HB REPORT OF THE NEW YORK CITY COMMISSION ON CONGESTION OF POPULATION . rausmittec to the MAYOR and Tllii BOARD OF ALDERMEN FEBFvUARY 28, 1911 NEW YORK: LECOl > fclR PRESS COMPANY No. 51 Vesbt Stxeet. 1911. GIFT OF REPORT OF THE NEW YORK CITY COMMISSION M ON CONGESTION OF POPULATION Transmitted to the MAYOR and THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN FEBRUARY 28, 1911 NEW YORK: l-KCOUV'ER PRESS COMPANY, Xo. 51 \'esev Street. ]9il. GIF. NEW YORK CITY COMMISSION ON CONGESTION OF POPULATION. The Hon. Jacob A. Cantor, Chairman. Alderman James E. Campbell, Vice-Chairman. Alderman Stephen Callaghan, Alderman Alexander Dujat, Alderman William Fink, Alderman James Hamilton, Alderman Tristam B. Johnson, Alderman James J. Mulhearn, A-lderman W. Augustus Shipley, Alderman Edwin W. Sohmer, Alderman Louis Wendcl, Jr. John Adikes, Russell Bleecker, Clement J. Driscoll, Gilbert Elliott, John J. Flynn, Frank J. Goodnow, Allan Robinson, Charles Schaefer, Jr., Benjamin C. Marsh, Secretary. REPORT OF THE New York City Commission on Congestion of Population New York, February 28, 1911. To the Honorable WILLIAM J. GAYNOR, Mayor of The City of New York, and to the Honorable Board of Aldermen of The City of New York: Gentlemen — The New York City Commission on Congestion of Population was appointed by the Mayor May 17, 1910, in pursuance of the following resolution of the honorable Board of Aldermen of The City of New York, adopted April 12, 1910: Resolved, That his honor the Mayor be and he is hereby requested to appoint a commission of nineteen, of which there shall be ten members of the Board of Aldermen, viz.: three from the Borough of Manhattan, two each from the Boroughs of Brooklyn, The Bronx and Queens, and one from the Borough of Richmond, to- gether with such persons of known experience and prominence, not to exceed the number of nine, who shall prepare a comprehensive plan for the present relief and future prevention of congestion of population in The City of New York; that such Commission be authorized and empowered to employ such expert assistants as may be deemed necessary in the prosecution of the work, and that it shall report to the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen within ninety days after appointment by his honor the Mayor. By subsequent resolution of the Board of Aldermen, the time to make the report was extended to March 14, 1911. Upon the organization of your Commission it was deemed advisable to appoint the following committees in order to more effectively prosecute the investigations which the general problem required, and to make the inquiry as broad and as thor- ough as possible : 1. Committee on Parks, Playgrounds, Schools and Recreation Centres. 2. Committee on Streets and Highways. 3. Committee on Transit, Docks and Ferries. 4. Committee on Housing Conditions, Regulation of Buildings and locating New Settlements. 5. Committee on Factories. 6. Committee on Taxation. 7. Committee on Legislation. 8. Committee on Public Health. 9. Committee on Immigration. 10. Committee on Labor and Wages. 11. Committee on Charities. 12. Committee on Public Squares and Buildings. 13. Committee on Crime and Delinquency. The Commission as well as the various committees held a large number of meet- ings to which invitations were extended to all officials, individuals and societies, in- cluding experts, who had any information to impart and who it was believed possessed knowledge bearing on any or all subjects relating to the general problem, while the Commission itself made its own inquiries, examinations and investigations. In all, the Commission held twenty-one meetings and the committees fifty-one meetings. One hundred and sixty-four persons appeared, including heads of departments and num- erous City officers whose jurisdiction extended over some part of the work con- sidered by the Commission. A personal examination was conducted in the congested districts of Manhattan and The Bronx, together with a close inspection of the water- 343307 fronts and the waterways of all the boroughs. The attention of the Commission was directed to the extensive plant of the Bush Terminal Company in South Brooklyn as being the most recent and successful attempt to locate a new settlement for fac- tories, housing for persons employed therein, distribution of merchandise both by rail and water to serve as an object lesson as to what could be done in the way of remov- ing families from congested districts and furnishing them better and healthier housings elsewhere, by removing factories from the same congested neighborhood. While the field of investigation was extensive, as will be noted, it was deemed wise to cover every civic proposition which related directly or indirectly to the several problems under consideration. The statistics presented in this report were either official or were derived from the most trustworthy sources. The Commission therefore submits this report under five separate and distinct headmgs, namely : I. Conditions of Congestion of Population Generally Throughout the City. II. Effects of Congestion of Population and Room Overcrowding. III. Causes of Congestion and Room Overcrowding. IV. Methods Adopted both in This Country and in Foreign Countries to prevent Congestion of Population and Room Overcrowding. V. Recommendations for Relieving the Present and Preventing Future Con- gestion of Population and Room Overcrowding in This City. We also submit proposed legislative bills and aldermanic ordinances embodying such recommendations as in the judgment of the Commission will, if enacted into law, prove effective. We also submit the full reports of the various committees with their statements and recommendations to the Commission. The Commission have also much material which they have not presented but which is at the disposition of the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen. I. Conditions of Congestion of Population Throughout the City. It is necessary at the beginning of this report to distinguish between Jlconcjenlxa- tion" of population and "congestion" of population. __The former term implies the jpresence within a limited area of a large population ; the latter term, the overloading _of land. Thus it would be possible to have in the 209,218 acres of Greater New York 10,460,900 people with a density of only 50 to the acre throughout the City, or more than twice the present population. This would represent marked concentration of population, but with any even distribution of population throughout the five bor- oughs would not involve any congestion of population. New York City might have a much larger population within its present boundaries without any congestion. Congesti on of population is a term about the meaning of which there is undoubt- edly great difference of opinion. In this report the term will be used as indicative of _conditions of population which are conducive to insanitary or" immoral living. The sections in which such conditions exist will be designated as "Congested Sections." It may at the outset be stated that there is no legal limit set to the population which may exist in the City, with two exceptions : \\ First : Bj-^ the Factory Law at least 250 cubic feet of air must be provided for leach worker. I Second : The Tenement House Law requires that rooms in tenement houses shall not be so overcrowded that there shall be afforded less than 400 cubic feet of air to each adult and 200 cubic feet of air to each child under twelve years of age occupy- ing such rooms. While there are thus no legal limits set to the number of people who may either work or live in the City or any particular section thereof, the structural requirements nf the building law combined with certain requirements of the Tenement House Law, limit the population which may be housed in the most congested sections, if these laws are complied with. These limits are ordinarily : (1) A density of population of 1,300 to the acre (including within that area half the acreage of the streets upon which the house stands) in tenements six stories high, although double this density is lawful on the widest streets. (2) A floor area of 260 square feet and a space of 2,340 cubic feet for each apartment; that is, two rooms 7 by 10 feet, and one room 10 by 12 feet with a height of 9 feet, clear in all rooms, from floor to ceiling. (3) A lot occupancy of ninety per centum of corner lots and seventy per centum of interior lots and in exceptional cases of slightly more. (4) In six-story tenements under existing laws it is possible that only one room out of four will obtain an adequate supply of sunshine. These laws have a practical effect, however, only upon tenement houses. Thus it is possible to cover an entire plot of land adjacent to a tenement house by a factory or warehouse of almost any height. In this way a tenement house may be deprived not only of light but of ventilation, for the yards or shafts become enclosed ducts. In certain blocks in the Borough of Manhattan no through ventilation can be had by reason of the fact that these various buildings surround the tenement house. These limits to the population and to the requirements of tenement houses have been, it must be remembered, operative only since 1901. As the Tenement House Law passed that year was not retroactive in effect, the then existing conditions of conges- tion of population, so far as they exceeded the limits fixed by that law, were not changed. The result has been that in many sections conditions inferior to those sought to be secured by the existing law are still quite commonly to be found. Many thousands of the old type of tenement house are still standing in three Boroughs with many dark rooms due to the narrowness of light or vent shafts and courts, and the height of the buildings. A large proportion of this class of houses is located in the older and more densely populated sections of Manhattan. Some of these houses have the interior light or vent shafts covered with skylights, and others borrow the light for the interior rooms from the outer rooms through windows far too small properly to ventilate the outer rooms themselves. These efforts to limit by law congestion of population have, however, in many cases and in the most congested sections been nullified by the overcrowding of rooms beyond the legal limits. This overcrowding of rooms is to be found both in the tenement houses of the old and new type, and also in the rooms of one- and two-family houses, which under the present building laws need not be provided with any means of ventilation to the outer air. The requirement as to cubic air space which shall be provided for each person is so low that the seven (7) by ten (10) foot room which is permitted under the Tenement House Law is legally adequate for one adult and one minor under twelve. It is a striking fact borne out by the Commission's investigation that it would be possible to house practically all of the population of New York City with a normal increase for several decades in three-family tenements and two-family houses, and a large proportion of the families could have at least a small garden, but notwithstand- ing this possibility, conditions in New York are highly congested. In 1901 the greatest density of population in any borough of London was 182.3 per acre and for Greater London 14.8. Mr. Lawrence Veiller, a well-known housing expert, wrote in 1905 : "No concep- tion of the existing conditions can be obtained from any general statements. To say that the lower East Side of New York is the most densely populated spot in the habitable globe gives no adequate idea of the real conditions. To say that in one section of the City the density of population is 1,000 to the acre and that the greatest density of population in the most densely populated part of Bombay is but 759 to the acre, in Prague 485 to the acre, in Paris 434, in London 365, in Glasgow 350, in Cal- cutta 204, gives one no adequate realization of the state of affairs. No more does it to say that in many city blocks on the East Side there is often a population of from 2,000 to 3,000 persons, a population equal to that of a good-sized village. The only way that one can understand the real conditions is to go down into the streets of these districts and see the thousands of persons thronging them and making them impass- able. So congested have become the conditions of some of the quarters of this City that it is not an exaggeration to say that there are more people living there than the land or the atmosphere can with safety sustain. The limits have not only been reached hut have long been passed." In his book, "The Housing Problem," published in 1910, Mr. \"eiller makes the serious charge : "The conditions in New York are without parallel in the civilized world. In no city of Europe, not in Naples nor in Rome, neither in London nor in Paris, neither in Berlin, Vienna nor Buda-Pesth, not in Constantinople, nor in St. Petersburg, not in ancient Edinburgh nor modern Glasgow, not in heathen Canton nor Bombay, are to be found such conditions as prevail in modern, enlightened, twentieth century. Christian New York. In no other city is the mass of the working population housed as it is in New York, in tall tenement houses, extending up into the air fifty or sixty feet, and stretching for miles in every direction as far as the eye can reach. In no other citv are there the same appalling conditions with regard to lack of light and air in the homes of the poor. In no other city is there so great congestion and overcrowding. In no other city do the poor so suffer from excessive rents ; in no other city are the conditions of city life so complex. Nowhere are the evils of modern life so varied, nowhere are the problems so difficult of solution." The Commission have investigated many phases and conditions of this congestion. It is apparent that the congestion to which Mr. Veiller referred in 1905 is increasing in the sections of the city which had even in that year the greatest density of popula- tion per acre. 1. Density of Population Per Acre in Large Areas. In 1905, 742,135 people lived on 2,418.5 acres south of 14th st. in Manhattan, at a densit}' for the entire area of 306.8 per acre. Between 1905 and 1910 the population of this area had increased by 27,165 to a total of 769,300, and the density per acre had in- creased by 11.2 per acre to 318 per acre. In 1905 18.48 per cent, of the total population of New York City were living in 1.15 per cent, of the total area of the City, and by 1910 this percentage had fallen to 16.13 per cent, of the City's population in spite of the fact that the increase in density of the population per acre had increased 11.2 in the hve years. This increase of population in these five years was fi\e times as great as the total number of persons per acre in 1910, in both the Boroughs of Queens and of Richmond, and this although during these five years scores of high multiple family tenements were torn down for public improvements, notably the approaches of the Manhattan and W'illiamsburgh bridges. In 1905 slightly over one-sixth and in 1910 slightly under one-sixth of the City's entire population were living below 14th st. in Manhattan on one-eighty-seventh of the City's area. It must be borne in mind, too, that in this district are located factories employing nearly one-half of the total number of workers in factories in the City and a large proportion of the office buildings of the City. In 1910 375,316 people, 7.86 per cent, about one-thirteenth, of the City's population lived in the Tenth. Eleventh and the Seventeenth Wards of Manhattan at a density of over 600 to the acre. 64,651 people or 1.34 per cent of the City's population lived in the Thirteenth Ward of Manhattan at an average density of 591.3 to the acre, 102,108 peo- ple, 2.11 per cent, of the City's population, lived in the Seventh Ward of Manhattan, at an average density of 495.6 per acre. One million four hundred and fifty thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight peo- ple, 30.43 per cent., nearly one-third of the City's Dopulation, lived in the Twelfth, Fif- teenth, Eighteenth and Twenty-second Wards of Manhattan and the Tenth. Thirteenth, Fourteenth, Fifteenth. Nineteenth. Twenty-fifth and Twenty-eighth Wards of Brook- lyn, at a density of ICO to 149 to the acre. One million one thousand twenty-three peo- ple, 20.99 per cent., approximately one-fifth of the City's population, lived in the Second and Third Wards of Manhattan, the Twenty-ninth, Thirtieth, Thirtj^-first and Thirty- second Wards of Brooklyn, and in the Boroughs of Richmond, Queens and The Bronx, at a density of 25 per acre. The large acreage of the Wards in The Bronx, Richmond and Queens, however, makes the densitv per acre of relatively little importance for reasons to be discussed later. The Tenth. Eleventh and Seventeenth Wards of Man- hattan had an average density of population per acre of over 600, the highest being the Seventeenth, with 647.8, while the Thirteenth had 593.1 and the Seventh 495.3. Three wards in Manhattan had a density of between 200 and 299, and the Sixteenth* Ward in Brooklyn 278.8 per acre, while no other wards had a density of over 200 to the acre, although five w^ards in Brooklvn had a densitv of over 140 per acre. The maximum density of Queens, in the First Ward, was only 13.3. Population of Each Borough in New York in 1900. 1905 and 1910, and Density Per Acre and Increase From 1905 to 1910. Increase in Density Density Density Density Population Per Population Per Population Per Per Borough. 1900. Acre. 1905. Acre. 1910. Acre. Acre Manhattan 1.8.50.0O3 131.8 2.112.380 149.8 2.231.542 166.1 15.6 The Bronx 200..507 7.7 271.630 10.4 430.980 16.5 6.1 Rrooklvn 1.166.582 23.48 1.358.686 27.27 1.634.351 32.89 5.5 Oueens 1.58.990 1.8 108.240 2.3 204.041 2.46 .4 Richmond 67.021 1.8 72.845 1.9 85.969 2. .34 .3 Greater New York 3.437.202 16.4 4.013.781 19.1 4.766.883 22.7 3.5 2. Block Density Per Acre in Different Boroughs. The densitv of population per acre of a ward or any large area mav be extremely misleadinp- both because the areas of wards vary so greatlv. as from 78 acres in the Second Ward of Manhattan to 30,800 acres in the Fourth Ward of Queens, and because a small part of a ward mav be very closely built up with high tenements where the larger part of the ward is entirely unimproved These facts reduce the density for the entire area to a minimum most misleading. The density of population per acre in blocks is therefore probably the most accurate measure of actual density. There were in Manhattan, in 1905, 122 blocks with a density of 75U to the acre, and 30 blocks with a density of 1,CC0 or over to the acre, counting in the acreage of such blocks one-half of the area of the bounding streets. In 1905 the average density per acre of all these blocks was 967, in 1910 it had fallen to 952, a decrease of 15 per acre, the populaUon of all the blocks had fallen from 308,396 in 1905 to 303,839 in 1910— that is, 4,557. Fifty-four of the blocks showed a decrease in population, the most marked case being the block bounded by \V. 61st and 62d sts., Amsterdam and West End avcs., whose population fell in the live years from 6,173 to 3,501, a total reduction of 2.672, or nearly three-fifths of the total decrease in population of the entire 122 blocks. The density of population of this block fell from 1,145 to 649 per acre, a reduc- tion of 496 per acre. The block with the largest increase in population is that bounded by Grand, Broome, Ridge and Pitt sts., whose population increased from 1905 to 1910 from 1,843 to 2,552 — that is, by 709, and whose density of population increased from 910 to 1,260, or 350 per acre. This block is in the centre of the congested East Side. Of the fiftj'-four blocks whose population decreased from 1905 to 1910: The density per acre of 24 blocks decreased under 50 per acre. The density per acre of 14 blocks decreased from 50 to 100 per acre. The density per acre of 7 blocks decreased from 101 to 2C0 per acre. The density per acre of 1 block decreased from 201 to 300 per acre. The density per acre of 4 blocks decreased from 300 to 400 per acre. The density per acre of 4 blocks decreased over 400 per acre. Of the sixty-five blocks whose population increased from 1905 to 1910 : The density per acre of 27 blocks increased under 5Q per acre. The density per acre of 22 blocks increased from 50 to 100 per acre. The density per acre of 9 blocks increased from 101 to 200 per acre. The density per acre of 5 blocks increased from 300 to 301 per acre. The density per acre of 1 block increased over 400. The density of population of one block remained stationary, and information could not be secured about the other three. Only 4 of the 122 blocks which had in 1905 a density of over 750 to the acre are above 14th st. Of the 114 blocks below 14th st. which had in 1905 a density of 750 or over per acre, the population of 62 increased, and of 52 decreased, from 1905 to 1910. The total population in these blocks decreased from 1905 to 1910 by 2,393, while the total popula- tion south of 14th St. increased 27,165. The reasons for the fluctuation of density in blocks are varied in some blocks, as has been noted ; buildings w^ere demolished to make way for public improvements, in others tenements have given way to factories and buildings for other business and commercial purposes. The most significant points, however, regarding the shifts of population below 14th st., in Manhattan — the most congested area in the world — are these: Frequently a block whose population has increased materially is only a short distance from a block whose population has decreased. Only sixteen of the blocks whose population decreased had a density of population in 1910 even of under 650 per acre, while the density of most of the blocks was still nearly 700 to the acre; that is, they were still congested blocks. On the other hand, nearly half of the blocks over- loaded with population in 1905 increased in density by a large percentage in the five years under review. The deficit in park area, the overcrowding of streets and the evils of overcrowded school rooms and part time, are not relieved by the removal of a few hundred people from one congested block to another, or by permitting a few hundred new arrivals to still further crowd already crowded blocks. The fluctuation of density of 118 blocks out of a total of 660 blocks below 14th st., most of which were in 1905 crowded above the safety point when used for tenement purposes, is significant chiefly as emphasizing the general condition of this crowded tenement district and the evolution of congestion under the present Tenement House. Building, and Taxation laws. A studv of the changes in density of population from 1905 to 1910 of twenty-eight important blocks in the lower part of The Bronx which had in 1905 a population of 1.000 or over, is even more significant because near many of these very blocks are blocks practically unimproved, and within walking distance of some are scores of acres of vacant land. In 1905 the total population of these tw-enty-eight blocks was 37,241. in 1910 it had increased to 42.897. a gain of 5.656. The average density per acre of all the blocks was 360 in 1905. and 414 in 1910. an increase of 54 per acre, or over one-seventh in the Wve years. The population of twenty blocks just three-quarters increased during this period; that of eight decreased. 8 Three blocks had in 1910 a density per acre of over 600, as follows : The block bounded by Kelly St., Westchester, Wales and Robbins aves., of 633; the block bounded by E. 146th and 147th sts., St. Ann's and Brooks aves, of 610; the block bounded by E. 136th and 137th sts.. Willis ave. and Brown place, of 607. The population of the first of these increased'in the live years from 1,227 to 1,633, and the population of the block bounded by E. 140th and E 141st sts., Willis and Brooks aves., increased from 1,601 to 2,298 — that is, by 697, or over two-iifths. The increase in density of only eight of the blocks was under 50 per acre, of seven between 50 and 100, of four be- tween 101 and 200, and of one over 200, while the decrease in density of six out of seven blocks was under 50 per acre. Several blocks in The Bronx are rapidly becoming as densely populated as the great majority of the congested tenement blocks in Man- hattan, and these Bronx blocks are also occupied chiefly by artisans and factory oper- atives and laborers. The Sixteenth Ward of Brooklyn had in 1905 a population of 61,136, with an aver- age density per acre of 249.3. By 1910 the population increased to 68.253, the density to 278.8 per acre. There were in 1905 twenty-three blocks in this 16th ward with a density of 300 per acre or over. The average density per acre of all of these blocks in 1905 was 365, and in 1910 was 401, an increase of 36 per acre, or about 9 per cent. Six of the twenty- three blocks had a density of between 300 and 350 per acre, eight of between 351 and 4C0, tive of between 401 and 450. two of between 451 and 500, while the block bounded by Boerum, McKibben and Humboldt Sts. and Graham ave. had a density of 540 per acre, and the block bounded by Boerum st., McKibben St., Bushwick ave. and Humboldt ave. a density of 495 per acre. The same fluctuation in density of individual blocks oc- curred in this period as in the blocks in Manhattan which had in 1905 a density of 750 per acre or over, but the net density of population per acre of the 244.8 acres of the ward — the most densely populated in Brooklyn — nevertheless increased by nearly 30 people per acre. Of the twenty-three blocks under consideration, nearly half decreased in density, but nine of them by under 50 per acre and only two by over 50, none by over ICO. The block bounded by Boerum and McKibben and Humboldt Sts. and Graham ave. in- creased in density by 174 per acre. Six of the twenty-three blocks increased under 50 per acre, three between 50 and 100, and three between 101 and 200. A large proportion of most of these blocks have only a few high tenements, so that the minimum probable density of many is at least 600 to the acre if the present development continues. 3. Room Overcrowding. There has not been any systematic effort to prevent room overcrowding in the City, but the data as to the extent and seriousness of this evil have been secured from various reliable sources. The Tenement House Commissioner at the request of this Commission prosecuted an investigation in a few crowded blocks and found the fol- lowing conditions : Parents, children and three to eight adult boarders occupied apart- ments of two, three or four rooms. Number of Rooms Having Indicated Number of Occupants. (A Minor Under 12 is Counted as One-Half an Adult.) Occupants ^ 1 VA 2 2Y2 3 ZV2 4 AYz No. of Rooms 20 6 58 30 90 15 50 3 Occupants 5 SV2 6 6'^ 7 714 8 S]/. 10 No. of Rooms 11 2 9 1 5 .. 1 .. 2 Extent of Overcrowding in Rooms Occupied. Number of Persons in Each Room Over \l4 Per Room. (A Minor Under 12 is Counted as One-Half an Adult.) Occupants V2 1 VA 2 2^/4 3 3'/^ 4 4^4 No. of Rooms 56 28 82 15 51 3 9 3 9 Occupants 5 SA 6 61^ 7 7^4 8 Sy. 10 Xo. of Rooms 1 5 1 .. .. .. .. 2 An investigation, made in February, 1910, by various local associations in different sections of the Borough of Manhattan and some of the congested districts of Brooklyn showed, however, that of 91 families reported less than one-half CA) had two occu- pants or less per room, while one-fourth (Y) had 2]A occupants per room, one-seventh (1-7) had 3, one-ninth (1-9) had 3K> and one-eighth 4 occupants to a room, or over. Two cases were discovered of six occupants in a room ; one in a basement and one in an attic. One-sixth of the families reported were living in two-room apartments ; and one-half in three-room apartments. In each case the number of rooms in the apart- ment included the kitchen. The families investigated were typical self-supporting families. The Nurses' Settlement on Henry st. reported that 95 per cent, of the fami- lies which they knew have three occupants per room or over. This overcrowding existed notwithstanding the fact that from 5 to 15 per cent, of the apartments available are in most parts of Manhattan constantly vacant. 4. Intensive Use of Land. (A) Proportion of area of blocks covered by buildings in 1908. In Manhattan over one-fourth of the blocks were covered solidly by buildings or had less than 11 per cent of the area not covered and over half of the blocks had less than 21 per cent, of the area not covered by buildings. In the built-up sections of Brooklyn nearly one-tifth of the blocks were covered solidly by buildings or had less than 11 per cent, of the site not covered and over one- third of "the blocks had less than 21 per cent, of the site not covered, while two-thirds of the blocks had not over one-third of their area devoted to courts and yards. In the built-up section of the Twenty-third Ward of The Bronx one-fourteenth of the blocks were solidly covered by buildings or had less than 11 per cent, not covered and nearly one-fifth had less than 21 per cent, of the area not covered, while one-half of the blocks had 30 per cent, of the area in courts and yards. (B) Use of land below Chambers st.. New Chambers and James Slip in Man- hattan. About two-thirds of the area below Chambers st. was covered by buildings in 1908. Of this covered area nearly one-third was covered by buildings live stories high, nearly one-tenth by buildings six stories high ; nearly one-eleventh by buildings 12 stories high or over. (C) Cubage or volume of buildings. Mayor McClellan's first Building Code Revision Commission recommended that no building should exceed a cubage or volume of more than 174 times the area of the lot; that is, should not exceed a volume equivalent to 174 times the area of the lot or a solid building of 14 stories covering the entire lot. In 1907 there were, however, below Chambers st. eight office buildings having a cubage or volume of over 250 limes the area of the lot, and 11 ofi^ice buildings haying a cubage of over 200 times the area of the lot, while one had a cubage of 313 times the area, an access of 139, or more than three-quarters over the cubage recommended. 5. Height of Tenements. There were in 1908, out of a total of 71,922 tenements in Manhattan, 8,761 tene- ments six stories high or over; in the Twenty-third Ward of The Bronx, out of 12,181 tenements, 1,812 tenements five stories high or over. In the Borough of Brook- lyn in the First and to Seventh Wards inclusive. Ninth. Tenth and Twelfth to Seventeenth Wards inclusive, and Twentieth to Twenty-sixth Wards inclusive,^ com- prising most of the built-up section of the Borough, out of 63,649 tenements, 723 or about one-ninetieth were five stories or over. (Many tenements are six stories high in front and a lesser number in the rear, etc., and each numbr of stories is counted.) Of the tenements for which plans were filed in 1909 and 1910, in Manhattan, out of a total of 667, only about one-sixth (109) were under six stories high. In The Bronx, out of a total of 1,855, nearly two-thirds (1,158) were five stories or over. In Brooklyn, out of a total of 1,563, only about one-thirtieth (54) were five stories or over. In Queens, out of a total of 443 tenements, only one was over four stories. Of the five tenements in Richmond, two were two stories, two three stories and one over six stories. Of the total 4,533 tenements for which plans were filed in New York, 134 were over six stories, 613 six stories, 1,137, about one-fourth, five stories, and 2,649, about three- fifths, four stories high or less, more than one-fourth being three stories or less. 6. Multiple Family Tenements. Tenements of this type are for the accommodation of several families, and of these tenements plans were filed in 1909 and 1910 as follows: In Manhattan, of 667 only 272 provided for four families or less per floor. In The Bronx, out of 1,855 only 438, or approximately one-fourth, provided for over four families per floor, while 855 provided for two families or less per floor, approximately one-half of the total num- ber. In Brooklyn, out of 1,563 tenements, 1,345, or approximately four fifths, provided for two families or less per floor, and 321, or one-fifth, for only one family per floor, although there were in Brooklyn 164 tenements which provided for four families per floor or over. Out of 443 tenements in Queens, 422 provided for two families or less per floor, and the largest number of families to the floor was four, in 11 tenements. 10 In Richmond, two tenements provided for one family to the floor and three for two families. In New York City as a whole, out of 4,533 tenements, for which plans were filed in 1909 and 1910, 485, or approximately one-tenth, provided for one family per floor, 2,641 provided for two families or less per floor, and approximately one-fifth provided for live families per floor or more. 7. Heights of Buildings Other Than Tenements in 1907 and 1908. In Manhattan, out of 17,357 buildings used for all purposes, except tenements, nearly seven-eighths were six stories high or less, and only one-hundredth were 13 stories high or over. In Brooklyn, out of 10,439 such buildings, only about one-hun- dredth were over six stories high. In the Twenty-third Ward of The Bronx, out of 2.735 such buildings, only 14 were over six stories high. (As for tenements all eleva- tions were counted.) 8. Concentration of Land Values. In 1910 the assessed land value of ordinary land of Manhattan, that is, exclusive of land^of "Real Estate of Corporations" and "Special Franchises," was $2,905,201,140, nearly 75 per cent, of the entire assessed value of land in Greater New York, viz., $4,001,129,651, although Manhattan has only 6.7 per cent., or about one-fifteenth of the area of the Citv. Of the total increase in assessed value of such land of New York from 1909 to 1910, of $115,402,444, $75,454,269 was in Manhattan, about two-thirds of the total increase in assessed valuation. In 1908 the assessed value of such land south of Chambers st.. New Chambers st. and James Slip in Manhattan, about one-five-hun- dredth of the area of New York (0.18 per cent.), was $339,649,810, or 8.83 per cent., nearly one-eleventh of the total assessed value of such land in the entire City. One block in lower Manhattan of only 155 acres represented in 1908 .019 per cent, of the total of such assessed land value of the City, or approximately one-five-hundredth. 9. Nationalities in Congested Areas and Blocks. The data regarding nationalities in congested areas and blocks have been com- piled by Dr. Walter Laidlaw, Secretary of the Federation of Churches and Christian Organizations. The data regarding nationality in 1910 are not available, the last being of 1905. Irish and German, the leading foreign peoples of Manhattan in 1900, have been displaced by Russians and Italians. All four of these nationalities were in the 100,000 class of 1905, and the Italians were the only group of the four having below 100,000 in the Borough of Manhattan in 1900. The following is the order of foreign nationalities in Manhattan in 1905 : Russian, practically 200,000; Italian, 155,000; Irish, 125,000; German, 115,000; Austrian, 80,000; Hungarian. 35,000; Poles, 25,000; Roumanian, 21,000; Bohemian, 10,000; with 33 other nationalities under 10,000. The 122 blocks in Manhattan having in 1905 a density of over 750 people per acre have been especially counted : 65.7 per cent of the 312,042 people living in 1905 in blocks of over 750 per acre were foreign-born, and only 34.25 per cent American-born. The foreign-born in Manhattan numbered, in 1905, 890,142. and 205,151 of them, or over 23 per cent., were domiciled in blocks having above 750' people per acre, while less than 9 per cent, of American-born people were living under like conditions. Of the population in blocks of over 750 density, Russian-born people supplied 30.15 per cent and American only 34.25 per cent, while the Austrians supplied 12.65 per cent., Italians 9.60 per cent., Poles 4.21 per cent., Roumanians 3.24 per cent., and Hungarians 2.78 per cent. South of 14th st., in 1905, there were 155,828 Russian- born people. Of these 93,802, or 62 per cent., were living in blocks having over 750 people per acre. Of the Poles and Austrians in Manhattan in 1905, there were over 50 per cent living in blocks of over 750 per acre. Between 45 per cent, and 50 per cent, of the Russians in Manhattan blocks, 34 per cent, of the Chinese, over 25 per cent, of the Hungarians, and less than 25 per cent, of the Italians were living in similar blocks. The foreign-born in Manhattan grew from 789,342 in 1900 to 890,142 in 1905, an increase of 100,800 out of the 262,287 increase of Manhattan in those five years. The population of Manhattan was 42.7 per cent, foreign-born in 1900, and, despite the surplus of birth-rate over death-rate, was still 42.2 per cent, foreign-born in 1905. The old Thirty-first Assembly District, running from 110th to 134th sts., and be- tween Park and 8th aves., was 3 per cent, more foreign in 1905 than in 1900. The Borough of The Bronx had 30.7 per cent, foreign-born in 1900 and 29.5 per cent, in 1905. 11 The old Thirty-litth Assembl}- District had proportionately more foreign-born in 1905 than in 19C0, while the foreign-born population of the old Thirty-fourth Assembly District fell off almost 3 per cent. South of 14th St. on the East Side, the native-born population, from 1900 to 1905, increased only from 223.039 to 231,103. or in all 8,064 persons, less than 4 per cent., while the foreign-born increased 61,517 persons, or very nearly 20 per cent. There were, therefore, many districts where the number of native-born in 1905 was actually less than in 1900. 10. Laud Holdings. In 1908: 3.568 acres, approximately one-ninth of the total acreage of The Bronx, was owned by 23 corporations, estates, families and companies. This included one 500-acre tract, two 300-acre tracts, six tracts of from 200 to 250 acres, and 9 from 100 to 200 acres, with a large number of holdings varj-ing from 10 to 100-acre tracts. In Queens several real estate companies each own from 500 to 1.000 acres of land; two real estate companies own or control approximately one-sixth of the total unim- proved land in the Borough of Brooklyn. In 1907 : eight families, estates and corporations owned 5.42 per cent., or over one- twentieth of the total assessed land value in Manhattan, and 1.88 per cent., or nearly one-fiftieth, of the total area of the Borough. In The Bronx one-fourteenth of the total area was held in lots of over 100 acres, and about one-seventh in lots of 25 to 100 acres. In Queens one-twenty-fifth of the area was held in lots of over 100 acres, and over one-fifth in lots of 25 to 100 acres. There were in Greater New York five companies, each of which owned from 400 to about 2,000 acres. In Richmond 58 individuals, corporations and estates, though chiefly individuals, owned last year, 1910. 5.559 acres out of a total of 26.600 acres, or over one-seventh of the total acreage of the island. There were 37 holdings of from 50 to ICO acres, 17 from 101 to 200 acres, one of 300 acres and one of 1,600 acres. Most of this land was assessed on acreage and some of it as low as $300 per acre. 11. Industrial Congestion. One of the most marked features of congestion in New York City is the great concentration of factories and workers in factories in lower Manhattan. The largest number of workers reported during the year 1906 in all the factories of the 209,218 acres of Greater New York was 662,749. Of this number 481,856 or over two-thirds were in Manhattan on less than one-fifteenth of the area of the City, while 321,468, practically one-half, were located below 14th st., and 20th on the West Side in Man- hattan on 2.717 acres, or virtually one-seventieth of the area of the City. In the old Sixth Assembly District, bounded by Broadway, 4th st., 3d ave., St. Marks pL, 2d ave., E. 2d St., 1st ave., E. Houston, Stanton, Chyrstie, Division sts.. Bowery and Canal St., and comprising only 186 acres, there were 56,598 workers in factories, or approximately one-eleventh of all the workers of the City, on one-eleven-hundred-and-twentj'-fourth of all the City's area. The number of factories in New York City in 1906 was 25,892; of these 20,193 (77.94 per cent), or nearly four-fifths, were located in Manhattan and The Bronx, with very few in The Bronx. Of the increase of 3,060 new factories in Greater New York from 1906 to 1907. 2,438 were located in Manhattan and The Bronx, the vast majority of these in Manhattan, representing in the two Boroughs 78.16 per cent of the total increase in factories, again approximately four-fifths. During this period there was an increase of only 473 factories in Brooklyn, 106 in Queens and 43 in Richmond. A study of the number of persons for whom accommodations were provided in factories built during the year 1902 to 1907 inclusive show that provisions were made, allowing 28 square feet to each occupant, for 137,034 in Manhattan, of whom 31,789 were located about 4^d st., while 72,805 were located in the district between 8th st., St. Marks pL, Greenwich ave. and Christopher st. and 42d st. On the same basis, from 1903 to 1907 inclusive, accommodations were provided in factories constructed for 197,238 persons in Brooklyn, but provisions for only one-third of them were made in the central wards, the 10th. 12th, 22d and 26th. Factories in the main are not over- crowded in Brooklyn as in Manhattan. Brooklyn, with nearly one-fourth of the City's area, had only about half the number of workers below 14th st. in Manhattan. 12. Office Concentration. There were in ofi^ice buildings below Chambers st., New Chambers st. and James Slip in 1908, allowing 110 square feet to each occupant, accommodations for nearly 130,000 people. In office buildings constructed in 1908 there were provided accommodations below Cortlandt st. and in Maiden Lane for 15.575 persons, allowing 110 square feet to each 12 occupant. Two large buildings, however, each provide accommodations for from 8,000 to 10,000 people. 13. School Conditions in A^etu York City. (a) There \vere in public elementary schools on October 31, 1910, in Manhattan, 425 classes having register of 56 pupils and over, and three having a register of from 88 to 101. In The Bronx there were 165 classes with a register of over 56 and one class having between 88 and 101. In Brooklyn there were 453 classes having a register of over 56 pupils, while Queens had 29 such classes, and Richmond three. In the Bor- oughs outside of Manhattan, however, these large classes have a larger proportion of the total number of pupils than in Manhattan. (b) Height of School Buildings. In Manhattan 82 school buildings are live stories, and two six stories in height; in The Bronx there are one live-story buildings and one five-story basement; in Brook- lyn, two five-story and one five-story and basement, while in Brooklyn there were 44 four-story and basement school buildings. (c) Schools Having Specified Average Attendance December, 1910. Borough. Manhattan . The Bronx Brooklyn . . Queens . . . Richmond . Under 1,500 to 2,000 to 2,500 to Over Total 1,500. 2,000. 2,500. 3,000. 3,000. Schools. 87 21 113 73 34 42 23 4 5 24 20 12 6 1 166 1 40 1 159 73 34 Total . 328 73 48 19 4 472 (d) Part Time and Average Attendance. Borough. Part Average Time. Attendance. Dec, 1910. Percentage of Attendance on Part Time. Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn . . Queens ... Richmond . 9,717 14,475 28,826 4,686 165 57,809 247,509 61,068 207,922 39,977 11,022 567,498 3.97o 23.7% 13.8% 11.7% 1.4% 10.0% It will be noted that Richmond, with less than 2 per cent, of the total average attendance in public elementary schools, had only 1.4 per cent, of pupils on part time. Manhattan, however, had only about one-third as large a proportion of pupils on part time as Queens, and only about one-sixth as large a proportion on part time as Brooklyn. The City has paid for school sites in congested sections of Manhattan as high as $20 per square foot, while the average price paid per square foot for school sites in Brooklyn and The Bronx for the last few years has been approximately $1.50 per square foot and in Queens less than 75 cents per square foot. 14. Assessed Land Values of Congested Blocks. It is often claimed that for a good standard of housing for unskilled wage earn- ers the maximum value of land should not exceed 50 cents per square foot. In 1908 the assessed land value per square foot of the congested blocks of lower Manhattan ranged from $2.74 to $16, and in most of these blocks exceeded $10 per square foot. The land value maps prepared by the Department of Taxes and Assessments show that in 1910, exclusive of corner lots, or those influenced by corner values, in- cluding the maximum value on any side of the block, values were as follows: Of 2,372 blocks in Manhattan only 99 had lots with value of $1 per square foot or less, and only 169 had lots with a value of $3.50 per square foot or less, while 798 blocks had lots with a value of $9.50 per square foot, and from that valuation up to the high Wall st. values. 