The Washington herald., 1915-12-12
Court Records of Landlord and Ten
ant Cases.

Total for years and 4 months .... .ll4ses
There is of course no record of the
large numbers who move out for non
payment of rent without legal proce-
dure But here is a table Of evictions
which will at the end of the seventh
year, amount to more than three times
the whole number of renters in the
District. The falling OFF in 1885 Is
due to several thousand members OF
building trades moving TO other places
on account of slack work. But the
showing is a wretched one.
Appalling Death Rates in the Alleys.
The voan shark" legislation showed
that there were many thousands OF
families in the District always on the
verge of want. The economic. saRi-
tary and moral conditions inextricably
interlocked and interrelated of alley
dwelIers OF Washington. have been
fully set forth in such documents as
the Report of the Presidents Home
Commission" DIR. Thomas Jesse Jones
DIRECTORY of the Alleys of Washing
ton." Grace Vawter Bicknelfs The
Inhabited Alleys of Washington,
weIler's Neglected Neighbors," and
similar publications. The whole alley
condition springs from congestion OF
the poorer population. due to high cost
OF lanu anu HlSh tost VI
which on one side crowd down wages
and make employment irregular and
uncertain and on the other force up
rents and cost of living. Destruction
of alley houses of the worst order,
and consequent lessening of alley
population has brought about some
statistical improvements, but the fig
ures for 1909 were appalling:
Death rate per l,0Oe.
Ages Streets. Alleys.
All ages i'-oo oV'VS
Under l year ...... l5S.ob 3,3.i9
I to 1916 30.S,
) to 20 ..-.......-... o-2o i.sf
over 90 . ls.OS 27.O5
But il is not the alleys, as alleys, at
the gates of which the condition lies.
Let the finest house on Massachusetts
avenue be turned over to population
in the same economic and moral con-
dition and in n few months IL would
become a black warren of filth. dis
ease and death. Take the death rates
per thousand for streets and alleys for
white and colored in 1905 and 1918 ac-
cording to the Report of the Health
Officer:
White. Colored.
Streets Alleys. Streets. Alleys.
1896 .....1517 1873 esS9 S.s9
1913 ...1ss6 1911 2i14 3c.Ss
and now under one year OF age IN the
streets and alleys for 1873:
9l20 1lln 21.60 14.H
There are evidently slums in streets as
well as in alleys. 1t is not location. but
economic. sanitary and moral conditions
which need uplifting.
The number of inmates Of District
charitable and penal institutions, exclu
siye of prisoners In Federal penitentia-
ries throughout the country chargeable
to the District. rose from $500 In 1901 to
$500 In 1918, from 1 in 81 of the popula-
ton to l In Sc, yet every winter the plea
of the Associated Charities for outside
aid becomes more urgent.
A Prophecy Fulallcd.
The johnson Report on Tax Assess
mcnts in the District OF Columbia. In
1882. contained this striking paragraph
(p. s-10).
Already the effect of the growth and
Improvement of the Federal District
has been. by the Increase of land values
to give hundreds OF millions to fortu-
nate few, but to increase the cost of
living to such a degree as to make It a
serious question with many of the on
GERS and employees of the National
Government who are called on to live
here. And u this tendency continues