The Birmingham age-herald., 1913-06-22


we are apt to stare at ourselves and
say, rs this the way we really live?' Is
this what our national life really is?'
Until recently we have been like os-
triches, blind to criticism and secure in
our illusion that our national system was
the greatest, and our national life the
best, in the world. Our cities. long our
shame, were the first to get out of the
ostrich class. They have become pio-
neers in a determined fight for a better
cleaner and more efficient national life.
There is another type of community
outnumbering our cities probably 10 to l.
which until now mas been hidden in the
general social and economic hinterland-
the village. Who has thought about our
villages? Who cares about them? What
are they doing, and how are they doing
it? OF what significance are they !? Should
they be reformed and if SO, how?
In the village the physical set-up is
usually defective. Streets are but par
TALLY. often improperly. paved, and there
is no street plan. Buildings are only half
kept up" Rotten tenements may usual
ly be foui in villages and typical East
Side" living conditions. Sewers are apt
to be defective and sanitary conven-
iSHtCo ilS olltfl ueClutuly l0SdHlldTy. IOD-
Elation is congested along Main street"
and spare in the rest of the village. In
contrast with English and European viii
lagos. the American village is often poor
ly articulated, even slabsided-it lacks
conference and individuality
Among the specific weak points in the
administration of village finance are the
Following: Bonding in excess of ability
to redeem without refunding. bonding
for a longer term than the Improvement
warrants falling to estimate correctly
for years administrative programmed
granting disadvantageous franchises, due
to personal influence or to the general /
lack of corporate backbone
Naturally fitted for the well nigh per-
feet health of its inhabitants, we find
in many villages the most startling par
allels of urban defects; infant mortality
Is usually high; contagious disease cases
are apt to run into three figures; the
water supply is usually poorly protected
against pollution milk is generally un-
analyzed, nor Is there any routine san
itary inspection of food and food shops
health records and reports are frequently
in a most uncertain and incomplete state;
nuisances often go for a long time with
out abatement
Another element which Is strong in vii
ilages--because people are intimate and
personality takes precedence over func-
tion-is disposition to be easy on
popular offender against the sanitary reg
ulations, to hold back disease reports to
central authorities because 1t might hurt
somebody's business"
Village social life is apt to be at a low
ebb; the saloon Is too often the most
potent social influence. Recreation faciI-
tiles. as known in cities, are largely abb
sent and the doubtful moving picture
show is wont to monopolize the leisure
time of the youth
The following is put forward as q
ment
The average village should have n
good engineer and architect go over
the village with view to adopting
Village plan" of some sort. Time
should be taken by the forelock and
roads cut open spaces laid out, build
ing standards adopted, ETC., before the
village becomes the town and the ,,ws
merges into the city. What crimes
against municipal art and beauty could
have been saved this nation by a few
weeks--even days-of thoughtful will
lage planning" when our cities were
young!
job. II there ever was one. Get good
village clerk, pay him a decent salary,
and let him be at his desk all day
long, every day in the year. Half the
ineHiciency and waste in village gov
ernment Is due to lack OF informal ton |
following the part time" evil. With
a wideawake, capable administrative
officer keeping the village books up
to-date and having constant eye on
the community's affairs, the chances
for steals slipshod finance ETC., will
be reduced to a minimum.
The health problem in villag ges is not
SO much the framing of new health
codes. or the adoption OF the latest
wrinkles in public health work, as it
is in the enforcement of such rules
as do exist. with addition of special
regulations only where they are actu-
ally needed. Thus. the periodical test
ing of milk, the inspection of dairies
and of food shops, sanitary disposal
of garbage and the screening OF sta
bles can probably easily be read into"
the existing sanitary code The doing
away with cesspools and privies de-
pends upon sewerage facilities ana
must be step contingent upon the ex-
tension of the drainage system.
Above all. there must be instilled
into villages an appreciation OF tho
dangers which neglect OF sanitary pre-