Slum Reform 1. Slum Reform. Up to a few years ago the activity of our English municipalities was wrongly directed. Insanitary areas were bought up at a profit to the owners and a loss to the public. Slums were demolished and new dwellings erected. Even when this policy is well carried out it entails enormous expense on the ratepayers, and the public funds are insufficient to deal with more than a small part of the area involved. Public opinion is now, however, taking the view that the duty of local authorities is to supervise house building and not to undertake it themselves. But a more generally beneficial policy is for the municipality to call upon the owners of insanitary property to repair the same at their own expense or else to demolish it. This places the responsibility on the right shoulders. It prevents large profits being made out of insanitary property, and teaches owners to keep property in habitable repair for their own sakes as well as their tenants. 2. Slum Prevention. So far, this has been attempted on more or less philanthropic lines by encouraging and assisting the building of houses Slum by semi-philanthropic trusts and companies, and by local authorities. No attempt has been made to encourage and control in a comprehensive manner the very much larger number of people engaged in house building on ordinary business lines. The operations of this large body of house builders are at least ten times as large as those of all the semiphilanthropic societies and local authorities put together, and must of necessity always be so. It is in this direction that English town planners see their opportunity and find most encouragement for the future. English by-laws have hitherto failed to stop land sweating and jerry building, whilst they hamper and harass public spirited house purveyors. Town planners hope that local authorities may have power given them to meet this class of builders by reducing the cost of estate development, while carefully safeguarding the public health. They look forward to restricting the number of houses per acre and providing adequate open spaces and playgrounds. It is a legacy from the conditions of the past that our population is overcrowded on expensive land. We must bear in mind that there is only a given amount of light and air per acre. Thanks to our modern means of transit, the areas of cities may now be considerably enlarged. It is the duty of town planners to spread the people out, and at the same time, to do so according to a well advised and harmonious scheme. Let us remember that foresight in town planning should mean economy for the ratepayers as well as health and convenience. It should certainly appeal to a business community on economic grounds. Our aim should be to make it possible for house purveyors to provide the poorer classes with healthy cheerful homes at rents within their means, and yet receive themselves a fair return on the capital invested. GEORGE CADBURY writes from Bournville, near Birmingham, England: I hope that at the meetings of the National Municipal League and American Civic Association at Pittsburgh special attention will be given to Town Planning. It will take generations to undo the effects of the careless way in which towns have been planned, but an immediate remedy might be secured by making it compulsory that no new town or a new suburb of a town should be laid out without the plans being submitted to a central authority so as to secure open spaces, gardens to the cottages, etc. DR. PETER ROBERTS' letter is as follows: Pittsburg is typical of American industrial life. Here representatives of all European nations form a cosmopolitan army, marshalled every mornPittsburgh ing by a thousand gongs, whose harsh notes none fail a Typical to understand. The organizing genius of America sets City this polyglot mass to work, producing wealth which in magnitude, stands matchless in the history of the world. English is the language of the office and the administrative force, but as we descend the industrial pyramid, a Babel of tongues are heard in the lowest stratum. The dirty, disagreeable and dangerous tasks fall upon the Slav and Lithuanian, the Italian and the Greek; and these people pay the major part of the vicarious sacrifice incident to our industrial life. Serious sequences follow these conditions. The hospitals are filled with peoples of foreign tongues where they are patched up and sent forth crippled and maimed to continue the struggle for subsistence. Many foreigners lie in consecrated ground, the victims of carelessness and rush in industrial plants. How many are killed, how many are incapacitated, there is no way of knowing; for many of the incapacitated are shipped back to the fatherland, and the widows and orphans who mourn the dead weep on the hills of Galicia or in the fields of Italy; their wail is three thousand miles removed from the heart of humane America. These people get the lowest wage: $1.35 and $1.50 a day, and living in Pittsburgh! Is it any wonder they huddle together in cramped quarters where dirt and vermin gather and where the strong bodies of men, raised in the simple life of agricultural communities of Europe, break down. If the laws regulating the lodging conditions of horses and cows in Pennsylvania were enforced in the crowded sections of the Iron City, where foreigners live, they would not die of fever and disease as they do. And what is there in this rich city that breaks the dull monotony of the foreigner's lot? Drink, drink, that is all. It is the only outlet; cut it off, and there is nothing left this indispensable fertilizer of Pittsburgh wealth but sleep, which is far from peaceful under conditions above stated. This sluggish mass of humanity, so docile, so patient, so uncomplaining, does not Pittsburgh owe something to it? Why should not his sufferings and