The Washington herald., 1910-06-20
CAPITAL A PREY
TO BAD ALLEYS
Continued from Page One.

Ieys, reeking with disease. Hundreds of
negro and white families are living in
squalor within stones throw Of shady
streets where the children Of the well-to-
do play under the eyes of watchfal nurses.
Parents Wonder why.
The children sieken and die of conta-
gious diseases. and their parents grieve
and wonder why.
According to the annual report of the
health officer. which Mr. oyster quoted
freely, infant mortality is higher in the
Capital than In any other city in Amer
lea.
More than 1s3 white children in every
1905 under the age of one year die. Near
ly half of the negro children-423 out of
1000 born-die before they are year
old.
THE people who own property in these
Sums" said Mr.. Oyster, are selling
their souls for cash. And the tragedy OF
it is they are selling the lives Of their
own carefully guarded children for cash.
II shall not criticise the health depart
ment, because I believe Dr.. Woodward
is an efficient officer. alive to the situa-
ton. but terribly handicapped.
1.-THE public is strangely Indifferent.
As q special examiner OF the Pension
Bureau. I have had occasion TO visit
these places. and II the public could see
them as / have seen them. and as Dr.
Woodward and his assistants have seen
them, there would be a clamor for re-
form.
Rotten TO the Core.
I'VE are spending millions making
Washington beautiful-and ii Is beautiful
but what is beauty when Il Is rotten
TO the core?
I'm not generally in favor of bond Is
sues, but in this case I think there
should be such a scheme. From five TO
ten millions should be appropriated
through a bond issue. and spent making
Washington clean behind the scenes.
las It s, the Capital OF the nation is
a disgrace. with a death rate higher than
even such cities as Denver, where we
send our sick people too late to get them
we'll
Behind the great mansions lay novels
that are natural disease breeders. In
every part of this city. in the northwest
as well as the southeast. citizens are
being murdered through their own lack
Of interest and their own ignorance Of
what is going on behind their backs"
Mr.. Oyster gave the death statistics Of
thirteen Of the health districts In one
district seven children were born IN a
month and six died. In another twenty
four were born and twenty-five died.
And this was the way most of the fig-
ures ran.
Only Faint Praise.
Mr. Oyster did not attempt to say Just
why the authorities do not remedy
| things He did not pour any hot shot
in the direction Of the Commissioners.
He merely damned them with faint
praise.
Jacob Riis once told a Washington
audience" he said. that every man or
woman who would live in such a city
without trying TO better things was a
murderer OF babies. And this is pretty
nearly true"
Mr.. Oyster said most people don't care
how many negro children die. II they
! realized. he declared, that for every four
or 1--WE negro infant deaths there is a 1T
tie white victim, they might perhaps be-
| come aroused.
If We could only see In their collins
the people who have died living out OF
the slums, but because OF them, we would
set up such hue and cry that indffrer-
ence would be impossible"
DR.. Woodward said Mr.. Oyster is a
| careful man, and that HIS information is
| correct. He admitted the odds against
his department are overwhelming, but
was optimistic about the future.
Pulling Down Houses.
Working in conjunction with the other
District departments" he said, I'VE are
trying 10 get the slums cleaned up. We
are pulling down houses wherever it is
possible. The work is slow, SIS ali up
hill work must be. and I don't wonder
that some Of the citizens who know grow
| impatient. We are not remedying things
| as fast as we would like 10.
Yes. there have been a good many
| cases where property owners have de-
| iberately blocked US, and in those cases
we have no weapon. I should not like
TO say much about that side OF IT,
/ of course, you must go behind the
| buildings-yOu must blame human nature
for a good deal OF the trouble. These
| people who live in such surroundings are
H.