The sun., 1919-10-26
DEFENDS TENEMENT.
HOUSE DEPARTMENT.
T. A. Hart Contends It's Adolf
ton Would Be "POsitive
Danger" to City.

Replying to demands made by the
Real Estate Board of New York for
stoppage of waste in useless and ex-
travagant city administration depart
ments, Thomas A. Hart, secretary of
the housing committee of the Brooklyn
Bureau of Charities, declares that the
charges Of extravaganza may be tusti-
fed but takes exception to the sugges-
ton by the Real Estate Board that the
Tenement House Department should be
abolished. He says such a step would
be a positive danger" to the city.
Mr.. Harris letter to THE SUN and the
Real Estate Board follows:
your committee, or any other, in an
endeavor to prevent extravaganza by
city administrations should have the
wholehearted support of public spirited
citizens. This ii will not obtain, how
ever. as long as II Issues such loose
statements to the press as the one which
appeared in the Sunday papers on Sep
TENDER 81.
THE references to the Tenement
House Department are so at variance
with the facts and so III considered that
they impeach the soundness of all the
rest Of your criticism.
TT is quite true, as you say, that the
CID law tenements have been brought up
T. minimum standard and the. out
rageous conditions of these tenements
prior to 1902 under the joint supervis-
ion of various departments is the best
argument why we should not return to
the old plan. These conditions called the
Tenement House Department into ex-
istence. and. working single minded TO
the end that there should be better liv-
Ing conditions. 1t has, through its con-
slant inspecting, brought the old law ten
ement up to the present standard and
has successfully maintained 1t. This
has only been possible through the
powers which were given to the Tene-
ment House Department at Its incep-
ton.
Consolidation Won't Help.
Il hold no brief for the Tenement
House Department as such, but 1 do
stand emphatically fer the work Il is
doing. If 1t should be Incorporated with
any other department, then that depart
ment would have to be invested with the
same powers that the Tenement House
Department possesses To say that they
now possess Them and to say that they
now do the same work, is contrary to the
truth. 1t is true that the same plans
ale submitted to the building bureaus
as to the Tenement House Department,
but while by one they are inspected from
the structural viewpoint, they are by
the latter department considered from
the point of view of the living conditions
OF the people who occupy them-an en-
tuely different thing. as you will admit.
You say that existing tenements
are subject to constant inspec-
ton by the Department of Health and
the Bureau OF Fire Prevention You err
absolutely. There is little. If any. over
tapping through inspections in tenements
ny the Department OF Health, while as
Tor the Bureau Of Inspection, although
1t was given power to enter. examine and
Older changes necessary to provide
proper fire protection in buildings, tene-
Jnents were specifically exempted from
its jurisdiction.
The Tenement House Department it.
self takes care of this work. In fact. II
is doing work of general inspection
and supervision which no other depart
men Is doing, and II it were advisable
for good and sufficient reasons to give
this work over to other departments, the
personnel. clerical md inspection. would
have to be proportionately increased, so
there would be no saving. Incidentally
the budget for the Tenement House De-
parment last year was s623,000. For the
coming year it is expected to be a little
less. This does not quite reach your