13 Of 2,162 blocks in Tiie Bronx, 579, or nearly two-sevenths, had lots assessed for fifty cents per square foot or less, while 1,901, or about seven-eighths, were assessed for $2 per square foot or less. Of the 7,327 blocks in Brooklyn, only 218, about one-thirty-fifth, were assessed for over $3.50 per square foot, while only about one-fifteenth were assessed for over $2 per square foot, and 4,476, nearly two-thirds, were $1 per square foot, or less. Of the 849 blocks in the First Ward of Queens (Long Island City), 712, or nearly seven-eighths, had a value of $1 per square foot or less, and only 35 of over $2 per square foot, while the highest square foot values were only $5 and $6.70 on Jackson ave. In most of the rest of the Borough assessed land values were under 50 cents per square foot. In Richmond relatively little land is assessed for over 25 cents per square foot, and much of it is acreage. 15. Park Area in Congested Districts. In 1910 Manhattan had a total park acreage of 1,444.2849 acres, with 1,614 popu- lation to each acre of park; The Bronx had 4,135.574 acres of park, with 104 population to each acre of park; Brooklyn, 978.385 acres, with 1,674 population to the acre; Queens, 602.23 acreage of parks, with 386 to the acre ; and Richmond, 62.53 park acreage, with 1,374 population to the acre. Mr. Howard Bradstreet, Superintendent of Recreation of Manhattan and Richmond, has prepared tables in which he shows the actual deficit of park area for different Assembly Districts in 1908, since which time there has been practically no addition to the park acreage of the Citj'-, while the population has increased several hundred thousand. Mr. Bradstreet takes an acre of park as a normal provision for 250 people, and on this basis there was in 1908 in the First Assemblj- District, bounded roughly by the Hudson River, Canal and Broome sts. and Broadway, a shortage of park acreage of 7,382 acres ; in the Fourth Assembly District, bounded roughly by Catherine, Division and Jackson sts. and the East River, and with a total area of 166 acres, a shortage of park area amounting to 361.622 acres ; that is, the population is so dense that it is impossible to provide even approxi- mately an adequate park area. Similar conditions exist in several other sections of the City. The City has paid as high as at the rate of $5,000,000 for an open spot in lower Manhattan, but can secure parks in other Boroughs for from $5,000 to $10,000 an acre. II. Effects of Congestion and Room Overcrowding. The effects of congestion may be treated under three heads : 1. Physical effects. 2. Moral effects. 3. Economic effects. (1) Physical Effects. The crude death rate of New York City is not, notwithstanding the conditions of congestion to which attention has been directed, a high one. In 1909 it was sixteen ten-hundredths (15.10) per thousand: Vienna, sixteen and eight-tenths (16.8); Paris, seventeen and four-tenths (17.4) ; Chicago, fourteen and one-tenth (14.1) ; Philadel- phia, fifteen and eight-tenths (15.8) ; and Boston, seventeen and seven-tenths (17.7) per thousand. Dr. W. H. Guilfoy. Register of the Bureau of Records of the Depart- ment of Health, to whom the Commission is indebted for the statistics which have just been given, remarks: "The Committee on Congestion should not fall into the error that the crude death rate of a city is an accurate measure of that city's salubrity as compared with that of other cities whose crude death rate may be lower. The death rate of a town, city or country is dependent upon a considerable number of factors, and the most important of these are the sex and age groupings or distribution of population. A city with a very high birth rate like New York City w-ill have a considerable number of children living in it under the age of five years, at which age the death rate is very high. Consequently, this w-ill increase the mortality considerably above other cities in which the birth rate is apparently low. We find, as a matter of fact, that the birth rate in all of the large cities of the world, with the probable exception of New York, has been decreasing within the past ten years, and that this decrease in the birth rate has gone hand in hand with the decrease in the crude death rate due to the compara- tively small num.ber of children under the age of five years, at which age the mor- taUty is excessive. When this department receives the figures showing the sex and age "groupings in The City of New York, as enumerated in the Federal Census of this year, it will be in a position to make accurate comparisons between the death rate of New York City and that of some of the other cities of the world. Until this is done we maintain that New York City is equal to, if not superior to,, any large city in the world from the point of view of healthfulness." 14 While, tlicrefore, such conditions of congestion as exist in this City have not had any alarming results upon the health of the population, it is still true that those conditions have unquestionahly liad a had effect upon the public health. Dr. W. H. Parks stated at a hearing of the subcommittee on Health of the Com- mission, "that the more overcrowding you have the more sickness and death there will be. As to the actual amount of such increase, 1 have no statistics, and so cannot state definitely. It is the opinion of all those that have studied congestion, that we have increased sickness in o\ercrowded rooms and increased mortality among those sick ; that is, not only more sick, but of those that are sick, more deaths. This is especially true of communicable diseases. Overcrowded rooms mean less fresh air, and, therefore, as we now know, less chance for recovery." He stated with regard to consumption: "The best of my knowledge and belief is that three-fourths of those now known to have consumption will die without regard to what can be done for them, and it is only in the early stages that recovery is possible for a large percentage." And further : "The most important thing is to supply a place where good air and good light can be got, away from the City; and next to that give them rooms with good air and light in the City, and sufficient and suitable food, if they cannot afiford it themselves. Every case removed from the City and made comfortable itself will remove one centre of infection. At present, the number of tuberculosis cases in the City remains the same. That is. we have as many cases each year as the year before." And he anticipated the same number of deaths annually, i. e., approximately 10,000 under our present conditions. It is unquestionably the case that congestion of population through its effect upon the health of the people of the City is contributing largely to the $10,000,000 a year which New York spends on her departments for the prevention and the cure of disease. While the death rate of New York City is not extremely high compared with the ceath rates of some cities, the true physical results of congestion and room overcrowd- ing can be ascertained only when corrections are made for specific diseases and for age and in congested blocks and in overcrowded rooms. Dr. Antonio Stella has analyzed the records of the City Department of Health in 1905 and 1906 for six congested blocks in which Italians predominated. While the general death rate for The City of New York in 1905 and 1906 was 18.35 per cent, per 1,000, and under five years 51.5 per 1,000, it varies in these blocks from 22.3 to 24.9 per 1,000 for all ages and from 59.5 to 92.2 per 1,000 for children under five years of age. In an exhaustive examination made recently of 72,857 school children in Glasgow, whose families were living in one, two, three and four rooms respectively, it was found that invariably boys and girls of a given age, whose families were living in one room, were both of lighter weight and shorter in stature than those whose families were living in two room apartments, those in two rooms than those in three, and those in three than those in four. Investigations at Edinburgh showed similar results, with the addition that it was found there was an equivalent difference in mental power. An investigation made in Leipsig showed a death rate in rooms with three or four occupants, for adults three times and for children under one year four times greater than in rooms with one occupant. In a recent year the county of Durham, England, in which there was 28.4 per cent, of overcrowding, had a death rate of 18.64 per 1,000, while the county of Essex, with only 2.7 per cent, of overcrowding, had a death rate of 14.03 per 1,000. Sir Shirley Murphy, Medical Officer of Health of London, in a report of the Committee on Physical Deterioration, furnished the following information regarding the results in London in 1901 : Proportion of Total Population Living in Tenements of One or Two Rooms. Death Rate per 1,000 Living. r- * X From All From Causes. Phthisis. Districts with 0-12 per cent, overcrowding 13.4 1.1 Districts with 12-15 per cent, overcrowding 16.1 1.4 Districts with 15-20 per cent, overcrowding 17.7 1.5 Districts with 20-25 per cent, overcrowding 15.3 1.5 Districts with 25-32 per cent, overcrowding 18.9 1.9 Districts with 32 per cent, and upwards overcrowding 19.7 2^ 15 Sir Shirley Murphy has shown that 1891-1900, the infant mortality in districts of London with under 10 per cent, of overcrowding (more than two in a room) is 142 per 1,000 births, whereas, in districts with a percentage of overcrowding of over 35, it is 22Z per 1,000 births. 2. Moral Effects of Conqestion and Room Overcrozi'dinp. While it is a fact that most of those persons who are convicted of crime come from the congested districts, it is of course, not possible to regard congestion of popu- lation as a sole or even the main cause of crime. At the same time there seems to be very little doubt among those who have worked in the congested districts that a very large part of the juvenile delinquencies, which are becoming so serious, are directlj' traceable to the congested conditions of population among a large portion of the families from which the juvenile delinquents come. Mr. Ernest K. Coulter, Clerk of the Children's Court of New York County, stated : "Congestion is responsible for a vast number of the cases that come into the Children's Courts of New York City, environment counts nine-tenths in the whole proposition of juvenile delinquency." Mr. Coulter gave many instances of the results of room overcrowding, for he claimed : "The children often come to feel that they are not wanted in their so-called homes and they are really forced to the streets. The most skillful pickpockets in New York City are children. The ranks of these young thieves are constantly being recruited from the districts where there is the greatest congestion. The reason is that the homes of these children are so crowded and wretched that there is little attractive for them there, and these little unfortunates when given the first taste of easy money, have little desire to live in the old way." Hon. Wm. McAdoo, Chief City Magistrate, stated in a communication to the Commission : "I think there can be no question but what the connection between congestion of population, especially in that form which it takes in the tenement houses, particularly the old style tenements, crime and delinquency is very marked. The crowded living conditions in these small rooms. lack of personal privacy and separation of the sexes, must, in the very nature of things beget conditions which conduce to immorality and the lack of self respect. "I certainly think that the poor family in the country, however impoverished, has a much better chance of bringing up the children to lead clean, moral lives, and be less sophisticated as to vice than children brought up in the congested quarters in the city. For instance, I recently visited what are called the 'agricultural slums' in the con- gested districts in Ireland, in a mountainous and very healthy country, where the indoor life is cramped and the poverty obvious, but where the outdoor life is very healthful, the climate moderate and even, and the moral and religious atmosphere excellent ; and I should hesitate, if it had been left to me, to transplant these people to the crowded tenements of the East Side, even if they got more food and better clothing than they did in the old country. The percentage of crime amongst these people in the old land is so low as scarcely to be perceptible, and they lead clean, moral lives, stimulated under adverse conditions by high spiritual exaltation and deep reverence." 3. Economic Effects of Congestion and Rooni Overcrowding. The most marked effects of congestion of population are upon rent and wages. The mere presence of a large population in certain sections, on account of the increased demand for housing accommodations, has the natural result of increasing the rent which is demanded ; and of diminishing the w^ages in so far as the amount of work for which wages are paid does not increase. The high rents and the low wage have the effect of forcing the population to live in more and more congested conditions. Rents are so high and wages are so low in the congested districts of the City that it is everj'where reported to the Commission that families in these districts are quite commonly taking in lodgers or boarders in order to enable them to pay the rents which are demanded. Rents in the congested districts are furthermore apparently increasing. This increase in rents naturally increases the land values. The cost of materials used in the construction of buildings and the cost of labor employed for that purpose have also increased. The result has been, so long as there is a demand for housing accom- modations, to increase the rent. In fact, low" wages, high rents, inci"ease of land values and the cost of construction and labor, all seem to w-ork in a vicious circle, the effect of which is indirectly, at any rate, to increase congestion and to low-er the standards of life of a large part of the population which is living in the congested districts. This lowering of the economic standards of a large part of the population living in the congested districts, has had the effect also of making greater and greater 16 demands upon public and private cliaritahlc aid within the city. The most noticeable effects are to be seen in the case of private charitable aid. The city, as is well knovvn, does not at present distribute any outdoor relief of any amount. Such outdoor relief ay is distributed, is distributed by the private charitable associations of the city with the exception of stipends to the blind. This outdoor relief is naturally distributed by those associations among the population where the need of it is most noticeable; and that population is the population of the congested districts. No attempt apparently i^ made by associations distributing outdoor relief so to distribute their relief as to diminish congestion ; in fact, as far as the Commission have been able to determine the effect of the distribution of outdoor relief under the present conditions is to increase rather than diminish congestion. The Sub-committee on Charities, of this Commission, has found : (1) That over 150,000 persons arc receiving annually outdoor relief, and that about 500,000 people are receiving annually relief from public and private charity of all kinds. (2) That most of the relief is given to people who live in congested districts where rents are very high. (3) That relief is being given by private charities in the city to people living in such unhealthy conditions that the Department of Health has refused to grant licenses for home manufacture to the people occupying such quarters. (4) That relief is given by private societies to families- where tenement manu- facture is constantly going on in defiance of the law. The effect of such methods in distributing outdoor relief is therefore extremely bad. Its effect also is important since it is established, that about $20,000,000 are dis- tributed annually. Causes of Congestion. 1. Poverty. Poverty may be defined as inability to maintain a reasonable standard of living. With limitations, poverty must be recognized as an indirect cause of con- gestion of population. With the enormous land values in Manhattan, the very wealthy who can aft'ord ample space are not in any sense of the term congested. On the other hand the inability of unskilled wage earners to pay the rent demanded for a suf- ficient area for their homes and enough rooms causes congestion and room over- crowding. With a proper distribution of population, however, and with reasonably cheap land, there should not be any such direct connection between the present incomes and the congestion of population. 2. Concentraiion of Factories and Offices. The Island of Manhattan is the site of the greatest concentration of factories and offices in the world. Many buildings occupied almost entirely by factories are from 12 to 18 stories in height, and the mere fact, that nearly half of the total nmn- ber of workers in factories of this city are occupied in factories located in the 2,717 acres below 14th street and up to 20th street on the west side in Manhattan, would necessarily, with the present long hours of work, even with better wages than those now paid, produce congestion of population, or the massing of many people upon very limited areas. For, with the present hours of labor, the factory workers must live near their work. 3. The Recent Consolidation of the Five Boroughs. Until The Bronx was incorporated with Manhattan, the limited area of Man- hattan, the rivers on both sides were some excuse for the massing of population, which has been a special feature of Manhattan's development. Ever since the con- solidation of these two boroughs, as now constituted, little effort has however been made to distribute population into The Bronx, for Manhattan has been desirous of utilizing its land most intensively through the massing of population in tenements, factories and offices. Until the information of Greater New Xovk in 1897, moreover, there was further the same competition between Manhattan and Brooklyn, which now exists between The City of New York and the State of New Jersey, especially the cities in the western part of that State. It has been extremely difficult to overcome the strivmg of each community to get the population. Had New York City comprised 25 years ago its present area, the probabilities are that there would have been a little less congestion in the Borough of Manhattan to-day. 4. The Intensive Use of ihe Land. The present Tenement House Law marks indeed an advance upon the Tenement House Law which had been enacted previously. This law permits a net density per acre exclusive of streets surrounding the block of 3.860 in large fireproof tenements, while in the ordinary six-storv tenement a density of 1,300 per net acre is permissible 17 There is, however, no limit upon the height of tenements other than that they shall not exceed by more than one -half the width of the widest street upon which they stand. There is also no limit placed upon the volume or cubage or heights of build- ings used for ofHce or factory purposes. While the report of this Commission was being prepared, a building of 55 stories in height has been planned for lower Man- hattan. The most startling fact, however, is that these conditions and the intensive use of land are permissible not only in Manhattan, but as well in every part of each of the tive constituent boroughs of New York City. Ninety per cent, of corner lots, and 70 per cent, of interior lots may be covered by tenements, while a hotel, when located on any other than a corner lot, may cover 90 per cent, of the area of such lot or plot at an above the second-story level if not more than five stories in height, and 2y-2 per cent, less for every ad4itional story in height. On a corner lot a hotel may occupy 95 per cent, of such lot at and above the second-story level, and in both cases may cover the entire area of the first floor. Office buildings may cover the entire area of a corner lot. and 90 per cent, of lot area at and above the second story, when not located on a corner. 5. The High Price of Land Due to the Intensive Use of Land. It is true that the first story of low buildings situated on a thoroughfare with thousands of people passing it daily, would pay a fair return upon a very high land value, but it is equally true that the present permissible intensive use of land makes land valuable, and that land values tend to reach the maximum capitalized rental value of the most intensive use of land permitted under the law. In other words, land values in New York City, especially in Manhattan and sections of The Bronx and Brooklyn, readily accessible by transit have capitalized congestion values, and these values are the basis of the city's entire financial and fiscal policies. 6. Lack of Control Over Aliens and Citizens. The personal element as a factor in producing congestion must be recognized. A great many people who are perfectly able to afford sanitary conditions of living an adequate number of rooms and good housing, nevertheless crowd into unsanitary dwel- lings and rooms in congested districts through too keen a sense of thrift and the de- sire to reduce their expenditures so that they may save money to send home or for other purposes. This applies not only to aliens but to workers who come to the City from other parts of the State or of this country. The Tenement House Law requires as has been noted that no room shall be so overcrowded that there shall be less than 400 cubic feet of air space for every adult an,d 200 for every child under 12 years of age. but there is no means of enforcing this law, and there has been no systematic effort to make this requirement of the law known to the tenement dwellers. There is absolutely no control at present and there has never been any such control over the location of immigrants and poorer classes of citizens who tend to flock to the already over-populated sections of the City contiguous to opportunities for securing employ- ment. 7. Loitg Hours of Work. Three factors are very important in the determining of the residence of the work- ers in factories and to a lesser extent in offices. (a) Hours of work. (b) Carfare. (c) Social considerations, clannishness or gregariousness. Long hours of work, however, are one of the most important, since even if the laborer has a large income so that the carfare is not a determining factor, nevertheless the necessity of riding even half an hour to and from work in addition to 10 hours of work, tends to keep him near his work, even if he is required to live in congested sec- tions of the City and in surroundings unfavorable for his family. It should be noted, too, that the member of the family who has the longest hours of labor generally de- termines the location of the family, thus, although several members of the family may be working only seven or eight hours, if the father, an unskilled laborer, works 10 hours and must be at his work at 7 o'clock in the morning, this will tend to keep the entire family near the father's place of work. 8. Cost of Transit and the Transit Policy of the City. The Bulletin of the Federal Census published recently shows that in 1905, the av- erage wages of workers in factories in the different Boroughs were as follows : Of 339,221 Wage Earners in Factories in Manhattan and The Bronx $536 76 Of 104.995 Wage Earners in Factories in Brooklyn 519 42 Of 14.905 Wage Earners in Factories in Queens 566 28 Of 5,595 Wage Earners in Factories in Richmond 549 21 18 There are relatively few heads of families in New York City, even skilled me- chanics, who are earning the minimum of $800 a year, which a Committee of the State Conference on Charities and Corrections have reported to be essential to maintain a family on a reasonable basis without permitting of any saving whatsoever, and prom- ising the utmost care and thrift on the part of the family. It is true, of course, that many families of ^ the City have more than one worker, so that the total income of the family' is greater than the figures given above, but the minimum of $800 provides only for the support for three children under 14 years of age and for the parents, while the expenses of a child over 14 years of age working are naturally greater than those of children under this age. There are roughly speaking no areas at present accessible to Manhattan where a laborer's family can live with an expenditure of less than 20 cents a day for the wage earner's carfare, or without the necessity of nearly one hour's travel and secure the housing conditions which are regarded as proper in al- most every other American city. The man, therefore, who is employed in lower Man- hattan, and who has an income of less than even $900, is practically obliged with a ten-hour day to reside within these congested districts if he has a family of three children and a wife to support. The transit policy of New York City is in partial measure responsible for this condition. The City in the past has regarded transit as a matter to be governed by com- mercial and not by social considerations, and although it must be admitted that the transportation of large numbers of persons to and from work involves an economic waste which might largely be avoided, lack of adequate transit facilities coupled with a complete failure to regulate the development of the City has tended to produce con- gestion of population in Manhattan and to permit of the gradual duplication of similar congestion, although not as intense as yet in the other Boroughs of the City. 9. Lack of a Definite City Plan. The failure to provide for the development of the City for a number of years in advance and to make provision for the gradual adaptation of streets to the needs of subsequent generations at a reasonable cost has in large measure caused the present congestion of traffc in the downtown sections. The cost of widening streets in these sections is well nigh prohibitive after land has reached a high value and the streets are improved by buildings of great volume and costly cqastruction, whose alteration or demolition would put a very heavy cost upon the Cit^p T"he failure to provide a City plan determining the way in which the various sections of the City are to be developed is also largely responsible for the congestion through intensive use of land. It is true that on lower Manhattan the factories are chiefly located in the centre of the Island and at nearly an equal distance from both rivers, and there is a large tenement district on both sides of this factory district. On the other hand the land values are so great here now that this proximity of factory and dwelling which was formerly advantageous now constitutes one of the most serious problems of congestion. To a very limited extent also factories have been placed along the water fronts and the rivers, creeks and canals in the Borough of The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, but the City has not had any logical plan made for such distribution. Centralization has been the principle of New York's development. Considerable attention has been paid ever since consolidation to the development of Manhattan, even yet not only the financial centre of the City, hut as well the business, barter, artistic, recreationanl and hotel centre of the Greater New York. The result, viz. : Intense congestion has been perfectly natural, private interest has been permitted to control the development' not only of Manhattan but of the other Boroughs rather than the public welfare. 10. Present System of Taxation. In New York City until very recently the owner of land improved with buildings has been penalized, while the man who holds the land out of use so that he may secure the speculative increase of land values has been helped by the taxation policy of the City, since unimproved land has been assessed at a relatively low value, while the rate on land and buildings has been the same. The system of taxation has discouraged the construction of tenements, of factories and all other buildings until the growth of the City's projected improvement has given to land the capitalized congestion value, to which reference has been made and has enabled the owners of land to reap fortunes from values created largely by the increases of population. This policy is putting a premium upon congestion and is in appreciable measure responsible for the holding of land out of use for a much longer period than it would be so withheld if a large share of the increase of land values created by the community were recovered by them for community needs. 11. Failure to Prepare Land for Housing Purposes. An inquiry addressed by the Commission to the Presidents of the various Bor- 19 oughs had elicited from some of them the opinion that the inadequacy of the sewer system in certain districts in The Bronx and Queens has prevented the construction in such districts of dwcHings. This inadequacy is (kie not so much to any neglect on the part of the City officers as to the fact that the undertaking of such improve- ments is dependent upon the action of the owners of property in those districts. The President of the Borough of Manhattan suggested that the "President of the Borough might be clothed with the same authority that the Commissioner of Public Works had under the old regime, that is, prior to consolidation, who was allowed to complete the sewer system throughout the City and to lay or improve the sewers as necessity required. No petition was necessary and the only requirement was that maps showing the proposed works should be hied before allowing the contracts for the same." The President of the Borough of Queens is of the belief "that the construction of sewers could be expedited if the Board of Estimate and Apportionment would recom- mend the approval of sewerage systems in isolated sections, these systems to be finally incorporated perhaps with some modifications with the scheme for the whole Borough, or by having them approve a system first showing the location, size and grade of the outlet sewer, the sewers for the separate locations to be designed as the need develops." 12. Methods of Adininistering Public OJid Prizate Charity. The effect of charity has doubtless been overestimated by many people as a cause of congestion of population. The City however expends annually approximately $35,- 000,000 on charitj', either public or private, including the cost of maintaining public and private institutions. This means roughly about $9 for every family in the City. The expenditure of so large an amount must have some effect upon the welfare of the community. Much evidence has been presented before the Commission which shows that the present methods of charitable societies of the City and even of the Department of Public Charities, tend to anchor people in the congested districts. Thus in the year 1910 out of approximately $3,170,000 expended by seven of the largest charities of the City and 44 hospitals connected with the Saturday and Sunday Hos- pital Association of New York City only about $182,000 was expended outside of Manhattan and The Bronx, excluding the expenditures for a few hospitals connected with the Saturday and Sunday Hospital Association of New York City. The United Hebrew Charities and constituent societies, expended during this year for relief in Manhattan and The Bronx $358,575, the Charity Organization Society, $79,222, the Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, $90,512, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, $120,323. A former financial agent of one of these societies stated before the Commission that a large proportion of the relief paid by the charitable associations of the City was made necessary by the conditions of living in the City, and in this sense it might be regarded as unnecessary and wasted. A large proportion moreover of the public and private charitable institutions of the City are located in the congested sections of Manhattan and The Bronx, and in the rapidly congesting sections of Brooklyn. The inmates of these institutions are taught chiefly the occupations which will fit them for city life and not the occupations for rural or small town life. Thus the efifect of the work of the public and private charitable institutions of the City has been by alleviating the conditions of congestion and preventing suffering to tend to anchor people in these sections, where healthy housing conditions are too costly for the unskilled or even semi-skilled wage earners of the City. 13. Failure of the City to Adopt a Policy to Attract People to Outlying Boroughs. The policy of the City in the past has been to provide relatively adequate educa- tional and recreational opportunities for people living in the congested districts of the City. The City has however been behind in furnishing similar opportunities in the outlying sections : Thus in 1910, there was an acre of park for every 1,614 of the popu- lation in Manhattan, for every 1,674 of the population in Brooklyn, and for every 1,374 in Richmond. In The Bronx the population was 104 per acre of park, but in the built-up sections of The Bronx there are relatively few parks and playgrounds, and the total acreage is largely composed of a few large parks, such as Pelham Bay. Crotona and Van Cortlandt parks. There were in the same year, 1910. 47 evening schools in Manhattan, only 5 in The Bronx, and 33 in Brooklyn. In Manhattan, in 1910, only 3.9 per cent, of the attendants at public school were on part time, in The Bronx 23.7 per cent, in Brooklyn 13.7 per cent.. Queens 11.4 per cent., in Richmond 1.4 per cent. The average of the entire City was 10.1 per cent. A very large pro- portion of overcrowding of school rooms, moreover, was found in the outlying bor- oughs of the City. Such conditions have much to do with congestion of population in that they discourage its distribution to the less congested districts. It appears to 20 the Commission that vory little effort has been made by the City to provide these dis- tricts with those conveniences which add so much to the pleasures of city life and for whose existence the inhabitants are dependent upon municipal action. The outlying sections do not seem to us to have received as generous treatment as they should have at the hands of the City, so far as concerns an ample supply of water and artificial light, police and fire protection and school provision, libraray and facilities for cul- ture. Tt should be noted too that comparatively little effort has been made by the City to train citizens or even school children for life outside of the congested centres. Thus, there were only 31 school gardens in Manhattan in 1909, and 12 so-called school gardens in The Bronx. Out of the 29 vacation schools conducted also in 1910, 14 were in Manhattan, only 1 in Queens, none in Richmond, with 13 in Brooklyn, mostly in the built-up section of the City, however. The City has conducted a farm garden m the upper west side of Manhattan. Very little, however, has been done to train children through the public schools for any- thing except congested city life or to instill into them a desire for homes with gar- dens outside of the congested sections of the City. 14. Immigration. It is not primarily the extent of immigration which is responsible for the con- gestion of population, as has been intimated earlier in the report, but the lack of con- trol over the location of immigrants and supervision over them. The increase in population in this City has been very large. This is not, however, primarily due, and we must again emphasize it, to the fact that we have had immigration. The increase in population, it is believed, is due in large measure to the fact that New York is the most important port of entry for the immigrants who come to this country. These immigrants apparently have a much greater influence upon the congestion of the con- gested districts than their mere numbers would indicate. For the tendency of the immigrant is to take up his abode in the districts which are the most congested, and this tendency seems to be accelerated by the work of the various philanthropic and benevolent associations which attempt to ameliorate the lot of the immigrant. For example : the North American Civic League have arrangements_ by which they trans- fer immigrants from Ellis Island to their destination in the City. They report that during the period from October 5 to November 30, 1910, they transported 4.399 immigrants, exclusive of Hebrews. Of this number 384 were placed below Chambers street in Manhattan; 1,400 between Chambers street and 42d street; while 491 went to Brooklvn. * The Hebrew Sheltering and Immigrant Aid Society reported that for the month of November, 1910, 782 immigrants immediately upon arrival were taken to their des- tination; 424 of these were located below 14th street in Manhattan, 114 in Manhattan north of 14th street. In other wards, nearly three-fourths were located in Manhattan ; while only one hundred and thirty-five or roughly, one-fifth, w^ere destined for Brook- lyn and the suburbs, and only forty-nine for points outside of New York City. The same number of immigrants might have reached the United States and been deflected directly throughout the country to sections where they are needed, but immi- gration without direction under the present laws has been a potent cause of congestion in New York City. The overcrowding of rooms, to which attention has been called, is in large meas- ure due to immigrants who come in such large numbers to this country. The Federal Immigration Commission reports that in 2,667 households of which they made investi- gation in New York City, 23.2 per cent, of the households had two or more occupants per room, while 10.2 per cent, had only two rooms per household. They also report that of the 2,648 families investigated, of whom they have complete data, 1.944, or nearly three- fourths, had two persons or more per sleeping room; that 24.6 per cent of the families took lodgers or boarders, and in. these families the average number of lodgers or boarders was 1.87 per room. t t- i This overcrowding is particularly noticeable in the case of Italians. In February and March, 1908, an investigation made of 174 scattered Italian families in lower Manhattan showed that out of 255 rooms occupied, 191 had three occupants or over per room. The immigrant is responsible in some measure at any rate for congestion m another way. His coming here not only increases the number of persons to be accom- modated but also has the effect of lowering wages for those who are here, with the result that overcrowding becomes necessary in order to pay the rent which is de- manded in the congested districts. Information was obtained by the sub-committee on Labor and Wages to the effect that on the Catskill Aqueduct Construction Works there were two rates of wages paid, viz. : Those to the immigrants and those to the Americans, and that the 21 tendency of contractors was always to secure immigrants from New York City on account of the comparatively low wages which could be paid them. IV. Methods of Relieving and Preventing Congestion of Population and Room Overcrowding in America and Foreign Countries. (a) General Restrictions on Height or Volume of Buildings, Including the Area of Lot That May be Occupied by Buildings. The most striking fact with reference to the restriction on the height or volume of buildings is that in most foreign countries there are different regulations for different sections of the same citj', whereas in American cities, with a few conspicuous exceptions, the regulations applying to the centre of the city apply through the entire area of the city. The restrictions upon the heights of buildings in several American cities and states were as follows in 1908: Xew Jersey, Chicago, Baltimore and Cleveland limit the height of tenements to one and one-half times the width of the widest street on which the building stands. San Francisco places no limit on fireproof structures, but limits all others to one and one- half times the width of the street. Boston places the limit at two and one-half times the width of the street, but permits no building to exceed one hundred and fifty feet and limits those on streets sixty feet wide or less to two and one-half times the width of the street. Washington limits all tenements to the width of the street between building lines, but never to exceed ninety feet. Providence limits all to ninty feet unless fireproof. Rochester permits no tenement to exceed in height four times its horizontal dimen- sion. (b) Percentage of Lot Area That May be Occupied in American Cities and Foreign Cities. In New Jersey no tenement house can occupy more than 90 per cent, of a corner lot, or more than 70 per cent of an interior lot. Connecticut, Cleveland, Baltimore and Washington all limit the occupancy of corner lots to 90 per cent. Chicago permits lots bounded by streets on 3 sides to occupy 90 per cent., but limits all other corner lots to 50 feet or less in width, but only 75 per cent, of the excess over 50 feet of corner lots. Connecticut, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington limit the occupancy of interior lots to 75 per cent., Baltimore to 70 per cent, and Cleveland to 65 per cent, (c) Zone System in Boston and Baltimore. By an Act of 1904, relative to the height of buildings in the City of Boston, the city is divided into two classes of two districts, designated districts A and B. The boundaries of these districts continue for a period of 15 years, and by the terms of the Act are determined in such manner that those parts of the city in which all or the greater part of the buildings situated therein were at the time of such determination used for business or commercial purposes, shall be included in the district designated A, and those parts of the city in which all or the greater part of the building situated therein were at the tim.e used for residental purposes or for other purposes not busi- ness or commercial shall be in the district designated B. In the first district, A, no building may be erected to a height of more than 125 feet above the grade of the street, and in the second district, B, no building may be erected to a height of more than 80 feet above the grade of the street. This restriction, however, does not apply to grain or coal elevators, sugar refineries in any district designated A, nor to steeples, domes, towers or cupolas erected strictly for ornamental purposes, fire-proof material on buildings of the above height or less in any district. By an Act of 1905, relative to the height of buildings in the City of Boston, a commission of three mem- bers was appointed by the Mayor to determine the height of buildings within the dis- trict designated B, (since in each part of the district designated B buildings may be erected exceeding 80 feet, but not exceeding 100 feet in height) and the height be- tween 80 feet and ICO feet to which buildings may be erected, and the conditions under which buildings could be so erected. Authority was given to this Commission to provide for the erection of buildings to a height not exceeding 125 feet in that por- tion of district B which lies within 50 feet of the boundary line, separating said district B from the district designated as District A. It has also provided "'No limitations of the height of buildings in the City (of Boston) shall apply to churches, steeples, towers, domes, cupolas or statuary not used for purposes of habitation nor to chimneys, gas holders, coal or grain elevators, open balustrades, skylights, ventilators, flagstaff's, railings, weather vanes, soil pipes, steam exhausts, signs, roof houses, not exceeding twelve feet square and twelve feet high, nor to other similar constructions such as are usually erected above the roof line of buildings." The constitutionality of this act was contested, and the case was carried to the Supreme Court of the United States, which decided on May 17, 1909 (Mr. Justice 22 Peckhani delivering the opinion of the Court). "The ground of objection of plaintiff in error to this legislation is that the statutes unduly and unreasonably infringe upon his constitutional rights, (a) As to taking of property without compensation; (b) As to denial of equal protection of the laws." Mr. Justice Peckham further stated, "In relation to the discrimination or classifi- cation made between the commercial and the residential portion of the city, the State court holds in this case that there is reasonable ground therefor in the very great value of the land and the demand for space in those parts of Boston where a greater number of buildings are used for the purpose of business or commercially than where the buildings arc situated in the residential portion of the city, and where no such reason exist for high buildings. While so deciding the court cited, with approval. Commonwealth vs. Boston Arvertising Company, Mass. 348, which holds that the police power cannot be exercised for a merely aesthetic purpose. The court distinguishes between the two cases and sustains the present statutes. As to the conditions adopted by the commission for permitting the erection in either of the districts H, that is, the residential portion, of buildings of over eighty feet, but never more than one hundred, that the width on each and every public street on which the building stands shall be at least one-half its height, the court refuses to hold that such conditions was entirely for aesthetic reasons. The Chief Justice said : "We conceive that the safety of ad- joining buildings, in view of the risk of the falling of w^alls after a fire, may have en- tered into the purpose of the commissioners. We are of opinion that the statutes and orders of the commissioners are constitutional." "We are not prepared to hold that this limitation of eighty to one hundred feet, while in fact a discrimination or classification, is so unreasonable that it deprives the owner of the property of its profitable use without justification, and that he is there- fore entitled, under the Constitution, to compensation for such invasion of his rights. The discrimination thus made is, as we think, reasonable, and is justified by the police power." The judgment of the State court upholding the constitutionality of the act creating these two zones was thus affirmed by the Supreme Court of the United States chiefly on the above grounds. A similar districting has also been made in Baltimore, Md. (d) Districting of Foreign Cities. Many continental cities have also established the principle of creating different districts with designated building regulations, varying according to local conditions. In the City of Dusseldorf, Germany, for instance, there are nine separate dis- tricts, the same number in Munich, while Cologne has six districts, each with its own designated and distinct building code and regulations. The height of the buildings in the districts in Cologne vary from 4 stories and mansard and a ground floor in one district with the permissible use of 80 to 75 per cent, of the lot area to a height of ground floor and two stories and the permissible use of only 40 per cent, of the lot area, while in one district building is in accordance with an arrangement with the city, and then only 50 per cent, of the covered area may be occupied. With the exception of Berlin, most of the large cities of Germany have such districts with varying heights of buildings and varying proportion of lot area occupied by buildings. A similar system of districting is common in Austria and Switzerland. Vienna has 5 districts, wath regu- lations similar to those of Dusseldorf, Munich and Cologne. ( cubage permitted in such district. Sec. 2. