The Washington herald., 1915-06-09

! N Diego for many years. She
! gave it careful attention.
| There isn't much squalid
! poverty" she said, "the kind
that shows itself IN the large cities. But there is
! a good deal of what is to me one OF the most ter
rble kinds OF poverty, the kind that hides itself
and puts very respectable appearance. There
are many people here that half-starving in one
| room and cooking what they cat over gas lamp.
Most OF them have come out here from the Middle
West or the East and they've been lured out by
the attractive advertisements. They think that as
soon as they get here they're going to have easy
| time Then they find out that there's competition
in this part OF the world as we'll where they
| came FROM
1t is, of course, credtable that people should love
the place they live in and that they should wish
to see it prosper. Even where their interest IS
largely wholly selfish there may be credit For
the success OF one member Of the community
may contribute the prosperity OF the COM
| munty a whole, provided, OF course, it adds,
| not fictitious, but real values. But OVERCOMING
there and the people who make great sacrifices
to get there Zach year brings its new tragedies
to San Diego and to other parts of California as
we'll. For the whole State has been overboomed.
One result is the severity of the problem Of the
! unemployed. Those who have been at dsad-
vantage elsewhere have failed led to be-
lievc they be easily successful here. When
they arrive greatly to their surprise they meet
similarly hard conditions or even harder And
their hardships are complicated by the
strangeness of the associations, by the sense Of
isolation.
On the other hand, of course, there is the
prcme consolation of climate. If had to live in
etreme want | should much prefer to live in warm
and glowing Southern California or in equable San
Francisco than in the Middle West the East
with their fearful winter rgors. On the surface
it curious that the poor don't migrate in
great bodies this part OF the world; but, for the
poor migrating is serious business, involving the
necessity OF expenditure. The best most OF them
can do to stay put. Besides, the truth that in
communities that boom, the extremely poor are
not wanted. They would have some difficulty in
breaking in. The desirable citizens those that
have money TO spend for the purchase OF real
estate and Tor the raising OF land values by their
presence and by their other purchases.
Like the rest OF the country, San Diego has
been hit by the hard times OF the past few months
And long before the things here were pretty
dull. Now the real estate people are on the alert
They feel that the exposition means their harvest
time and they have adopted policy of making
the most of their chances by encouraging quick
sales and by punching their sales whenever they
can to create the effect OF boom In their
methods it is impossible for the observer not to
feel that there is lack OF foresight. Already.
several times, San Diego has been overboomed
After quick rises in prices for real estate there
have been great 0eprcSSOnS fortunes ndNc UGH
made and fortunes have been lost. Not in this
way is healthy growth encouraged. The best build
ing is always done solid foundations.
What San Diego needs most OF all is large
population in the outlying districts, population
that it will depend and that will depend on It,
The land is there. rich land too. vast stretches,
fairly calling to the dsinherited OF the world to
come and settle. But when the dsinherited actu-
ally arrive here, what do they find? Helping
hands? By no If they without money
they soon learn that they expensive and there
fore undesirable citizens. Many OF them do be-
might have been if provided with fair chance
TO use their energy and their intelligence on the
land under conditions that gave them encourage
ment.
It seems to me that there is splendid oppor-
tunity in Southern California for those million
aire -philanthropists who really to help their
brotherman without running the risk OF dong
harm either to the brotherman or to themselves. 1t
lies in those vast stretches of land that might be
sold for small holdings and paid for on easy terms
Like the best kind OF philanthropy like all phan-
thropy, this enterprise ought to be profitable to
every one concerned. But it is just the kind OF
enterprise that the real estate men OF San Diego
don't seem to be interested in.
And the situation is reproduced under different
conditions in many parts OF this country. Just
now immense amount OF booming IS gong on,
to the last degree unscicntiic. II inhabitants are
so valuable, why treat them as if they were
merely geese to be plucked. There surely is
better way in utilizing them to the full extent of
their worth which does not lie alone in the amount
OF their money. What chance those wide
stretches of territory offer for colonization schemes
where the vast numbers of people now struggling
on the edge Of want and disaster, meeting the ex-
tremites OF cold and heat, might be encouraged,
not theoretically, but practically encouraged, to
work together and to form communities. Perhaps
some millionaire will come along and take an in
terest in booming humanity with the help of the
land which is humanity's inheritance placing the
emphasis on the rise not in land values but in
human values. Wouldn't he, after all, get nearer
to the truth of the natter
Ist Than Alons