Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-27

The little ones dress had been pur-
posely caught under the leg of the bed
so as to prevent her from wandering
away, thus distracting the mothers
attention from her sewing. The room
was without an outside window. 1t
was damp and dark and cold. The
mother was sewing on ready-made
sweatshop for finishing. AS the dying
man coughed l saw her throw one of
the half-finished coats over him.
Filth Seen Everywhere
"In another place l saw a mother
working over lambs wool robes for
baby carriages. Filth was every
where. Disease lurked in every cor
ner. Two of the tenants of that hole
of a home were consumptives. Think
what a breeding place for germs! See
how the millions of germs attached
themselves to the woolly hairs! And
then picture that robe thrown over the
infant of some rich man! Is there any
wonder that babies die of consump-
tion? Is there any wonder the race
is disintegrating?
Mr.. Hurlbut, who wrote my play,
went with me many times. / have
seen him leave a tenement deathly
sick at his stomach from the noisome
odors.
THE wind that blows harm to the
poor will blow harm to the rich. If
the conditions in the tenement dis
tricts are insanitary, sooner or later
the conditions among the mansions
will be the same. We are all akin.
all human. Why should not the poor
have the same right to live and enjoy
as the ricb2
I'VE place men in prisons and asy-
~
fects, but we do not try to remedy the
conditions which bring about those
defects. We look only for fungus
growth in a cellar; yet we look for
men not detectives in tenements. Is IL
improbable to suppose that a child
born of diseased parents, reared in the
fetid atmosphere of a hovel and forced
through economic conditions to lead a
dwarfed, cramped, unsatisfied existence
in childhood, will be other than a
moral or mental, or physical defective?
Is 1t unreasonable to suppose the chill
dren of these tenement house children
will be other than weak and puny, and
that their children will be decayed and
stunted when they come into the
world?
Should Give Babies Chance to Live
Give the babies chance to come
into the world without the stigma of
disease. Give them chance to live as
God intended they should live. Legis-
late the tenement and the sweat shop
out of existence. Think not of the in
dividual, but of the community.
I'VE seem to think we have done
our whole duty and that we have
acted as our brothers keepers when
we talk about the bad conditions and
possibly give some suffering individual
few paltry dollars. That is the least
part of our duty. If we did our
whole duty. We would change condi-
tions, give every man the right to live
and not force him into bondage to be-
come a money baron.
I'VE see a beggar on the street We
give him aims. And we have done
him and society an injury. What he
needs is a chance to live and work,
not beg 1t is the social order which
has made him. and unless the social
order is changed we shall see him
duplicated a hundred thousand times
every year.
eve see suffering; we weep. That is
our relief much as it is our relief to
give the poor aims. But we have done
nothing to relieve the suffering in
reality.
what are we going to do about il?
Are we going to let the asylums fill
up, the prison doors close upon more
and more until there is-no more room? ?
Are we going to allow stunted males
and stunted females mate and null
tiply, making the race one of infirmity
or are we going to change social con-
ditions so that the prenatal influences
will be the same for the poor as the
rich; so that the wind which blows on
the poor will be as refreshing and as
pure as that which blows on the rich?
Are we going to remember that we owe
a duty to society and that in discharg-
ing that duty we have aided ourselves?
And are we going to remember that
we are our brothers keeper, and what
harms him will eventually harm us?
Would Rouse Peoples Sympathy
"We've got to do something about it,
and we've got to do it pretty soon.
hope the day will come when / shall
be able to cast my ballot for the man
or woman who will see that conditions
are made sanitary. that every human
being will have an equal chance to
live and enjoy the pure air and the
beautiful sunshine.
To-day, except for isolated move
ments, there is no effort made to stamp
out disease. True, laws are made, but
no sooner are they made than they are
broken, because it profits some rich
men.
"A nations strength is its men and
women-not it's wealth. Unless you
breed men your nation will fall into
decay. We build up our cities and
with them we build up tenement dis