The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-03-19
HoteI sharka jump Rents.


A few Of the deals manipulated by
the real estate firms are q raise Of
rents as follows: the Donohue block
on the corner of 44th and Wabash
has recently been raised in one jump
from $50 to $S1; a three room apart
meht on Grand Boulevard near 35th
street is renting for S81 per month,
while on the same block a similar
three room fiat is being rented to
whites at S45 per month; another
apartment on this block has been
raised from S25 to $50 within a short
space Of time; six room house on
South Michigan Blvd. in the 46th
block is renting to Negroes for S120
per month, while on the same block
another six room house is renting to
whites at S72 per month; in the
Mecca building, fats were at first
renting at from So to S25 per month,
while now the cheapest two room fiat
rents at S42 per monsA.
1t must be born in mind that the
profits reaped by these real estate
people are especially easy picking
because the landlords are almost
never known to make repairs for
Negro tenant. The writer walked
along Dearborn, State, Wabash, Fed
eral and the other principal streets
of the South Side, as far South as
46th street. He counted seven large
dead rats lying soaked into the mud
as he walked along. The streets are
seldom cleaned of snow or rubbish we
are told by residents. Large sections
of these streets are nothing but mud
roads, miles of them having no paw
ing Of any kind. What mas Alderman
jackson to say about the condition of
the streets in his ward?
Rats and Reaches Around.
when l moved into my house /
could not even draw any water" we
were told ut 3241 South Wabash. "If
my son had not been a plumber
would have had to pay several hun
dred dollars repairing the plumbing
in my house. / had to do all the
decorating, cleaning and repairing
myself. The landlord never thinks
of doing this work"
Chicago has in the colored quar-
tiers, over 10000 habitations 'front.'
ing on alleys that are n distinct
menace, being novels, not homes.
Chicago has an alley population Of
$1,000 people.
Rats and cockroaches are the rule
in houses in the Negro quarter. Take
for example a case reported to the
DAILY WORKER by the United
Charities. A Negro family includ-
ing seven children, was found
"huddled into four small, dark
rooms overrun by rats and cock.
reaches. The rent was raised eight
dollars per month. The husband is
i'll in a sanatarium with tuberculo-
sis. His wife, forced to move because
of the raise, found the cheapest
place $40 per month, and the real
estate men laughed at her when she
mentioned her seven children. She
has gone up one street and down
another, wheeling a buggy with two
babies in it, looking for For Rent
signs.
when the landlord hears that
there are seven children, he will not
rent her at any price and she comes
home thoroly discouraged"
This is what the Negro real estate
Companies are doing to Chicago's
Negro working men and women.
This is the price that is being paid
in order to enable members Of the
real estate fraternity to live in man.
sions and send their favored chill
dren-not seven by the way--to Sc
lect colleges. This is why the Ne
groes of Chicago organized the Ne
gro Tenants League, and why every
Negro in Chicago should turn out
to the mass meeting in Oddfcllows
Hall on the evening Of March 31st.