Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-09-07

eastern cities In neat, orderly and
smokcless fashion, in Pittsburgh shows
neither order nor decorum. It's right of
way is slovenly. It brings prosperity,
but II also brings destruction. Our mills
have been permitted to send out clouds
of ere dust which have ruined whole
residential districts. our factories still
send out clouds Of smoke.
"In other words. Pittsburgh has be.
come anathema to the home seeker. And
IL Is the home-seeker--not the job.seeker
who builds up the permanent popula.
tion of the city.
THE west is building up great com.
munities-clean, beautiful and ably ad
ministered. The time has gone by when
all a city needed to offer was a Job. 1t
must today offer the best Of living con-
dtions 1t must offer an adequate return
for taxation. For a man labors only
eight hours a day, but he lives twenty.
four.
Not Really Wicked City
1T is true that we are growing But
our growth Is not entirely of desirable
sort Much of It consists of imported
labor for the mills, who bring with them
their own problems TO be solved and who
are not permanent members of the com.
munty. We offer little to home seekers
save high taxes or cxorbitant rents dirt,
the worst streets in the country and n
congestion of traffic that is increasing
daily. We are slipping back. Other
cities, better administered, are crawling
past us. No wonder the cities on the
west coast OF this country are growing.
Civic pride is a real thing out there.
Cleanliness and order, clean politics,
good streets, excellent living conditions
these are what the Western cities can
offer to the home seeker. In Pittsburgh
we offer him little except an outrageous
rent and the highest cost of living i'm the
country.
pittsburgh is getting the unenviable
ana totally unnecessary reputation OF
being bad place In which to live. Yet
it is not true that it is fast city, given |
to rotous living. On the contrary, it is
a quiet, Woodworking community, accept |
ing with shrug its maltreatment at the |
hands OF its political governors and en-
tirely hopeless OF reform
I'm two ways and those forced upon |
the politicians of the city by the citizens, |
we nave made step forward. We
have taken our public schools away
from the old local school boards. which |
were jest and a mockery and have |
provided something better And we |
have done away with our hribe-taking /
City Council and have substituted a |
form of government, which. |
though it has failed in many ways, is |
at least an advance over the old method. |
probably a city manager, could he |
be given free hand, would solve |
many of our troubles But, after all, the |
troubles are fundamental; they are Of |
the people themselves.
"Too Busy Industrialy"
I'VE are too busy industrialy to be
willing to take any political responsi. |
bilities, We are not money.seekers so
much as we are hard workers Great |
fortunes are made in Pittsburgh But |
when, as now and then happens. the |
owner OF such fortune enters the politi- |
cal life of a city"
Her words instantly brought to mind |
The personality of f.. V. Babcock. million |
aire lumberman, the Penrose candidate !
for the mayoralty, but as Mrs. Rinehart |
had refused to express an unqualified |
opinion of any of the candidates / did |
not interrupt her She went on:
When the owner of such a fortune |
enters the political life Of the city it is |
to further his own ends and not with |
any altruistic motives. We have men in |
this city, big men. who could step for. |
ward and put the community on a bust. |
ness basis il they would. But they will |
not. They are slothful citizens"
Mrs. Rinehart that sounds pretty |
cynical Haven't you any hope for a |
civic awakening"
1T not only sounds cynical. it Is |
cynical" she replied. 1T is the truth. |
know of nothing which can wake the |
decent citizens of Pittsburgh to action |
which can secure clean municipal gov |
ernment for them. We are at the part. |
ing OF the ways today, but / have no |
hope that the community will realize |
this. Either we will go ahead or we will |
fall back. Cities do not stand still, And |
The time has gone by when a city will
flourish against the handicap OF misman.
agement, broken promises, graft and in
efficiency. An efficient executive in the
chair can today either make
or break the city. But, as have said
no one of the candidates seems to meas.
ure up TO the standards which Pittsbureb
should set today. And | do not know
where such man is to be found"
To "Take 1t Lying Down"
spoke of the constantly recurring &c.
sertion. which had been made TO me
while I'm Pittsburgh, that there EXISTS
an enormously powerful underworld y,
police-protected vice, whose tribute %
the bipartisan machine organization IVA,
so great that neither Mr.. Babcock nor
Mr.. Magee would attempt to disturb .,
And 1 asked II the attacks of the tbira
Doctor Kerr, would serve g.,
Mrs. Rinehart's opinion, 10 arouse decent
men and women Of Pittsburgh to action
mo" she said, as one states a com,
PuOnDlace. 81 panuot ipnaaiu-