death be recorded; why should he be left the victim of unscrupulous landlords, industrial runners, and legal pirates? Is there not a body of philanthropic men in the city, ready and able to champion this man and see that industrial and social justice be done him? In his dirt and beer, we have forgotten that he has an æsthetic side. Give him an opportunity to sing and dance, to exhibit his works of art and tell us tales of his youth, and the life of Slav and Lett, of Italian and Greek, will be happier; and the reaction will be felt in the life of this thriving industrial center. TUESDAY MORNING SESSION. Tuesday, November 17, 1908. The third session of the convention was held in the Chamber of Commerce rooms. The meeting was called to order by Mr. H. W. D. English of Pittsburgh, former president of the Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. THE CHAIRMAN: I have been asked to preside at this meeting until the arrival of Mr. Deming, chairman of the executive committee. This is the annual business meeting, as you know, of the National Municipal League and the first business will be the report of the secretary. THE SECRETARY: Mr. Chairman: The report of the secretary will be very brief. His review which was given yesterday afternoon covers that phase of the work which relates to the activities of the League in connection with the development of the cities throughout the past year. The report prepared in abstract yesterday afternoon will be printed in full in the Proceedings which are sent to all the members. And let me take this opportunity of saying that everything that is said and done at the annual meetings of the National Municipal League is stenographically reported, and after being carefully edited is printed in the annual volumes, and these volumes are sent to the members of the League. It is interesting to note in this connection that these volumes have been very widely used and that the earlier editions are all exhausted and it is very difficult to get them. So any of you who possess copies of other volumes better keep them, for two reasons. First of all, they are valuable for themselves, The and secondly they have a very considerable commercial value, originally selling for a dollar and a half, some are now bringing seven dollars and eight dollars. So you see you have a very good investment whichever way you look at it. The second phase relating to the detail work of the League of the past year will be covered by the executive committee report which Mr. Deming will present upon his arrival. That will go into the details of membership and the various activities of the league. Therefore I will not trespass upon that portion of his work. Proceedings. The treasurer's report which will be presented by Mr. Burnham of Philadelphia will give you in detail the work which has been done along those lines during the past year. Open I want to say, that immediately following this meeting there will be a discussion of two important problems in which all who are present are invited to remain here and participate if the spirit so moves them. And I want to take this opportunity, while I am on my feet, to bid you again to spread the news that all the meetings, both of the League and of the Association, are open to the public. I gather from some of the inquiries made of me by Pittsburgh people that they are under the impression that our meetings are executive and not open to the general public. That is not so. We are very glad to have with us at all our sessions all who are interested in any phase of the municipal problem. The question of participation in discussion is dependent upon the time at our disposal. Some of the programs are very full, too full, some people say, but you must remember that this municipal problem has so many phases, and there are so many active men and women who are participating in its solution that it is impossible to make up a program of moderate size if it is expected to cover all the various features. The same is true of all the work of the League. THE CHAIRMAN: The next business will be the report of the treasurer, to be read by Mr. George Burnham, Jr., of Philadelphia. Mr. Burnham then presented the following report. The fiscal year of the League begins April 1, due to our former custom of holding the annual meeting in May. It is therefore impossible to Treasurer's present a complete report at this time that is "up to date." For the year ending March 31, 1908, the receipts were $10,926.89. This includes a balance over from the previous year of $924.46. The expenditures were $9758.76, leaving a balance on hand, April 1, of $1168.13. For the current year, up to November 12, the receipts have been $6031.95 and the expenditures $6159.69, the balance in your treasurer's hands being $1040.39. So far as your treasurer can judge the revenues of the League will be somewhat less than last year and it is hoped that the expenditures will not be materially larger than heretofore. The business depression, which we all believe is disappearing, was probably responsible for the slight decrease in our receipts. Apparently it did not have the same effect on our expenditures. Respectfully submitted, GEORGE BURNHAM, JR., The Report for the year April 1, 1907, to April 1, 1908, is as follows: TREASURER'S REPORT GEORGE BURNHAM, JR., TREASURER In account with the National Municipal League April 1, 1908. THE CHAIRMAN: You have heard the report of the treasurer, what is your pleasure. DR. CHIRURG: I move that the report be accepted and approved. THE CHAIRMAN: In the absence of Mr. Deming, who has not arrived yet, we will pass the report of the Executive Committee and go on to the elec 1 On motion of Mr. Burnham, the Executive Committee has provided for an audit of this account at the close of the fiscal year March 31, by a professional accountant.—EDITOR. |