Evening star., 1934-06-24
Continued From First Page.)


a statistical picture of the section
under study.
The information so obtained from
Official sources was startling in its in
contrnvertible proof of the unhoIy
alliance between bad housing and
dangerous social conditions. Equally
shocking was the account of the price
toe taxpayer pays Tor the perpetuation
= slum conditions.
A peculiarly significant report was
found in the assessed values OF land
and buildings in the precinct over the
period covered by three fiscal years.
For the year 1933-1934, the total value
of taxable land in the precinct was
S55,556,521. while buildings on that
land we're valued at S66, I'll 400. This
almost equal division of value between
land and structures could mean only
one of two things: That the precinct
contained an undeveloped area OF
considerable extent, or that it held an
appreciable number of dilapidated
structures on valuable land. AS the
area is without any vacant land OF
great dimensions. the second conclu-
sion-that its structures are of COM
paratively little value-could not be
escaped.
The study established the fact that
the second precinct in 1888 was re-
sponsible for more than 20 per cent
of the crimes committed in the Dis
trict. 1t required 2S.4 per cent of
money appropriated by the District for
policing, correctional institutions, care
of juvenile delinquentS, free hospital
t,6
lures. To these purposes a total OF
S1,483,145 was spent in and for the
precinct in 1888.
Boys Are Social Victims.
Examination of the addresses OF
prisoners confined in the District Jail
and in the District Workhouse and
Reformatory revealed a very large
number from the alleys and alley
blocks of the second precinct. Off
cials of the National Training School
for Boys and the National Training
School for Girls stated in each case
that so per cent of the minors under
their care came from homes in that
area.
In some cases it was impossible to
break down District expenditures by
police precincts; but a conservative
computation of 20 per cent for fire
protection. public health activities, in
spection and sewage disposal yielded
a total of sl.455,734 spent for the
benefit of the second precinct in 1888
in addition to the 81, 1,483.145 definitely
established for other services.
1t must be noted that these compu-
20 inn 1t1In nt nf
pense for public education. highways,
parks or recreation facilities. Yet the
appropriations thus classified exceeded
the 1888 receipts in real estate taxes
by S377000.
A considerable share of this tax
burden is carried by the apartment
houses and business properties in the
western section of the precinct. 1t Is
Conservatlvely estimated that the tax
PAYERS of the District are pouring
S500000 a year into the second pre-
cinct, not to improve conditions per-
manently. but to keep them from
getting worse
On this basis the cost of the alley
clearance program is amply justified.
The wiplng out of the crime breeding
alleys of the second precinct un-
doubtedly will increase the values of
surrounding property, and by decen-
traliZation of the criminal elements
the cumulative force of evil in that
area.
Other Alleys Offend.
This statement of existing alley
conditions and their effect on the
public purse is not intended to imply
that similar conditions do not exist in
alley areas of other portions of the
District. In some respects the alleys
of the second precinct are superior to
those in other neighborhoods. After
all, the 46 alleys Of that precinct have
43 homes with bathtubS while the A
alleys of the fourth precinct, embrace
ing Southwest Washington. can boast
only bathtubs in 385 occupied dwell
ings. The second precinct was Sc
lected for study because of the conges-
ton of population, in which point it
surpasSes any area of comparable size
In the District
For the reasons detailed in these
paragraphs, the alleys have been tried
and convicted and sentenced to die.
Some of the facts contained herein
have been known for years, and the
failure tC begin the work of alley elm
ination at an earlier time is indeed
cause of wonderment. The District
today is paying the price of this delay,
as other communities have paid for
allowing slum conditions to exist with
out correction.
The inhabited alley problem in
Washington was recognized more than
half a century ago, when the danger
GUS conditions on the interiors of the
Capitals squares, incident to the great
influx of eX-slaveS after the Civil War,
had become a matter of public COM
ment. The Board of Health, in its
report for 1877, directed attention to
these conditions in words that, to the
shame of Washington, have not lost
their timelinesS:
No meaner cabins for temporary or
permanent shelter can be found than
some our wretched poor are born and
exist and die in here at the Capital
OF the United States. And, strange as
1t may seem, none SO mean that they
have not an owner mean enough to
charge rent for them.
Down in the alleys, below grade
with combination roofs of tar, felt
shingles, rags. tin. gravel boards and
holes; floors damp and broken: walls
begrimed by smoke and age, so domi-
ciled are families with all the dignity
OF tenants having rent to pay"
Board of Health Acts.
At the time those words were writ
ten an aggressive crusade was being
waged by the Board of Health to
clean the city of the most offensive
of these alley deathtraps. But the
regulation under which the board
STEAMSHIPS