The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-03-11

ever before in Chicago's histC
ancient mansions, are a huge
pile Of decay, filth and disease.
Rents have been raised to an
alarming and unwarranted de-
gree by INSCRIPTIONS land
lords who do not hesitate to
take advantage of the tenants
misery. Every class in the city
has been hard hit, except the
very wealthy.
White collar clerks, women Office
workers, Negroes, laborers, and FAM
lilies of all occupations in moderate
circumstances are forced to pay ex-
IRENE prices for shoddy, uncomfort-
able and unsanitary rooms. Many
cannot secure accommodations at any
price, except with difficulty. These
are the facts revealed by The DAILY
WORKERS Investigation of the
homes of the "City Beautiful"
Plague Spots Menace Thousands.
"Chicago has many unsanitary, un-
comfortable homes which are veri-
table plague spots to the life of the
community" the United Charities,
which handles hundreds of housing
problems each month, tells us.
Sew people who live in easy cir
cumstances have any conception Of
the terrific hardships, the hopeless
misery, with which thousands of hu.
man beings are forced to put up in
this so-called modern and progress
sive Chicago Of ours, because of the
lack Of modern, clean, sanitary
homes.
"The menace of these poorly con-
structed old buildings is augmented
in some instances by the attitude of
scrouging landlords toward their ten
ants"
The reports flock in that there is
an acute shortage of houses in Chi
cago. "Chicago is now confronted
with a most serious housing prob
lem," we read in an Association Of
Commerce circular, "and everywhere
evils will arise if we do not act to
prevent them"
Why, in view of the recent build
ing booms, should there be a short
age Of houses this year? The rec
ords of the city of department Of
health show that the year 1928 es-
tablished a record for building con.
struction in the history Of Chicago
Last year there were 15,494 build
ings erected at cost Of 1929, 1872,
as compared with 1888 buildings
erected at a cost of $83,261, 710, in
1914. And yet Edwin c. Jones, A.
nancial secretary Of the United Char
tiles of Chicago, tells ME that this
week, on the West Size, woman,
six months pregnant, was found
starving in q bare hayloft with her
four children. Unfortunately there
was not even hay in the lift to fur
nish the stricken family with warmth
They are now being supported by
charity.
Building Below Normal.
The Illinois Society of Architects
partially explains this seeming con-
tradiction Of the tremendous profits
in building with the terrible suffer
ings Of the people who are huddled
into Chicago's overcrowded and
poorly maintained dwellings. "Much
has been heard about a building boom
in Chicago" the society finds, "but
a comparison If the figures of the
number of building permits issued in
Chicago, the total frontage covered,
and the estimated cost of buildings
constructed for the ast fifteen years,
indicates that the construction work
for 1922 in Chicago is only about
normal when the changed purchasing
power c. the dollar of 1922 is COM
pared to the purchasing power of
the dollar in 1924 and previous years.
It is obvious then, that there is still
deficit to be made up in addition
to the new buildings necessary for
normal increased requirements"
/ When asked to explain the reason
for the acute housing shortage, in
relation to the biggest building year
in Chicago's history, it was said at
the Offices of the Association Of
Commerce that "a large percentage
Of the building has been Of the
expensive apartment house type.
Builders have not, in the past few
years, put their money into housing
accommodations for the moderate
salaried man. Consequently there is
housing shortage among the work.
ing people and clerks" It is con-
servatively estimated by the bond.
ing and mortgage companies that at
the end of 1922 in Chicago there was
shortage of 1882 apartments and
dwellings below the normal number
needed to house the population in
1923.
The cat is let out of the bag by
Weber's Weekly Of Feb. 9, which ex-
plains some Of the true causes Of
the present Overwhelming housing