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately. .AN ACT to amend the Greater New York Charter by creating a Board of Trustees of Public Outdoor Relief in The City of New York. The people of the State of New York represented in Senate and Assembly do enact as follows : Section 1. Chapter thirteen of the Greater New Y'ork Charter as re-enacted by chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and nine is hereby amended by the addition of a new title to be known as title five thereof, which shall contain a new section and to read as follows : Title V. Board of Trustees of Public Outdoor Relief in The City of New York. Section 693-bl. On the first day of July, nineteen hundred and eleven, the au- thority to dispense public outdoor relief as provided in this section shall be vested in a board of trustees which shall be known as the Board of Trustees of Public Outdoor Relief, and which shall on this date undertake the duties herein prescribed. Said Board of Trustees shall consist of seven residents of The City of New York, together with the commissioner of public charities, ex-officio. In the month of June, nineteen hundred and eleven, the Mayor of The City of New York shall appoint one resident of The City of New York to serve as such trustee for the term of one year, one for the term of two years, one for the term of three years, one for the term of four years and one for the term of five years, one for the term of si.x years and one for the term of seven years, from the first day of June, nineteen hundred and eleven. In the month of July, and on or before the twentieth day thereof, prior to the expiration of the term of office of any trustee, the mayor shall appoint his successor for the full term of seven years. The mayor shall fill any vacancy in the board caused by the death of a trustee, his resignation, removal from the city or otherwise, by the appoint- ment of a trustee to hold office for the unexpired term. Every person appointed to serve as such trustee shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe the oath of office prescribed by the constitution of the state. 2. For the purpose of making the appointments aforesaid, the said mayor shall call upon the president or other executive head of each of the following organizations, to wit: The United Hebrew Charities of The City of New York, the Particular Council of New York of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in New York, the New York Association for Improving the Condition of the Poor, the Charity Organization So- ciety of The City of New York, the Brooklyn Bureau of Charities and the Central Labor Union of Brooklyn to present a list of not less than twice the number of per- 37 sons to be appointed members of said board of trustees, to fill a vacancy or otherwise. Notice in writing of the dates in which appointments, including the first, to said board of trustees are proposed to be made shall be given by the mayor to each of said presi- dents or other executive heads at least ten days prior thereto, and such list of names shall be so presented within three days after the receipt of such notice. Said presi- dents or other executive heads may each submit, or two or more of them may jointly present, such a list of names. Appointments to said board of trustees may in the discretion of the mayor be made from such list or lists. 3. No trustee shall receive compensation for his services, materials or supplies of any kind to or for said relief by contract, or otherwise. No trustee shall hold any office of emolument under the city, county, state or national government, except the offices of notary public, or commissioner of deeds or offices in the national guard. 4. Said board of trustees shall organize within ten days after said trustees are appointed. It shall annually choose from its members, at a regular meeting to be held in the month of January, a president and a secretary for the term of one year. It shall establish rules and regulations for the administration and dispensing of said public outdoor relief. It shall administer the moneys appropriated for said public outdoor relief, subject to the general provisions of this act relative to the audit and payment of claims. Said board shall have power to appoint and at pleasure to remove such super- intendents, subordinate officers and other employees as may be necessary for the efficient administration of said public outdoor relief, subject to the civil service laws and the rules and regulations of the municipal civil service commission. The board of trustees shall keep accurate and detailed accounts, in a form approved by the Comptroller, or all moneys received and expended by it, the sources from which they are received and the purposes for which they are expended. It shall, during the month of January in each year transmit to the mayor a report as to these under its care and the dispensing of public outdoor relief during the j'ear ending the preceeding thirty- first day of December. 5. Said board of trustees shall have power to dispense outdoor relief to the de- pendent members of a family of a consumptive or consumptives when, after investi- gation into the circumstances of all such persons it is established that the dependent members of the family of said consumptive or consumptives are not able to maintain themselves, provided, however, that the dependent members of the family of such con- sumptive or consumptives move into sections of the City where the density of popula- tion is not greater than three hundred to the acre in the ward, and provided, also, that the dependent members of the family of such consumptive or consumptives are living under such surroundings as are approved by the said board of trustees or their repre- sentatives. The said board of trustees shall also have power to dispense outdoor relief to indigent widows with children if such widows are physically, mentally and morally competent to care for their children, provided, however, that they care for their chil- dren themselves and that they live in a ward in which the density of population is less than three hundred to the acre and under such surroundings as are approved by the said board of trustees or their representatives. 6. The board of estimate and apportionment and the board of aldermen shall in each year appropriate such sum as in their judgment may be necessary for public outdoor relief. It shall be the duty of the board of trustees of public outdoor reliei to send to the board of estimate and apportionment, or on or before the first day of September in each year, an estimate in writing of the sum needed for the ensuin.t; 3'ear in the same manner and general form as the heads of departments and other boards of The City of New York are required to furnish. Sec. 2. This act shall take effect immediately. AN ACT to amend the Greater New York Charter in relation to the bureaus of the department of finance. The people of the State of New York represented in Senate and Assembly do enact as follows : Section 1. There shall be in the department of finance of The City of New York in addition to the six bureaus now^ provided for by section 151 of this act, a seventh bureau, to be known as the bureau for the supervision of charitable institu- tions, exempt from taxation under paragraph 7, of section 4, of the General Tax Law of the State. The chief officer of the bureau shall be called the Examiner of Charitable Institu- tions Exempt from Taxation, and shall be appointed by the Comptroller. He shall investigate the work done by these institutions, methods of accounting, and report to the Comptroller from time to time as to whether the institutions are doing work which entitles them to exemption from taxation, and shall make recommendations to the institutions regarding the conduct of their work. The Comptroller shall be authorized 3S to appoint for the work of this department as many expert accountants, examiners of accounts and other employees as he shall deem necessary. Sec. 2. This act shall take effect January 1, 1912. AN ACT to amend the Greater New York Charter by increasing the powers of the Board of Health. The people of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows : Section 1. Title one of chapter nineteen of the Greater New York Charter, as re- enacted by chapter four hundred and sixty-six of the laws of nineteen hundred and one, is hereby amended by adding a new section, to be known as section eleven hun- dred and eighty-live to read as follows: Section llnstances, zvould sell if zvholly unimproved, and the sum for which the said parcel, under ordinary circumstances, zvould sell zvith the improz'onents, if any, there- on. The said books shall be open for public inspection, examination and correction from the second Monday in January until the 1st day of April in each year; but on the said last mentioned day the same shall be closed to enable the Board of Taxes and Assessments to prepare assessment rolls of the several boroughs for delivery to the Board of Aldermen. The said Board, previous to and during the time the said books are open as aforesaid, for inspection, shall advertise the fact in the City Record and in such other newspaper or newspapers published in the several Boroughs created by this Act as may be authorized by the Board of City Record. Section 2. This Act shall take eff'ect immediatelv. 48 AN ACT to amend the Tenement House Law regarding Outer Courts. The People of the State of New York represented in Senate and Assembly do enact as follows : Section 1. Section 57 of Chapter 99 of the Laws of 1909 entitled "An Act in rela- tion to tenement houses constituting chapter sixty-one of the Consolidated Laws" is hereby amended to read as follows: Section 57. 1 — Where one side of an outer court is situated on the lot line, the width of the said court, measured from the lot line to the opposite wall of the build- ing, for tenement houses sixty feet in height shall not be less than six feet in any part; and for every twelve feet of increase or fraction thereof in height of the said building, such width shall be increased six inches throughout the entire height of said court; and for every twelve feet of decrease in the height of the said building below sixty feet, such width may be decreased six inches. Whenever an outer court exceeds sixty- five feet in length and does not extend from the street to the yard, the entire court shall be increased in width one foot for every additional thirty feet or fraction thereof in excess of sixty-five feet. Except that in tenement houses hereafter erected not ex- ceeding four stories and cellar in height and which also are not occupied or arranged to be occupied by more than [eight] nine families in all, or by more than two families on any floor, and in which also each apartments extends through from the street to the yard, the width of an outer court situated on the lot line shall not be less than four feet in any part provided that the length of such outer court does not exceed thirty-six feet. 2.. Where an outer court is situated between wings or part of the same building, or between different buildings on the same lot, the width of the said court, measured from wall to Avail, for tenement houses sixty feet in height shall not be less than twelve feet in any part; and for every twelve feet of increase or fraction thereof in the height of the said building, such width shall be increased one foot throughout the entire height of said court ; and for every twelve feet of decrease in the height of the said buildings below sixty feet, such width of the said court may be decreased one foot. Wherever an outer court exceeds sixty-five feet in length, the entire court shall be increased in width two feet for every additional thirty feet or fraction thereof in excess of sixty-five feet. Except that in tenement houses hereafter erected not ex- ceeding four stories and cellar in height and which also are not occupied or arranged to be occupied by more than [eight] nine families in all, or by more than two families on any floor, and in which also each apartment extends through from the .street to the yard, the width of an outer court situated between wings or parts of the same building, or between different buildings on the same lot, measured from wall to wall, shall be not less than eight feet in any part provided that the length of said outer court does not exceed thirty-six feet. 3. Wherever an outer court changes its initial horizontal direction, or wherever any part of such court extends in a direction so as not to receive direct light from the street or yard, the length of such portion of said court shall never exceed the width of said portion; such length to be measured from the point at which the change of direction commences. Wherever an outer court is less in depth than the minimum width prescribed by this article, then its width may be equal to. but not less than its depth, provided that such width is never less than four feet in the clear. This excep- tion shall also apply to each offset or recess in outer courts. And no window except windows of w^ater-closet compartments, bathrooms or halls shall open upon any offset or recess less than six feet in width. Sec. 2. This act shall take eft'ect immediately. 49 RECOMMENDATIOXS 01- THE COMMITTEE ON PARKS AND PLAY- GROUNDS, SCHOOLS AND RECREATION CENTRES OF THE NEW YORK CITY COMMISSION ON CONGESTION OF POPULATION, PRE- PARED BY ALDERMAN JAMES E. CAMPBELL. CPIAIRMAN. The Committee submit the following recommendations based upon the evidence and suggestions submitted at tlie hearings of the Committee and upon investigations made by the members of the Committee. The recommendations of the Committee naturally divide themselves into two parts: I. Recommendations regarding parks and playgrounds. II. Recommendations regarding schools and recreation centres. The Committee would, however, first make two general recommendations with regard to the City's policy of acquisition of land for public purposes. First: The City should acquire land in contemplation of future public needs as early as possible. The table submitted as an appendix to this report shows that in practically every case the City has saved money by purchasing land early. Even including the cost of buildings on the land condemnation costs and losses from taxes and interest charges, the assessed value of the sites of hundreds of public buildings is several hundred per cent, greater now than the total amount paid. By such early acquisition of land the City gets the entire increase in the value of the land, and it is only on this land owned by the City that it secures this increment of land value. Of 943 sites studied, 19 parcels, or one in every 27, had increased over 2,C00 per cent. Second: The City may sometimes need to sell land that is very valuable, but should never sell land that is cheap, and should use the proceeds of sales of very valuable land to acquire cheap land. The history of the acquisition of land by New York City shows, unfortunately, a "piecemeal" purchase of land, entirely out of pro- portion to the increasing needs of the community. Of 513 school sites in New York City, in 229 cases, nearly one-half, less than the entire site was purchased at one time. In 17 cases the total amount of land required was secured at five different times, extending over a series of years. Two typical instances of the cost of this delay in acquiring land are the site of School 21, 33 Greenwich St., where the City paid in 1849, $0.79 per square foot, and in 1905, 56 years later, paid $13.37 per square foot. In the same way land was purchased by the City for School 34, Norman, Eckford and Oakland sts., Brooklyn, m 1867, for $0.23, while it paid in 1906, or 30 years later, $7.16 per square foot, or thirty-one times as much. I. Recommendations Regarding Parks and Playgrounds and Standard of Parks AND Playgrounds. Officials of the Department of Parks have appeared before the Committee in reference to the Parks and Playgrounds situated in New York City. Mr. Howard Bradstreet, Superintendent of Recreation in Manhattan and Richmond, differen- tiated classes of Parks as follows : 1. Excursion Parks, e. g., Van Cortlandt. 2. Landscape Parks, e. g.. Central, Riverside. 3. Ornamental Parks, e. g., Madison Square. 4. Athletic Fields, e. g., Jasper Oval. 5. Playgrounds, e. g., Hamilton Fish. The Committee, in making their report, have adopted this general suggestion, but realize that it is necessary to recognize the economic limitations of providing excursion parks, and even larger parks, in certain sections of the City where land is enormously expensive. They also appreciate the necessity of establishing a cer- tain standard of area, that is, a certain number of square feet, as a minimum amount of playground which should be provided for every child. Thirty (30) square feet has been suggested as the minimum, although eighty (80) square feet is a more reasonable allowance. An equally important point, however, has been emphasized before the Committee, that this park area must be accessible to the children in the neighborhood, since few children can go more than half a mile, and usually not more than a quarter of a mile, to a playground. The existence of large parks, such as Central Park, Crotona and Van Cortlandt Parks, and The Bronx Park in The Bronx, and Prospect Park in Brooklyn, while swelling the total park area of the City, is of little value in the problem of securing playgrounds for children, since a relatively small number of the entire City's population can live within a distance of one-quarter to one-half mile of such parks, which, as has been suggested to the Committee, are really excursion parks. It is impossible to deter- mine the total area and playground area that will be required in certain districts if they are permitted to grow up in the same haphazard way as have most of the so boroughs of New York City. The Committee have been impressed with the fact that in all of the outlying boroughs of the City there is a very inadequate provision of parks and playgrounds when we exclude the total acreage of the enormous ex- cursion parks, which, as above noted, are not available for play purposes to the children of the neighborhood. So long as it is permissible to erect four and five- story tenements in outlying districts, where small two-family houses, or at most three-story tenements, should be permitted, it will be difficult for the City to deter- mine the total park area required. Suggestions Regarding New Parks and Playgrounds. Third : Various suggestions have been made as to the methods of acquiring more parks and playgrounds. Until a comparatively few years ago the City paid for these out of the General Fund, but in 1907 a ruling was adopted by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment that any proposition for parks and playgrounds was not to be considered unless the cost was to be assessed upon the property ben- efited. The result of this action has been that, while for several years prior to 1907 nearly ICO acres of park area were acquired by the City every year, during 1908, following the adoption of this resolution by the Board of Estimate and Apportion- ment, only 14 acres of parks were acquired by the City. It seems evident that a certain amount of park area should be acquired by the City, and if it is not paid for by local assessment some other arrangement should be found for paying therefor. It has been suggested before the Committee that part of the cost of parks should be assessed upon the property benefited, part upon the Borough in which located, and part upon the City. The Committee would call attention to the fact that during the past the City has purchased land at enormous prices for park purposes in Man- hattan, paying in many instances at the rate of over $1,000,000 per acre. It seems, therefore, manifestly improper and unjust that the City, having made all these provisions for the congested districts of the City, should refuse to make similar provisions in the sections of the City where land is cheap, and where wage earners may live comfortably and with a reasonable expenditure for rent. The Committee therefore recommends that the City acquire land for parks and playgrounds in the outlying Boroughs, part of the cost thereof to be assessed upon the property benefited, part upon the Borough in which located, and part upon the City. They realize that providing a healthy working population in the Boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Richmond adds materially to the value of land to be used for commercial and business purposes in Manhattan, and there is no reason why this valuable land in Manhattan should not pay part of this cost for the City. A second suggestion made to the Committee is that the buildings should be demolished at the ends of congested blocks, and that the areas thus vacated should be improved by the City as parks or public places. The Committee, however, finds that the assessed land values alone of many of these blocks are as high as $8 to $20 per square foot, that is, the land alone in these blocks would cost from $500,000 to $1,200,000 per acre, aside from the cost of the buildings, which would probably be about 50 per cent, of this amount, and it seems to them that it is not feasible to attempt to make ideal conditions for the people living in the congested districts for which this has been particularly suggested, si.vce it is not feasible or practical for manj^ more years to have the City's working population in these sec- tions, which will probably be improved for commercial and business purposes within a few years. It is true that many insanitary buildings should be demolished, and the City might rent these parcels of land for park and playground purposes, as also the lots now vacant. The President of the Department of Taxes and Assessments has furnished the Committee with a list of vacant separately assessed parcels in each Borough, as follows : Percentage of Number. Total Parcels. Manhattan 9.061 9 Bronx 32.022 52 Brooklyn 4^.046 24 Queens 73,899 64 Richmond 15,872 54 178,900 35 5i Every parcel whicli contains any improvements, however slight, is counted as an improved parcel. The suggestion was made to the Connnittce that legislation should be enacted requiring property owners to rent their land to the City for use as parks and play- grounds, and also that a transfer of property from one City department to another should be facilitated by prompt action of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. Section 205 of the Charter provides in part : "That the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund shall have power to assign to use for any public purpose any city property for whatsoever purpose originally acquired which may be found by the Department having control thereof to be no longer required for such purposes." It is therefore evident that it is entirely feasible for the City to transfer parcels of land from one City department to another and it is quite within the scope of the City authorities to have such transfer made promptly. The Committee after consideration of the suggestion that the owners of property should be required to lease their prop- erty for park purposes, feel that this is not a feasible suggestion, but nevertheless sug- gest that the owners should be urged strongly to do so. The following table gives the Park acreage by Boroughs in the City in 1909 : Per cent, of Assessed Park Area Population Borough Value Per cent, in Acres per Acre of Area in of Parks Capital Borough (mapped). Park Areas. Parks Acquired. Invested. Manhattan 1,141 1,589 10.3 $341,665,500 00 105.55 Brooklyn 1,178 1,266 2.4 46.500.90C 00 31.50 The Bronx 3,943 83 15.2 27,951,000 00 86.83 Queens 1,101 211 1.5 1,771,000 00 10.07 Richmond 68 1,127 0.2 198.250 00 3.31 Entire City 7,731 572 3.7 $418,085,650 00 94.98 The Committee also recommend that the Commission request the Board of Aldermen to pass an ordinance permitting the City to supervise as playgrounds land owned by private citizens. As indicated to the Committee by Mr. Bradstreet, there are many such parcels throughout the City, the use of which would be given without charge by the owners provided this was permitted, but under the present law the Park Department cannot pay any City employee who works on private ground. Fourth : The Committee further recommend that adequate appropriation be made by the City for the maintenance of parks and pla3'grounds and for supervision of these where necessary. Although simple apparatus may be used without much supervision, nevertheless the work of the Supervisor is of great importance not only in directing the play of the children, but in training and forming their character; especially would the Committee urge that adequate park and playground provision, with supervision, be made for the outlying Boroughs of the City. II. Schools and Recre,\tion Centers. Hon. Egerton L. Winthrop, President, and Superintendent W. H. Maxwell, and Miss Grace Strachan, all of the Board of Education, and other citizens interested in the school problem of the City, have appeared before your Committee in reference to the congestion of schools. The Department of Education has submitted figures show- ing that there were on October 31, 1910, 5,933 classes having from 41 to 50 pupils, and 2,643 classes from 51 to 60 pupils, and 257 having more than 60 pupils, while 10 had registers of over 81. As part of this report, is submitted a record of the average attendance of pupils per room in each of the schools in each school district, with a record of the number of school rooms having a registration of 60 to 70, and 70 to 80 pupils. Dr. Maxwell suggested that instead of providing so many new classes, it might be possible to divide the number of pupils in the school room and have an assistant teacher who would instruct the backward pupils and assist the teacher in correcting the written work of the pupils. Dr. Maxwell agreed, however, that it is best not to have a registration of over 40 to a class. Miss Strachan, who appeared before the Committee, stated that she had in her districts a great many classes of over 50 and that she would rather have this condition than to have the children on the streets. She said that she was quite sat- isfied to have the registration of 40 pupils, although good work was being done in classes with 45 pupils registered. First: The Committee recommend that sufficient appropriation be made to the 52 Department of Education to provide a teacher for every 40 pupils in the elementary schools on the basis of the registration and within one-third of a mile of the homes of pupils ten years of age and under, and three-quarters of a mile of the homes of pupils over ten years of age, and further, that a suitable school room be provided on the same basis for every 40 pupils registered. Second: The Conunittee also recommend that no school building 'outside of Manhattan should be over three stories in height, nor have accommodations for more than 1500 pupils, and that not over 40 seats be provided in any room in any ele- mentary school. Third : The Committee recommend that adequate yard area be provided for every school purchased, and in case there is not sufficient playground area within accessible distance of the homes of pupils attending the school, that it be ac- quired in connection with the school site or in the vicinity, so as to provide an area of at least 60 square feet for every child of school age. The suggestion has been made to the Committee that indoor playgrounds are ample substitutes for outdoor playgrounds, but although this substitution may be necessary in the congested districts of the City, the Committee feel that the suggestion is not feasible for the Boroughs outside of Manhattan, since the basement playgrounds or playgrounds on the first fioor are apt to be damp, ill-lighted and poor!" ventilated. Fourth : The Committee recommend that the Department of Education be re- quested to give more instruction in physiology and hygiene and to impress upon school children the physical effects of room overcrowding. Fifth : The Committee recommend that training in gardening be given as part of the required school work for every pupil, since this would have an important in- fluence in encouraging children, and, through them, their parents, to remove from the congested districts. Sixth : The Committee have made a careful study of the provisions for Recrea- tion Centres, and the opportunity for recreation in the various Boroughs outside of Manhattan and in New York City, and they find that while large provision has been made in most sections of Manhattan and some sections of Brooklyn, that little ef- fort has been made comparatively to attract the population to outlying Boroughs by providing recreation centres and playgrounds, and therefore recommend that the Department of Education be urged to adopt the policy of attracting people to these newer sections of the City, as yet undeveloped, by providing these attractions in these sections. Seventh: The Committee have not felt it within their jurisdiction to discuss the advantages of supervision of recreation by the Park Department and the De- partment of Education, or by the creation of a Recreation Department, as has been suggested. It is apparent, however, that it would be advantageous to have these edu- cational activities under one department, and the Committee recommend that the Board of Estimate and Apportionment be requested to consider this matter in their study of the Department of Education. Eighth : The Committee recommend that the Department of Education should take steps immediately to provide as ample accommodations for pupils, in the Bor- oughs outside of Manhattan as in that Borough, since they believe that every in- ducement and advantage offered by the City in congested sections should be pro- vided in less densely populated sections of the City as a means of attracting people to those sections. STATEMENT SUBMITTED TO THE COMMITTEE ON PARKS AND PLAY- GROUNDS, SCHOOLS AND RECREATION CENTERS. A. Statement by William H. Maxwell, Superintendent of Schools. Dr. Maxwell took up the information requested by the Committee as follows : 1st. Number of rooms, by schools, now in use, which are not fit to be used for school purposes. 2nd. What amount in addition to the appropriations requested by the Department of Education for 1911, will be required for each borough to rent or provide otherwise, one room well lighted by natural light and suitable for school purposes for every 35 pupils, on the basis of the average attendance, and within one-third of a mile of the home of every pupil ten years of age or under, and w-ithin three-quarters of a mile of every pupil in the elementary schools over ten years of age? '^ hat amount in addition to the appropriations requested by the Depart- ment of Education will be required to provide a teacher for every 35 pupils on the basis of the average attendance with the same provision as in (2) for proximity to the homes of the pupils? What amount in addition to the appropriations requested by the Department of 53 Education will be required for 1911 to provide adequately for the City's High School needs? He presented a report on this subject (as appended herewith) from Associate Superintendent Thomas D. O'Brien. In substance, an estimate was given that there are 67,368 pupils in classes having more than 40 to a class, and that to furnish an extra teacher for every 40 pupils would require 1,684 teachers, and, at $900 each, the cost for their salaries would lie $1,515,000. The estimate did not present, however, the amount required to rent additional rooms for these pupils. Dr. Maxwell stated, however, that he had a way which had not yet been approved by the Board of Education, and which he submitted entirely on his own responsibility for dealing with the problem of large classes. He suggested that an assistant teacher should be provided for all rooms in which there was an excess of pupils, who should assist the regular teacher in correcting all of the written work of this class, and who should also take care of backward pupils in these rooms by special instruction. This plan has been in operation in Batavia, N. Y., and has proven successful. New York City has a large number of substitute teachers who could be used in this way, and if the grade of assistant teachers were created, they might go into grade work in this way, at least in the classes which now have over 60, of which there are 145. The expense could be largely met out of the money now used for substitutes. The system has already been tried in case of 50 or 60 classes of backward pupils. It would be preferable probably for the present to use substitute teachers, since the Board of Education would not have money available now to pay $500 per year for assistant teachers. The total cost would be $72,500. Dr. Maxwell stated that it would not be feasible to rent enough rooms for excess pupils that are fit for the purpose, since not a single building now^ rented is really fit for the purpose. He suggested that the Committee recommend furnishing class rooms with mov- able furniture as is done in Germany, and in the Ethical Culture School, New York City. This would be especially important for the assistant teachers since it would enable them to take part of the large classes into a corner and teach without disturb- ing the others. There should be at least five hours per day for all elementary schools, and this time should not be shortened. In case of the children of foreign parents, not only the children, but the parents, would get the benefit of the training. Dr. Maxwell advocated using the first floor of school buildings for covered play- grounds. He was asked what division of playground work there is between the Depart- ment of Parks and the Department of Education, and replied that there is no hard and fast division, but that there is lack of co-ordination between the Departments. Up to 1904, the Department of Education ran playgrounds in some of the small parks, and did so successfully when the Park Department took up the w'ork. When asked whether he would recommend a Department of Recreation, Dr. Max- well replied, that in his judgment this is unnecessary, because the Department of Education can manage playgrounds efficiently and economically as they have the people to do the work and the machinery for doing it. Last summer the average daily attendance in the playgrounds in the City, under the control of the Board of Education, was over 119,000. There are more plaj'grounds of this sort needed, and have been asked for in the Budget for 1911. The Secretary asked whether in Mr. Maxwell's judgment, in the outlying bor- oughs, there should be more than 1,500 pupils to a school, and he replied, that ordin- arily this was a sufficiently large number. Dr. Maxwell stated that in densely built up sections, large buildings must be erected. In other sections it would be unwise to do so. One question to be con- sidered is how far parents will permit the children to go to attend school. In these days of automobiles, etc., they are afraid to have them go too far. He instanced a case of a school building in Queens, where there are 11 stages carrying the children to the school and yet there are 12 vacant rooms. B. Statement by Mr. Howard Bradstreet, Superintendent of Rbcre.ation in Manhattan and Richmond. There are a number of vacant areas in different sections of the City that could be put at the disposal of the Park Department for playgrounds if this were permitted ; but under the law the Park Department could not pay any City employee to work- on private grounds. It was suggested that the Commission should request the Board of Aldermen and Board of Estimate and Apportionment to pass an ordinance per- mitting the City to administer as playgrounds land owned by private citizens. The Committee suggested that the City could for a nominal sum, such as $1, lease areas available for playgrounds and have charge of the playgrounds on this basis. 54 He suggested tliat the City miglit remit taxes on vacant land for the time during which it was used for playground purposes or for such shorter length of time as would be equivalent to a fair rental, as is done in St. Louis. Mr. Liradstreet differentiated classes of parks as — 1. Excursion parks, e. g.. Van Cortlandt. 2. Landscape parks, e. g., Central, Riverside. 3. Ornamental parks, e. g., Madison Square. 4. Athletic fields, e. g., Jasper Oval. 5. Playgrounds, e. g., Hamilton Fish. It was suggested that in Manhattan, where land is expensive and only limited areas are available, that soft balls should be used for baseballs and that diamonds between bases be 45 feet instead of 90 feet; also a law to legalize baseball playing on Sunday might be advocated by the Connnission. The baseball diamonds in Crotona Park had been cut up to prevent Sunday playing, while in most of the Boroughs baseball cannot be played on vacant lots without the permission of adjoining owners. Mr. Bradstreet suggested that measures should be taken to facilitate the temporary transfer of property from one department of the City to another, and also that vacant property owned by the City might be utilized for playgrounds temporarily without requiring the formality now necessary for permanent transfer. Mr. Elliott asked Mr. Bradstreet whether the separate play buildings were neces- sary and whether they were more advantageous if arranged so that children could use theni in all sorts of weather for outdoor playgrounds and whether it would not be feasible to add a story to schools only three or four stories high, which could be used for playgrounds. Mr. Bradstreet replied it was feasible to use school buildings and that the system of New York City by which school buildings are used so con- tinuously is as commendable as the South Metropolitan Park Board field house system in Chicago. There should be in connection with every school an adequate ground for recreation. All schools should have roof gardens, if possible. Alderman Hamilton suggested that the Commission recommend that in the future no school site should be purchased without providing adequate space for playgrounds. Mr. Bradstreet stated that 30 square feet of playground for 'each child was regarded as the niinimum, but that to secure this is not feasible in lower Manhattan ; but that 80 feet is a more reasonable allowance. Mr. Bradstreet suggested that a wide street or parkway with facilities for play in its centre, such as the Eastern parkway, or the Delancey boulevard, gives a de- sirable opportunity for play activity. He also stated that a small strip running from street to street between avenues in the centre of a block, or at the end of a block, making a checkerboard pattern of small playgrounds, would be the most desirable development in congested regions. Such a proceeding would be more advantageous than to remove the fences or interior buildings in the centre of a block, as it would be open to the safeguard of publicity, and would also promote a greater sociability instead of exclusiveness, which would result from the children of a given block- playing within its limits. CONTINUATION SCHOOLS. Mr. Clarence Arthur Perry, in his book. "Wider Use of the School Plant," gives the following sunnnary of the work of continuation schools. France. The number of different classes held and the kinds of ' courses given in the "adult" evening schools of Paris at the opening of the term in October, 1909, are shown in the following table : Classes for Course of Instruction. Men. Women. Elementary, 1 st year 84 4-1 Elementary, 2d year 24 8 Commercial, ] st year 35 21 Commercial, 2d year 27 16 Advanced commercial 7 1 Freehand drawing 45 5 Mechanical drawing 34 Singing 22 12 Technical Course 13 ■ Totals 291 107 Number of school buildings used 109 45 55 The subjects taught vary from ethical and civic instructions, applications of arith- metic to everyday life, history of France in modern times, geography of France and the Department of the Seine, included in the first year of the elementary course to more extended work in this elementary course in the second year. In the commercial course, penmanship, commercial arithmetic, commercial geogra- phy for boys, stenography and typewriting for girls, and more advanced work in these courses in the subsequent years, while in the technical course workshop practice, technology and machine drawing are taught. The technical courses for apprentices are held from 5 to 7 p. m. and have been organized in several public schools in Paris. In Munich, Germany, a city with over 500,000 inhabitants, all apprentices from fourteen to eighteen years of age are compelled to attend school for at least eight hours per week during 40 weeks of the year. There are over 8,000 of these lads, seven- eighths of them attend classes in which all the members belong to the same trade. These trades include barbers, bakers, builders, bookbinders and, in all, 39 different groups are represented in these "'trade continuation schools." The instruction given is of three kinds, academic, drawing and practical.' The keynote of the instruction is interesting the boys in their trade. Employers are obliged to allow their apprentices a certain amount of time each week during which they may attend the "continuation schools," and the balance of the required time is put in on the weekly half holidays. Attendance at schools is free to apprentices. Similar teaching is given in a number of the large German cities, namely, Magdeburg, Leipsig and Zittau. Nottingham, England, also provides similar courses of instruction which covers subjects such as reading, writing and arithmetic, woodworking, wood carving for boys, reading, writing and sewing, sick nursing, management of children and cooking for girls. The next higher grade, the "continuation" school, offers four distinct courses. (1) A preparatory course of two years in elementar}^ subjects; (2) an industrial course covering three years' work in English, composition, technical drawing, experimental and workshop mathematics and drafting for building construction; (3) a commer- cial course of three years consisting of English, a modern language, commercial arith- metic, shorthand, bookkeeping, business correspondence and typewriting; (4) a domestic course comprising three j^ears' training in housecraft, all kinds of needle- work, dressmaking, milliner}-, laundry work, domestic h^^giene and care of the baby. Besides those which are prescribed, the pupils in all but the preparatory course are allowed to take one of the following optional subjects: English history, commercial geography, duties of citizenship, singing, ambulance, nursing (first aid), physical culture, woodwork, wood carving and any subject included in the domestic course. In Leeds special technical courses are given for persons engaged in the following trades : 1. Mechanical and electrical engineering. 