HOUSING PROBLEM. The increase of crowded tenement s and unsanitary shun districts which resulted from the rapid growth of cities in the latter half of the nineteenth century unitised the philanthropist and the public to the realiza tion that they must solve the problem of housing the working classes 71 nil the poor. In 'clew of the fact that nnveh 4.'11101:Isis is placed upon the eltaracteristic feature of „N mei-icon architect lire— the iniddte-class home with its many and conveniences—the housing problem as a ques tion of environment for the individual is taking on larger proportions than a mere tenement-house reform. Comfortable housing involves questions of heat. light, sanitr(tion, and conveniences, bet ter facilities for which the increased production and the inventions of the nineteenth century are continually putting within rcaeli of the Masses. In small cities, in rural industrial centres, and especially in the expanding suburbs, the kind of housing foeilities provided are recognized as an important element in the standard of living.
Previous to the nineteenth century little at tention was paid to the homes of the common people. Ancient and medbeval history tells of great per.sonalities, and we possess to-day tombs and ormples, palaces and arches, churches and castles. as relies of the past civilization; but the daily life of the people is not recorded, and has passed away with the rude hovels and noisome dens in which they herded. Southern nations easily adapted their dwellings to the climate, al though extreme squalor frequently existed. Beal Cl nifort, however, was unknown to the northern nations until the great merchant princes intro dueed into Europe the conveniences familiar to tonthern potentates. The means by which mod ern life is made comfortable are the distinctive features of Western civilization, especially of the United States; but certain conditions have pre vented the working classes from sharing these benefits. The workman must live near his work. The demand for property in the centre of cities for business purposes has in•mised the Value of the land. and also lessened the amount available for homes for the workers. As the demand for dwellings exceeded the supply, it became profit able to subdivide and sublet old mansions, stores, or cottages built when the city was a. country town. These buildings became in blocks of buildings. with no provisions for venti lation, sanitation, or conveniences, and often one hydrant supplied a. whole house with water. .As the demand increased. the rents rose and more people were erowded into a few rooms. Forty per
cent. is said to have been an average return on such property, upon which no repairs were made. To reap this harvest, badly constructed buildings were erected, often by ex-tenants who recognized the opportunity to make money. All available space was used. Back-to-hack cottages were put on the same lot. The worst type of tenement is clue 'double-decker dumbbell,' peculiar to New York. In English manufacturing towns, small cottages—ro•s upon rows in narrow alleys— were built on leased land. No unnecessary ex iptulitures were made, as the houses were in tended to fall when the lease expired. (Consult Engels, The Condition of the Working Clas.sN in England in IRVI.) Damp cellars, dark halls, vermin, filth, lack of repair, no ventilation or adequate water-sunply pre characteristic of all slum dwellings. Not only does a whole family often occupy one room, but sometimes several families. Boarders arc taken to help pay ex orbitant rents, and the rooms are rented in the daytime for manufacturing purposes. The mor tality in such dwellings is very high, the prevail ing diseases being typhoid fever, diarrhea, and all contagious diseases. Tuberculosis is char acteristic of the tenement.
For the individual, bad housing means un cleanliness, sickness, lack of privacy, and often contact with criminals and prostitutes. This causes the corruption of the young, lack of self respect, discouragement, intemperance, and low morality. In New York City it was estimated that out of a population of 255,033 only 306 had access to a bath. Ordinarily the most primitive provisions for cleanliness are lacking. home life, with normal parental and marital relations, is impossible. Furthermore, every working man and woman loses, on an average, twenty days a year on account of sickness. Economists are agreed that where more than 20 per cent. of the income of the head of a family goes for rent, as is often the case among the poor, privations must be en dured along other lines of consumption, espe cially in food. The districts where overcrowding and bad housing prevail are centres of crime, vice, and epidemics, and impose upon society not only a large bill for the maintenance of hospitals, almshouses, and prisons, but greatly lessen pro duction through the inefficiency of workers. It is estimated that the working population of Eng land between the ages of fifteen and sixty-five lose 20,000,000 weeks in a year. To this loss in working time must be added the inferior quality of the work of people enfeebled in mind and body by poor food and unsanitary homes.