Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1909-01-08
Gives the Results of Two Years of
Investigation. a.
TELLS NEED OF LEGISLATION
Recommends That Alleys Be Con-
verted Into Minor Streets-Ade-
quate Compensation of Employees.

QaE.
The commission, appointed May 4. 1907,
reports the work of nearly two years OF
investigation of the problem in the Dis
trict, and recommends legislation by
which the Improvements may be effected.
The primary recommendation of the
commission. dealing with the question OF
the possible provision for the working
man of an opportunity to provide for
himself and family clean, modern. SAN
itary home. without great expenditure,
urges Congress to pass legislation where
by the government will authorize loans
to responsible companies at reasonable
rates of interest for the erection of SAN
itary homes of the latest and most ap-
proved type, which are to be rented or
sod to the workingman at reasonable
rentals or prices.
Alleys Should Be Minor Streets.
In order to do away with tenement and
other crowded conditions, such as exist
in the alleys and other congested local.
ties of the city and District. the commits
sion recommends legislation which will
convert alleys into minor streets, with
the accompanying improvements.
Dealing in a more general way with the
question of the building regulations and
needed changes or additions in order to
advance the crusade for good health
life, the commission urges Congress to
pass law prohibiting the erection with
in the District of Columbia of apartment
houses more than three stories in height,
unless provided with elevator service and
constructed of the most approved fire.
proof material.
Question of Health.
In the report of the committee on So
cial betterment, George NJ. Kober, chair
man. the foundation of the Investigations
is shown to have been the fact that the
question of health is intimately connected
with the physical. social and moral well
fare of all persons whose only income is
the product of their daily labor. The
of the committee have
therefore emphas Zed the methods of pre-
venting many industrial diseases" Spe
cial study has been given to the question
of alcohol, drugs quacks, nostrums and
pawnshops and the usury evil.
The recommendations are:
THE enactment of model factory and
labor laws for the employees of the gov
eminent and for the District of colum-
bia. Such laws, apart from regulating the
hours of labor, should also make adequate
provisions for the sanitation of work.
shops, for employers liability In case of
accidents, and for comprehensive system
of industrial insurance for all government
employees and employees in the District of
Columbia.
Board of Architects,
THE appointment by the President Of a
special board composed of architects and
sanitarians now in the employ of the
government for the purpose of evolving
model plans and building regulations for
government workshops and office build
ings.
The establishment in the National Mu-
scum of section devoted to exhibits il
Illustrative of the hygiene of occupations
habitations, food, safety appliances and
other collections for the promotion of
Industrial and social betterment of wage
earners.
Even greater emphasis than is given,
should be laid upon the including in the
curriculum of the public schools of the
District of subjects in manual training
and domestice science.
conditions in families whose incomes
are less than 500 year indicate a fierce
struggle for existence, but the committee
found good examples of neat homes in this
class.
Adequate Compensation of Employees
Adequate compensation for all en-
ployes. whether or not in government
service, this applying to married men
earning less than 81 day. The social
condition of poorly paid wage earners
should be improved. An increase in the
scale of salaried married workers is rec
commended, to compensate for the in
creased cost of living. The principle of
permanency of employment should be ex-
tended to all in the government service
as lar as the interests of the govern
ment will permit.
1.-The money spent for liquor and to-
bacco could be used to add on an average
of one room to many of the OvercroWded
h<,,
of living could be improved by following
this suggestion.
Quackery and Nostrums
The sale of proprietary medicines con-
tanning alcohol in large quantities should
be closely watched by law. Drunkenness
should be misdemeanor and habitual
drunkards and drug fiends should be TAX
en- in hand with a view to permanent
reformation. The public Fairgrounds are
commended for their influence toward
betterment in social conditions, and more
liberal appropriations are recommended
Much impoverishment is laid at the door
of "quackery and nOstrums.' board
to look into the matter is recommended
to be composed of representatives of the
post office. the Attorney General, public
health service and the bureau of chemis-
try.
The fact that the farmer is frequently
duped by the slick confidence man is
set forth in q recommendation to give
more publicity to the facts In connection
with fraud orders. this publicity to apply
especially to the rural districts.
1t is also recommended that the Agri.
cultural Department publish all that comes
to light concerning harmful ingredients in
food and drinks, and that the information
be disseminated as the Farmers Bulletins
now are.
Practice Of Usury
Strong announcement is made of the
practice of usury. although the need for
pawnshops for quick loans is recognized
1t is recommended that legislation be en-
acted requiring that the maximum rate
of interest in pawn shops and loan offices
be not higher than per cent month.
The need for a bureau of labor to over
see employment agencies is cited. A
comprehensive system of workingmen's
insurance is strongly III ged, and hospitals
for cOnvalescents, where the earning
acute illness may be expedited, is looked
upon as Il need.
The report of the committee concludes
with the following suggestion:
THE further publication of the water
supply advocated by the officers in charge
Of the filtration plant. The reclamation of
the Anacostia flats for the reduction of
malarial fevers. The enactment Of a more
stringent law regulating the production
and sale of milk and dairy products, for
the reduction of milk-borne diseases. The
abandonment Of box privies. removal of
Observation-Disclosures Of public baths for