2. Electrical industries. 3. Building trades. 4. Leather and boot trades. 5. Clothing trades. 6. Chemical and allied industries. 7. Mining. 8. Textile industries. 9. Printing. 10. Farriery. • London, Manchester and Halifax have as well similar "Continuation Schools." Statement Showing the Number of Classes in Each Borough Having Specified Registers as of October 31, 1910. Register. Manhattan The Bronx Brooklyn Queens Richmond Total 41-45 1.343 300 1,204 234 48 3,129 46-50 1.189 344 1.091 152 28 2,804 51-55 761 245 761 54 7 1,828 56-60 328 127 341 17 2 815 61-65 62 28 81 D 1 176 66-70 22 6 21 2 51 71-75 2 7 4 13 76-80 6 1 7 81-84 2 i 3 6 88-101 3 1 4 56 A stud_v of tlic price paid by the City per square foot for land acquired for school sites at different periods and in different sections of Manhattan and Brook- lyn — in which boroughs approximately three-fourths of the city's population is located — is most illuminating and illustrates the enormous cost of failure to secure land early before it has acquired capitalized congestion values. Manhattan. Before 1850 1850-1900 1901-1908 Below Fourteenth St $0 98 Fourteenth to Fifty-third St 30 Fifty-third to One Hundred and Twentieth St .... North of One Hundred and Twentieth St.. 16 $4 62 2 90 3 41 2 79 $13 00 10 67 5 87 5 86 Brooklyn. Prior to 1850 1851-1900 1901-1908 Section I Wards 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 11... Section II Wards 6, 10, 12 Section III Wards 9, 20, 22 Section IV Wards 13, 15, 16, 18, Section V Wards 14, 17 Section VI Wards 8, 30, 31.. Section VII Ward 26 Section IX Wards 23, 24, 25, 27, 28 Section X Wards 29 and 32 19. 90 $41 65 $3 89 1 46 3 05 14 1 14 1 79 87 2 29 74 1 32 26 ' 78 18 1 27 62 1 01 23 45 It will be noted that whereas the lowest price paid in Manhattan per square foot between 1851 and 1900 was $2.79, the highest price paid in Brooklyn's densely popu- lated wards from 1901 to 1908 was only $3.89 — $1.10 per square foot more — and the price per square foot paid in Manhattan from 1901 to 1908 varied from $13 to $5.86; i. e., from more than three times, or about one and one-half times as much as paid during the same period for school sites in the central part of Brooklyn, and from fifteen to thirty times as much as was paid in the outlying wards of Brooklyn. Unbusinesslike Methods of Securing Land for School Sites. The following table shows in one case in each borough the penalty the City has paid by faihng to secure land for school sites. The record of nearly every school site purchased in Manhattan is an almost equal indictment' of this piecemeal policy : Manhattan. School 14, 33 Greenwich Avenue. Per sq. ft. 1849 $0 79 1851 84 1890 8 40 1897 9 56 1905 13 37 The Bronx. School 18, Cortlandt Ave., between College and 148th Sts. Per sq. ft. 1848 $0 03 1885 • 1 07 1896 2 18 Queens. School 58, Grafton Ave., Clinton Place and Walker St. Per sq. ft. 1858 $0 02 1880 07 1 892 1897 1908 Brooklyn. School 34, Norman, Eckford and Oakland Sts. 1867 1904 1906 Richmond. School 20, Elizabeth, \'reeland, Heberton Sts. and Broadway. Per sq. ft. 1842 $0 02 1876 52 1897 49 1908 80 Cases in which the City has purchased sites piecemeal, and number of times land has been secured for sites for one school in different 3-ears : 12 17 43 • sq. ft. $0 23 3 16 7 16 No. of SitesT't'l Three Four Five Six Total Purchased No. Twice Times Times Times Times Cases Outright Sites Manhattan 45 The Bronx 12 Brooklyn 38 Queens 18 Richmond 12 iO 10 9 3 ? 1 >2 8 4 4 2 1 4 1 2 94 63 157 18 32 50 72 98 170 26 IZ 99 19 18 Z1 Total 125 63 23 17 1 229 284 513 Assessed Values and Price Paid. Table showing the relation between the Assessed Valuation of certain school sites and the price paid for them. Borough. Assessed Value Price Paid Manhattan $703,500 00 $1,271,585 37 The Bronx... 142.000 00 581.410 00 Brooklyn 41,400 00 142,900 00 Queens 20,700 00 ' 46,122 25 Richmond 3,400 00 7,200 00 Department of Education, The City of New York, the Board of Superintendents, Park avenue and Fifty-ninth street, October 21, 1910. Dr. WILLIAM H. MAXWELL, City Superintendent of Schools: Dear Sir — I have your direction, dated October 19, to ascertain the number of pupils in excess of 40 who are now in the elementary school classes, and to ascertain how many extra teachers would be required to teach said excess pupils, and the cost of said extra teachers at an average salary of $900. Secretary Bussey furnishes the following: (a) Number of classes containing from 41 to 50 pupils 6,125 (b) Number of classes containing from 50 to 60 pupils 1,939 (c) Number of classes containing more than 60 pupils 145 I exclude the classes which contain fewer than 41, because I understand a class register of 40 is not deemed excessive. Probability distributes the registers of (a) so that their average size is.. 45J/2 The average excess over 40 is, therefore 5^2 6.125 X 51^ 33.688 Similarly the average size of the (b) classes is 55^ 58 The average excess of these classes above 40 is 15^ 1.939 X ISVi 30.055 As to the (c) list, I assume that these classes having more than 60. the average is 65 145 X 25 (the excess over 40) gives the aggregate excess in (c) as.... 3,626 Grand total of excess pupils having more than 40 67,368 Dividing this number by 40, we obtain the number of extra teachers required to teach said excess 1,684 At $900 each, the cost for their salaries could be $1,515,600 Respectfully .vours, (Signed) THOMAS D. O'BRIEN, Inclosures. Associate City Superintendent. REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON STREETS AND HIGHWAYS OF THE NEW YORK CITY COMMISSION ON CONGESTION OF POPULATION. MR. RUSSELL BLEECKER, CHAIRMAN. The Committee have held three meetings and examined, among others, the Chief Engineer of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, Mr. Nelson P. Lewis; the Engineer in Charge of Public Improvements. Mr. Arthur S. Tuttle, and Mr. Louis L. Tribus. Consulting Engineer of the Borough of Richmond. The Committee have studied chieflv the concentration of factories, lofts and mercantile establishments in the centre of Manhattan, the lack of means of carrying freight-, narrowness of stref^ts. heights of buildings, the tearing up of streets for construction of buildings and reprirs, etc.. as aljo the methods of widening streets and increasing their capacity, both fol traffic and passengers. The importance of the subject is apparent to any one who has seen the congestion of traffic and passengers in the streets downtown, and realizes the cost of widening streets and the relation between the nature of the streets, their composition and com- parative cost, to rents in the City. The tables appended show statistically the cost of these various items. The relation of transit lines and streets has also been touched upon by those who have appeared before the Comm.ittee. and the Committee on Transit, and suggestions made that transit lines should be determined first and the .<%treet lines later. The following subjects were considered and answers to the questions on these points by Borough Presidents are submitted herewith : (1) Are more thoroughfares needed and where? .Should new parkways through residence sections be ISO feet wide? (2) Should not the Borough Presidents be asked to call upon the Park Com- missioners to plant trees at time the streets are laid out, the cost thereof to be as.-^essed as part of the cost of the streets? (3) Is not carrying freight by subways preferable to carrying it on surface roads? (4) In view of the fact that the City is obliged to wait six months after a board to condemn property for public purposes is appointed before it can vest title but the Public Service Commission can vest title for rapid transit purposes im- mediately, should not legislation be secured to enable the City to acquire property before houses are built upon property so as to enable the owners thereof to secure larger damage? What method can the City adopt to protect itself effectively against this house planting and to secure proper widths of streets? (5) Should the Commission favor paving streets before sewers are put in? In answer to the question sent to the Borough Presidents as to what proportion of the Borough is provided with sewerage disposal, it is learned that there is 55 per cent, of Brooklyn, 17.4 per cent, of Queens and 20 per cent, of Richmond. The Borough President of Manhattan expressed the opinion that the lack of such sewers had not in any wav prevented the construction of tenements and other dwellings, while the Borough Presidents of Brooklyn. Queens and Richmond stated that the lack of sewers had. particularly in specified sections, prevented the construction of tene- ments and other dwellings. In reply to the question as to whether it is wise to permit streets to be paved before sewers for sewerage disposal are constructed or such sewers be constructed first, the Borou.gh Presidents of Manhattan, The Bronx and Brooklyn indicate that it would be wisest not to permit this, while the Borough President of Queens stated it depended upon local conditions. In reference to planting trees at the time streets are paved and assessing the cost thereof on the streets or on the property benefited, there was a difference of opinion ; the Borough President of Manhattan stated that tree planting was only feasible in the residence streets. The Borough President of The Bronx stated that it was entii-ely practical to plant trees even at the time the streets are regulated and 59 graded, which is frequently a number of years before they arc paved, but does not know if the cost should be legally assessed upon the property benefited or not, although probably not. The Queens Horough President stated that trees should be planted as soon as possible. The Richmond Borough President thought that the trees should be planted by the Department of Parks and maintained by it without local assessment. Congestion of Streets — The appended table show's the number of vehicles passing a certain point in lower Manhattan between given hours and also the number of passengers which have used the sidewalks at the same time, the number of people entering certain buildings within certain periods. While it has not been possible for your Committee to make an elaborate study of the loss of time due to the large number of vehicles held up at street crossings, it is evident that with as high as 2,526 vehicles passing a given point, as was the case at Broadway and Fulton sts., Tuesday, October 27, 1907, in the one hour between 4 and 5 o'clock p. m.. a large amount of the time must inevitably be lost with the delay occasioned while the streams of traffic alternate. At Broadway and Chambers sts. it was found by the Police Department that between 10 and 11 a. m. on Tuesday, October 22, 1907, 2,412 vehicles passed. These figures give some indication of the enormous wear and tear upon the streets, moreover due to the concentration of factories, ofiice buildings and places of business in the limited district below Chambers st. It was found, too, that nearly 2,973 people left the National Bank of Commerce Building, 31 Nassau St., in one hour, from 3 to 4 p. m., on August 3, 1908. Width of Streets — There are in lower Manhattan, between Fulton, Pearl, Water. \\'hitehall. Battery place and Greenwich sts., two streets for some distance 20 fe,et wide, having buildings two to ten stories, one street for some distance 24 feet wide having buildings two to eight stories, seven streets for some distance 30 to 34 feet wide having buildings two to seventeen stories, and one street for some distance 75 feet wide having buildings twenty to thirty-six stories. It is evident that, with such narrow streets and with absolutely no limit on the height of buildings, congestion of traffic and passengers is inevitable and that no device that can be adopted and no public regulation, however drastic, will be effective in preventing waste of time if the buildings are permitted to be constructed to unlimited heights. The Royal Commission on London Traffic suggest in their report that new or widened streets should be divided into five classes : Main avenues 140 feet wide. First-class arterial streets 100 feet wide. Second-class streets 80 feet wide. Third-class streets 60 feet wide. Fourth-class streets 40-60 feet wide. This recommendation is made for cities where there is a cubage or volume limit because a limit on the height of buildings. Most of the streets in Manhattan, except below Chambers St., are from 60 to 75 feet wide except the avenues. Grand St., 14th St., 23d St., 34th St., 42d St., 116th st. and 125th st., which are about 100 feet. While wide parkways are feasible in some districts, the cost of wide streets is relatively very great. In order to reduce the rent, streets in garden cities and smaller towns abroad are made as narrow as 18 to 37 feet, usually with the requirement that houses shall be set back a few feet from the lot line, 15 to 20 feet ordinarily, so that the street can subsequently be widened without undue expense. This open space in front is, of course, included in the proportion of the lot area not occupied. These narrower streets reduce the rent from 2 to 8 per cent., according to the material of which the street is made. Restrictions on Volume or Cubage — Mayor McClellan's Building Code Revision Commission recommended that, while no restrictions be placed upon the height of buildings, that the volume should be restricted, so that the volume of any building should not be greater than 174 times the area of the lot; this would mean that if each story were 14 feet high the building would be limited to 12, and if each story were 12 feet high the building would be limited to 14 stories flat, providing the total area of the lot were covered. In point of fact, however, the volume or cubage of the German-American Insurance Companj^ Building, instead of being 174 times the area of the lot, is 254 times the area of the lot, and the City Investing Building in one part is 313 times the area of the lot, and in another section 298 times the area of the lot, while many other buildings have a cubage from one-third to one-half in excess of the proposed limit. One of the important measures of the large amount of drayage and congestion of the traffic is the record of freight handled at the terminals of the railroads. Thus the 60 N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. report that the total net tonnage brought to New York City by this company and the New England Navigation Company during 1909 was 1,417,544 net tons, of which the N. Y., N. H. & H. R. R. Co. brought to the Harlem River local and to piers 44 and 45, East River, 659,234 tons, while 103,911 tons were brought to Pier 11, North River, and 292.990 to Piers 18 and 19, North River. Similarly 1,379,781 net tons were forwarded from these stations in about the same proportion. The Erie Rail- road report that they received at their Duane street station for the year ending June 30, 1910, 295,159 tons and forwarded from this station 182,803 tons, and from Pier 7, East River, they forwarded 58,386 tons and received 34,177 tons. What Unlimited Volume or Building Would Mean in Lower Manhattan — The Committee have also compiled data showing the effect upon the street traffic of lower Manhattan of building the island up to a certain height. In 1908 they found that there was available for rent in the available area of Manhattan, below Chambers St., 7,422,000 sfjuare feet of land, and that, if a reasonable factor of rentability were taken for the buildings of various heights in this important section of Manhattan below Chambers St.. that 15-story buildings would give a net floor space available for renting, of 72,350,000 square feet, while, if the districts were improved by 25-story buildings, it would provide a net floor space of 111,300,000 square feet. It is very seldom that more than 110 square feet of floor space, even in the most expensive and best arranged and equipped offices is provided for every occupant, and manifestly the improvement of the land available below Chambers st. by such height of buildings from 15 to 25 stories would mean an absolutely impossible burden upon the narrow streets of this section, which are entirely inadequate at present for the traffic which is forced through them, since a flat level of 25 stories would furnish accommodations for about 1,012.000 persons. Cost of Lack of City Planning — The appended table of typical costs of widening streets shows that the delay to make such widening which is included in a city plan is a very serious financial one; thus the net cost of widening Delancey St.. includ- ing Commissioners' fees, and condemnation awards, amounted to $8,490,662.36. This property was acquired from 1899 to 1906 inclusive, and represented about one-tenth of the total City Budget for 1899. The exact cost to the City of a lack of a city plan is extremely difficult to estimate, since there are many factors entering into it, among others the fact that exorbitant prices have been charged for the property when it has been known that it is to be used by the City, while also the interest charges due to the City's failure to pay as it goes along, with the excessive fees paid Condemnation Commissioners and other items have swollen the cost so that an absolutely accurate comparison is not feasible. On the other hand, the broad fact remains that the City is in the habit of paying anywhere from two to five times as much for property a few years after the need for the improvement is recognized as it would have to pay if it acquired it when the need for it is first recognized. The appended table, prepared by Mr. Nelson P. Lewis, Chief Engineer of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, on the cost of making the improvements suggested by the Mayor's City Improvement Commission, is most significant. In 1907 he estimates the total cost of these few improvements were $86,808,000, without any provision for anything in the Boroughs of Queens and Richmond. The land values, however, have been increased since that time so that they are at present from 5 to 15 per cent, or more, higher than the amounts given and the total cost will be approximately $100,000,000, without including anything in the two Boroughs of Queens and Richmond. The table submitted also by the Committee shows the cost of street widening from 1905 to 1906 inclusive, total, was over $25,000,000. The mere fact that over one-half of this amount is assessed upon the property benefited does not in any way affect the argument for early acquisition of land by the City as the City has paid and will continue to pay enormous amounts for its failure to make a reasonable plan for the City as a whole and to require real estate operators and developers conform to such a plan as is based upon the needs of the City as a whole and not upon the whims and caprices of property developers. American Methods of City Planning — A further study has been made by the Committee of the systems which are adopted bv American cities during which they have communicated with engineers of large American and Canadian cities. The methods adopted are submitted herewith as an appendix to the report, but it will be noted that onlv a few of the cities have the power to comoel real estate dealers to comply with the plans for the city's development prepared by the City Engineer, but every city recognizes that this is necessary in order to secure a normal develop- ment of the city and to save the city enormous expense. It is individuals and cor- porations that control the development of the city instead of the authorities elected to do so. 6! Foreign Methods of City Planning — In direct contrast to the American in- dividualistic methods of development of cities is the method of Continental and British cities in which, as \our Committee have indicated in their appended report on the subject, the city authorities themselves determine the plans for the city. Your Committee would call attention to the fact that the most significant and distinguishing feature of foreign city planning is the control by the city over develop- ments and the districting of the city into distinctive parts by the creation of "zones." Each zone has its individual building code which applies to every kind of building since distinction is not made in most foreign countries between the Building Code as applying to tenements, and office or factory buildings. The English Town Planning Act is similar in its purport and gives wide dis- cretionary power to the municipal authorities, subject, however, to review by the Local Government Board. In both English and other Continental town planning, however, the right of the city to determine absolutely the number of cottages is recognized and the evil conditions of congestion which have occurred in the centre of the city are prevented by the law, which determines absolutely the conditions of the newer sections of the city. This is necessarily a rough and ready justice, since land speculators in foreign cities, as well as in American cities, anticipate the com- munity's need and speculate vigorously in selected tracts, even in the outlying districts of the city. The fact, however, that real estate operators speculate in land is not regarded in foreign countries as any reason why the Government should fail to enforce healthy conditions in those parts of the city where the general enforcement of such conditions is perfectly just and fair. The data submitted by the Committee shows also that only about four-fifths of the Borough of The Bronx has been finally mapped, less than one-fourth of Queens, and less than one-fifteenth of Richmond, while only one-half of Brooklyn remains to be finally mapped. They therefore, as the result of study of these conditions, submit the following recommendations : Recommend.^tions of the Committee on Streets .\nd Highways of the New York City Commission on Congestion of Population. The Committee in following the suggestions which have been made by those who have appeared before the Committee and as a result of their own study of the problem make the following recommendations, and ask that the Committee on Legislation be instructed to draft legislation providing for the measures suggested in these recommendations, with the exception of the first recommendation, which should be made directly to the Board of Estimate and Apportionment and Board of Alder- men. First : The Committee recommend the immediate preparation of a comprehensive plan for the development of New York City, as is now contemplated by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. In the judgment of the Committee such a plan must be made by a central authority of the City, and they feel that the Board of Estimate and Apportionment Engineers should have the chief part in preparing such a plan, together with such experts as are selected by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. The figures submitted by the Committee show that a large pro- portion of the boroughs of Queens and Richmond are not yet mapped, so that there is adequate opportunity to make such a plan for the future of these Boroughs. The Committee have not had the funds to make such plans in detail, but recognize that it must be made immediately, and that such a plan should be mandatory upon the City. The figures attached show some of the costs to the City from the absence of such a plan. The main points which should be provided for in the City plan are : (A) The restriction of the heights of buildings in certain districts. (B) The restriction of factories to certain districts. (C) The provision for transit lines and means of carrying freight upon the basis of such a districting of the City. (D) The determination of the main lines of streets and secondary streets as suggested by Mr. Nelson P. Lewis, Chief Engineer of the Board of Estimate. (E) Provision for sewers and sewage disposal and substructures for pipes. (F) Provision of adequate sites for parks and playground and recreation centres and Municipal buildings of various sorts. (G) Acquisition of adequate land by the City. The Committee wish, however, emphatically to call attention to the fact that while such a city plan is essential for the proper development of the City, it in itself is not sufficient to prevent congestion of population and room overcrowding, and might, under certain proceedure, aggravate the conditions with which the Commission 62 have been dealing, unless such plans are made with due regard to securing adequate cheap land for houses for wage earners, and unless steps are taken to ensure that the increase in the land values due to the community action shall be secured by the City. Even before, however, such a city plan is defmitely prepared your Committee feel that several steps should be undertaken at once, as follows : Second : The Committee recognize that the restriction of the height of buildings is essential, since the cost of widening the narrow streets of the City, especially lower Manhattan, is practically prohibitive, and there is no economic or business necessity for increasing the height of buildings in many sections of lower Manhat- tan, and recommend that in lower Manhattan buildings should not exceed a cubage of 174 times the area of the site; in upper Manhattan and lower Bronx, the western part of Brooklyn, of 125 times the area of the site; in the rest of New York of 75 times the area of the site. Third : The Committee recommend that the parkways should be at least 150 feet ivide, since this seems to be the minimum width feasible for roadways of this im- portance. Fourth : The Committee recommend that very cheap land in outlying districts of the City be developed with homes for wage earners, and that narrow streets, even 30 feet wide, be permitted, in every case with the sanction of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, since the cost of making and maintaining wider streets is a very serious item in the rent, and the narrow streets mean a saving of from 2 to 8 per cent, in the rent of homes. In view of the fact, however, that the development of the City may require wider streets later, they recommend that legislation be secured by which the City may require that on all streets under 40 feet in width, the houses shall be set back from the curb line at least 10 feet, or that the roadwav of roads in such districts should be very narrow and the street courts very wide, which would permit later widening of the streets to at least 40 to 60 feet, and provided that the lots be of such depth that when streets are widened by taking off the front garden or yard they will still be about 100 feet -deep. They recommend, however, that at least every third street should be 50 feet wide, and that there should be streets not less than 2,000 feet apart, at least 75 feet wide. Fifth : The Committee recommend that legislation should be passed forbidding any property owner to transfer his property unless he has filed with the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, prior to sale, a map showing the subdivision of the property, and showing that it has been approved and accepted by the City, provided that such approval must be given or changes recommended by the city authorities within six months of the time the plans are submitted to them. Sixth : The Committee recommend that no development shall be approved by the City unless a map showing such development shall be filed and accepted by the City as in conformity with the plans for the development of the district, provided that such approval must be given or changes recommended by the city authorities within six months of the time the plan of the development is submitted to them. Seventh : The Committee recommend that the City should immediately acquire as much land as will be necessary for public purposes for the proper development of the City. Eighth : The Committee recommend that legislation be secured providing for the arcading of narrow streets through setting back the first story where necessary, and providing adequate foot-ways for passengers. They are convinced that it is an unjustifiable expenditure of the City's money to acquire title to expensive land along these narrow streets, since it involves an excessive price for the land and the con- struction of higher buildings on such land will nullify the values increasing from the slight widening of the streets. Where necessary the City should be permitted to allow pillars as support of buildings above the first story, and legislation to enable this should be secured. Ninth : The Committee recommend that encroachments on narrow streets should be prohibited, and that where it is impossible or impracticable to remove such en- croachments immediately, that the owners of the property should be charged rental for the public land used with a provision that such use of the land should be only during the life of the building, and that no additional buildings will be permitted by the Cit}', or for a specified time. Tenth : The Committee recommend that subways be provided for passengers on crowded streets, such as at the corner of Fulton st. and Broadway, 42d st. and Fifth ave., such as the Rotherhithe Tunnel in London, and a subway for cars on 42d St. and Fifth ave. Eleventh : The Committee recommend the principle of excess condemnation of land qualifiedly, since they feel that this is feasible in sections of the City where land is cheap, but that it is not feasible in crowded sections of the City, where at 63 present values of land arc cnormdusly high, since in order to make the improve- ments paj% it would be necessary to have the land increase in value to such an extent as would make it useless for safe and healthy living and working conditions. .Statement to the Comm-ittee by Hon. Nelson P. Lewis, Chtep Engineer of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment. Mr. Nelson P. Lewis spoke to the Committee on organic defects in the plan of New York Cit}^ He emphasized the opportunities for constructive work in the different Boroughs. The City Charter imposes upon each Borough President the authority and duty of preparing a plan for that portion of his Borough which has not been completely mapped. The plan of that portion of the Borough of Queens formerly known as Long Island City, was, by the Charter, made a part of the map or plan of The City of New York, but no other portions of the Borough, such as Jamaica, Flushing and the Rockaways, were made a part of the city plan. The tendency appears to be to .extend the old Long Island City plan in all directions over the remainder of the Borough. It has always appeared to me that this was not the proper way to undertake the problem, but that the City should first take an account of stock, as it were, that is, that the first step in preparing a plan for this great undeveloped territory should be to locate the existing highways, cor- recting their alignment and widening them where necessary, and supplying such links as might be needed to make a more or less complete system of main thoroughfares which would cover the entire Borough, after which title should be acquired to the land necessary to straighten and widen these streets. It would then be a compara- tively simple matter to fill in the details, while at the same time the existing improve- ments and layouts where they are in any way suitable could readily be incorporated in the city plan without unnecessary destruction of improvements and the impair-^ ment of values. At the same time it would, in my judgment, be wise for the City to acquire in most, if not all, of the areas enclosed by these thoroughfares tracts of land which could be bought at acreage prices and could be reserved for various municipal purposes, such as small parks, sites for schools, libraries, police and fire houses, and fire houses, and for all municipal purposes. It would be possible to group the subordinate municipal buildings in an effective manner, and it would be very desirable if the amount of land purchased were sufficiently large to permit the City to sell what is not needed, with the probable result that such sales would realize enough to pay not only the cost of the original acquisition of these sites, but also of the buildings themselves. In reply to a question from Professor Goodnow as to whether it would be a better plan to take the matter out of the Borough President's hands and put it in the hands of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, Mr. Lewis stated that he was not prepared to suggest any change of jurisdiction, and that it would be manifestly improper for him to do so. He only intended to point out policies in the planning of the new Boroughs which he believed would result in a more attractive city and in great economy. Attention was called to the fact that in the first Greater New York Charter there was concentrated in the Board of Public Improvements this power to com- plete the map of the City, and that almost no progress was made during four years. Mr. Lewis, however, pointed out that under the first Charter plans made by the Board of Public Improvements had to be submitted to and approved by both branches of the Municipal Legislature, namely, the Council and the Board of Aldermen, and it was this awkward proceeding which made it impossible to accomplish results. Mr. Cantor asked whether the Board of Estimate and Apportionment could not adopt a plan for the City. In reply, Mr. Lewis stated that the present Charter distinctly imposes upon the Borough Presidents the duty of completing a plan for each Borough, and while these plans are not official until approved by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, it does not appear that the Board has any power except that of approval or rejection, and that it is not authorized to take the initiative in planning new territory, although it can do so in changing plans already adopted. One of the great advantages of the adoption of a plan at as early a date as possible might be to prevent the erection of buildings within the lines of the pro- posed streets, but the courts in this State appear to have decided that the City cannot prevent the owner of the property within the street lines from using it in any way he sees fit until the City shall itself have taken title to the land, even though buildings may be erected within the street lines for the express purpose of selling them to the City for more than they are worth. In connection with the question of excess condemnation, Mr. Lewis stated that The City of New York has not the power at the present time to acquire more 64 than the land actually needed to physically carry out any improvement. With- out such right it is impossible for the City to adopt the policy so successfully em- ployed in Europe of acquiring all of the parcels, portions of which are needed for improvements, and selling the surplus land, recouping in this wray a large portion of the initial expense. The proportion of such expense thus recovered varies greatly, but in one case in the City of London, namely, the acquisition and improvement of Northumberland ave., the city seems to have made a clear profit of some $200,- 000. The first steps are taken this year to amend the constitution of the State of New York so that The City of New York might be given this power. If this action i.s confirmed by the Legislature of 1911, the amendment can be submitted to the people next year. 66 Record of Number of People Entering or Leaving Buildings — Addresses and Date. During the Day. From. To. Number. Greatest During From. a.m. p.m. Singer Bldg., 149 Broadway, July 30, 1908.. 8.00 2.00 3.15 o.OO The Equitable Bldg., 120 Broadway, July 30, 1908 8.00 6.00 Trust Co. of America, 41 Wall St., July 31, 7.45 2.45 1908 3.45 6.00 Bowling Green Bldg., 11 Broadway, July 31, 1908 - 8.00 6.00 • Mutual Life Building, 32 Nas.sau St., Aug. 1, 1908 8.00 2.00 Silversmiths Bldg., 13 Maiden Lane, Aug. 1, 1908 8.00 2.00 Broadway-Maiden Lane Bldg., 170 Broad- way. Aug. 3. 1908 8.30 6.00 National Bank of Commerce, 32 Nassau St., Aug. 3, 1908 8.30 6.00 p.m. 11.027 3.15 10,072 18,795 2.00 l.CO 13,861 1.00 7,928 a.m. 11.00 6,903 noon. 12.30 12,537 p.m. 1.00 15,216 3.00 tn Office Buildings in Lower Manhattan. Number, the Day. To. Number. Greatest 15 From. Number, min. To. Number. .Average per min., 15 min. Average per day. Width of Side- walk. p.m. 4.15 2,580 p.m. 3.-1-=; p.m. 4.00 827 55 19 20 3.00 1,708 4.00 4.15 517 35 17 17/2 l.CO 1.15 1,022 68 34 20 2.00 1,763 11.00 11.15 681 45 26 15 noon. 12.00 1,599 noon. 12.30 12.45 770 51 22 10 p.m. 1.30 1,140 a.m. 11.30 a.m. 11.45 520 35 19 10 p.m. 2.00 1,878 noon. 12.45 noon. 1.00 556 37 22 20 4.00 2,973 3.15 3.30 827 55 27 10 68 Estimated Cost of Carrying Out Improvements and Changes in" the City Plan Recommended by the Mayor's City Improvement Commission. Report by Mr. Nelson P. Lewis, Chief Engineer of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment, to that body September 26, 1907 : Manhattan. New street extending from the Manhattan terminal of the Man- hattan Bridge at the Bowery and Canal st. to the southerly end of 6th ave $10,815,000 00 Extension of Delancey St., from Lafayette to Broadway 1.668,000 00 Extension of Madison ave. from 23d st. to 4th ave., at 7th st 5,000,000 00 Widening 60th St., between 3d and 5th aves., by taking one-half block on the southerly side of the street 11,130,000 00 New diagonal street, from 57th st. and 3d ave. to 59th st. and 2d ave 1,185,000 00 Extension of Riverside Drive southerly to West End ave. and 69th st. 1,595,000 00 New diagonal street, from 7th ave. and West 142d st. to Walton ave., in the Borough of The Bronx 1,445,000 00 Widening W. 181st St., from Amsterdam ave. to Wadsworth ave 765,000 00 .Addition to park area east of Riverside Drive 5,625,000 00 Widening Dyckman St., from 200 feet east of Naegle ave. to B'way 1,725,000 00 Acquiring the property west of Riverside Drive, north of W. 155th St., including the northerlv end of Fort Washington Hill and Inwood Hill, as a public park 7,675,000 00 Total $48,628,000 00 Brooklyn. Bridge st. extension from Fulton st. to 4th ave $3,730,000 00 Widening of Ashland place 1,460,000 00 Extension of Hamilton ave., from 3d to 4th aves 180,000 00 Extension of Flatbush ave. to Rockaway Inlet 250,000 00 New thoroughfare from 4th and Flatbush aves. to Greenpoint at Kingsland ave 13,950,000 00 New thoroughfare from So. 5th st. and Williamsburgh Bridge Plaza to Ralph ave. and Remsen ave., omitting new street between Sum- ner ave. and Lewis ave 5,920,000 00 Total $25,490,000 00 The Bronx. Park at the northeasterly end of the Hudson Memorial Viaduct and the Hudson River $3,160,000 00 Park between Sedgwick and Cedar aves. and the New York Central and Hudson River Railroad Company's tracks 2,230,000 00 Total $5,390,000 Oa "Summarizing the above estimates of cost of acquiring property for the im- provements recommended for the Boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn and The Bronx, we tind them to be as follows : Manhattan $48,628,000 00 Brooklyn 25,490,000 CO The Bronx 5,390,000 00 Total $79,508,000 00 As already stated, the plan for relieving the situation at the lower end of 6th and 7th aves. has not been included in this estimate, but a separate report has been pre- pared giving the estimated value of the land required as $7,300,000. If this were added to the above total, it would become $86,808,000 with no provision for anything in the Boroughs of Queens and Richmond. The land values have been increasing so that they are at present from 5 per cent, to 15 per cent, or over, higher than the amounts given. 69 Summary of Replies by Borough Presidents to Information Requested by the New York City Commission on Congestion of Population. 1st. What proportion of the Borough is provided with sewerage disposal sewers? Manhattan — Entire Borough, except small portion in the extreme northerly end where streets are not laid and few odd blocks. The Bronx — Brooklyn — Fifty-live per cent. Queens — 17.4 per cent. 10,065 acres. Richmond — Twenty per cent. 2d. In your judgment has the lack of such sewers prevented the construction of tenements and other dwellings? Manhattan — No. The Bronx — Brooklyn — Undoubtedly along the southeasterly portion of the Borough generally. Queens — Yes. Particularly in Blissville section of Long Island City and Wood- haven. Richmond — Building develoj)ment quite rapidly follows completion of sewers. Scarcely in position to reply conclusively, as efforts have been largely to secure con- struction of adequate sewers primarily in districts already well built upon, but tind considerable opposition to proposals for building sewers extensively in localities scantily developed. In many cases assessed land values before development will not permit sewer construction under present laws. (a) Would you suggest any methods of expediting the provision of sewers? Manhattan — As sewers are built for sanitary reasons, and as no building is al- lowed to be occupied until it has adequate sewerage, it would seem that the President of the Borough might be clothed with the same authority that the Commissioner of Public Works had under the old regime, who was allowed to complete the sewerage system throughout the city and to alter and improve existing sewers as necessity re- quired. No petition was necessar}', and the only requirement was that maps, showing the proposed work, should be filed before letting contract for same. Bronx — Entirely in the hands of the property owners. The only way in which this matter can be expedited would be to urge the property owners to petition for the construction. Brooklyn — Provide the means of opening the streets expeditiously. Queens — Construction of sewers could be expedited if Board of Estimate and Apportionment would recommend the approval of sewerage systems in isolated sec- tions, these systems to be finally incorporated, perhaps with some modifications, with the scheme for the whole Borough, or by having them approve a system just showing the location, size, and grade of the outlet sewer, the sewers for the separate localities to be designed as the need develops. Richmond 3. Do you consider it wise to permit streets to be paved before sewers for sewerage disposal are constructed or should such sewers be constructed first? Manhattan — Unwise to pave streets before sewers are built. The Bronx — It is the policy of the Board of Estimate and Apportionment not to pave streets until all subsurface structures are in place. Brooklyn — Sewers first. Queens — Depends upon local conditions. In a district where the sewers can be constructed without entailing much hardship on account of assessment, or where rapid development would follow the construction of a sewer, the sewer should be built before paving the street. In a district in which the immediate construction of a sewer is not necessar}^ or on a street which carries or would carry, if improved, a large amount of traffic, it would be much better to put in some pavement which would be easily prepared before the sewer is constructed. Richmond — In considering a new locality solely, it would certainly be desirable to build the permanent sewers before paving the roadways, but, in many portions of Richmond, particularly within the old incorporated village, small sewers existed, rend- ering a certain amount of service, not adequate, but suiTicient for a time ; consequently it has seemed desirable to proceed with the paving of permanent pavements, and we believe the value to the public has been secured by several years of use before the construction of better and more modern sewers became imperative. 4th. Would you consider it feasible to require that trees should be planted at the time streets are paved, the cost thereof to be assessed with the cost of streets, on the property benefited? Manhattan — Should imagine that tree planting is only feasible in the resident streets, and that the growth of trees when the surface of the ground is impervious, 70 being caused by pavement and flagging, could not be counted on without great care and attention. The Bronx — Entirely practicable to plant trees even at the time that streets are regulated and graded, which is frequently a number of years before they are paved. Do not know if this cost could be legally assessed on property benefited — probably not. Brooklyn — Queens — Trees should be planted as soon as possible when the street is graded, or if the cut or till of the street is very slight before grading. Richmond— Should be planted by the Department of Parks, and be maintained by it without local assessment. If property owners desire to plant trees in advance of the official establishment of grades such should be optional, but no complaint should be made at their loss or the necessity of changing them when a full street improve- ment became necessary. What Would Be the Floor Space Available in Manhattan Below Chambers Street If All the Available Area Would Be Built Up With 15, 20 and 25-Story Buildings? Note. — The Building Code requires 10 per cent, vacant on street lots. As the corner lots represent only a srnall part of the total (not over 5 per cent.), this is simplified by the more conservative assumption that all lots require 20 per cent, vacant. Deducting from grand total area : Streets, parks, cemeteries, open spaces, churches and Brooklyn Bridge piers, of a total of 7,610,555 square feet, we find an available gross area of 9,275,000 square feet. Deducting further 20 per cent., 1,853,000 square feet, we find : Available net area •. .' 