The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-02-02
CONTINUED from page ~
tain only a quarter Of our total
population.

The Bigger the City, the Worse
the Suffering
Mr.. George Cove was che Di>
rector Of Investigations Of the New
Work State Housing and Regional
Planning Commission, which has
just completed a thorogoing survey
of the housing crisis in the Empire
State. In discussing the housing
shortage with the writer, Mr.. Cove
said that his commissions investi-
cation definitely indicated "that
the larger the city, the more serious
is its housing problem, and the more
difficult is it to meet the housing
demands Of the great mass of peo-
pie" High rents, taxes, and trans
! portation all play their part in Gg-
gravating the housing difficulties
here.
Thus the best picture Of the hous-
ing crisis, which is national, the
best view of the shortage Of homes
from all important angles, can be
obtained from a review Of the con-
ditions in New York.
Millions Of Workers Not Provided
For
According 20 the latest official
census figures, there are $3.50, 636
people living in New York City.
Last June there were, in New York
City, 103,387 tenement houses, hav-
ing 1,036,S70 apartments. These
apartments house 4,353, $50 people.
If one should entirely disregard the
fitness Of the houses inhabited by
the mass OF workers, and even as
sumo that the shanties in the squat
lid alleys and the wretched novels
now inhabited by the workingmen,
are satisfactory homes, then there
would be still a lack of housing IA
cilities for at least 2,213,116 peo-
pie.
At the hearings, conducted by
the New York Housing Commits
sion, it was shown that these fig
ures translated themselves into a
lack of homes for no less than 1861
903 families. One of the most ex-
perienced social investigators in New
York, who has had many years of
contact with the working class dis
tricts, and who has appeared before
the Housing Commission, told me
that the situation was really much
worse. Said Miss B: "At
least five times this number of peo-
pie are today compelled to live in
houses whose conditions cannot be
endured for long time. Many
families are forced to double up in
apartments built for half the num-
Der Of people, because they cannot
find rooms that they can afford to
pay for"
In many sections Of the city the
housing conditions remind one of
the miserable shacks that crowd the
raw mining camps and the con-
gested steel and oil communities.
Testifying before the commission,
President Harry r. Ely, Of the Fede-
ration Of Tenants Associations
cited a case where no less than
forty-two tenants occupied one ten
ement in three eight hour shifts for
sleeping.
Vacancies Decrease Steadily
The number of houses available
for occupation by the mass of work
ers is decreasing steadily. At the
same time the population of New
York City is increasing at the rate
of about 100000 year.
One of the most comprehensive
investigations of the rising short
age of homes for the great mass of
workers was made by the Federal
Reserve Bank of New York. This
institution, which is one of the
strongest champions Of the big in
terests, and whose service to the
employing class no one can ques-
ton, made its report public last
November, to the effect that: SIN
quiry among apartment house rent
ing agencies in this city, as to rents
following October /, indicated a con-
tinued shortage Of medium and low
priced apartments, and no reduction
in rents, which generally average
g per cent higher than a year
ago."
The additional construction in the
last few years was admitted by DR.
Lindsay, representing the wealthiest
New York landlords before the
Housing Commission to be of nc
+ kebefit to the average worker who
4 could never attempt to pay more
than $40 to $12 for a room. Be-
sides, the Commission looked into
the character of about 200 of these
vacancies and found that "most Of
the tenements visited had been va
cant for long period and were
either abandoned as unfit for use
or held for higher rental than pre-
vailed in the neighborhood for sim.
liar apartments"
interviewing several worker-ten-
ants in the Bronx, Harlem, Chelses
and East Side districts, / proposed
the following questions and met with
replies which shed startling infor-
nation on the critical stage the
housing shortage has assumed fol-
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
IA SLIP COVERS !
= Including Labor and Material