The New York herald., 1922-10-22
Try in Vain to
+. CopeWi ithLiving
Costs and Work
ing Conditions In
the Great Cities
By JOHN LATHRoP.

a slight decrease In the residential
population Of Manhattan Island. Pro-
test was so vocal that it was heard
225 miles away in Washington. De-
-mand was registered for revision of
the figures. The reply was that the
return was correct.
But not all New Yorkers Joined In
that protest. Some, who for years had
foreseen that such movement would
eventually take place. rejoiced and
tried to show the people that it was
not unfortunate but socially healthful,
that there be a trek to the more open
spaces by people who were jammed
into seriously restricted Manhattan
areas. The effort failed. That un-
reasoning resistance by American city
folk against the slightest intimation of
decrease OF population prevented all
but a fraction Of the people from
sensing the social truth.
Then the world war came, and the
situation changed over night. New
York was packed from cellar to gar
ret. The State housing laws were
necessarily ignored. The authorities
permitted violation of the housing
laws by hundreds Of thousands. Parts
Of New York architecturally had been
declared by such as Arnold w. Brun-'
ner to be "a riot" But as the thou
sands crowded into the city In those
war times. 1t became houseingwise al
most mob. Rents rose. Goods cost
more. All auxiliary expenses Of living
and doing business increased--and all
rapidly-untn as one went about among
his acquaintances, or made business
visits he heard above all other things
the incessant discussion OF these things
And it wasn't only the fellow Of low
wage or salary who indulged in this
tale of woe. One remembers that even
those men Of the financial district who
appeared to have all the money in the
world Joined the Third avenue and
Avenue A walters against the living
conditions in the greater city. The
vote was unanimous.
Newspaper Columns Throw
Light on the Difficulty
Why these things? The answer was
being every day printed in the New
York newspapers from a dozen angles.
I took the files Of THE NEW York HER
AID this week and ran through them.
Nearly half Of the foreign trade of
the nation now passes through the
port of New York district" a headline
said on October 1s. "Sixty per cent,
Of the foreign trade Of the North
Atlantic district moves through New
York port" so the story went on.
Then there were tales Of congested
streets, which made movement OF all
kinds slow, and. therefore, expensive
an up-Stater in town complained that
he took taxi at Grand Central to
hurry to the financial district and 1t
required fifty minutes to get to Wall
Street. He missed his return train
home. Trucking costs up" another
headline reported. because Of street
traffic congestion"
Last summer hundreds Of cars Of
foodstuffs, fresh from the Southern
fields, were dumped on the Jersey fats
because Of the impossibiiity of getting
them over onto Manhattan Island
and, as a result. food prices remained
up, the railways lost the freight money
lost the percentage they would have
collected had they been sold here. and
Mrs Jones and Mrs. Smith and her
neighbors In New York carried home
from the markets less actual food than
they needed for their families because
Of all Of these things.
There were q dozen other matters
involved. Oliver Walker. representing
Pacific coast lumber interests. told me
that more than half Of the several
billions Of feet Of lumber sold In an
area within fifty miles Of City Hall
was used on Manhattan Island for
manufacturing boxes. containers, arti-
cles Of commerce. while all the time
up the superb Fifth avenue--par ex-
cellence the most brilliant city street
In the world-marched the army Of
wearing apparel makers. invading that
which had been the bon ton shopping
district for generations. More than
billion dollars Of realty values were
wiped out. SO intimated Lawson W.
Purdy. premier authority official for
such matters, by that invasion.
Army of New Arrivals
Is Augmented Every Day
+ Steadily through all of these times
also marched into New York city the
thousands on thousands OF newcomers.
knowing In advance they would find
here these crowded conditions. No
one understood what caused that re-
marixable cityward movement. It was
seen I'm all American cities, so that
whereas the 1900 census showed less
than half the American people lived
In cities, the 1920 census revealed that
more than half had by that time be-
come residents of urban communities.
Likewise, every traveller In Europe
witnessed precisely the same social
phenomena. London, Paris, Berlin,
Warsaw and all of the greater cities
received the increasing throngs and
became social madhouses, viewed from
the standpoint OF housing. living costs
and comfort.
Protests against the pressure OF costs
in sustaining families in New York
city resounded on all sides. Wages
and salaries began to fall toward pre-
war levels, and around the edges Of
family living costs there were signs OF
similar decreases. But, by and large,
the New Yorker realized that did he
not bring home to his wife and babies
about as much as he did during the
inflated war period he would barely
get by" and stave Off the Sheriff.
Labor resisted the attempt to de-