The news scimitar. (Memphis, Tenn.) 1907-1926, 1920-10-22
The Housing Problem.

u
problem IS acute. japan riots over
rice and rents; South Africa camps
OH the streets OF Cape Town, and
there is trouble over the hut tax in
Sierra Leone. France Is troubled
over it, and the shortage grips all
England. OF course the war is the
great cause for the world shortage,
but there are other causes as well;
there are so many wheels within
| wheels that the responsible cog is
hard to locate. Beyond doubt the
two causes most responsible for this
lamentable state after the world war
are the shyness of capital and the
demands of labor.
Dark as 1t is, there is little light.
Constructive work on varying scales
has been inaugurated in various
countries. Sad to relate, most of the
constructive signs are In Europe and
not in our country, though there is
a little light here. too. The pity is
that it As so little. Germany mani
tested concern over the housing of
her working classes as early as 1892
In that year, too Belgium started to
inaugurate policy of homes for
workers that she pursued up to the
very hour Of the German invasion.
Englands garden cities, Letch-
worth, Wen Hall and Greton, have
gained worldwide fame. However,
these were started long ago and are
now forming models for other COM
munities all over the globe. Eng
land has tried 10 grapple with the
problem while we have done moth
Ing. As tho housing committee OF
the reconstruction commission of
New York in a report states: Every
civilized country, excepting the Unit
cd States, had some form OF con-
structive legislation before tho war
every other nation is attempting to
solve the problem BY the construc-
tive action of the state"
This commission puts the high cost
Of land first as deterrent in home
building, and continues; ITO great
extent the problem OF housing is the
land problem An influx OF popula-
ton augments the value Of land and
newcomers pay the increase in
rent" An instance Of this kind is
the city of LackawanEa, Pa. Before
the city was created the farm land
on which it now stands was worth
$4,000. Now tho land value, ex-
elusive of the steel plant there, is
S9,Ol6,000 Spectators have bene-
fitted by the gain. while most of the
population is crowded into dintyy
novels and large areas Of land re-
main vacant
II is felt by many that the govern
ment-taking pattern by nations
abroad-coud profItably spare a few
minutes from politics to look into
and remedy housing conditions. II
it can erect elaborate marble post
offices for Hog Hollow and still more
elaborate docks on Cow creek, IT
might raise a few modest homes for
workers, more than half Of whom
get less than SIS a week, according
20 the report by the Bridgeport
Conn, chamber OF commerce.
Manchester, Eng, has the courage
Of her convictions, and her working
men are formulating plan to work
out her own destiny. In that city of
thrift and spindles there is a demand
for 10000 houses. with the approval
Of the Operative BricklayeTs' So
cIety," n group OF workers known as
the building commission offered to
erect 1000 houses for artisans. All
tho building guilds have offered their
hearty corporation. This Is ray
of hope where all was darkness.
We can build better and faster,
and free from profItcering condI-
TONS" AN official claims, Under