7,420,000 square feet. Assuming a factor of rentability of 0.65 for 15-story building. Assuming a factor of rentability of 0.625 for 20-story building. Assuming a factor of rentability of 0.60 for 25-story building. We find available floor space : If 15-story buildings were constructed 72.350,000 square feet. If 20-story buildings were constructed 92,750,000 square feet. I f 25-story buildings were constructed 1 1 1,300,000 square feet (Signed) WM. A. RUSSEL. Rentable Store Floor Space Below Chambers Street. Square Feet. Below Cortlandt street, east of Broadway 1,760.999 Below Cortlandt street and Maiden lane, west of Broadway 3,108,020 Between Cortlandt and Chambers streets, east of Broadway 3,444,881 Between Maiden lane and New Chambers street 4,768,012 Grand total 13,081,912 Number of Square Feet of Rentable Office Floor Space Below Chambers Street, July ], 1908. In Buildings Per of Stories. Cent. 1 to 6 3,176,410 square ft., assuming 75 per cent, of floor space rentable, 22.305 7 to 10 2,807,082.80 square ft., assuming 70 per cent, of floor space rentable, 19.711 11 to 15 3,229,582.35 square ft., assuming 65 per cent, of floor space rentable, 22.678 16 to 20 1,688,862.25 square ft., assuming 62.5 per cent, of floor space rentable, 11.859 Over 20 3,338,568 square ft., assuming 60 per cent, of floor space rentable, 23.444 14.240.505.40 lOO.CO Office space was provided for 129,459.14 tenants (allowing 110 square feet for each occupant) in this district. Number of Square Feet of Rentable Factory Floor Space Below Chambers Street, July, 1908. In Stories. Cent. 1 to 6 6,382,995 square ft., assuming 90 per cent, of entire floor space, 79..54 7 to 10 1,133.321.25 square ft., assuming 85 per cent, of entire floor space, 14.12 11 to 15 512.228.50 square ft., assuming 80 per cent, of entire floor space, 6.39 8.028..S44.75 100 00 71 286,733.75 persons, for whom floor space is provided in factories, allowing 28 square feet for each occupant. 1908 Classification of Manhattan Below Chambers St. Square Feet. Per Cent. 1. Offices 2,509,214 R9 2. Public buildings 373,995 2.2 3. Factories 1,858,954 11 4. Stores 3,485,702 20.7 5. Tenements 341,602 2 6. Churches 36,384 0.2 7. Brooklyn Bridge piers 126,609 0.8 8. Miscellaneous buildings 93,071 0.5 Built upon 8,825,531 52.3 9. \'acant lots 88,908 0.5 10. Courts and yards 523,505 3.1 11. Cemeteries 137.903 0.8 12. Parks 1,284,014 7.6 13. Open spaces 18.744 0.1 14. Streets 6,007,001 35.6 Not built upon 8.062,843 47.7 Total area below Chambers st. 16 ,885,606 100 Classification of Area Occupied By Buildings in Section of Manhattan Below Chambers St. Square Feet. Per Cent. 1. Offices 2,509,214 28^5 2. Public buildings 373,995 4.2 3. Factories 1,858.954 21 4. Stores 3,485.702 3Q.5 5. Tenements 341.602 3.9 6. Churches 36,384 0.4 7. Brooklyn Bridge piers 126,609 1 .4 8. Miscellaneous buildings 93,071 1.1 Total buildings, areas built upon 8,825,531 100 Classification Area Not Occupied By Buildings in Section of Manhattan Below Chambers St. Sauare Per Feet. Cent. 9. Vacant lots 88.908 1.1 can be built upon. 10. Courts and vards 523..505 6.5 11. Cemeteries 137.C03 1.7 12. Parks 1,284.014 16 13. Open spaces near Brooklyn Bridge 18.744 0.2 14 Streets 6,007,001 74.5 Total area not built upon 8,060.075 100 72 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OX TRANSIT, DOCKS AND FERRIES, MR. GILBERT ELLIOTT, CHAIRMAN. Many of the speakers before the various commitees of the Commission, of which the members of the Transit Committee are members, as well as those before the Committee on Transit, Docks and Ferries, emphasized the necessity of distributing factories as a means of distributing population and eliminating the cost of transit in the cost of production. The Committee recognizes the validity of these statements and arguments. They appreciate also the fact that methods of carrying freight must be provided. The Comm.ittcc iiclieves that some of the important points to be observed in the plans for rapid tran.'^it to prevent congestion of population are as follows : First: Transit lines must not parallel nearby already congested transit lines. Second : Transit lines whicii radiate bring into the market more land for the same expense than transit lines which are parallel and close together. Third : Expensive transit lines are apt to produce congestion of population, be- cause of the large earnings necessary to make them pay, which stimulates the con- struction of large tenements, whose population inevitably congests the lines of transit. Fourth : Transit lines must be constructed simultaneously in sufficient directions to prevent undue increases of land values which will follow if but one line is con- structed at a time, as, for example, the Washington Heights neighborhood in Man- hattan, where the limited number of lots near the subway brought such high prices that large buildings had to be constructed. Fifth : Cheap lines of transit must be constructed in sparsely settled districts. Sixth : Cheap lines of transit must be constructed in the newer districts before they can be made self sustaining to encourage population to move there. The provi- sion for transit in New York City has always been from five to ten years behind the need, because the City has had no power to compel the construction of extensions, and the private companies would not do so until a profit was assured. Methods Which Other American Cities Are Adopting to Secure Extensions to Their Transit Lines. Under the terms of the franchise granted the International Railway Company by the City of Bufifalo, on December, 1905, for Fillmore avenue, the grant is made for the period of only 25 years from date of its acceptance unless extended for a further period, and does not become operative until the company files with the City Clerk a written acceptance of all the terms and conditions thereof, expressly waiving any and all objections as to the reasonableness or legality of any of the provisions of same or as to the legal right or authority of the city to impose the same. At least sixty days before the expiration of the errant the Common Council is required to notify the railway company whether the City will take over the railway, and arrangements are made by which three appraisers, one to be selected by the railway company, one by the City and the third to be selected by the two, shall appraise the value of the property, similar provisions being made for the prices to be paid by another company for the line if the International Railway Company does not wish to continue the operation. Indianapolis — The franchise of the Indianapolis Street Railway Company, ap- proved April 8, 1899, also provides that when it appears to the Board of Public Works that the City, from different causes, or the public interests demand the extension of any line of tlie street railway already in operation or the construction of a new line in and upon any streets, alleys, avenues or public places of said city, that the said Board of Public Works shall cause written notice to be given to the President, Sef:retary, General Manager or Superintendent of the company, requiring them to appear before the Board on a certain day, to be named in said notice, not less than five days after the service of such notice, and show cause why the proposed extension should not be made or such proposed new lines should not be constructed. This notice has to contain a description of the streets, alleys, etc., for which the extension is proposed to be constructed. If after due hearing it appears to the Board that the public interest requires such extension to l)e made, it is authorized to make an order requiring such extension, and in such order shall fix the time in which the said exten- sion shall be made or new lines shall be constructed, but the period is so fixed that it shall always be of sufficient length to permit the company, by the exercise of rea- sonable diligence, to make such extensions or construct such lines within the time. The written notice must be given by the Board of Public Works to the company of such order, and should they fail to make such extension or construct such new lines within the time fixed, they must forfeit to the city the sum of $50 for each day that the completion of such extension or construction of such new lines is delayed beyond 73 the date fixed. This is part of the franchise of the Indianapolis Street Railway Com- pany, and it is assumed that the company will make a fair profit on the extensions. Minneapolis — Similar authority is contained in the franchise of the Minneapolis Street Railway Company, granted July 17. 1875, and in case the company fails or neglects at any time to keep in operation any line or railway which it may have con- structed,, then, upon reasonable notice, the City Council may forfeit the exclusive rights granted, so far as it pertains to such neglected line. The City of Minneapolis has authority also to require the joint use of portions of the track belonging to the Minneapolis Street Railway Company of any other street railway company which the Council may charter under terms of the ordinance, to connect with and jointly use such portions of the tracks belonging to each, as the convenience of the traveling public may require. Columbus — The City of Columbus requires the Columbus Street Railway Com- pany, by an ordinance of February 6, 1901. to expend during the life of the grant (25 years) not less than $1,C00,0C0 in extensions and betterments, and they may by ordinance require such reasonable extensions of such of the lines operated by the com.pany as may be necessary for the efficient operations of the railway and for the convenience of the public whenever along the line of any such proposed extension and between parallel lines 400 feet distant on each side thereof, there shall be, if such extension is ordered, not less than 150 separate buildings used and occupied as dwellings per mile, or in like proportion for any less distance, although the com- pany must not be required to construct more than one mile of extension in one cal- endar year. The franchise rights expire at the end of 25 years. Chicago- — Extract from Chicago City Railway ordinance of February 11, 1907: "Section 3. The said City shall have the right, subject to the limitations con- tained in this ordinance, at any time to require the Company to make extensions of and additions to the lines of street railways enumerated in said 'Exhibit A.' Such extensions and additions shall be made under the supervision of the Board of Super- vising Engineers, as hereinafter in Section 7 provided, and the cost thereof shall be determined as provided in said section. The character and quality of such work shall comply with the specifications set forth in said 'Exhibit B,' so far as the same may be applicable thereto. "The Company shall, however, upon the order of the City Council of the City, construct, equip and operate such extensions of its street railway system in addition to those hereinabove provided for as may be required by the City Council, subject to the conditions and limitations contained in Section 25 of this ordinance." The Committee, after a careful study of the conditions of transit in New York City, including the franchise system, the operating system and the system of fares and the unused capacity of present facilities, as well as suggestions submitted to them regarding the general lines of future development, make the following report and recommendations : First: A comprehensive transit system is essential for uniform and universal transfers and unified operation. The Committee do not feel that it is necessary for them to go into discussion as to the need for a universal transfer between points within a comparatively short distance. It is perfectly true that the horrors of con- gestion of population have been amply demonstrated, that the increasing congestion of population has been deplored, but one of the fundamental causes of congestion of population, many witnesses before the Transit Committee have emphasized, is the inability of the people to pay more than one fare. An extra fare for the working man for three hundred (300) working days means a net total of $30 per person. This will pay. in many sections of the City, for an additional room which the family needs for their living purposes. At present each borough is practically a five-cent zone, but interborough travel is voluminous and will be constantly increasing. Second : The subways and the elevated roads furnish the key to an urban tran- sit system. The control of these expensive links will, sooner or later, bring complete control of all street railway transit facilities. It appears, from a careful examination of the general transit situation, that the following points are essential in any ade- quate program for the transit development in New York City: (a) The existing perpetual franchises should be terminated, as opportunity offers, some by forfeiture, where through neglect or non-compliance with the law they should be forfeited; others through condemnation or through purchase or negotiation, substituting modern short term or indeterminate franchises for the present franchises, (b) Extensions of the 'existing subway system of the City should be planned so as to utilize to their capacity the subways, bridges and elevated railroads already constructed, and so as to bring the people from the outlying portions directly into and through the principal business districts, with quick service, for a single fare. The advantages of municipal ownership of all transit lines to accomplish this is evident. It will enable the City to 74 adapt the transit lines of the entire City to the purpose of transit lines, viz., to dis- tribute population through the City. In order to do this, lines must run into districts whtre land is cheap, and while some lines may not pay a money profit at first, they will be extremely profitable from the point of view of conserving the general welfare and prosperity of the citizens and in developing the City. This is a matter in which the Lity as a whole is deeply interested. Third : The Committee recommends that lines be extended at once into the out- lying boroughs and especially radiating lines, so as to make much land available for dwellings. As has been stated before the Committee, one transit line parallel and near to another congested line is almost certain to produce congestion of population under present building laws. The Committee, however, would call attention to the fact that these lines into other boroughs need not necessarily be subways, which are extremely expensive, but elevated lines, suspended, depressed or surface lines, all of which can be constructed for a small part of the cost of subways. When a large in- vestment is put into a transit line, the earnings of this line must be proportionately heavy or even a fair return cannot be paid on the investment, and it is much more economical to have several cheaply constructed lines in many directions, each carrying relatively few passengers, than to have one expensive line carrying a mass of passen- gers, since the multiplication of lines tends to keep land cheap, an essential to the pre- vention of congestion. Fourth : The Committee recommends that the City take necessary steps to muuce more of its population to move to boroughs where there are large amounts of vacant land not now accessible; that the Interborough Rapid Transit Company be requested to extend the lines which it is understood it is about to project to the Queens side of the Queensboro Bridge and through the Steinway Tunnel, into several portions of the Borough of Queens, and that if this cannot be done the franchise for the bridge and tunnel should provide for the operation for one fare of extensions to be built into the Borough of Queens. We believe that some subway should be constructed as early as possible into the Borough of Richmond, to provide rapid transit for its extensive area, and that pending the completion of such a tunnel, forty tickets should be sold for $1 on the Municipal Ferry to Richmond, to enable people of small or moderate means to live there. These recommendations we make because of the immense in- vestments which the City has made in its bridges across the East River and the Harlem River for the benefit of all other boroughs, and as an essential means of developing the Borough of Richmond. Fifth : The Committee endorses the principle of ownership by the City of lines of transit, not solely upon the relative merits of ownership by private capital and by the City, but because transit is primarily a public question and necessary to prevent congestion, and the City can afford to invest money in transit lines because of the great advantages to be derived by the City, and for the comfort and necessity of the people. Sixth : The Committee believes that essential as is the construction of rapid tran- sit to connect the residence and the tenement sections with manufacturing centres, that transit and its cost is, in spite of all arguments to the contrary, a waste in the cost of production that can be, in large measure, eliminated. Seventh: The Committee recommends that the Rapid Transi Law be so amended as to confer upon the Public Service Commission and the City authorities the same powers w-ith respect to surface lines as they now have with respect to rapid transit lines. Eighth : The Committee recommends that, as a means of reducing the expendi- ture for carfare, measures should be taken to discourage the location of more fac- tories in Manhattan, and to encourage the distribution of factories now located in that borough. Ninth : The Committee recommends that the City develop, for factory purposes, the waterfronts in all of the boroughs which it owns and is adapted for this purpose. Tenth : The Committee recommends restricting the height and volume of build- ings. The Committee realizes that no transit system has yet been devised, even in cities more advantageously situated and without the natural barriers to transit which the rivers around Manhattan constitute, to carry economically and efifectively the masse? of population which live, or will live, within a radius of 20 miles, to work in a city like Manhattan with a flat level of 25, 20 and even 15-story buildings. It has been amply demonstrated that the low-waged working population cannot live in Manhattan in the sort of houses which the .American workingman should have, and it is self-evident that to increase the height of buildings in the City by one and two stories a year, or by the continuous construction of skyscrapers of enormous volume, from 16 to 46 stories in height, will require forms of transit which are absolutely uneconomical, and a waste of money, time and strength. 75 Eleventh : The Committee has given considerable attention to the proposition to construct an elevated freight line along the marginal \va3' adjoining the Hudson River, with huge freight terminals and warehouses, with room for factories on the upper floors. The elevated railway might appeal to us if the interest and the oper- ating expenses can be made by the saving in the handling of the freight. This should be carefully safeguarded, so that the use of these lines will be open to all railroad companies. We do not object to the terminals and possibly the storage warehouses, but we believe that the huge factories proposed would attract to the localities such an enormous number of workers as to cause a congestion in the neighborhood which would be worse than the freight congestion now objected to. We believe it ought to be possible to establish lines for the handling of freight throughout the City, so as to distribute factories in many sections. These might be partly elevated and partly subwaj'. Pending such construction, we suggest the possibility of using some of the present transit lines for the carriage of freight between twelve at night and six o'clock in the morning, when the passenger traffic is very light. If freight distributing lines are found to be too expensive, the City might well secure small tracts of land on the waterfront throughout the City and provide opportunity for car floats to dock at several points, and so diminish the congestion at any single point and avoid the cost of a huge freight terminal. Memorandum in Record to Tr.\xsit Facilities axp Policies oe New York City WITH Reference to Distribution of Population. 1. Franchise System. All transit franchises granted either by the Legislature or by the local authorities, within the present limits of Greater Xew York, prior tn the enactment of the Greater New York Charter in 1897, were unlimited as to term, and therefore perpetual, as determined by the Court of Appeals in the case of People v. O'Brien, 111 N. Y., 1, and other cases. These old perpetual grants cover the entire transit system of the City, with the following exceptions : (a) The subway, constructed on the City's credit and equipped with private capi- tal under operating leases, known as Contract Xo. 1 and Contract Xo. 2. Contract Xo. 1 covers the portion of the subway north of City Hall Park and extends for a period of fifty years from October 27. 19C4, with the right of renewal for twenty-five years more at a revaluation. Contract Xo. 2 covers the portion of the subway south of City Hall Park in Manhattan and extends to Atlantic avenue, Brooklyn. This contract runs for a period of thirty-five years from May 1, 1908, with the right of renewal for twenty-five years more upon a revaluation. (b) The McAdoo and Pennsylvania tunnels, whose franchises are perpetual, sub- ject to a revaluation at the end of twenty-five years, and subject, so far as the Mc.-\doo extensions north of Christopher st. are concerned, to purchase by the City after twenty-five years, on certain conditions. (c) Street railway franchises granted by the City since consolidation, including the Kingsbridge Railway franchise on upper Broadway; the X^ew York City Interbor- ough Railw?,y franchise, in The Bronx; certain extensions of the Union Railway Com- pany's system, in The Bronx ; two extensions of the Bronx Traction Company's system, in the Bronx; one small extension of the X'ew York and Queens County Rail- way, in Queens; the X'ew York and X'orth Shore Traction franchise, in Queens; The South Shore Traction franchise, in Queens; the X^ew York and Long Island Traction franchise, in Queens ; one Ocean Electric Railway extension, in Queens ; the Livingston and Lafayette sts. extension of the Nassau Electric Railroad, in Brooklyn ; the Bush Terminal Railroad franchise, in Brooklyn, and a few unimportant extensions and connections at various points in the City. These franchises are limited under the charter to an original period of twenty- five years, with a renewal of twenty-five years more at a revaluation, but some of them have been granted for shorter periods. All. or nearly all, of these franchises provide that at their final expiration the tracks and other fixtures within street lines shall revert to and become the property of the City without cost. (d) Rights to the use of certain bridges over the East and Harlem Rivers and other streams, granted originally by the Bridge Trustees, the Bridge Department, the Board of Estimate or other City authority. Most of these grants are for short terms or are terminable at the pleasure of the City. The tracks on the bridges are, for the most part, owned by the City. Omitting the 73 miles of operated track in the City-owned subway and the 22 miles of City-owned surface and elevated tracks operated on the bridges, the relative importance of perpetual and limited term franchises in the City is shown by the fact that out of a total of 1,200 miles of single operated street railway track (surface. 76 underground and elevated), approximately 1,150 miles are operated under perpetual franchises, and only about 50 miles under limited franchises. It should also be noted that there are outstanding perpetual franchises thus far unused on about four hundred different streets in the Greater City, with a route mileage of over 20O miles. The status of many of these franchises is quite uncertain. The confusion in the Railroad Law is such that it is almost impossible to determine whether or not a franchise has been forfeited until the court of last resort has issued its tinal decree in each particular case. .As the law now stands, future franchise grants will differ in material respects from the majority of those now in force. The only strictly perpetual franchises that may be granted are for trunk line railroads. Under the Rapid Transit Act, the Public Service Commission, with the approval of the Board of Estimate, may grant franchises for subways and elevated roads, including third tracking and conjnections. on the indeterminate basis, reserving to the City the right to terminate the grants and take over the property at any time after the expiration of ten years upon payment of a price that shall not exceed the cost of construction and equipment, plus a 15 per cent, bonus. Moreover, these franchises must provide for a gradually dirninishing purchase price in case the termination is delayed, so that at the end of a period to be fixed in each franchise, the plant itself will revert to the City without cost, and the equipment will be purchased at an appraised valuation. It should be noted that franchises for additional tracks and connections of existing rapid transit roads may be unlirnited as to term, subject to the right of the City to purchase, and subject to the requirement that some definite date must be e.<;tablished when the plant and structures, orher than equipment, may be taken over by the City without payment. Street surface franchises, which are granted by the Board of Estirnate and Ap- portionment, are limited to twenty-five years for the original period, with a. possible renewal of twenty-five years. The charter is interpreted by the Board of Estimate as requiring that each franchise shall provide for the reversion of the property within the street limits at the end of the grant without cost to the City, but it is doubtful whether the charter is mandatory on this point. 2. The System of Fares. Generally speaking, each operating street railway company charges a nve-cent fare, with free transfers over its own lines, whether operated under lease or other- wise. The law requires that where two companies enter into voluntary agreements for the common use of tracks, they shall exchange free transfers, unless relieved from this requirement by the Public Service Commission. This requirement, how- ever, does not apply to the joint use of tracks not established by voluntary agreement, but required under the l,OCO-foot provision of the Railroad Law or other statutes. Roughly speaking, each borough is a five-cent fare zone on the street surface rail- ways. It is possible to ride from the post office to Kingsbridge, or from the Battery to 'l55th St., or from the Hudson River to the East River, in the Borough of Man- hattan, for a nickel. It is not possible, however, to ride from any one point to any other in that borough for a single fare, because there are different operating systems which do not interchange transfers. In The Bronx one may ride from the Harlem River at Third ave. to the city line of Mount Vernon or Yonkers, or from thi Harlem River at Washington Bridge to Westchester Creek, for a single fare. It is not yet posible to reach Pelham Bay Park for one fare. The fare system of Brooklyn and Queens is a little more complex. On certain lines one may ride from the Brooklyn Bridge or the Williamsburg Bridge to Jackson ave.. Corona Heights and Jamaica, in the Borough of Queens, for five cents, while, on the other hand, to go to Coney Island on the surface lines requires a double fare. The various Coney Island surface lines are each operated by two companies, an im- aginary transfer of cars and passengers being effected at various points in the south- ern part of the Borough of Brooklyn, so that an extra faro can be collected. The Brooklvn Heights Railroad Company, though operating its cars from the East River through Brooklyn and Queens to North Beach and Flushing, is enabled under its old underlying franchises to charge a double fare to each of these points. Passing over the fare system on the Brooklyn Rapid Transit lines, a person may ride for a single fare from the Queensboro Bridge to North Beach, Flushing and Jamaica, but a double fare is required for reaching Whitcstone. Bayside or points south or east of Jamaica. Indeed, to travel from the Queensboro Bridge to Rockawai; Beach by trolley involves an excursion through Nassau County and the payment of three separate fares. Tn Richmond a person may ride from St. George to Elizabethport, Bulls Head, Village of Richmond, Midland Beach or Fort Wadsworth for a five-cent fare. Trans fer? are exchanged to a limited extent. The distance from St. George to the village of Richmond is only about one-half the length of the island. n On the elevated lines in Manhattan and the Bronx a uniform five-cent fare, with transfer, is granted, enabling one to travel from South Ferry to Bedford Park for a single fare. The Manhattan Railway Company is entitled, however, under its fran- chise, to charge a higher fare, but the iive-cent rate has been in use since 1886, and the establishment of a different rate with the zone system and special low fare trains during the rush hours, as contemplated by the franchises, would be so inconvenient in operation that the five-cent rate may be regarded as safely established for the future. The Brooklyn elevated lines also charge a uniform five-cent rate, with free trans- fers, subject to the qualifications that persons traveling to Coney Island on elevated trains which use in part the tracks and franchises of old steam roads are charged ten cents. It should also be noted that at certain points free transfers are exchanged from the elevated system to surface lines, even though not required by law. On the subway, a person can ride from Atlantic avenue, Brooklyn, to Van Cort- landt Park or tn Bronx Park, in The Bronx for a single tare. At the intersection of the subway and the Third Avenue Elevated Line in The Bronx free transfers are exchanged. Certain transfers at one or two points with surface fines in upper Man- hattan and The Bronx are given for three cents. An important part of the transit facilities in all five boroughs is furnished by the steam roads, which are entitled under the law to charge, with one unimportant exception, a mileage rate of three cents. As a matter of fact, however, these roads offer reduced and commutation rates, which, in a few cases for short hauls, approxi- mate a five-cent fare. 3. Operating Systojis. The subway, which serves Manhattan and The Bronx, with one short extension into the business district of Brooklyn, is operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, under contracts with the City, already briefly described. This company also operates the entire elevated railroad system of Manhattan and The Bronx, under a 999-year lease from the Manhattan Railway Company. This system includes the Secoiid, Third, Sixth and Ninth avenue lines, furnishing three parallel lines for the full length of the Island of Manhattan, one additional line from the Battery to 59th St. and one line into The Bronx as far as Bedford Park. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company also controls, through stock ownership, the New York City Interborough Railway Company, wdiich operates a system of street railways as yet only partly constructed, furnishing crosstown service in The Bronx, with a connec- tion to the subway at Broadway and 181st st. in Manhattan. The Interborough Company also controls the City Island Railroad Company and the Pelham Park Rail- road Company, which are now experimenting with monorail operation in Pelham Bay Park and' City Island. The Interborough Company also controls, through stock ownership, the New York and Queens County Railway Company, operating in Long Island City, Woodside, Winfield, Elmhurst, Corona, Maspeth, College Point and Flushing, with the termini of its various lines at North Beach, College Point, Jamaica and the Lutheran Cemetery. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company also has joint control wath the Long Island Railroad Company over the New York and Long Island Traction Comprny and the Long Island Electric Railway Company, which serve that portion of the Borough of Queens lying south of Fulton street and extending from the borough line at Liberty avenue, through Jamaica and south of Jamaica to Nassau County, re-entering the City again in Far Rockaway. It can be seen, therefore, that the Interborough Rapid Transit Company has substantially complete control of the urban rapid transit facilities in old New York, with an entrance into Brooklyn, and substantial control of the street surface railway systems of Queens and partial control of the street surface systems of The Bronx. The gross revenues of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the companies controlled by it for the year ending June 30. 1910, amounted to $30,785,599, or 38.76 per cent, of the entire street railway rev- enues of the Greater City. The operating system next in importance to that of the Interborough company is the Brooklyn Rapid Transit system, which binds together under common control seven operating companies, besides a number of leased companies. This system in- cludes the entire elevated railroad service of Brooklyn, with one extension inta Queens, and two entrances into Manhattan, over the Williamsburgh and Brooklyn bridges, and substantially the entire street railway system of Brooklyn, with the exception of the Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad, and has important extensions into the Borough of Queens through Richmond Hill and Middle Village to Jamaica and through Maspeth. Elmhurst and Corona to North Beach and Flushing. The gross revenues of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit system for the year ending June 30, 1910, amounted to $21,348,498, or 26.88 per cent, of the entire street railway revenues of the Greater City. Prior to the upheaval of 1907 the entire system of surface street railways in 78 Manhattan and the Bronx had been linked up witli the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, through the stock ownership of the MetropoUtan Street Railway Company, and the Metropolitan Securities Company by the Interborough-Metropolitan Coni- pany, which also owns the stock of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company. With the appointment of the receivers in the fall of 1907, however, the active control of the big surface street railway systems of Manhattan and The Bronx went into other hands, and the systems themselves began to fall apart. The surface street railways of Manhattan and The Bronx are now divided between two principal systems and a number of more or less detached lines. The Metropolitan Street Railway system now includes lines owned or leased, which pretty well gridiron the Island of Man- hattan as far north as 155th street. This system is a more or less m.otley combination of electric and horse car lines, pieced together by ownership, by leases having various terms to run. and iiy operating agreements. The gross revenues of this system for the year ending June 30, 1910, amounted to $13,217,117, or 16.64 per cent, of the total street railway revenues of the City. The other important operating system of street surface railways in Manhattan and The Bronx is the Third Avenue System, which consists of the Third Avenue Railroad proper, the Kingsbridge Railway, the Dry Dock, East Broadway and Battery Railroad, and the 42nd Street, Manhattanville and St. Nicholas Avenue Rail- way in the Borough of Manhattan, and the Union Railway of New York City, the Southern Boulevard Railroad, The Bronx Traction lines, and portions of the VVest- chester Electric Railroad and the Yonkers Railroad in The Bronx, together with the remainder of the Westchester Electric Railroad and the Yonkers Railroad in West- chester County. This system includes seven operating companies, besides two com- panies whose fines are operated under trackage agreements. The total revenues of the Third Avenue System for the year ending June 30, 1910, amounted to $8,061,704, or 10.15 per cent, of the entire street railway revenues of the Greater City. There are all told 33 companies operating street surface or rapid transit railroads in the City, in addition to six steam roads, one freight road with, a street railway franchise, and two short electric roads operating as summer lines. Of the 33 street and rapid transit railway companies, 22 are accounted for in the four big systems already described. There remain the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad Com- pany, operating the McAdoo tunnels ; the Second Avenue Railroad Company, the 28th and 29th Streets Crosstown Railroad Company, the Central Park, North and East River Railroad Company, the South Shore Traction Company, the New York and North Shore Traction Company, the Ocean Electric Railway Company, the Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad Company, the Van Brunt Street and Erie Basin Rail- road Company, the Richmond Light and Railroad Company and the Staten Island Midland Railway Company. The total revenues of these miscellaneous street railway companies for the year ending June 30, 1910, amounted to $6,007,992, or 7.57 per cent. of the total street railway earnings of railroad companies of the Greater City. The steam roads referred to are the New York Central and Hudson River Rail- road Company, the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad Company, the Long Island Railroad Company, the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, the Staten Island Rapid Transit Railway Company, and the Staten Island Railway Company. The freight road with a street railway franchise is the Bush Terminal Railroad, and the two summer lines are the Marine Railway and the Southfield Beach Railroad. It should be noted that in addition to the companies already listed, the Third Avenue Bridge Company has received a franchise to connect the Third ave. line with the Borough of Queens by way of the Queensboro Bridge, and the East River Terminal Railroad and the jay Street Connecting Railroad have received franchises crossing streets in Brooklyn. Besides these, the Manhattan Bridge Three Cent Line and the New York Dock Railway are all seeking rights froVn the City. 4. Unused Capacity of Present Facilities. One of the most striking facts coming to light on an examination of the transit systems of New York in actual operation, is the enormous waste of time, capital and convenience arising from the confusion and choking of transit facilities at various points. The transit systems of the City have grown up haphazard, and instead ol being uniform under one general franchise or a general franchise for each of three or four great systems, each system is operated under a multitude of old grants having no particular relation to each other and not providing for adequate unification and development of facilities. The bad results of this condition of affairs are well illustrated by the fact that for ten years or more from twenty to thirty miles of horse-car tracks have remained in the streets of the City practically unused, and in many cases in such wretched condition as to make street traffic dangerous. These rails have remained in the 79 streets under perpetual franchises, and the City authorities have not dared to pull them up, except in a few cases in connection with repaving. It seems ridiculous that ten years should pass in the greatest city of America without public authorities be- ing able to remove abandoned street-car tracks from the street. It is ridiculous. A franchise system that leaves the City in this helpless condition should not be tol- erated for a year. Attention is also called to the fact that on the Island of Man- hattan there are still over forty miles of antiquated horse-car tracks in actual opera- tion. This fact alone should make New York the laughing stock of the civilized world. It has been estimated that a scientific re-routing of the surface car lines of Manhattan, without reference to divergent owntrship of franchises, and assuming that existing horse-car tracks could be electrified and short stretches of new franchise acquired for the development of the lines, would practically treble the capacity of the present surface street railway facilities north and south on Manhattan island. The routes as now arranged are patched up by the different operating companies on the basis of old competing franchises, and no one in authority, either in the City government or in the street railway business, has made any consistent effort to eliminate this waste and reduce the surface car operation to a scientific system. The City has expended $80,000,000 or more in the construction of four bridges across the East River. One of these, the Brooklyn Bridge, has undoubtedly paid for itself in its use for transportation purposes. But even this bridge, overloaded as it already is, has had its usefulness considerably limited by the senseless plan of dumping both surface and elevated passengers all in one place at Park Row, and of picking them up again at the rush hour at night under conditions of the most barbarous and indecent crowding. Traft'ic conditions at the Park Row end of the bridge have for many years been a standing disgrace to the City. Some excuse may be made for the original development of these conditions, on the ground that the bridge was constructed at a time when New York and Brooklyn were separate cities and were not in a position to co-operate in the development of through transit facilities on scientific lines. When we come to the Williamsburgh Bridge, however, and find that the same conditions are repeated, with the exception that underground terminals are provided for surface cars at the New Y'ork end of the bridge, and that an extra set of tracks enables New York cars to cross the bridge to the Brooklyn plaza, it seems almost a criminal waste of public money. This bridge, although it was constructed to sup- port six tracks as against four on the Brooklyn Bridge, and although it has been in operation for six years, now carries less than 70 per cent as many passengers. This is due in large measure to the fact that no facilities have been provided for bringing Brooklyn cars that use the Williamsburgh Bridge into and through the business dis- tricts of Manhattan, where the people want to get off. The Queensboro Bridge, opened less than two years ago, is an extraordinary monument ta the inadequate and disjointed plans of the City with reference to transit facilities. After the construction of the bridge was commenced, the City apnroved the location of Sunnyside Yard, h'ing diagonally athwart the Queens entrance to the bridge. The bridge stands there, without any adequate plans having yet been made for its use, although its builders undoubtedly had the vague purpose of opening up the Borough of Queens, with its wide-stretching areas of comparatively cheap land, to the swarming millions of Manhattan. Finally, the Manhattan Bridge has been opened for traffic a full year, but as yet no transit facilities have been provided on this bridge. The daily flow of traffic across the East River by bridges, ferries and tunnels, now amounts in the aggre- gate to about 500,000 each way. Of this number, one-third are carried over the four tracks of the Brooklyn Bridge. If the twenty tracks provided for on the other three bridges were used to the same extent, the bridges alone would carry 1,000,000 people a day across the East River and back. But the Brooklyn Bridge is undoubtedly overworked, and it appears that at least two of the other bridges, in spite of their great cost, will have to be strengthened before they can carry the loads for which they were designed. In addition to the bridges, there are already constructed in tunnels under the East River eight railroad tracks, four of which are for use for street and rapid transit railways. The subway owned by the City, as at present constructed, makes operation tedious and expensive, and service uncertain. The people from The Bronx are carried across to the west side of Manhattan and down the west side to 42d st., and then carried back to the east side, with the result of greatly increasing the cost of opera- tion, choking the service where the two branches of the subway come together at 96th St., and increasing the time necessary for bringing people from The Bronx to 80 the lower part of Manhattan island. Unquestionably, as a matter of transit economy, the present rapid transit subway system ought to be completed so as to furnish a through east side line and a through west side line up and down Manhattan. This is conceded by everybody. The present dispute is as to whether these extensions shall be built by the operating company exclusively from its own funds or with the help of the City. The elevated railway structures, which unfortunately cumber several of the prin- cipal avenues of Manhattan, are not now operated to advantage. The completion of the third-tracking, it is estimated, will add 60 per cent to the carrying capacity of these roads. In Brooklya the development of the trafific on the elevated railway lines to their full capacity is prevented by the choking at the Brooklyn Bridge, and by the wretched operation made necessary by a crooked route in the business district of Brooklyn, as well as by the fact that some of the outlying lines, notably those on Xew Utrecht ave. and Gravesend ave., will have to be elevated or depressed before adequate rapid transit service can be safely furnished by them. The Steinway tunnel, which has been lying unused for four years, since it was practically completed, like the Queensboro Bridge, ends nowhere. No provision has been made for the adequate development of transit facilities in Queens connecting with it. In The Bronx, tracks have been laid on St. Anns ave. for eight years, but owing to a defective franchise, they have never been put into use. Also in that Borough several stretches of track belonging to the New York City Interborough Rail- way Company have already been in the streets for several years unused, and only recently one of these stretches was abandoned and the tracks taken up. Everywhere in the development of the transit facilities of the greater city, chaos and waste are apparent. This appears to be due to the fact that the City and the State have gone all these years upon the assumption that the provision of rapid transit facilities for a great city was, in the main, a function for private companies, to be exploited for private gain, rather than a public function to be initiated and con- trolled by a strong central public authority with the power to plan a scientific sys- tem of transit and carry such a plan through to practical fruition. 