building of tenement
houses, those cancers OF complex city
life. Their argument was:
THE parks have to be cleared In a
given time. There are no houses for
these people to live in. What will be
Done with them? Some one must build
tenements to house them-modei ones.
10 be sure, but tenements. Too bad
but they have to come. All big cities
have them. Handicapped as she is, San
Francisco can not be the exception"
The tenements did not come They
. were not thrust upon the city. For San
Francisco's escape from this misery,
honor and appreciation are due the
executives OF the Red Cross and relief
committee. who had the good judg-
ment to give the matter over to the
Associated Charities, an organization
thoroughly equipped for the big task.
All rvs valuable records of investiga-
ton of and hefp rendered the poor
and sick during many years had been
saved. The directors and managers
knew exactly how the poor had lived
before they were burned out. Just how
dependable or otherwise the refugees