The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-06-02
PARTNERSHIP OF
 DIRT AND DISEASE
False Notions of Municipal Economy-How We Man ufacture Disease = Price Paid for Our Sums.
Lawrence Veiller. Secretary and Di- rector National Housing Association. Exclusive Service The Survey Press
 Bureau.)


 rector National Housing Association. Exclusive Service The Survey Press
 Bureau)
 Dirt and grease have gone hand in hand too long. As modern surgery owes its rapid strides to the banish- ment of dirt from the operating room so modern medicine is to come into it's own through the banishment of dirt from our communal life. The slun, the mother of disease is doomed From ocean to ocean there is new ly awakened perception of our inner ent right to decent conditions of liv- ing.
 We have paid dear for our slums and have given hostages to fortune leaving a heavy debt for poster1ty. NC one has attempted to estimate the cost to the nation of our bad housing conditions, because it is impossible Who can say how many of the indus trially inefficient are so because of lowered physical vitality caused by disadvantageous living conditions Despite our vaunted civilization, our material prosperity our diffusion of education our greatly increased cul- ture, we are still in some respects 'tbarbarous America"
 In most of our cities we are still in that parliamentary state Of sanitary knowledge where we know no better than to surround ourselves with the vilest elements of human waste "nlcn we allow to remain near the homes of the poor, turning living places into disease factories. We still suffer to remain even in crowded quarters or our cities, thousands of vile prlv1es, vaults, sinks, cesspools and outdoor closets. "Baltimore has 10000 earth closets and is only now installing
 
 still show 12, 900 privy vaults. Philadel- phia, Chicago, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, Pittsburg, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Nash vile. Birmingham, all have to admit the presence of these ancient evils. Hardly a city in America is free from this blight.
 Just because these evils have been removed from our immediate sight, we have foolishly fancied ourselves secure. But the mighty nisasmatic breath blown from the slums" pene- trates to all parts of the town. The effect upon health is direct and inti- mate. To the facilitating influence Of the noisome odors in the hot summer weather may be traced much to the illness of the poor. Myriads of flies feed on the contents of the vaults and then proceed to infect the food supply in the neighboring stores.
 Few cities have dealt effectively with this situation but we are passing beyond the stage where the represen- tative men deprecate the discussion of these conditions on the ground that it is 'bad for business For seeing men realize that a low death rate and a well earned reputation as a "city of homes'' is good asset for a com- 
 Democracy itself seems to be an obstacle to sanitary progress. It is in those cities where there are miles and miles of small houses owned by workingmen in which there is the greatest difficulty in meeting health needs. A low tax rate becomes in them fetich, and every public expen- diture is scrutinized most closely so that public officials are loath to take any action that imposes upon the elec- torate additional expense.
 The false cry for "economy' which Is so popular, and which is usually a cry for false economy, threatens to set back most seriously sanitary and social progress. It is due largely to these conditions that we have in no city dealt effectively with our alley problem. The alley is both blessing and a curse. As a means of letting light and air into the interior of city blocks, it is again but generally 1t is an evil. AS a minor street hidden away the alley becomes the dumping ground for the cast-off material of humanity. The privies are generally close to it and surface drainage cov- CTS the alley with slime. Often it is the sole outlook upon life that the poor get from the windows of their homes.
 The alley, must be treated as a street It must be paved, cleaned, lighted and policed and not left to the care of the abutting property own CTS. The city must assume official responsibility for it.
 Tuberculosis is thought to be about to vanish, but sober vision indicates that it will be years before we see 1t disappear. Although we have been taught that tuberculosis is a "house disease" which thrives in dark, un- rooms, and that the germs cannot live in strong sunlight. yet in how few cities is the speculative build er restrained from adding new dark rooms. In growing Western cities. where space is plentiful and land cheap. new tenement houses are built with half the rooms dark Tn no city | nave we progressed so far as to pro- nibit in private dwellings and pub ic buildings rooms without direct out side light and air. It seems premature. therefore to l ak of establishing garden cities" md "zone system.'' These ideals must | wait until we can bring ourselves to | ,+teu6 fa fhA eIaYneu f a inotp1aS op