5. Suggestions as to the General Lines of Future Developiiicnf. One of the most obvious principles that should control the development of transit facilities in a great city like New York, or, for that matter, in any great city, is to make adequate provisions by which people from all outlying sections suitable for residence, can be brought to and distributed through the business district of the city where they work, with quick and convenient service, for a single fare. Man- hattan island, south of 59th St., is the great business centre of the City. It ought to be possible for people living in upper Manhattan, in The Bronx, in Queens, in Brooklyn, and even in the nearby portions of New Jersey, to reach any point in this district quickly and cheaply. The present crying need of the greater city is the admission of the transit lines of Brooklyn and Queens into and through this dis- trict. The Bronx has a population of less than half a million, and already has three rapid transit lines leading directly to lower Manhattan. Brooklyn and Queens have a population of nearly two millions, and have no street railway or rapid transit lines that go further into Manhattan than the bridge terminals, except the short exten- sion of the present subway, which only serves to make the people of Brooklyn pay a second fare to get transit facilities which should be furnished them for the original fare which they have already paid on the Brooklyn lines. The awful congestion of population in the Borough of Manhattan has attracted the attention of lawmakers and reformers for about fifty years, but no adequate system of transit that would decrease this congestion, or even prevent its extending northward and spreading over a greater area, has yet been devised or seriously at- tempted. Congestion means higher rentals and enormous land values. It is con- trary to the interests of the landlords of Manhattan and The Bronx that conges- tion should be relieved, and it is fair to assume that a part of the egregious blunder- ing that has been characteristic of the City's transit development is to be laid at the door of the landlord interest. Unquestionably, the transit facilities of a great city should be planned as a unit. Unquestionably they should be operated as a unit, if they can be operated not primarily for the purpose of exploiting monopoly fran- chises, but primarily for the development of facilities for rendering adequate service to the people of the City at a reasonable cost. Of course, a strictly private monopoly is contrary to the genius of democracy and would be intolerable in any American city, but if the experience of the past sixty years has demonstrated anything, it is that the provision of transit facilities for the people of a great city is in its nature 81 a public business and should be developed along lines calculated primarily to serve the public interest. If the City finds it more convenient to make use of one or more private companies for operating purposes rather than to operate the transit lines itself, the very least that it can do is to maintain absolute control, both positive and negative, of the construction of new lines, the character of the equipment and services rendered, and the rates charged. Unquestionably, the subways and the elevated roads, but especially the subways in the heart of the City, furnish the key to an urban transit system. The control of these expensive downtown links will, sooner or later, bring complete control of all street railway transit facilities. It appears from a careful examination of the general transit situation, that the following points are essential to any adequate pro- gram for transit development m Xew York City : 1. The existing perpetual franchises must be terminated, either by forfeiture, where, through neglect or non-compliance with law, they have been made forfeitable, or through condemnation, or through purchase, or through negotiation, substituting modern short-term or indeterminate franchises for them. 2. The general rapid transit system, over the development of which the City now has substantial control, should be planned so as to utilize to their capacity the subways, bridges, and elevated railroads already constructed, and so as to bring the people from the outlying portions directly into and through the principal business district, with quick service, for a single fare. ■ 3. An adequate system of belt lines and freight railroads, to encourage the development of manufacturing centres, with convenient access to adequate resi- dence areas outside of the island of Manhattan, should be made a part of the gen- eral plan of transit development. The reason most frequently advanced during the past forty years for the in- terest the City and the State have taken in the development of rapid transit lines in New York, has been the necessity for relieving congestion of population on Man- hattan island, and yet -substantially nothing has been accomplished to relieve such congestion. It seems to be about time for a united and determined eflfort to make for the . interests of the City at large, and of its people, to override the great special interests, whether represented b}- land speculators or by the present owners of street railway and rapid transit franchises, to the end that this metropolis, with all its tremendous natural advantages and acquired wealth, shall become a fit place for men of limited means to live and bring up their families. As a practical means of bringing about the necessary control of the general transit system by the City, in addition to the adequate use of the City's rapid transit powers, the City ought to adopt a standard form of street railway franchises, with provision for the proper maintenance and development of street car facilities ; with provision for building all extensions as needed ; with provision for re-routing all lines so as to bring them up to their fullest capacity; with provision for a limited but semi-guaranteed return upon the actual present value of the physical property to be ascertamed by appraisal ; with provision for the gradual amortization of capital out of earnings ; with provision for a division of net profits and with provision for an indeterminate grant which would permit the City at any time to take over the street railways for municipal operation upon pajang the appraised value as fixed in the grant, plus legitimate additions and betterments, and less the accumulations of the amortization fund, or to cause the transfer of the street railways to a new company or companies upon the same terms. Having adopted such a standard form, and having secured any legislation that may be necessary to make it thoroughly prac- ticable, the City should commence a persistent hammering to compel the companies now claiming to have perpetual franchises to come in and make settlement on the new terms. The extraordinary carelessness displayed by the companies in the past in the matter of leaving portions of their franchises unused, in the matter of abandon- ing portions of their routes, and in the matter of violating the terms of their fran- chise and the Railroad Law^ in other ways, has left many of them open to attack in the courts. It is more than probable that with a club in one hand and a standard indeterminate franchise, adequately protecting the honest investors, in the other, the City could, in a few years, force all of the street railway companies to come to terms and thus secure for the City the necessary control that can never be hoped for as long as the perpetual franchises remain outstanding. , This policy is practical and hopeful, for the reason that it would open the way for ultimate municipal ownership of all the lines by providing for the amortiza- tion of street railway capital out of earnings, so that the City would not be com- pelled to incur an enormous additional debt in taking the lines over. 82 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HOUSING CONDITIONS, REGULA- TION OF BUILDINGS AND LOCATING NEW SETTLEMENTS. CHARLES SCHAEFER, JR., CHAIRMAN. The Committee on Housing Conditions, Regulation of Buildings and Location of New Settlements at their meetings have carefully considered various problems relat- ing to the present housing conditions and the various causes thereof, also what relief can be afforded to the present congested and densely populated centres. Various schemes for improved housing have been placed before the Committee at the public hearings, and examples presented of European cities which have had conditions to meet, which nearly parallel those of New York City. No important im- provement has been made in tenement house conditions in New York City smce the enactment of the Tenement House Act of 1901. The facilities of the Tenement House Department under the supervision of Commissioner Murphy have been placed at the disposal of the Committee, and the data thus obtained is submitted as a supplement to this report. The report deals with the present methods of inspection which are somewhat limited, and comprises the maximum of lot areas covered, inspection of old buildings and the overcrowding of rooms, also the improvement made in altering the present dark rooms, a condition that has been grievously neglected, as it deals mainly with people who are subjected to conditions that are a serious menace to their health and public welfare, while it also affects the hospitals and almshouses as well as the insane asylums of the City and increases the annual charitable expenditures of the City. To permit conditions such as those now prevalent to continue is unworthy of the Empire City. Sanitary conditions have been improved somewhat through the systematic inspec- tion of the Tenement House Department. Serious evils, however, which affect the health of the community and are likely to be the cause of epidemics with all the con- sequences, are permitted to exist under the present Tenement House Law, Health Department and Building Code. Congested tenement areas have been shown to exist adjacent to and commonly become part of factory territories, due to the high rental and exjienses of the house- hold, the long hours of labor and the lack of proper transit facilities. Low wages is also a cause of the overcrowding of rooms, as the Committee have found upon per- sonal investigation that in a number of cases lodgers or boarders are taken in order to reduce the family expenditure for rent. In a large proportion of cases the pres- ence of lodgers causes the unlawful occupation of such rooms in excess of the re- quirements regarding overcrowding. Many rooms which under the present law are habitable are really unfit for human occupancy and cannot be made fit except by radical structural changes. In many such apartments a further menace to health is sanctioned by permitting the manufacture of articles of clothing, flowers, etc., through which disease and possible epidemics can be spread not only in the City and territories adjacent to the City, but throughout the country, as was shown by the partly finished articles in the various apartments visited. The present factory law, therefore, encour- ages congestion in allowing such manufacture in tenements which are occupied not only by the tenants, but also by outside help either hired or brought in to assist those occupying the apartment and to add to the existing unsanitary conditions. Congested districts usually furnish these conditions under which labor of this class is cheapest and most plentiful. The average rental of such apartments and the family income are appended as a further report. These evils are not especially confined to any particular borough, but to certain areas in each borough which are noted for the high death rates, wliich is one of the inevitable results of such conditions which are actually legal under the present laws. The Committee have had- presented to it various methods adopted by European cities in dealing with similar problems and regulating living conditions by laws de- signed to spread the population over a greater area, as well as to enable them to reach their places of employment within a reasonable time and allow them to live in sur- roundings that promote health and happiness. The population of limited areas of Manhattan equals that of many large American cities. The room overcrowding has also been referred to, and this is found not alone in tenement houses, but also in private dwellings known as one and two-family houses. Such room overcrowding exists in one and two-family house sections which are undergoing changes, and the standards enforced in tenement houses should also be enforced in one and two-family houses, since the dangers of room or apartment overcrowding, such as infection and spread of disease, are nearly as serious in one and two-family houses as in multiple family tenements. 83 The present building laws also permit rooms in one and two-family houses with- out any means of ventilation to the outer air. The increase in rental thus shown is due to several causes but mainly the fol- lowing : The increase of population requiring housing in limited areas, which naturally creates an increase in land values. Increase in cost of materials used in the con- struction of buildings, and increase in the cost of labor employed in the erection of buildings for general housing, have their effect in reducing the supply at moderate cost of new buildings, suitable for those of small incomes. To make possible a low density of population, land must be cheap, and this can be accomplished only by bring- ing much land into the market by transit and also by distributing factories, or by restricting the height and number of buildings, or by a combination of these. The cost of construction in the past ten years has, according to reports and in- vestigations, increased from an average of 10 cents per cubic foot to 16 cents per cubic foot for the ordinary type of a tenement house generally built. This would show an approximate increase in the cost of construction of about 5U per cent. While this seems excessive, it must be borne in mind that the type of house now constructed is far superior to that built 10 years ago. A certain percentage of increase in cost of construction is due to the demand in the new type of tenement for a better and more progressive apartment ; therefore, the actual increr- mean, too, a saving in the food bill while they la'^t and they help in another way too, for those very vegetables and flowers assist powerfully in fostering a community spirit. Neighbors get together to swap experiences, their very troubles form an easy bond of sympathy, and so there grows a feeling of common interest, which soon ex- tends to all the affairs of the settlement. So the town is begot, so citizens are made, men capable of entering earnestly and sympatheticalh' into the civic life of the com- munity. Ncj- does it stop with the man. W^iat better start in life could the child have than to pass his early years amid such surroundings. Every incentive is opened to him to lead a normal life. Thrift abounds; he soon learns tri save; self-respect is 104 everj'wherc evident. He soon learns habits of cleanliness. He learns instinctively to love the country so that he can never becom/; more than a passing tolcrator of tene- ment life. He is fortunate in his family lite, for it is a unit; wholesome in its integ- rity. All, parents and children, become imbued with a sense of responsibility which makes for steadfastness and rightmindedness. Dissension gains little foothold, for all are too occupied to fmd fault. Social unrest is tempered and good citizenship abounds. Last but not least, the death rate drops markedly, and the hospitals go begging for patients. The police courts grow idle. The poorfarms seek only for occupants. The city budget falls, the tax rate decreases. However, it is one thing to talk about country life, the joys of which most of us know full well, and quite another in finding how to bring people out to it. As is only natural, people do not care to live far from their work. After a hard day in town, one cannot be expected to spend a long weary hour or two jammed into an already burst- ing train, only to be forced out long before daybreak to repeat the torture back into town again. Much depends on this question of transit. Every device capable of mov- ing crowds back and forth easily and cheaply should be investigated. A plan should be made which would take account of the probable growth of the city far into the fu- ture. Main radial lines for traffic should be determined; lines connecting the outlying points should be provided for. Sites for public buildings, parks, squares and play- grounds should be laid out. And as the city extends up to these points care should be taken to see that property owners conform to these plans. It is most interesting to see what England is doing along this line under her new Town Planning Act, what Germany is doing in many of her towns, and how France is even contemplating mak- ing this town extension planning compulsory. It is all very well to make these plans and to work out an ideal transit scheme, but the great majority of workers are not going out unless their means of livelihood goes too. Shops, distributing houses and certain factories, in particular those for the manufacture of seasonable goods, have to remain in town, but nearly all the other factories are free to move out. The remission of the whole or part of the taxes on the factories coming out has been declared unconstitutional. Communities can do little in the way of offering cheap land or special privileges. It is useless to talk to manufacturers about the increased eiYiciency of labor in the country. The chief way he can be reached is through his pocketbook. He can be reached on that side in one most important way, and that is through cheaper and better transportation and storage facilities. This implies the working out of a big comprehensive system of through and connecting tracks, yards, sidings, terminals, and distributing points of harbors, docks and canals, with all their connections with the former; of freight subways an> •V O o o o 1- u 1/5 i« tn tfl t« c« t/j > ,__ CV) ro ■rl- LO \o > '"' U-) \o l^ '- ""■ 1. 2. 3. 53 15 75 149 115 46 5 24 "35 "30 4. 58 52 113 167 152 53 1 5. 39 97 61 41 9 6. 11 13 21 8 6 7. 56 123 316 266 655 366 6 ■y? 8. 39 330 618 153 163 82 10 9. 4 305 1,512 619 473 90 3 10. 88 89 147 124 565 224 12 11. 73 59 350 396 751 492 9 12. 298 687 55,182 3,595 6,335 1,081 259 18 9 2 13. 45 53 151 142 416 165 6 14. 1 45 133 112 263 109 16 15. 67 414 356 142 57 14 i 2 33 16. 263 237 883 1,112 550 47 18 7 17. 87 568 648 804 284 11 i 1 18. 65 147 595 1.075 727 168 18 9 2 5 1 19. 500 473 847 2,589 6,033 3,549 620 59 17 12 9 6 20. 133 174 930 1,317 770 44 91 21. 125 277 786 1,962 864 142 36 17. 3 3 .^ 1 22. 265 550 1,875 3,841 3,021 246 188 21 29 14 6 22 3 5 9 1 The Bronx. 23. 1,725 3,928 3,316 1,380 1.505 306 1 A Comparison of the Proportion of Blocks that are Built Upon Solidly or that Have Only a Specified Proportion of the Site Not Built Upon. (a) In Manhattan, by sections. (b) In part of the Twenty-third Ward of The Bronx. (c) In Brooklyn, by sections. Sections. Solid. Under 5% 5-10% ll-157c 16-20% 21-30% Over 30% 3. Manhattan. Below Cortlandt and Maiden Lane Per cent, total section.. Between Cortlandt and Maiden lane and Chambers, New Chambers and James Slip Per cent, total section.. Between Chambers and James Slip and Canal, Division and Grand.. Per cent, total section.. Between Canal, Division and Grand and Hous- ton streets Per cent, total section. 8 11.42 45 64.3 18 25.7 3 4.3 3 4.3 1 1.4 13 8.34 113 76.9 16 10.9 9 6.1 1 0.7 3 2.0 c 3.4 36 13.95 100 38.8 46 17.8 21 8.1 28 10.9 36 13.9 27 10.5 7 2.86 16 6,6 14 5.7 22 "0 75 30.7 86 35.0 31 12.7 115 Sections. Solid. 5. Between Houston and 8th St., Christopher, St. Marks pi. and Green- wich ave 8 Per cent, total section. . 5.03 6. Between 8th St., St. Marks pi., Greenwich ave. and Christopher St. and 23d st 11 _ Per cent, total section. . 3.72 7. Between 23d and 42d.. 14 Per cent, total section.. 5.18 8. Between 42d and 125th. 20 Per cent, total section.. 2.11 9. North of 125th........ Per cent, total section Bronx. Part of 23d Ward, bounded by Harlem River, 149th St., Melrose ave., Webster ave. and 170th st 7 ^ Per cent, total section.. 2.79 Brooklyn. Ward. First 14 Second 27 Third 1.8 Fourth 3.5 Fifth 24 Sixth 11.0 Seventh 9.0 Thirteenth 11.0 Fourteenth 1 ^ Fifteenth 5.8 Sixteenth 6.3 Seventeenth 2.2 Nineteenth 3.8 Twentieth 2.0 Twentv-sixth 1.0 Under 5% 5-10% ll-157o Over 16-20% 21-30% 30% 27 22 29 ■ 29 43 9 17.0 13.8 18.2 18.2 27.1 5.7 39 34 23 52 117 25 13.5 11.7 7.9 17.9 40.4 %.6 32 48 32 48 91 18 11.9 17.9 11.9 17.8 33.8 6.7 •?? 32 34 153 539 170 2.3 3.3 3.56 16.2 56.8 18.0 2 9 44 97 9 1.2 5.6 27.3 60.3 5.6 4 9 11 17 79 130^ 1.56 3.49 5.27 6.60 30.68 50.67 7 4 9 14 22 30 5 12 7 9 13.5 26.5 6.2 4.5 10 9.5 26.0 42.0 7.5 5.0 8.5 6.2 29.0 40.3 8.0 9.5 10.0 8.5 21.0 19 12.0 7.0 2.5 7.5 22.0 38.0 9.5 6.0 Z.Z 3.2 31.0 38.0 7.3 5.5 9.3 12.5 37.4 17.0 5.0 5.5 4.3 10.3 ■IS^I^f^ 40.1 6.2 4.9 8.1 3.5 2k^ 49.0 6.3 5.1 5.1 3.2 W^^ 51.0 5.5 5.5 5.8 7.0 39.9 34.1 2.6 2.6 3.8 9.0 51.9 26.3- 4.1 3.9 8.5 10.5 26.4 44.6 1.0 0.6 • 0.5 4.4 92.5 Proportion of Total Number of Persons Accommodated in Tenements Erected in Each Ward of Brooklyn from July, 1902, to December 31, 1907, inclusive. Ward. Persons. Ward. Persons. 1 360 18 8.775 '> 19 4.860- 3 20 689' 4 734 21 12.218 5 432 22 6.952- 6 778 23 3.294- 7 2,665 24 18.796- 8 Il884 25 8.068 9 5.148 26 a).062 10 486 27 10.804 11 50 28 15.867 12 126 29 6.322' 13 5,341 30 3,842- 14 882 31 648' 15 3.128 32 4,689= 16 17 9.891 5.395 Total 213,178 115 3 o CQ o ■ ti w > u c Q < .CMOCMu^v0 CO ''O CN Csl uo CO \0 -^ \0 OS CV) -^ VO 00 LO O "O rr \0 O"^ '— I Oco '— ' CO o (N 1 r^ ' '■1 \0 OsCV) ■ ■^^co .— . 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S-"; ji ^ i: "y >> 1 1^1111^1 Moore, Moore, Moore, Moore Debev Bushw >xS.a t fe o S o i''- ?^' !:£ :£ be be -cc U i!. H t >~ O i^ K pq D3 M e t7, tr. i;: X X ca/c7) c7i > > > > o > H -^CNjr^-^uo^t^OCCNO'— 'C^lf^-^iO^l^OOCN ^?g^J( 118 SuiHiiiary of Tenement House Law for Cities of the First Class in New York State Relative to Size of Rooms and Overcroiuding. 70. Rooms. Size of. — Excepting water closet compartments and bathrooms in each apartment there shall be at least one room containing not less than one hundred and twenty square feet of floor space, and each other room shall contain at least seventy square feet of floor area. Each room shall be in every part not less than nine feet high from the finished floor to the finished ceiling, provided that an attic room need be nine feet high in but one-half its area. 71. Alcove rooms must conform to all the requirements of other rooms. 97. Basements and Cellars. — No room in the basement or cellar of any tene- ment shall be occupied for living purposes except under conditions stipulated; such room shall be at least nine feet high in every part from the floor to the ceiling and the same regulations as to floor area are in force. There are about 25,000 basement dwellings in New York. 112. Overcrowding. — No room in any tenement house shall be so overcrowded that there shall be afforded less than four hundred cubic feet of air to each adult, and two hundred cubic feet of air to each child under twelve years of age occupy- ing such room. Under this law a three-room apartment with a height of nine feet in the clear may consist of : Only 260 square feet floor area. Only 2,340 cubic feet. One room 10 by 12 feet, and two rooms 7 by 9 feet. In this apartment may live legally two adults over 12 years of age and six minors under 12 years of age, a total of eight persons in three rooms, or two and two-thirds per room — one and one-half persons per room is a reasonable standard, therefore, the law permits nearly 50 per cent, of overcrowding. References on Percentage of Lot Area to be Occupied in Other American and i't Foreign Cities. New Jersey. — No tenement house can occupy more than 90 per cent, of a corner lot, or more than 70 per cent, of an interior lot. The Connecticut law, Cleveland, Baltimore and Washington all limit the occu- pancy of corner lots to 90 per cent. Chicago permits lots bounded on three sides to occupy 90 per cent., but limits all other corner lots to 85 per cent. San Francisco provides that tenements may occupy 95 per cent, of corner lots 50 feet or less in width, but only 75 per cent, of the excess over 50 feet of other corner lots. Connecticut, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington limit the occupancy of in- terior lots to 75 per cent., Baltimore to 70 per cent., and Cleveland to 65 per cent. London Yards. — There must be provided at the rear of every dwelling house an open space exclusively belonging to it of an aggregate extent of not less than 150 square feet. In all cases the open space must be at least 10 feet wide and extend throughout the entire width of the building. In the case of corner lots the council may permit the erection of buildings not exceeding 30 feet in height upon such part of the space in the rear as they may think fit, provided they are satisfied that its erection will not interfere unduly with the access of light and air to neighboring buildings. Courts. — Where a court is wholly or in part open at the top but inclosed on every side, and constructed for the purpose of admitting light or air. and the depth from the eaves or top of the parapet wall to the ceiling of the ground story exceeds the length or width of the court, the owner of the building must make adequate provi- sions for ventilation by means of communication with the outer air. Glasgow. Open Spaces. — Provision for open space? is secured by requiring that in front of at least one-half of every window in sleeping apartments there must be an open space equal to at least three-fourths of the height of the wall in which the window is placed from the floor of the apartment to the roof of the building, meas- uring such space in a straight line perpendicular to the plane of the window. Manchester — Clo.=ed courts or areas open only at the top, into which windows open, must be equal to at least one-half of the height measured from the window sill to the eaves or top of the parapet of the opposite wall. If one side of a court or area is open, windows opposite the opening will satisfy the requirements. Toronto, Canada — Open Spaces. Every tenement or dwelling house must be so located and orect*>d nn the respective premises as to provide at least 10 per cent, of the area of the lot free from all obstruction from ground to sky, but in no event 119 shall such area be less than 300 square feet. Angular corner lots, abutting lots and extend from street to street may be excluded from the above restrictions. The proportion of the lot area to be occupied by tenements varies in different districts of most large German cities, just as the height and number of stories does, and lower tenements and larger yards are required in the outlying sections of cities where land values are low. The proportion of the lot area to remain unoccupied, i. e., devoted to courts and yards, ranges as follows : Munich— From 1/3 to 1/2. Cologne — From 1/4 to 3/5. F"rankfort-on-the-Main — From 1/3 to 1/2. Dusseldorf — From 1/3 to 3/5. Mannheim — From 1/4 to 3/5. Hamburg — Before every wall of a building containing windows not lying on the street there must be left a space equal to one-third of the height of the wall, m the town, and two-thirds in the suburbs, and this space must have an area of 211.3 square feet. Vienna — Usually 15 per cent, of the lot area must be devoted to yards and courts. In special cases different regulations are prescribed by the building police. The New English Town Planning Act permits cities to restrict the number of cottages to from 10 to 20 per acre. Frankfort-on-the-Main ranges from a maximum height of 65 feet 6 inches, not to exceed the width of the street by more than 6 feet 6 inches, to three stories, not to exceed a height of 29 feet 6 inches, on streets of this width, otherwise the height may not exceed the width of the street. Cologne ranges from five stories and mansard in the centre of the city to two stories and mansard. Dusseldorf ranges from five stories to three stories. Vienna ranges from six stories to three stories, and under certain conditions to two stories. London — The height of dwelling houses (any building used for human habita- tion) must not exceed 80 feet, exclusive of the stories in the roof, without the consent of the council. If a dwelling house is erected on a street less than 50 feet wide, its height must not exceed the distance from the front wall to the opposite side of the street. With reference to the height of such buildings in relation to the space at the rear, London employs the following novel plan : An imaginary line called "the horizontal line" is drawn at right angles to the roadway through the middle of the building to intersect the boundary of the open space at the rear of the house furthest from the roadway. Then a second imaginary line called "the diagonal line" is drawn from this point of intersection above and in the same vertical plane as the horizontal line and inclined at an angle of 635-4 degrees with it. No part of the building can extend above this diagonal line except chimneys, dormers, gables, turrets or other architectural ornaments. Further instructions for drawing the diagonal line are included in the law for exceptionally irregular sites. Glasgow — No tenement or building used as a dwelling house shall be erected, the front walls of which shall exceed in height the distance between the building lines of the street. Manchester — Buildings on streets less than 30 feet wide are limited to two stories. On streets not less than 36 feet wide they are limited to three stories. Liverpool — Tenements facing on a street must not exceed in height the width of the street. Houses built on a court must not exceed 30 feet in height, nor contain more than two stories above the ground floor. Liverpool also adopts the same plan as London with reference to the height of buildings in relation to the space at the rear. Paris — Height is determined by the width of the street. Width of street, 7.8 metres (25 feet 7 inches) or under, height of building, 12 metres (39 feet 4 inches) ; wndth of street between 7.8 metres (25 feet 7 inches) and 9.74 metres (31 feet 11 inches), height of building, 15 metres (49 feet 2 inches) ; width of street betvi^een 9.74 and 20 metres (65 feet 7 inches), height of building, 18 metres (59 feet) ; width of street, 20 metres, height of building, 20 metres (Act of July 23, 18i84). This same act provides that buildings in no case may contain more than seven stories. The height of the first story must be not less than 2.8 metres (9 feet 2 inches), and the height of other stories not less than 2.6 metres (8 feet 6 inches). Berlin — The height of houses fronting on a street may equal but not exceed the width of the street between building lines, but they may not be higher than 72.18 120 feet. The rear buildings must never exceed in height by more than 19 feet 6 inches the width of the open space in front of them. Buildings intended for tenement houses must not_ exceed five stories nor the floor of the top story be more than 57.4 feet above the sidewalk. Toronto, Canada — All buildings intended to be used as apartment or tenement houses exceeding 55 feet in height must be of the first-class fireproof construction throughout. No tenement can ex.ceed 100 feet in height. No wooden or frame building intended for human habitation can be erected to exceed 35 feet in height. No tenement or other dwelling house can be erected on a street less than 35 feet wide. Hamburg — The usual height of a building may not exceed 97 feet 6 inches in the case pi gable, and 78 feet in the case of other walls, while the front wall may not be higher than the width of the street in the suburbs, though in the town and St. Pauli it may exceed the width of the street by 19 feet 6 inches. References on Si::e of Rooms and Overcrowding in Other A)nerican and in Foreign Cities — Rooms, Area, Height, etc. New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Chicago and Baltimore all require that every apartment shall contain at least one room with not less than 120 square feet of floor area, and that all other rooms except water-closets and bathrooms must contain at least 70 square feet of floor area. Cleveland and San Francisco require one room of 120 square feet floor area, the rest to contain oard has been materially extended by the revised Laws of 1902 and their jurisdiction [jjA functions are along the same lines as the authority suggested to be conferred on 'the City of New York to prohibit the location of factories in certain districts because their loca- tion there will either impede traffic unnecessarily or cause the City an enormous and • unjustifiable expense. The City of Cleveland also through its Building Code, by requiring factories to be constructed of semi-fireproof material, has practically restricted the location of fac- tories. Second — In the judgment of the Committee these precedents are ample to justify the recommencfations that legislation be sought to prohibit the location of factories in certain sections of Manhattan since the evil effects of locating more factories here has been amply demonstrated. They believe that this is no interference with property rights nor confiscation of such rights, but w-ithin the police power of the State. For fear, however, such a law might be declared unconstitutional, your Com- mittee recommend that legislation be secured restricting the cubage and volume of buildings to be used for factory and loft purposes. The Mayor's first Building Code Revision Commission recommended that no building should be permitted to exceed a volume or cubage of 174 times the area of the site, which means substantially a height of 14 stories. As many factory or loft buildings 16 to 24 stories in height are now being constructed in Manhattan, this restriction upon the volume would mate- rially reduce the rentable floor space provided in such buildings and the consequent congestion of operatives in factories as well as in the tenements adjacent, and the Committee w-ould suggest that buildings to be occupied by factories or lofts be limited to a cubage of 132 times the area of the site, which would be equivalent to 12 stories, counting eleven feet to a story. Third — The Committee recommend not only that no factory or loft building here- after to be erected shall exceed a cubage or volume of 132 times the entire area of the lot upon which it is located, above the curb level of the lowest street upon which it stands, but that at the rear of every such building hereafter erected there shall be provided a yard open and unobstructed from, the street level to the sky across the entire width of the lot and of a depth equal to one-tenth of the height of the building, but in no case less than one-tenth of the depth of the lot, or if the lot be under one hundred feet in depth of a depth less than ten feet, and that no premises or building hereafter erected shall be converted to, or occupied as a factory or loft, that does not conform to these requirements. Fourth — The Committee recommend that 500 cubic feet of air space be provided for each employee in a factory instead of .250 cubic feet of air space as at present, and 600 cubic feet of air space instead of 400 as at present between the hours of 6 p. m. and 6 a. m., under the provisions of the present labor law. Fifth- — The Committee recommend that manufacturing in tenement houses be prohibited, or if that is not possible that at least such manufacturing be prohibited in tenements in which there are children, and that the manufacturer be made responsible for the conditions under which his goods are manufactured and for any violation of the above provisions, and, also, that he be required to tag his goods so that they may be identified at any time and that a State Commission be created to determine the best methods of prohibiting or rigorously restricting manufacturing in tenements. Sixth — The Committee after careful study of the proposition made, for a Joint Railroad Terminal on the North River above 25th street, recomm.end that while a joint railroad terminal is doubtless valuable, that the construction of factories on any considerable scale here as proposed be unwise, as it would tend to produce the same congestion of population and congestion of traft'ic as has been produced by 12-story factories in other sections of the City. The present congestion of traffic on the west side is sufficiently serious without aggravating it by the construction of more fac- tories as contemplated in this plan. The provisions for elevated lines for assembling freight are, however, in the judg- ment of the Committee, very wise, although they would suggest that further exten- 128 sions of the lines that tap the central parts of Manhattan Island not now reached by any freight line should be provided. 2. Measures to Encourage Factories to Locate in Other Borouglis of the City Than Manhattan. The Committee is thoroughly convinced that mere repressive measures will not be sufficient to secure the location of factories in the other Boroughs of the City than Manhattan. They therefore make the following recommendations to encourage the location of factories in the Boroughs of Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx and Richmond : First — T\ e adequate improvement of the water front with piers and docks for factory purposes and with warehouses. The single pier constructed by the City in South Brooklyn at 37th street was constructed at an expense of approximately one and a quarter million dollars, and for the large site on which this is located the City paid in 1908 approximately $4,666,000, although the land was assessed for only about two- fifths of this amount. The entire pier over 1,000 feet in length is leased to a single company for less than $40,000 a year, which with depreciation and loss of taxes on the property means that the City is practically conducting a philanthropy. The back- ground from this pier is a waste and the City is losing a large amount of money on the capital tied up as well as in the loss of the taxes upon the property. Evidently, however, the City should develop this water front similarly to the economic develop- ment of the Bush Terminal Company. Your Committee agree with the conclusion reached by the Chicago Harbor Com- mision, after a study of European ports, that the City should not attempt to make over 3 per cent, net on its piers and docks, since the additional business brought to the City through the attraction of commerce justifies such an apparently small net return. It is evident that some effort consistently followed must be adopted for develop- ing the waterfronts of these other Boroughs to encourage the locating of factories in them. The Commitee feel that important as will be the development of Jamaica Bay, that the important step to be taken in the distribution of factories is the completion of those developments which have been already started, such as this one in South Brooklyn, and the completion of the dredging and widening of the Newtown Creek, as well as the development of the waterfronts of Staten Island, The Bronx and Queens. In a recent paper Mr. Hoag, of the Department of Docks and Ferries, suggests that the waterfront from Spuyten Duyvil south permits of development on apparently broad lines for coast-wise or local traffic. A great need, he states, exists at the present time for a pier in Harlem between Dyckman's Cut and the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad yard at Willis avenue. A new plan already established provides for a pier 40 feet wide between the Fordham Road pier and the University Heights Bridge pier, the City owning this property. Practically all the frontage. Mr. Hoag states, along this district is relatively easy of development for at least local traffic. The portion of The Bronx waterfront between Barretto Point and Hunts Point is well adapted for coast-wise traffic and would be for transatlantic traflic were it not for the enforced approach through Long Island Sound. Along this stretch of the water- front the City owns property at the foot of Willis avenue. Second — The Committee recommend that the freight lines connecting all the Bor- oughs be constructed as soon as possible. Third — The Committee recommend that the ferriage charg for trucks on all Municipal ferries be equalized, to the present minimum. Fourth — The Committee recommend that further provisions be made for carrving trucks on the Municipal Ferry boats now running from Manhattan to South Brooklyn and to Staten Island, both to Stapleton and St. George, by altering the boats so that they can carry four lines or rows of trucks, and all Municipal Ferry boats should herenfter be constructed in this way. Fifth — The Committee believe that to shorten the w-ork-day to eight or even nine hours universally would have a great effect in distributing population, since it is generally true that the longest hours of work of any member of the family determines the location of the family. In conclusion, the Committee would call attention to the fact that factories are leaving New York City and New York State and locating in New Jersey very rapidly. They have not been able, owing to the lack of any appropriation, to collect statistics showing the extent of such factory removals, but have cited the case of two im- portant factories. The J. L. Mott Iron Works, which removed their factory from The Bronx to Jersey City, taking with them most of the 500 to 600 men whom they employed there, and the Henry R. Worthington Company, also removed recently from 129 Brooklyn to Harrison, N. J. The latter's weekly payroll was about $30,000, over $l,50O,0OO a year, and most of their workers went with them. In the judgment of your Committee the reasons assigned by the manufacturers are worthy of careful consideration by this Commission: They are high rents, high cost of land, high taxes and strictness of the City as to the smoke nuisance. It is evident that high land values mean not only that higher rents must be paid for sites for factories, but also that higher wages must be paid to operatives so that they can afford to pay the increased rental which high land values necesitate if con- gesion of population is to be prevented It is of the greatest importance that these four causes for the removal of factories from New York City should be removed as far as possible if factories are to be successfully retained in New York City and if manufacturing is to remain an important undertaking in the City. General informa- tion suffices to demonstrate that land cannot be made relatively cheap in the Borough of Alanhattan, and that high taxes are inevitable with the large expenditures which the City has already undertaken and to which it is already committed, but that taxes ran be adjusted so that the City can encourage the location and retention of factories m the City. Tn this connection your Committee would call attention to the beneficent eflfect in retaining factories in the Boroughs outside of Manhattan of taxing land double the rates on buildings, that is, halving the taxes on buildings. The tax rate in Brooklyn and Queens in 1910 per $100 of assessed valuation was approximately $1.81. That is, for a factory building worth $50,000, located on a site worth $25,000. the total taxes in 1910 in these two Boroughs would be $1,357.50. If, on the other hand, the tax rate on land had this year been twice the tax rate on build- ings the land rate would have been about $2.19 plus and the tax rate on buildings $1,095 per $100. The taxes on the buildings assessed for $50,000 would have been $545, and the taxes on the land approximately $647.57, a total of $1,192.50, meaning a net saving on taxes in this specific case of about $165, or approximately one-eighth of the total taxes. This is of course not a large amount, but a large proportion, and in most cases the assessed value of the land would be much less than one-half of the assessed valuation of the buildings, particularly in outlying districts, so that the total saving would often be one-fourth to one-fifth of the present taxes, if land were taxed at double the rate on building.