The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1913-07-19
Exclusive Service The Survey Press
 Bureau.1


 Exclusive Service The Survey Press
 Bureau)
 We are bringing to light such vast and strange assemblage Of sociar~and political facts that we are apt to stare at ourselves and say, ssIs this the way we really live? Is this what our na- tional life really is?''
 Until recently we have been like os-3 trfehess blind to criticism and secure in our illusion that our national sys- tenn was the greatest, and our na- tiona1 life the best, in the world. Our cities. long our shame, were the first to get out of the "ostrich'' class They have become pioneers in a. determined fight for the better, cleaner and more efficient national life.
 There is another type of community, outnumbering our cities probably ten to one, which until now has been hid den in the general social and economic hinterland-the village. Who has thought about our villages? Who cares about them7 What are they do- ing 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 tially, often improperly. paved, and there is no street plan Buildings are only half kept up.'' Rotten tenements may usually be found in villages and LYD1Cal EaEL SlO6 l1V1uR COn01IlOLSs Sewers are apt to be defective and sanitary convenfences are often de- cided1y insanitary. Population is con gested along Main Street. and sparse in the rest of the village. In contrast with English and European villages, the American village is often poorly articu7ated. even slabsided-it lacks coherence and individuality.
 Among the specific weak points in the administration of village finance are the following: Bonding in excess of ability to redeem without refun- ing. bonding for a longer term than the improvement warrants; failing to estimate correctly for a years ad- ministrative program; granting disad- Vantageous franchises due to personal influence or to the general lack of cor rorate back bone-
 Naturally fitted for the we11-nigh perfect health of it's inhabitants, we find in many villages tn most start ling parallels of urban defects; infant mortality is usually high; contagious diseases are apt to run into three fig ures; the water supply is usually poor 7y protected against pollution; milk Is generally I1nanalyzed, nor is there any routine sanitary inspection of food ana food shops; health records and re- ports are frequently in a most uncer- tain and incomplete state; nuisances often go for long time without abate- Knent
 Another element which is strong in llages-because people are intimate and personality takes precedence over function-is disposition to be easy pn a popular offender against the san itary regulations. to hold back disease reports to central authorities because f might hurt somebody's business.
 village social life is apt to be at 7ovv etb. the saloon is too often the most potent social influence. Recrea- tion facilities, as known in cities. are largely absent and the doubtful nov Ing picture show is wont to monopolize The leisure time of the youth.
 Tbe following Is put forward as a tentative program for village better ment:
 The average village should have a woad engineer and architect go over fhe village with a view to adopting a s+viIlage p1an'' of some sort. Time should0 be taken by the forelock and roads cut, open spaces laid out, build Ing standards adopted, etc, bfore the rif1see becomes the town and the town merges into the city What crimes NRafrast municipal art and beauty could have been saved this nation by few weeks-even daye-of thougntfui T-S1i- lare planning when our cities were Foungi
 Village administration is a one-man fob. if there ever was one. Get a good village clerk, pay him decent salary, and let him be at his desk all day long every day in the year. Half the l7efffciency and waste in village gov prnment is due to lack of information, following the part tine'' evil. With a wfde-awake, capable administrative officer keeping the village books up- Bo-da4e and having eonstant eye on
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