*. The Bush Terminals serve as a notable example of the economic development of the City througli the nonnal distribution of factories. The chief features of the Bush Terminals are as follows : The plant consists of a large area of land relatively cheap, situated on the water- front in South Brooklyn, with well-lighted concrete buildings directly connected by its own lines with the railroads of the Borough and Queens and with wharfage facilities for transatlantic traft'ic as well as coast-wise traffic, also provisions for floats con- necting with all the transcontinental railroads. The chief advantages offered bj^ the location of these lofts contiguous to the water front or cheap land are : First — The saving of rent. Second — The saving of truckage. Third — Saving of insurance. Fourth — Saving of carfare and hence of wages. These distinct advantages should be referred to. The last advantage is not so apparent, but the fact remains that although the nominal wage paid to the operatives in the factories occupying the Bush Terminals are the same as those paid operatives in Manhattan factories, yet the men who ride to their work pay $30 a year for carfare, assuming 300 working days to the j^ear at 10 cents per day carfare, and this is an item which should be carefully considered by the manufacturers in Greater New York. It is evident that the manufacturer is pre-eminently benefited by increasing the rate of taxation on land and reducing the rate on buildings in three respects : (a) The total amount of his taxes is materially reduced. (b) Land for manufacturing purposes is cheaper. (c) The heavier rate of taxation on land stimulates the construction of more buildings and hence through the operation of economic laws the rent his workers must pay is reduced which permits the payment of lower wages without any in- justice to these workers. (d) The distribution of factories also by eliminating or reducing the cost of car- fare for his workers also enables the manufacturer to pay lower wages without reduc- ing the standard of living of his workmen. 130 Comparison of the Number of Workers in Factories and Area in the Five Boroughs of New York in 1906. Manhattan, below 14th st., east of, and 20th st. west of 7th ave., total area 2,717 acres Number of Workers, 321,488. ^__ Per Cent. 1. Group IX — Clothing, millinery, laundry, etc 155,558 48.3 2. Group VII — Printing and paper goods 51,909 16.2 3. Group II — Metals, machines and conveyances 37,253 11.7 4. Group X — Food, liquors and tobacco 24,196 7.5 5. Group IX — Leather and rubber goods 20,003 6.2 6. Group III — \\'ood manufacturers 10,583 3.3 7. Group VIII— Textiles 9,123 2.8 8. Group V — Chemicals, oils, paints, etc 7,723 2.4 9. Group I — Stone, clay and glass products 2,628 0.8 10. Group XI— Water, light and powder 1,022 0.3 11. Group VI— Paper and pulp 873 0.3 12. Group XII— Building industry 617 02 Manhattan, above 14th st., east of, and 20th st. west of 7th ave., total area 11,321 acres. Number of Workers, 160,368. Per Cent . 1. Group IX — Clothing, milliner}^ laundry, etc 35,257 3.45 2. Group X — Food, liquors and tobacco 29,465 18.4 3. Group II — Metals, machines and conveyances 22,365 13.9 4. Group III — Wood manufacturers 15,476 9.7 5. Group VII — Printing and pap'er goods 13,414 8.3 6. Group IV — Leather and rubber goods 7,715 4.8 7. Group VIII— Textiles 7,598 4.7 8. Group I — Stone, clay and glass products 4,235 2.7 9. Group XI — Water, light and powder 2,426 1.5 10. Group V — Chemicals, oils, paints, etc 1,781 1.1 11. Group XII — Building industry 636 0.4 The Bronx, total area 26.017 acres. Number of Workers, 18,143. Per Cent. 1. Group II — Metals, machines and conveyances 5,203 28.6 2. Group III — Wood manufacturers 4,775 26.2 3. Group VIII— Textiles 1,955 10.7 4. Group X — Food, liquors and tobacco 1,827 10.5 5. Group IX — Clothing, millinery, laundry, etc 771 9.7 6. Group I — Stone, clay and glass products 1,218 6.6 7. Group VII — Printing and paper goods 543 3.0 8. Group IV — Leather and rubber goods 301 1.7 9. Group XI — Water, light and power 284 1.6 10. Group V — Chemicals, oils, paints, etc 229 1.2 11. Group XII — Building industry 37 0.2 Brooklyn, total area 49,680 acres. Number of Workers. 132,466. Per Cent. 1. Group II — Metals, machines and conveyances 35,942 27.1 2. Group IX^ — Clothing, millinery, laundry, etc 26,935 20.4 3. Group X — Food, liquors and tobacco 13,330 10.1 4. Group III — Wood manufacturers 11,881 9.0 5. Group VIII— Textiles 10,967 8.3 6. Group VII — Printing and paper goods 9,358 7.4 7. Group IV — Leather and rubber goods 9,201 6.9 8. Group V — Chemicals, oils, paints, etc 6,620 5.0 9. Group I — Stone, clav and class products 5,447 4.1 10. Group XI— Water, light and power 1,828 1.0 11. Group VI — Paper and pulp 541 0.4 12. Group XTI— Building industry 407 0.3 Queens, total area 82,883 acres. 131 Number of Workers, 22,324. Per Cent. 1. Group II- — Metals, machines and conveyances $,693 39.0 2. Group ^'II— Textiles 2,375 10.6 3. Group III — Wood manufacturers 2,340 10.5 4. Group V — Chemicals, oils, paints, etc 2,263 10.0 5. Group I — Stone, clay and glass products 2,151 9.7 6. Group X — Food, liquors and tobacco 1,744 7.8 7. Group IV — Leather and rubber goods 1,425 6.4 8. Group XI — Water, light and power 507 2.3 9. Group VII — Printing and paper goods 472 2.1 10. Group IX — Clothing, milliner^-, laundry, etc 284 1.3 11. Group VI — Paper and pulp 70 0.3 Richmond, total area 36,600 acres. Number of Workers, 7,960. Per Cent. Group II — Metals, machines and conveyances 2,800 " 36.5 Group I— Stone, clay and glass products 1,295 16.2 Group V — Chemicals, oils, paints, etc 1,032 13.0 Group VIII— Textiles 812 10.2 Group IX — Clothing, millinery, laundry, etc 749 9.4 Group X — Food, liquors and tobacco 444 5.6 Group VI — Paper and pulp 339 4.3 Group III — Wood manufacturers 175 2.2 Group VII — Printing and paper goods 127 1.5 Group XI — Water, light and power 78 1.0 Group XII — Building industry 5 0.1 Total area of New York, 209,218 acres. Total Number of Workers, 662,749. Per Cent. Group IX — Clothing, milliner}% laundry, etc 240,554 36.3 Group II — Metals, machines and conveyances 112,355 17.0 Group VII — Printing and paper goods 75,823 11.4 Group X — Foods, liquors and tobacco 71,015 10.7 Group III — Wood manufacturers 45,230 6.8 Group IV — Leather and rubber goods 38,645 5.8 Group VIII— Textiles 32,830 5.0 Group V — Chemicals, oils, paints, etc 19,653 3.0 Group I — Stone, clav and glass products 16,974 2.6 Group XI— Water, Light and Power 6,145 0.9 Group VI — Paper and pulp 1,823 0.3 Group XII— Building industry 1.702 0.2 Comparison of Density of Population, Density of Workers in Factories and Density of Factories per Acre in the Five Boroughs of Greater New York in 1906. Man- The Brook- Rich- hattan. Bronx. lyn. Queens, mond. Densitv of Population (from State Census of 1905) 150.4 10.4 27.3 2.4 1.9 Density of Workers (from State Dept. of Labor Report of 1906) 34.33 0.70 2.25 0.24 0.21 Densitv of Factories (from State Dept. of Lab6r Report of 1906) 1 .383 0.025 0.094 0.005 0.00 132 The disproportion in the number of Workers in Factories and Factories in vari- ous parts of Manhattan is indicated by the following figures : Sixth Workers. . Assembly Below Above Man- District. 14th St. 14th St. hattan In Factories 56,598 321,488 160,366 481,856 Factories 2,349 13,067 6,483 19,550 Area in Acres 186 2,717 11,321 14,038 Twelve per cent, of the Factories and 11.7 per cent, of the Workers in Manhattan are crowded into the Sixth Assembly District, 1.3 per cent, of the area of Manhattan. The average assessed value of land per acre, secured from 100 lots scattered throughout the District, was $660,850.20. The Number of Buildings Used for Factories of an Indicated Number of Stories Below 14th St. is Indicated by the Following Table. 1 Story 178 3.7 per cent. 2 Stories 245 5 . 1 per cent. 3 Stories 649 13.4 per cent. 4 Stories 942 19.5 per cent. 5 Stories 1,490 30.9 per cent. 6 Stories 819 17.0 per cent. 7 Stories 216 5.4 per cent. 8 Stories 89 1 .8 per cent. 9 Stories 32 0.7 per cenr. 10 Stories 48 1 .0 per cent. 11 Stories 23 0.5 per cent. 12 Stories 39 0.8 per cent. 13 Stories 4 0.1 percent. 14 Stories . . 0.0 per cent. 15 Stories 2 0.0 per cent. 16 Stories 1 0.0 per cent. Salient data has been secured regarding the block in the Sixth Assembly District having the greatest number of Workers in Factories per acre in 1906, 97.3 per cent, of the site being covered by buildings. This block, bounded by Crosby, Prince, Broadway and East Houston streets, has the largest number of workers in factories and factories per acre in the Sixth Assem- bly District. The Sixth Assembly District has the greatest density of workers in factories and factories in Manhattan. Total Number. Density per Acre. Acres, i ^ n < ' x Area. Workers. Factories. Workers. Factories. Sixth Assembly District 186 56.598 2,349 304 13 This Block 3,312 ^ 4,007 77 1.210 23 In 1908 the assessed value of the buildings in this block was $3,171,000. In 1908 the assessed value of the land in this block was $2,593,000. In 1908 the total assessed value of this block was $5,764,000. In 1908 the assessed value of land per square foot in this block was $17.97. In 1908 the assessed value of land per acre in this block was $782,910.62. 72.6 per cent, is covered by buildings 12 stories in height. 15.6 per cent, is covered by buildings 6 stories in height. 2.3 per cent, is covered by buildings 5 stories in height. 3.5 per cent, is covered by buildings 4 stories in height. 3.3 per cent, is covered by buildings 1 story in height, while only 2.7 per cent, of the total site of the block is open in courts. Blocks With Large Number of Workers in Factories. Between Chrystie St., W. 4th st., Thompson st. and Canal st. there were 10 blocks, each of which in 1906 had 2,400 workers in factories or over. There were 26 blocks which had between 6C0 and 2.400 workers in factories, while the block bounded by Varick, Vandam, McDougal and Spring sts. had over 600 workers in factories. 133 Distribution of Industries by Assembly Districts According to the Twelve Classes Into Which the State Department of Labor Divides Factories. I. Stone, Clay Location and Glass Products. Assembly t ^ District No. of No. of ( 1905 ) Workers. Factories. First 914 Second 493 Third 212 Fourth 42 Fifth 150 Sixth 604 Seventh 60 Eighth 10 Ninth 332 Tenth 5 Eleventh 249 Twelfth 47 Thirteenth 65 Fourteenth 22 Fifteenth 107 Sixteenth 9 Seventeenth 357 Eighteenth 185 Nineteenth 10 Twentieth 502 Tw-enty-first Twenty-second . . . 438 Twenty-third 54 Twentv-fourth ... 133 Twenty- fifth 425 Twenty-sixth 315 Twenty-seventh . . 168 Twenty-eighth ... 135 Twentv-ninth .... 15 Thirtieth 66 Thirty-first 2 Thirty-second .... Zl() Thirty-third 103 Thirty-fourth .... 198 Totals 6,863 II. Metals, Ma- chines, Conveyances. , ^ , No. of No. of Workers. Factories. III. Wood Manufacturers. , ' ^ No. of No. of Workers. Factories. 31 32 15 2 10 30 8 1 16 3 6 3 5 3 5 1 9 16 1 13 ii 1 9 28 4 4 3 2 7 1 13 6 9 308 6,933 7,239 2 522 1.250 1,733 5.837 7,884 96 4,352 140 812 2,412 912 362 366 845 850 2,165 351 796 27 867 870 569 3,216 542 1,579 318 350 297 225 1,286 635 980 59,618 573 442 110 55 68 340 54 15 95 23 29 22 35 28 18 58 28 72 14 31 3 31 17 30 51 20 33 11 16 17 7 25 10 44 2.425 735 1,908 983 267 849 2,556 565 38 1,371 82 580 754 962 568 1,056 1,278 1,457 1,495 57 1,389 7 722 465 883 2,351 606 697 26 92 176 21 182 63 818 26,059 63 143 63 17 46 155 18 10 61 26 21 26 34 21 8 55 19 62 10 36 3 30 6 22 128 25 26 9 4 13 6 24 1.199 134 Distribution of Industries by Assembly Districts According to the Twelve Classes Into Which the State Department of Labor Divides Factories. IV. V. VI. Leather Chemicals, Location Assembly and Rubber Goods. Oils, Paints, etc. Paper and Pulp. 1 ^ c ''~ ^ District No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of No. of (1905) Workers . Factories. Workers . Factories. Workers. Factories. First . 3,787 173 • 2,762 122 26 2 Second 2.941 185 2,183 111 687 42 Third 2,815 112 2,77 15 18 2 Fourth 175 . 5,120 10 394 19 303 3 9 6 2 Fifth 16 1 Sixth 4,332 322 429 26 120 11 Seventh 273 10 442 8 Eighth 107 15 62 Ninth 608 68 12 13 206 13 Tenth Eleventh 471 10 140 Twelfth 99 14 Thirteenth 119 7 132 Fourteenth 9 3 1,099 Fifteenth 5 1 Sixteenth 277 26 47 Seventeenth 265 6 257 Eighteenth 204 11 52 Nineteenth 5 1 2 Twentieth 97 9 48 Twentv-first .... 4 1 3 Twenty-second . . 78 11 175 Twentj'-third 129 Twentv- fourth . . 126 ii 3 Twenty-fifth 3,623 191 496 21 Twenty-sixth . . . 172 5 11 Twentv-seventh . 371 25 7 Twenty-eighth . . 47 3 Twenty-ninth . . . Thirtieth 522 82 i2 13 '3 Thirty-first Thirty-second . . . 848 10 60 4 Thirty-third 8 2 3 1 Thirty-fourth . . . 60 7 54 6 Totals . 27,718 1.625 9,504 376 87"* fi 135 Distribution of Industries by Assembly Districts According to the Twelve Classes Into Which the State Department of Labor Divides Factories. — — Printing Location and Paper Goods. Assembly i •^ n District No. of No. of (1905) Workers. Factories. First 12,178 408 Second 21,704 701 Third 4,558 12, Fourth 334 25 Fifth 4,623 129 Sixth 4,556 185 Seventh 2,860 29 Eighth 104 17 Ninth 1,716 20 Tenth 106 11 Eleventh 438 8 Twelfth 80 14 Thirteenth 1,225 14 Fourteenth 706 8 Fifteenth 12 2 Sixteenth 100 13 Seventeenth 88 5 Eighteenth 665 20 Nineteenth 16 4 Twentieth 1,749 24 Twenty-first Twenty-second ... 157 8 Twenty-third Twenty-fourth ... 55 4 Twenty-fifth 5,975 159 Twenty-sixth 92 9 Twenty-seventh .. 726 17 Twenty-eighth ... 19 2 Twenty-ninth 6 1 Thirty 27 5 Thirty-first 34 8 Thirty-second .... 43 4 Thirty-third 45 7 Thirty-fourth .... 326 15 Totals 65.323 1,949 16.721 524 210,815 8.450 v: III. IX. Clothing, , Mil- Textiles. linery, Laun No. of dry, etc. No. of No. of No. of Workers. Factories. Workers. F actories. 1,786 70 20,235 706 949 36 7,183 395 2,534 101 33,081 913 30 3 9,255 535 958 42 35,036 985 2,764 93 32,007 987 69 4 585 70 3 1 5,114 304 429 8 964 61 1,063 133 \2 3 81 13 14 2 5,547 286 66 2 328 23 10 1 727 83 32 2 316 32 6 2 5,725 333 1,886 11 458 30 157 4 558 62 336 2 579 55 22 3 732 59 344 70 646 72 566 3 zn 75 12 2 730 12 3,186 104 36,562 1,106 36 2 474 50 50 6 6,626 332 132 43 384 4 793 123 79 4 591 48 12 1 946 146 32 1 1,769 112 44 1 607 78 257 6 644 58 136 Distribution of Industries by Assembly Districts According to the Twelve Classes Into Which the State Department of Labor Divides Factories. X. Food, Location Liquors and Tobacco. Assembly i ^ v District No. of No. of (1905) Workers. Factories. First 7,287 Second 4,071 Third 2,875 Fourth 810 Fifth 396 Sixth 3,214 Seventh 3,402 Eighth 323 Ninth 2,099 Tenth 340 Eleventh 782 Twelfth 485 Thirteenth 994 Fourteenth 330 Fifteenth 322 Sixteenth 663 Seventeenth 311 Eighteenth 1,515 Nineteenth 219 Twentieth 1,428 Twenty-first 536 Twenty-second . . . 5,820 Twenty-third 298 Twenty-fourth . . . 2,518 Twenty-fifth 763 Twenty-sixth .... 6,197 Twenty-seventh . . 107 Twenty-eighth . . . 1,764 Twenty-ninth .... 72 Thirtieth 1,254 Thirty-first 311 Thirty-second .... 1,429 Thirty-third 258 Thirty- fourth .... 468 Totals 53,661 2,297 XL Water, Light and Power. / ^ No. of No. of Workers. Factories. XII. Building Industry. , ' X No. of No. of Workers. Factories. 203 189 95 89 53 149 65 61 49 62 36 59 46 70 30 84 36 48 27 44' 48 84 66 64 54 74 17 51 11 60 69 90 70 44 215 411 5 72 110 20 20 34 406 167 578 176 158 14 16 23 1 "6 35 3 435 1 16 3 2 1 269 56 300 1 24 4 75 257 93 30 45 69 20 94 5 20 3 62 17 3 10 25 13 29 24 46 7Z 44 132 4 7 20 8 25 4 25 7 1 8 16 4 U 2 1 1 6 3 2 1 4 2 4 4 8 16 3 9 1 1 4 2 3.448 183 1,253 154 137 Distribution of Industries by Assembly Districts According to the Twelve Classes Into Which th e State Department of Labor Divides Factories. Location Total. Assembly r— ^ s Area. Per Acre. Workers District No. of No. of , •' \ ( ^ n per (1^^5) Workers. Factories. Acres. Workers. Factories. Factory. First 56,933 2,371 520 1U9.5 4.55 24.0 Second 50.026 2.324 343 145.8 6.78 21.5 Third 50,133 1,507 230 218.0 6.53 33.2 Fourth 12,218 742 166 73.6 4.48 16 4 Fifth 49.301 1.751 277 177.8 6.31 28.1 Sixth 56,598 2,349 186 304.3 12.62 24.1 Seventh 16,168 273 297 54.2 0.92 59.0 Eighth 5,857 425 98 59.7 4.34 13.8 Ninth 12,191 354 264 46.2 1.34 34 5 Tenth 1.809 273 1 14 15.9 2.39 6.6 Eleventh 3.605 134 194 18.6 0.68 26.9 Twelfth 9,475 429 160 59.2 2.68 22 Thirteenth 5,271 182 188 28.0 0.97 28.9 Fourteenth 4,017 225 161 25.0 1.40 17 9 Fifteenth 2.216 98 124 17.9 0.79 22.6 Sixteenth 8,953 578 165 54.2 3.50 15.5 Seventeenth 5,939 151 226 26.2 0.67 394 Eighteenth 7,599 306 236 32.1 1.30 24 8 Nineteenth 1,588 117 600 2.8 0.20 13 6 Twentieth 6,939 222 186 37.4 1.19 31.3 Twenty-first 921 126 1,068 0.9 0.12 7.3 Twenty-second ... 9,367 255 218 43.0 1.17 36 7 Twenty-third 2,799 176 3,306 0.8 0.05 15.9 Twenty-fourth ... 5,077 224 348 14.6 0.64 22 6 Twenty-fifth 56,939 1,914 460 123.8 4.16 29 7 Twenty-sixth 8,789 195 224 39.1 0.87 45.0 Twenty-seventh .. 10,487 474 434 24.2 1.09 221 Twenty-eighth 2.445 116 166 14.7 0.70 210 Twenty-ninth 1.719 166 1,153 1.5 0.14 104 Thirtieth 3,032 165 220 13.8 0.75 18.4 Thirty-first 1,652 253 470 3.5 0.54 6.5 Thirty-second .... 6,025 272 573 10.5 0.47 221 Thirty-third 924 183 385 5.0 0.48 10.5 Thirty-fourth .... 844 221 278 13.8 0.79 17.3 Totals 481,856 19,551 14,038 34.3 1.39 24.6 1. Block 2. Block 3. Block 4. Block 5. Block 6. Block 7. Block 8. Block 9. Block 10. Block 1. Block 2. Block 3. Block 4. Block 5. Block 6. Block 7. Block 8. Block 9. Block List of Blocks Having Over 2,400 Workers in Factories. bounded by Bleecker, W. 3d, W. Broadway, Wooster 2.671 bounded by W. Houston. Prince, W. Broadway, Wooster 3,648 bounded by Prince, Spring, W. Broadway, Wooster 2,726 bounded by Spring, Prince, Wooster, Greene 2.587 bounded by Prince, W. Houston, Wooster, Greene 2,948 bounded by Bleecker, W. 3d, Wooster, Greene 2,829 bounded by W. Houston, Prince. Greene, Mercer 2,895 bounded by Prince, Spring. Greene, Mercer 2,895 bounded by W. Houston, Prince, Mercer, Broadway 2,486 bounded by Prince, W. Houston. Broadway, Crosby 4,007 List of Blocks Having Over 600 Workers in Factories, bounded by E. 4th, Great Jones, Broadway and Lafayette sts.. 1,120 bounded by Bond, Bleecker. Broadway and Lafayette sts 2,002 bounded by Bleecker. W. Houston. Broadway and Crosby sts.. 1,895 bounded by Prince, Spring, Broadway and Crosby sts 2,009 bounded by Prince, Spring, Crosby and Lafayette sts 1,710 bounded by Spring, Broome, Broadway and Crosby sts 1,352 bounded by Broome. Grand, Broadway and Crosby sts 1,146 bounded by Howard, Canal, Broadway and Centre sts 1,002 bounded by Great Jones, Bond, Lafayette and Bowery 1,852 138 10. Block bounded by Bond, Bleecker, Lafayette and Bowery 1,294 11. Block bounded by Hester, Canal, Centre and Mulljerry sts ' 1,189 12. Block bounded by Hester, Canal. Mott and Elizabeth sts 1,073 13. Block bounded by E. Houston, Stanton, Bowery and Forsythe sts 1,099 14. Block bounded by Stanton, Rivington, Bowery and Forsythe sts 1,036 15. Block bounded by Bleecker, W. Houston, Crosby and Lafayette sts.. 945 16. Block bounded by Spring, Broome, Crosby and Lafayette sts 944 17. Block bounded by Broome, Grand, Crosby and Lafayette sts 954 18. Block bounded by Grand, Howard, Crosby and Broadway 831 19. Block bounded by Grand, Howard, Crosby and Lafayette "sts 804 20. Block bounded by Howard, Canal, Lafayette and Centre sts 708 21. Block bounded by Grand, Howard, Lafayette and Centre sts 892 22. Block bounded by Broome, Grand, Lafayette and Centre sts 828 23. Block bounded by Grand, Hester, Centre and Baxter sts 674 24. Block bounded by Grand, Hester, Baxter and Mulberry sts 808 25. Block bounded by Hester, Canal, Elizabeth and Bowery 763 26. Block bounded by Bayard, Division, Bowery and Chrystie sts...- 817 21. Block bounded by Hester. Canal. Bowery and Chrystie sts 620 Summary of Information Secured from Manufacturers in New York City Regarding Reasons for Selecting Their Present Sites for Their Factory. Name of Co. Nearest freight Sta. Dis. away. Cost per year for cartage to and from station. What pro- portion of val. of goods you produce? Value of out- put for 1909. Cartage bill for 1909. 1. Theo. Eisman,. Bush Terminal R. R. connects with factory Nothing 2. Greenpoint Met- allic Bed Co.. B'klyn East. Dist. Term. V^ miles dis. ....' $6,000 a p - proximately 3. M a nhattan Brush Co Bush Term. Cart- ing in and from factory $820 4 Lawson & Co. Westchester an d Brook ave. De- pot of N. Y. Central R. R. Vz mile from fac- tory Most pur- chases del. f. 0. b. fac- tory ship- ping less than $500 per year S. Eclipse Box & Lumber Co. . . Each Dist. Termi- nal Dist. about 1 mile . 139 Summary of Information Secured from Manufacturers in New York City Regarding Reasons for Selecting Their Present Sites for Their Factory. No. of Employees in shop. What does pay-roll aggregate ? Do most of shop-workers live near factory ? What pro- portion ride to and fro? Are there any good houses within Yi to y^ mile? No. 1—30 No. 2—500 No. 3—36 No. 4—50 No. 5—100 $400 weekly 6,200 weekly 14,500 for year About $1,200 Yes 50% Yes w'kly Yes 2-3 .S0% 757o 50% 5% Yes Yes No— Rents are very high. Yes Summary of Information Secured from Manufacturers in New York City Regarding Reasons for Selecting Their Present Sites for Their Factory. Hour of Hour for Length of Beginning in Stopping Stop Morning. at Night. at Noon. Is ft More Economical for the City to Construct Subways and Carry Pas- sengers to and from Work, or Freight Lines to Distribute Fac- tories Where Land Is Cheap? 7.30 7.00 7.00 7.30 5.30 5.40 5.00 5.30 30 min. 40 min. 30 min. Most working men like to live not too tar from factory, providing they can get a home in good houses at reasonable rents. 5. To be on waterfront and on cheap land. 1 hour. Yes; I think the idea is to have workmen reside where they can walk to their daily work, but that cannot prevail in crowded parts of any city and still enjoy actual living, so I think subways or other means of transportation should extend to the suburbs, making it possible for men to re- side in decently appointed homes and near their work, and yet not be deprived of the blessings of the city during their earning or leisure. I think it would be best to distribute fac- tories and give them the best possible methods of shipping their goods. Summary of Information Secured from Manufacturers in New York City Regarding Reasons for Selecting Their Present Sites for Their Factory. Reasons for locating factories in present sites. Under what conditions would you re- move your factory from Manhattan? 1. Reasonable rent, low insurance and every convenience. 2. We do a large local city business. 3. To have territory and up-to-date fireproof place for our help, as they spend most of their time in the factory. 4. Near my own home and convenient for workmen. 5. To be on waterfront and on cheap land, so we could have plenty of room. Am only waiting transit facilities before building on property in Unionport bought for that purpose about six years ago. 140 Comparison of the Number of Workers in Factories in Cities of New York State and the Remainder of the State Secured from the Report of the State Department of Labor. (The State Department of Labor reports the maximum of workers in factories reported during every year ended September 30, and the industries of the §tate are divided into thirteen classes.) During the year ended September 30, 1909, the following proportion of the total number of workers reported in all classes were located in New York City: Per cent. Stone, Clay and Glass Workers 39 Metal and Machmery Conveyances 37 Wood Manufacturing 51 Leather and Rubber Manufacturing 54 Chemicals, Oils and Paints, etc 51 Paper and Pulp Manufacturing 6^4 Printing and Paper Goods 74 Textiles 71 Clothing. Millinery and Laundry Works 66 Food, Liquor and Tobacco 61 Water, Light and Power 71 Building Industry 70 Warehouse and Cold Storage 24 Fifty-six per cent, of the total number of workers of the State were located in New York City, and about two-fifths of the total number on the island of Manhattan. The total percentage of each of these classes in New York State out of New York City, Buffalo, Rochester, Albany, Schenectady, Syracuse, Troy, LUica and Yonkers is as follows : Per cent. Stone, Clay and Glass Workers 53 . 56 Metal and Machinery Conveyances 35 . 27 Wood Manufacturing 34.72 Leather and Rubber Manufacturing 28.32 Chemical, Oils and Paints, etc 24.92 Paper and Pulp Manufacturing 91 .3 Printing and Paper Goods ' 3.5 Textiles 55 . 22 . Clothing, Millinery and Laundry Works 22.2 Food, Liquor and Tobacco 26.4 Water, Light and Power 19.44 Building Industries 20. 5 Warehouse and Cold Storage 76 . Only 27.34 per cent, of the total number of workers of the State were in towns outside of these cities enumerated and the proportion of each of these cities were as follows : Per cent. New York 56 Buffalo 5 Rochester 4 Albany 0.9 Schenectady 1 .25 Syracuse 1.8 Troy 1.81 Utica 0.8 Yonkers 1.9 Total 72.66 The rest of the State, 27.34 per cent. Several States, such as Massachusetts and New Jersey, realize the evil results from the point of view of the health of laborers of such concentration of factories as well as the economic waste of such concentration and have successfully undertaken to widen the distribution of factories by an organized publicity by the State Depart- ment of Labor, indicating the opportunities for manufacturing in New Jersey in every city and every town with a population of over 100, through an industrial directory. 141 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TAXATION OF THE NEW YORK CITY COMMISSION ON CONGESTION OF POPULATION, PROF. GOOD- NOVV, CHAIRMAN. The Committee on Taxation of The New York City Commission on Congestion of Population respectfully report as follows: The Committee have held three public meetings, viz.: On October 4, October 11 and October 25. Public notice was given of these meetings and invitations were extended to individuals, who, it was believed, could aid the committee in reaching a determination as to the inHuence exerted by the system of taxation upon the problem of congestion. A number of persons, including both those specially invited, and the general public, appeared and testified. The Committee have reached certain conclusions based partly on their own observation and investigation and partly on the testimony they have heard which they desire to communicate to the Commission. First — They are of the opinion that the inlluence of the system of taxation on the problem of congestion is not great enough to justify reliance upon it as even an important means of remedying the evil. The testimony of Prof. E. R. A. Seligman, of Columbia University, one of the greatest living authorities upon the subject of taxation, is to this effect. Second^The Committee, however, are of the opinion that it is practically certain that an increase in the rate of taxation on land and a decrease of the rate on buildings would have the effect of encouraging building in the outljing sections of the City, as well as of forcing land into the market w^hich is now held for speculation. The Committee is led to this conclusion both by their study of the effect of taxes based upon this principle which are levied in Germany, Canada, Australia, and in certain parts of the United States, and by the almost universal concensus of opinion of the witnesses who have appeared before it. This would seem to be the opinion of Prof. Seligman, Mr. William E. Harmon, a man of wide experience in real estate matters; Mr. Frederick C. Howe, formerly realty appraiser in the city of Cleveland, and a number of others who appeared before the Committee. The Committee, therefore, recommend that the Commission direct its Committee on Legislation to prepare a bill providing that the rate of taxation on land be made double that on buildings. The constitutionality of such legislation would appear to be settled by the New York Cotirt of Appeals in People vs. Romer, 185 N. Y. 285, which upheld the validity of an act of the Legislature taxing mortgages at a rate different from that imposed on other personal property. The Secretary of the Commission has prepared tables to show the effect of such a change in the tax system on the amount of tax to be paid by owners of small houses built on cheap land, and by owners of unimproved land and to what an extent the burden of taxes would be shifted as between the several boroughs. These tables develop the fact that the application of the principle that the rate on land should be double the rate on buildings will, on the assumption that the City raises the same amount of money out of the real property tax on ordinary real estate as was raised in 1909, causes an annual saving of $12.73 to the owner of a house valued at $2.0CO and built on land assessed at $600, and will increase the tax paid by the owner of vacant land assessed at $2,000 by $6.26. So far as concerns the distribution of the burden of taxation among the different boroughs, it is shown that, whereas under the present uniform rate, the Borough of Manhattan pays $71,526,892.42, or 67.53 per cent., of the tax levy of 1909 under the proposed plan it would pav $74,071,271.52, or 69.92 per cent. Brooklvn. which pays at present $21,543,038.30, or" 20.33 per cent., would pav $19,052,235.17, or 17.98 per cent. The Bronx, which pavs at present $6,884,680.47. or 6.49 per cent., would pay $6,913.- 718.81. or 6.53 per cent. Queens, which pavs now $4,872,894.71, or 4.60 per cent., would pay $4,891,470.55, or 4.62 per cent., and Richmond, which pays now $1,105,222.96, or 1.05 per cent., would pay $1,004,612.83, or .95 per cent. In other words, the change would result in shifting some of the burden of taxa- tion from the outlying districts like Brooklyn, where building has already taken place on a large scale either to the high-priced lands of Manhattan, which are more and more being used for commercial purposes, or upon the vacant lands of the Boroughs of The Bronx and Queens. That such a shifting of the burden of taxation would be desirable from the point of view of the purposes of the Commission on Congestion can hardly be questioned. Third — The Committee feel that they cannot recommend the proposition made to it that improvements on land amounting to $3,000 be exempted from taxation. Such an exemption would probably have to be made to the extent of the exemption in the case of all improvements, and would thus be applied in many cases where it is difficult 142 to believe that it would have any effect on congestion. It would further seriously, perhaps disastrously, affect the city's finances by reducing the taxable base. Fourth — The desirability of a tax on the increment of land value similar to the tax which has been imposed by a number of German cities has been strongly urged upon the Committee. The Committee are unable, however, to come to the conclusion that there is any very close connection between such a tax and the problem of con- gestion. The testimony as to the effects of such a tax on land speculation and in keeping down the value of land and encouraging the buildings of cheap dwellings is conflicting. The Oberburgermeister of Frankfort, Dr. Adickes, is of the opinion that such a tax has this effect. On the other hand, a commission of the Senate of Hamburg informs us that the land increment tax has had no influence on either land speculation or the building of cheap dwellings, and that it would be difficult to find proof that it has reduced land values. The present increment ta.x was adopted in Hamburg in 1908. Prior to that time money made in land speculation was an income subjected to the income tax. The change was made in order to reach land owners not residents of the city. The com- munication from Hamburg calls attention to the fact that losses sustained in land speculation may be deducted from the income subject to the income tax. Dr. Sudekum, the chairman of the Committee of the German Imperial Diet, having in charge a bill for an imperial tax on increments of land value, who appeared before the Committee, and who favored the imposition of such a tax, was also of the opinion that the increment tax had only the remotest connection with the problem of con- gestion. It was only, he thought, in so far as the city might with the proceeds of such a tax finance new undertakings for the improvement of the social welfare, that the increment tax had any bearing upon the problems before the Commission. Professor Seligman made a suggestion along the same lines which it seems to the Committee it would be well to consider. He suggested that a tax on the incre- ment of land value might be made to have an effect upon the problem of congestion if the proceeds of the tax were used for the promotion of those undertakings, such as transit undertakings, which both had an immediate effect on congestion and of them- selves tended to improve land values. Such an application of the increment of tax would be but a development of the principle of assessment for local imorovement with which we are all familiar. It is believed that such a method of distributing the burden of an improvement would in the long run be fairer than the attempt to assess the cost of a transit undertaking upon some local district in the city which such under- taking was supposed to benefit. Property in lower Manhattan has unquestionably been benefited bvmany undertakings for which it has never paid, like the bridges, sub- ways and tunnels which have brought thousands of persons to it. The Committee would, therefore, recommend that the Committee on Legislation be directed to draft a bill providing for an annual increment tax at a low rate, say 5 per cent., the proceeds of which shall be devoted to the building of the transit lines of which the city is in so great need. It has been urged upon the Committee that The City of New York should receive a proportion of the inheritance taxes levied bv the State. The Committee are disin- clined to recommend any action looking to such an end, for they carnot ^ep that there is anv connection between such a tax and the problem of congestion, and they believe that the State is in as great need as the citv of new sources of revenue. Finallv it has been proposed to the Committee that a pros:ressive tax be imposed on the cubage of buildings as determined bv the relation of the size of the buildinss to the area of the lot on which such buildins is erected. Although vour Committee recof^nize that such a tax might have the effect of limiting the heieht of the highest buildings, we are of the opinion that such a result would be attained thro^eh the exer- cise of the police power more effectively than through the power of taxation. All of which is respectfully submitted Apdition to the Report of the Committee ox T.\x.\tion of the New York City Commission on Congestion of PopuL.aiTioN. Submitted by Mr. John- J. Flynn. With the main suggestions of the report submitted by the Chairman of the Com- mittee, Prof. Goodnow, we are in accord, provided slight modifications are made in these. In the first paragraph the statement is made that "the influenc* of the system of taxation on the problem of congestion is not great enough to justify reliance upon it as even an important means of remedying the evil." ' The argument and evidence submitted bv the Chairrnan shows that an increase of taxation on land and a reduction of taxation on buildings inevitably tends to re- duce rents, and hence to reduce congestion. The two proposals he makes, however, to tax land twice as high as buildings — that is, to halve the tax rate on buildings, and to secure 5 per cent, of the increase in assessed land values does not materially increase the total revenues of the city. The first proposal does not increase the city income at all, the second by only a small amount, between $5,000,000 and $6,ai0,000 a year. The chief advantages of taxing land double the rate on improvements on build- ings are : First: That it is more difficult for the landlord to shift the tax on land onto the tenant, and hence this tax tends to make the proper person pay the tax — that is, the owner of land. Second: It makes the wealth of land — that is, the costly land of Manhattan, pay a much larger part of the total tax levy on ordinary real estate. While recognizing that taxation is not the only factor in producing congestion, it seems a much more important factor than the report of the Chairman would indi- cate, particularly if it is levied upon land chief!}', so that the tenants in a tenement or the owner of a small house on cheap land is not compelled to pay it in his rent. It will be generally agreed that a reduction of 50 cents from the present tax rate — that is, a tax rate of only $1.30 per $100.00 assessed valuation, would have a material effect in reducing the cost of housing and hence encourage theuse of more buildings. The same result will be accomplished by putting a much heavier tax upon land than upon buildings and by meeting the total city expenditures as they are incurred It is most illogical that over one-third of the total tax levy this year (1910) is devoted to the debt service. The interest on the city debt is $32,178,760 49 The redemption of the city debt is 7,104,320 39 Installments payable 7,160,614.84 Total debt service $46,443,695 72 The total tax levy for 1910 is $131,474,981 06 Divided as follows : The tax lew on ordinarv real estate $1 ^^-^^l^-^^^ , . The tax levy on special franchises i cc- if4 In The tax levy on real estate of corporations is 1'-qq sno 77 The tax levy on personal property tax is 6,^89,809 77 Total tax levy ■■ fi3l,mm.06 The tax rate varies from $1.75790 in New York County to $1.8/501 m Richmond Countv It is evident therefore that nearlv one-third of this tax rate is represented bv and used for the debt service and that debt is due to the unwise methods of past administrations in attempting to put upon future generations the cost of the ex- penditures by which they themselves have l)enefited. The evil results of this system ^^ VirsT— To'^'encourage extravagance because the nominal tax rate has been kept *°° Second.-To make the total cost to the city nearly two and a half times the value of the improvement or expenditure when corporate stock is issued to run 50 vears at 4 per c?nt. interest and sells at par, instead of paying for improvements as [hex are made and meeting current expenditures from current revenues. 'TViirH— To blind the public to the actual cost ot government. pSurth-To 7ut a heavy burden upon the poor of the city instead of making the holders of land who are^eaping fortunes from the nsmg land values pay their '"^fhrColXirshoSTn'TsTatement he has recently issued the result of this l^^'?^^:T^t Tef funded D^bTt ^TlZ^^Jt^!^ ary 1, 1910, to $794,930,288.88. , .^ ^ „ • For 1911 the appropriations for Debt bervice are. '$34,214,137 09 Interest on the city debt 8658 945 39 Redemption of the city debt • " y'jggj^g s\ Installments payable '___! '. $50,661,82199 Total debt service 144 It is evident that the city is running deeper and deeper into debt in the attempt to avoid making the land owners and the wealth of New York City pay their fair share of the city's expenditures as they are incurred and as a business corporation would do. Thus while the nominal budget for 1909 was only $156,545,148.14, the issue of funded debt (most of it for 50 years at 4 per cent.) was $72,560,074.59. and the issue of special revenue bonds $5,208,150.00, making the total budget $234,319,372.73, or nearly $76,000,000 more than the apparent budget — that is, half as large again as the apparent budget. During 1909, however, only $8,190,000.20 was appropriated for pay- ment of the city debt. It is suggested that this Committee express their disapproval of such methods of finance which, as has been demonstrated, increase the tax rate by about one-third and that the Commission make the following recommendations to the Board of Esti- mate and Apportionment and the Board of Aldermen : First. — That the amount to be expended by the city for the acquisition of school sites, the construction of school buildings, the acquisition of parks and playgrounds, expenditures for water supply and transit each year be included in the budget for the year instead of paid for by the issue of corporate stock. These expenditures are constantly recurring and bear a fairly well established relation to the increase of the city's population. Second. — That the rate of taxation on the increase in assessed land value be progressive and not a flat 5 per cent as suggested by the Chairman of the Committee because it is not fair to tax a small and normal increase at as high a rate as a large increase within the same period. This tax should be levied moreover annually on the increased assessed land value, though the owners should be permitted to pay it in two or three installments if they so desire. It is suggested that the tax on increase in assessed land values be as follows : Per cent. On any increase under 21 per cent 3 On any increase between 21 and 40 per cent., inclusive 5 On the increase between 40 and 60 per cent., inclusive 8 On the increase between 60 and 80 per cent., inclusive 11 On the increase between 80 and 100 per cent., inclusive 15 On the increase over 100 per cent 20 Such a tax will be juster than a 5 per cent, flat tax and yield a much larger in- come. Third. — That the tax rate for each year be increased to raise the sum the city needs to adopt the policy suggested in paragraph (1), since this can practically be done with the additional land increment tax without any constitutional amendment, since the $2.00 limit on the tax rate does not include debt service and would hence release about $50,000,000.00. Fourth. — That the true price paid be required to be registered so that the taxing officials may have definite information upon which to base their assessment. Statements Submitted to the Committee on Taxation. A. Statement by Professor E. R. A. Seligman of Columbia University. In a general way, I should say, that so far as the question of congestion is con- cerned, the influence of taxation I think has been considerably overestimated. I mean by that the policies or practical changes that might be made in our American systems. It is a different thing if we were to treat it de novo. I think there are many more important factors than taxation, but so far as the tax problem itself is concerned I imagine that your query centres around the point whether improvements ought to be exempted or not or whether there ought to be a special tax levied upon the unearned increment. Many of the points you suggest, Mr. Chairman, have only a very indirect relation to congestion. They may be important from the point of view of securing more revenue, which then may be utilized in the wiser expenditure of the revenue for the benefit of the people. But the question of the inheritance tax for instance is in itself entirely apart from the question of congestion. I do not think the inheritance tav has anything to do, as such, with congestion, nor do T think that a graduated inheritance or habitation tax or o(?cupdiicy tax, however good sub- stitute for the personal property tax it may be, has anything to do with congestion. They are interesting questions which might be discussed from the point of view of the advisability of making changes in our revenue system, but I do not see that they are at all germane to the question of congestion. Chairman : But suppose, as a result of the adoption of the grant to the city of 145 one-half the money, or tax. the real property might pay by so much, would that have any effect in reducing rents, etc.? Mr. Seligman : As to what are the results of the present real estate tax it is in the main a tax on land space and tax on houses. Now in those quarters of the city where congestion is to be feared and, I presume, by congestion we mean congestion of living apartments and of tenement houses, in those quarters of the city where congestion is to be feared the land values are relatively less than they are in the busmess sections, as in the Wall Stret section, etc. You have, of course, the slums wher.; land values are in some cases slightly higher than the value of the buildings, but in the great mass of the sites occupied for dwelling purposes you will find the reverse to be the case. If that is so. why then of course a tax on real estate, the major portion of the value of which is on the house rather than on the value of the land, would be shifted to the tenant and will take the form of higher rent. The' diminution of the tax would therefore mean a lessening of the rent. Here again, however. I think it must be borne in mind that the question of taxation is only of minor consequence in this whole question of congestion. Rents are comparatively high in New York because the land values are high, and land values are high not because taxes are high but because the land is valuable for business purposes. If there were no tax at all the superiority of New York real estate for the purpose of business would still be so marked that land values would be very much higher than they would be in smaller towns. Therefore I say that this whole question of the influence of the rate of the real estate tax upon congestion seems to me to be not so important, for instance, as the far more fundamental problem of transportation, or other points that might be mentioned. Mr. Chairman: Would you feel that the division of the present tax on real es- tate in such a way that the rate on the building was twice as much as the land would have the effect of reducing the congestion in any way? Prof. Seligman : Of course anything that would tend to decrease the capitalized value of the land would tend so far, at all events, to reduce congestion. If you could arrange the sj^stem of taxation in a way that is not possible under present constitu- tional methods, i. e., if you divide the city up into districts and put different rates upon different districts, then you could to that extent diminish the value of real es- tate of some districts and of course increase it in others. Mr. Chairman : But it is claimed here that by an increase in the rate upon the land and decrease in the rate upon the building that there would be a premium given to people who own land to build inasmuch as they would not have to pay so much for the building as on the land, therefore there would be more buildings on the market. Prof. Seligman : From the abstract point of view, I think there is something to be said for that point. But when we come to consider actually the results of the exemption of improvements as in the Australasian cities, we find a rather curious fact. The English Government published a blue book some years ago on the experience of every cit}' of Australasia on that point. A law had been passed permitting localities to exempt, for certain purposes of local taxation, improvements from taxation. Now some of the cities availed themselves of that and some refused to avail themselves of that. Of the cities that availed themselves of it, the greater majority reported no change at all worth mentioning in the general conditions. Of course, it must be said that in any consideration of a problem like this we must remember that a great many things go on at the same time that are likely to affect the ultim.ate results. A change of taxation may go on concomitantly with a change in business prosperity. It may go on at the same time in the change of railway rates, etc. So you cannot regard an economic problem as you can a physical problem and say that precise results follow certain causes. It was found that in some cities some vacant spaces previously un- occupied were then built up and that this increased the general prosperity of the city and gave an impetus to the building operations, etc. In other towns, however, where one would think precisely the same results would ensue, as far as we can learn no difference was reported. It must be stated, however, in defense of the claim that exemption of improvements is desirable so far as I know no town or city which has gone over to the exemption of improvements has receded from that position. Mr. Chairman: Was that method adopted in any city of considerable size? Prof. Seligman : In a few cities in New Zealand and New South Wales, but not in the largest cities. Further, of course, it must be remembered that the importance of this movement is minimized by the fact that it is not true, as is often stated in this country, that this exemption is applied to all local taxation. It is applied only to certain "poor" rates and other changes which would be included in our local taxes- such as after the fire department, lighting, etc., are excluded. In New Zealand and 146 in almost all of the Australian states, they have a state tax on the pure land value. They supplement them by the other taxes. The exemption does not apply to the whole range of local taxes, but only to a part of the local taxes, and, secondly, the con- clusions arrived at are various. You cannot say there is clear cut evidence as to beneficial results following. In fact, a distinguished English economist who perhaps might be accused of a little prejudice in the matter because he did not believe in it, has written an article seeking to prove that the results were distinctly unfavorable to the contentions. I think, however, there is not enough experience to warrant us to form any conclusion in the matter at all further than the one I started out with, that the whole question, the influence of exemption of taxes on improvements under existing conditions in America or Australia is as yet of minor importance as com- pared with the other far mightier factors in the problem. I do believe that if you were to have such a system as the tax on the unearned increment, secure a large revenue from that and with that revenue institute certain proceedings which would make the suburbs far more attractive to the citizen, you would indirectly or perhaps directly accomplish great results. For instance, in some of the German towns the\' utilize for the cities large sums secured in the main from their insurance funds and the unearned increment tax. for the building of model tenement houses, for the improvement of the suburban section and for the develop- ment of transportation facilities. Those, it seems to me, are the important points to be considered. How can you make it possible for people now living in the slums to live in places where land values are much less and at the same time attend to their ordinary vocations in life? Mr. Chairman : Was the raising or the expenditure of the money to have the eflfect you speak of? Prof. Seligman : The expenditure would not have been made but for the in- creased revenues which were designed to aflford the means for this increased ex- penditure. The tax on the unearned increment in the German cities has been too recent and too slight to warrant any general conclusion, but it is expected and on general principles it would be expected that a tax on unearned increment would to that extent diminish the selling value of the land. Now a yearly tax of say 10 per cent, or 20 per cent, or even more on unearned increment would of course prevent the appreciation to that extent of the value of the land and would therefore prevent any further congestion. As regards speculation, the experiments have been in operation in German cities for over two years and in some instances five years. It is assumed by pretty nearly all the investigators of the problem that speculation will be diminished. As to whether it has been diminished, I think it has been too soon to say, but on general principles I should imagine that would be the result. Entirely apart, however, from speculation, the tendency of a tax on unearned increment will be to prevent as high a rise in land values as would otherwise take place. Mr. Chairman : Is this tax in German cities levied occasionally or on the occa- sion of a sale? Prof. Seligman : On the occasion of a sale, but the period differs. Sometimes a short time elapses and sometimes a long period. When, therefore, I said a little while ago that the influence of taxation is very slight compared to the other factors. I was referring, of course, to our present modes of taxation. I do believe that if by a system of increment taxes you can take for the municipality or government what would otherwise go into the pockets of the owner and thus be capitalized in the selling value of the land, of course the value of the land will be prevented from rising to that extent. It would diminish the increasing land values by a definite per- centage and would pro tanto diminish the congestion. Suppose I go down to Wall Street and buy a 5 per cent, bond which sells for par. Now suppose the city or the state imposes upon a certain kind of railway bonds a tax of 1 per cent, every year and you know it is a permanent tax and that it is going to be levied. Now if I buy that particular railroad bond, I of course would pay in- side of $100 for it, probably $80 for it. The value of that bond will fall. Now, if a piece of land goes up in value and sells at an increased price, it sells at an increased price because people can get a certain income from it every year. It is simply a cap- italized value of the land. If a tax is imposed every three, five or ten years, as long as it is a permanent tax and if the owner calculates his income from the land and ascertains that his income from that investment is going to be so much less than it would otherwise be, why naturally when he buys a piece of land predicting the annual normal gradual rise which he can or will get he will pay so much less for it. Mr. Pleydell : This is then in the nature of our annual tax, but computed a 147 little different? This tax is simply an increase in assessment. Is that the economical effect, not taking a lump sum out of the purchase price? Prof. Seligman : Yes, it would be a rent charge and unless you could estimate it approximately in the future, of course, it would not have that effect. It is very different from the British increment tax. Mr. Marsh : You speak of these other forms of taxation not having any rela- tion to the question of congestion, except indirectly. How about one-third of our taxation goes to pay debt service. Suppose we could raise ten, fifteen or twenty million additional a year, would it not have as direct an effect as an increment tax? Prof. Seligman : It seems to me this ought to be kept separate. This question of the citj^ budget is different. I happen to be connected with the Bureau of Municipal Research and for the present we are centering our efforts on the first method, which we think more important, viz., that all the movement in American cities ought to be directed temporarily to make expenditures effective, not to increase the taxes. But assuming you have reached the limit in your economy and then not being able to do all the things for social improvement desired by' the city, it ma}!- be desirable to increase your revenues, the question is further complicated by the fact that in this city an increase in revenue or a change in the source of revenue is also to be recom- mended from the general point of view. Our system of taxation is not satisfactory, therefore I think without touching upon the question as to whether we have reached the limit of securing efficiency in economy in expenditures it is perfectly proper to consider whether vje have not come to the point where more revenues or better kinds of revenue are not to be desired. I agree with you thoroughly that certain new forms of revenues are desirable in the American communities and especially in New York I do not think that I should put the municipal death duties, the inheritance tax, in that category because we cannot consider the local fiscal problem apart from the state problem and we have these at Albany as in New York and we need all the inheritance tax to be obtained. They would look much askance at giving up any part of the inheritance tax for local purposes. But on the other hand, the other point you raise, the matter of the habitation tax, there we reach a point where I think the experience of Canadian cities and other cities can stand us in good stead. The occu- pation tax. I think, would be a very desirable addition to our municipal revenue sys- tem if carefully worked out so as to avoid certain obvious dangers and difficulties and could be made not onh' to serve as a substitute for the remnants of the personal property tax as we now have it, but also to yield, as in Paris and other continental cities, additional revenue. I may add that on that point, in some of the European cities the function of the tax was to get rid of other objectionable taxes. That is a prob- lem with reference to the best methods of raising a revenue. In connection with the tax on unearned increment one must be a little careful in putting a tax on unearned increment in addition to the annual tax on real estate or on land. If the tax on un- earned increment will prevent to that extent any increase in the land values, you would to that extent also be diminishing the annual revenue which you would get from the real estate tax. Especially if you exempt improvements, the burden of the real estate tax would then fall upon land at a certain assessed valuation. Now if through this fact of putting more tax upon land as an annual tax the very fact of putting taxes on the unearned increment would decrease the value of the land, therefore cutting off your own income'. That must be borne in mind as a disadvantage. If, however, you supplemented your real estate tax by a tax on occupancy or in parts of that kind, you could then perhaps more than compensate for this. Mr. Marsh: Would not reducing the tax rate more, than half the ordinary tax rate tend to reduce congestion? Prof. Seligman : It would have that tendency. A tax upon anything produced tends to check the production of that thing. The remission of the taxes tends to encourage the production. The house is produced for what you can get out of it, and if you make it worth while for people to put money into houses, of course they will do so. I think a very important point to be considered is, whereas it might strike some people at first as not to be recommended and whereas it may strike other people as a matter of very slight importance one way or the other, it is significant that wherever exemption has been tried it has not been abandoned. Of course the Cana- dian system is different from ours in that many of the cities do not tax personal prop- erty at all. I must confess, Mr. Chairman, that while I have tried the last few years to get definite results of the Canadian experience both from conversation and from corre- spondence, thus far I do not think it is in any tangible enough form to teach us much. Mr. Pleydell : In Alberta they are applying for privileges as given in other cities, as in Toronto. They have gone in and applied for permission to do those things 148 and can revoke it by act of the Council, but does it not require change in the finan- cial law? *-, r.^^- Chairman : It has been suggested that a general exemption be tried here for ?3,0(X). What do you think of that? Prof. Seligman : I should think pro tanto that it would work in the same direc- tion, which would tend to encourage the building of little houses in the suburbs. But the matter is camplicated by the fact that Mr. Pleydell has brought out, namely, that to the extent that you encourage building on vacant lands, other things being equal, you increase the value of that land. B. Statement by Mr. Frederic C. Howe, formerly real estate appraiser of the City of Cleveland. The Board of Realty Appraisers, of which I was a member, had decided to value all property at its true value in money and had made a scientific assessment of the real estate of the city on this basis. The Board found that land values in the city had increased $177,COO,COO in ten years' time, while population had increased bv 175.0CO. In other words, every person added to the population had added something over $1,000 to the value of the land. The board decided to allow very generously for depreciation in assessing im- provements. It therefore depreciated houses and buildings according to age, accord- ing to location and according to use. This was very generally approved by business men, who held that it was unwise to penalize the home, the factory or owner of an office building who improved the city when by so doing the land speculator was en- couraged to hold land out of use. I advocate the halving of the tax on improvements in harmony with the plan being adopted by so many cities of western Canada, where the tax on improvements had either been cut in two or abandoned altogether. In Vancouver the tax was first cut in two, and the results were so satisfactory and the stimulus to the growth of the city so great that the tax on improvements was abandoned altogether. This was followed by a doubling in the amount of buildings, a cutting up of large estates in the neighborhood of the city, a great improvement in wages and working conditions and a generally stimulating effect on the whole community. This change has also been adopted in a large number of other communities. The cities of Australasia have been taxing only land values for local purposes for years and the reports of the officials are all to the same effect. No city that adopted the change ever went back to the old system. I spent five months in Germany studying the land question and city planning and found practical unanimity among city officials as to the necessity of the city con- trolling the land. Nearly every one of the large cities have adopted the land incre- ment tax, or tax on speculative profits. The rate runs from 1 to ZZ per cent, depend- ing on the profit realized and the time in which it has been made. Vacant land is taxed more heavily than improved land, and in some cities workingmen's dwellings are exempt from taxation altogether. The suggestion that improvements be taxed at half the rate of land is a much more eflficient method of reaching land values, and of stimulating the use of land for building onrooses than the German system. It is easily adopted in this country where land is valued at its capital value; i«: does substantial justice to all and has the ad- ditional eff^ect of forcing men to make use of land for some purpose or other in order to pay the tax imposed. C. Statement by Hon. Edgar J. Levey, President of the Title Insurance Com-* pany of New York. Mr. Levey discussed generally the eff'ect of different methods of taxation upon congestion of population. He expressed the opinion that the effect of a super tax upon unearned increment was very difficult to forecast, on account of the conflicting tendencies which it would create. On the one ha.nd, by rendering it more difficult for speculators to deal in vacant land and to hold unoccupied tracts out of the market, it would tend to have the eflFect generally claimed by single taxers, of cheapening ground values and thus enabling speculative builders to improve and turn out the finished article at a lower cost price. On the other hand, by rendering ownership of real estate — already suffering from many burdens — still more unpopular, it would tend to decrease the amount of capital willing to invest in real estate and thus make mortgage loans and especially building loans, more onerous. It was the exception, he said, where new buildings are constructed by the owners of vacant property. The business of constructing new buildings is principally in the hands of speculative builders who are active in a business quite as legitimate as any other business. They go into new enterprises because, after counting up all the cost, they find they can make a profit — if there is not a profit they will not build — and any legislation which 149 artificially makesit more difficult for them to pursue their business has a direct tendency to restrict development and increase rents. Mr. Robinson asked: "Have you ever found that constructinp; a building higher than the surrounding buildings has increased the value of real estate in the neigh- borhood?" Mr. Levey replied that it sometimes had that effect, because it was an indication that property in that neighborhood was available for uses more important than those to which such property had previously been put. On the other hand, it sometimes had the effect, temporarily at least, of depressing real estate values by affording a sur- plus of rentable space. Mr. Robinson asked whether most of the Fourth Avenue loft buildings have been constructed ahead of the demand. Mr. Levey replied that the Fourth Avenue movement was a striking instance of the effect to which he had just referred. It had increased land values in the neigh- borhood of Fourth Avenue, but it had decreased them in other sections ; as, for ex- ample, Broadway, south of Fourteenth Street, and the district lying to the west thereof, as, for example, Wooster Street. This was due to the fact that the new Fourth Avenue buildings were drawing tenants away from the older buildings. Mr. Cantor inquired : "Can you suggest any forms of taxation that would remedy the evil of congestion ?" Mr. Levey: Is it not going too far to assume that congestion is an evil? Is not congestion in itself rather a mark of progress and civilization? Districts that are least congested are most savage and undeveloped. Not to go outside of the possessions of the United States, Alaska is quite free from congestion, while New York City stands at the other extreme. The drift toward the cities is a mark of modern progress and is, perhaps, less to be deplored than some people think. Among great cities, it is generally true that the greater the congestion, the greater the city. It is undoubtedly true, of course, that congestion brings in its train certain evils which need to be controlled, as they have been in large part controlled by our tenement house laws, but there are few phases of civilization which have not attendant evils, and to destroy congestion would be almost equivalent to destroying our cities in all that now makes them great. To amplify my meaning, let us take, for example, the business districts of New York. The financial district is located within a very small area, where land values are very high. People do their work in office buildings twenty stories high and upwards, because they do this, business is conducted efficiently and economically. It would be less efficient and less economical if the financial district were dispersed over the city, so that people in order to meet one another, would have to traverse long distances. In like manner, each trade is apt to huddle together in one center in as concentrated a manner as possible, the dry goods trade in one district, the machinery trade in another, the leather trade in another, and so on. Busi- ness people do this because it is to their advantage to do so. When we come td the tenement districts we find that they are congested for a somewhat analogous rea- son. The people living in the crowded East Side districts live there because they have certain advantages which they would not get in the suburban districts, and in spite of the fact that they might get cheaper rents. They are happier where they are and in spite of all the efforts that have been made to induce the tenement dwellers of the East Side to migrate into new settlements these attempts have met with comparatively little success. Where so many inhabitants are found, there is of course a great deal of poverty and suffering also to be found, but I deny that the people of the East Side, generally speaking, are so badly off in their housing accommodations and so much to be pitied as many sentimentalists declare. The conditions on the East Side are not what the amateur charitably-disposed daughter of a rnillionaire on Fifth Avenue thinks they are, or what the casual reader of a muckraking magazine imagines they should be. The people in this district are, generally speaking, so well satisfied with their habitat that they resist expatriation. A great work was done in the improvement of tenement house building by our tenement house laws. Much still remains to be done so that conditions — especially as affecting the old law tene- ments — may be still further improved. But even while admitting themany advan- tages which country life has over city life, I think it may well be_ questioned whether the life led by the typical farmer in the country is more conducive to good hygiene than that lived by the tenement dweller. The tenement dweller— even the poorest— is at least secure from the inclemency of the weather. He can draw hot water from the tap, instead of having to tramp several hundred feet through the snow to get a bucket of ice cold water from the well. He has means of cleanliness which the farmer has not in the winter. He gets much more fresh air than the farmer, whose habit, not uncommonly, in the wintertime is to drive nails through the window sash. 150 Mr. Levey was asked whether the statistics did not prove that the death rate in New York City from tuberculosis exceeded the death rate of the rest of the State, and whether this discrepancy was due to overcrowding in the city. Mr. Levey replied that he thought comparative statistics between New York City and the rural parts of the State should be carefully scrutinized, because in the one case we had adequate inspection, whereas in the other the collection of statistical data was notoriously imperfect. Reference was made to certain testimony produced before the Committee, show- ing instances of lamentable morals on the part of tenement house dwellers. Mr. I-cvey stated that the horrible state of facts alluded to constituted exceptional cases, rather than typical cases, and furthermore stated that in the mountainous and wholly uncongested districts of Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee and North Carolina, the very same crimes were so prevalent as to be typical, rather than exceptional. Professor Goodnow asked what governmental action could be suggested which should have the effect of distributing the population. Mr. Levey replied that while better transit facilities would undoubtedly play a large part in such a result, still more was to be hoped for in encouraging the location of manufacturing centers (which are subject to entirely different rules from those of commercial or mercantile enterprises) away from the Borough of Manhattan, be- cause by doing so the working population would of its own accord follow the fac- tories for reasons both of convenience and of economy, as for example, in the sav- ing of transportation fares. Mr. Robinson asked whether if a city were divided into two imaginary zones and public improvements constructed in one zone and none in the other, the effect would not be that the population would desert the unimproved zone and move into the improved zone, so that while real estate valu'^s enhanced in the one, they would diminish in the other. Mr. Levey replied that this would be so, and, continuing, said that this illus- trated the injustice of a tax, progressive or otherwise, on unearned increment. He asked Mr. Cantor to imagine the latter having purchased at the same time two pieces of property, each for $100,000; one in Wooster Street and one on Fourth Avenue. The development of the Fourth Avenue loft district would make his prop- erty there worth $140,000, while his Wooster Stret property, for the same cause, would depreciate to $60,000. The unearned increment tax would confiscate a part of his profit on the Fourth Avenue transaction, but would not refund to him any part of his loss on the Wooster Street purchase. Under these circumstances, would not Mr. Cantor feel that if the State were to be a partner in the successful speculation, it should likewise be a partner in the unsuccessful speculation? Mr. Cantor replied, "Yes, he would feel that way." Mr. Levey, continuing, said that this illustration was far from being as absurd as it might seem at first blush, because an unearned in- crement tax is in no proper sense a tax on regular income, but the confiscation of principal. Professor Goodnow stated that it is extremely difficult to get at exact justice, but asked whether it would not be rough justice to secure by assessment part of the increase in assessed land value, due to all improvements shown by increases in as- sessed land values, without attempting to determine just how much has been derived from specific improvements and devoting the funds derived from this tax to perma- nent improvements, schools, parks, transit, etc. Mr. Levey replied that where an assessment for benefit is made, it should be made for definite benefit to the particular property assessed, that he was a believer in the principle of assessing the whole or a part of the cost of rapid transit improve- ments on the outlying districts, which are clearly benefited by such an undertaking. But he doubted the wisdom of a haphazard collection of an unearned increment tax for the purpose of supplying funds for such improvements where such a tax was collected from districts not affected by such an improvement and which might owe their enhancement of values to entirely different causes. Mr. Levey stated that he did not favor habitation or occupancy tax, but would regard as less obnoxious a tax upon the tenants of business property, since that would reach people who live in New Jersey and pay light taxes there, while transacting business in New York City, where they enjoy practically all the benefits of its expensive government, paying no tax to the New York City government. Professor Goodnow asked whether a tax upon business property would be a lien upon such property. Mr. Levey replied that that was an administrative detail and might possibly be 151 necessary, though not clearly so, because people engaged in business were usually responsible and the tax could be collected from them. Mr. Levey was asked with reference to a tax upon skyscrapers or buildings of a volume in excess of an adopted standard, and stated that the limitation of the height of buildings was, in his judgment, a proper exercise of the police power of the State and undoubtedly should be carried further than it is in our present laws. Professor Goodnow, referring to the statement that an unearned increment tax differed from an income tax, in that it taxes principal instead of income, stated that the income tax of 1894 provided for a tax upon all incomes and that the profits from the sale of land and other property were regarded as income. In many foreign coun- tries the income tax was as high as 5 per cent, of the total income. D. Statemeut by Mr. A. C. Pleydell, Secretary of the New York Tax Reform Association. There are strong arguments presented here and elsewhere designed to show that single tax as advocated by Henry George would result in avoiding congestion. We can pass that temporarily. That is, as has been said, a counsel of perfection from the practical view point. Apart from such change in taxation, that would be rather a moral and social change than a fiscal change, the only suggestions made to relieve congestion through taxation are by using the tax power for the purpose of regula- tion. Primarily, these are the suggestions being made. I wish to go most strongly on record as being opposed to using the taxing power for purposes of regulation. It is so used now in a limited number of cases, mostly under the police power, the most shining example, being the licensing of liquor. As far as it is used to-day under the police power, it may be classed among the neces- sary evils, and it is entirely a wrong use of the taxing power. The taxing power should be used for the purpose of raising public revenue only. When you try to use taxation for regulation, j-ou complicate both the tax problem and the problem of regulation, and, what is still more important, is that this is only a confession of cowardice. It is onlj' proposed when people are afraid to meet problems squarely. It is so much easier to meet evil sidewise under the plea that the government needs revenue and therefore put a heavy tax, in the hope that the evil may be put out of existence. As a matter of fact, this serves the purpose of making the evil more secure. I think some of the propositions to cure evils of congestion by taxation will have the opposite effect; and they have the defect of not meeting the problem squarely. F"rom the counsel of perfection suggested here, namely, the single tax, it is thought 3^ou can destroy land speculation so congestion would automatically relieve itself. If it is to be relieved through any efforts on the part of the government then there would be no need of special treatment of the problem. Apart from such a radical measure as this, I do not believe changes in taxation will materially affect conges- tion. It could be done by increasing the transportation facilities, and absolutely lim- iting the size of buildings or the number of persons occupying space and through regulating the buildings and the occupants, heights, etc.. in other words, all the de- tails. Those are the present methods to relieve congestion rather than through any immediate change in taxation. As to the tax methods proposed on the list before us, the third on the list — to help relieve congestion by securing half of the present inheritance tax for local pur- poses — that has no more to do with congestion than an airship, and it is no use from a practical standpoint in wasting any time in trying to do that. The first reason is that the state needs the money. The second reason is that if the State does not get the money from the inheritance tax it will get it from some other source, and it is almost as broad as it is long, as New York City pays into the treasury from the in- heritance tax just about its share. The third reason and a more theoretical one, is that the locality has no right to take the money. It has no business to do so for one very practical reason— that j'ou cannot say justly that if half the inheritance tax- is to go back to the locality in which a man dies, this should be confined to New York City, and if you give it back to all the local tax districts, even half of it, you bring about a condition where there is at times a very excessive revenue. Suppose that half the inheritance tax went back to Orange County, where Mr. Harriman died. Those people would have nothing to do but elect themselves to office and spend the money. Absolutely they would have no right to it — thej' have done nothing to earn it. But apart from that, the only justification for the inheritance tax is that it is imposed for the privilege of inheriting property, and the privilege of inheriting prop- erty is one of the great powers of the state as a state or nation, as it would be in Europe, but in this country it is given by our State governments which govern the laws of inheritance or inheriting state property. 152 Now as to the fourth proposition, the tax upon skyscrapers, upon cubage, to have a tax upon such items comes under taxation by regulation. If you put such a tax upon all skyscrapers, or cubage, or tax buildings so as to prevent building to more than a certain height, you are destroying the profit from the upper stories of present buildings; but if you do not put a tax greater than the maximum profit, people would simply build even higher than they do to-day. I see no relation between the personal property tax and congestion as such, at least, that would apply to a repeal of the personal property tax in the City of New York. One of the gentlemen was speaking of the effect of personal property tax. T know of a manufacturer near here who complained to the local assessors for enforcing the personal property tax, and said that when his workmen found themselves on the list with $200 or $400 taxed per- sonally they moved away, rather than pay this and the poll tax. The manufacturer wanted the assessor to forget the personal tax upon his workmen. This may be helping to increase congestion in New York City. As to the exemption of buildings conforming to certain standards, that might have some advantage to commend it as a temporary step to the entire exemption of improvements if you want to go that far. I think it would be an exceedingly difficult thing to get it through. It would be giving quite a large advantage in many ways to the owners of these buildings, but it is doubtful as to how far tenants would profit from such a step. The owner would be in a class entirely exempt from taxation and would charge a little less rent perhaps, but he would not give the profit back to the tenants, and I do not know how far it would relieve the congestion in the congested districts. But it is also meeting the problem a little by using taxation in connection with regu- lation, except that it is the other way round, encouraging the man by not taxing him. It is a way of encouraging the builder to build new houses where there are now vacant lots and it would therefore tend to increase the demand for land on which to erect that type of building. The tendency is, if you have good transportation fa- cilities, to increase the value of land in those neighborhoods adapted to the type of exempt buildings, all of which brings you back to the first question on the list as to a higher tax on land. I was rather surprised to hear the advocates of single tax speak in the same breath of taxing the unearned increment by taxing a certain amount out of the value of land at the lime ot sale. All attempts to deal with the selling values of land in this way are dealing with what in one sense is a legal fiction. The only reason land has value at all is that you can get a certain rental out of it. If you keep people from collecting rents you destroy values. Now, how are you going to tax the un- earned increment which disappears wherever you increase a tax on the rental value is a problem I have not yet been able to understand. It is interesting to see how that would work out. A man pays a certain amount of money for his land based upon the estimated net return, but if he is deprived of a certain amount of his net return by an increase in the annual tax, the land will have its selling value reduced. The intricacies would amuse one. And if you add a .SO per cent, tax on the un- earned increment to the total tax upon the annual value of the land based on the selling value of the land, in a lump sum, it certainly would be grinding a man be- tween millstones. Now, on the line of this first question, taxing the land at a higher rate, which is the same idea as a lower rate on improvements, as I said when I be- gan, that is a step toward what has been styled a "counsel of perfection." It is a new idea in this country. The relief this would give to congestion is of course! problematical. A good many believe it would materially relieve congestion. I think if you could adopt some plan, even in the City of New York, of placing a somewhat higher rate of tax upon the land, even if such a system was not adopted in the other parts of the state, it would somewhat help to relieve the congestion problem. I do not think it would have a very material effect until you carry it out more generally than in the City of New York, for the reason that in so far as you exempted im- provements and made it cheaper to build, and thereupon get rents cheaper and thus increase the desirability of living here, you would bring more people here and that would have a tendency to increase congestion and therefore increase the value of land. This experiment is made in some Canadian cities, where they started the policy of exemption of improvements on land, which draws people and increases business. I do not think this tendency to attract people would be so great that there need by any fear, as it would automatically check itself; and in the long run, of course, such exemptions would be more and more beneficial, as more cities would take it up. I think there could be no doubt of that, and of course you have to begin somewhere. The most practical method for helping the congestion problem for taxation is 153 through the policy of exempting improvements. It is largely the same idea whether you decrease the tax on improvements or increase the tax on land. There are some possible complications. Our special franchises are land ; and tangible real estate, which is a building value. If the proposition to decrease the rate on improvements ever assumes the proportions where it would be likely to succeed, the special franchise question could then be taken up. One reason why it seems it would be fair for the land in a growing community to hear the higher rate of tax is that the benefits of public expenditures go so largely to increase the value of improvements. We need not talk of who gets the benefits of these increased values, or the amounts ; that is an abstract question at the moment. The practical question is that the city is collecting and spending every year an enor- mous amount of money. A good deal of this is spent on things that may not be easily seen to be reflected in the increased value of land, but a great part of it is re- flected in the higher land value, as street paving and such things, whfch we all know and admit tend to increase materially the value of land. Public expenditures tend to increase the value of the land in the centres as well as in the outlying districts. Therefore you ought to adopt the policy of taking a larger share of the value of land. It is extremely hard to say just where the increase does come, but we know it does come. We know public improvements will increase the value of land some distance away from the improvement as well as near by, because such improvements enable the people to reach a business centre. The Brooklyn Bridge, for instance, is a shining example of that fact. It has increased values right around the Brooklyn Bridge, but the Park Row rents are not nearly as high as the Broadway rents or lots, and it has increased the value of the land in all downtown districts. The in- creased tax upon these values would help to pay for these public improvements, which, in turn, when they are made, will help to increase largelj' the value of the land. That is all, except I would like to answer Mr. Marsh's question directly, to say that "The tax on the value of land cannot be shifted to the tenant. I fail to know one economist who holds that idea. No practical real estate man holds that the land owner to-day collects any less rent than he is able to get. Consequently if he is getting all the rent he can get from the tenant or is asking as much for his land as he can possibly get to-day, he cannot get more just because his tax goes up. The question of how high it is taxed will not affect the rental price." E. Statement of Mr. Wm. E. Harmon. Mr. Harmon stated that he had been active in real estate operations for twenty- five years, and that in his opinion probably the best way to solve the problem of congestion would be to double the tax on vacant land, thus reducing the tax on im- provements. The question as to who pays the taxes is a very interesting economic question. The tax on buildings, it is conceded, is paid by the tenants, while the tax on land is ordinarily paid by the owners. The rate of growth of land values has in the past been considerably in excess of the increase in the tax charges of the city. To make the tax on land double that on buildings is directly opposed to the interests of the land owners, but there is an ethical question involved which should be hon- estly met. If you increase the tax on land you force construction to offset carrying charges. Mr. Harmon stated that New York has not been the worst congestion problem, but that he thought that conditions were worse in Pittsburgh. Mr. Harmon stated that he thought that the conditions of congestion in Boston were due more to selec- tion than necessity. In Boston, although it ma}' have been unconscious, there has been a tendency to place a disproportionate tax on imoccupied land. Prof. Goodnow : In general, how has this been brought about? Mr. Harmon in reply cited the town of Wakefield, where he thought the tax de- partment had adopted a more or less defined policy of forcing the occupancy of the land by increasing the valuation of unoccupied land. In Boston, this tendency has brought about a condition where often the assessed value is greater than the intrinsic value of the land. So long as the tax bears due proportion to the property nothing can be done. This has been partly due to the desire to force the occupancy of the land, and partly to the increasing cost of city government. Land values around Boston are hardly as high as they were a few years ago ; the actual selling price of land is often from 15 to 20 per cent, less than in 1890 as a result of the high taxes. Prof. Goodnow: Is the rate high? Mr. Harmon : Yes, $18.00 to $20.00 per thousand. As an example of the as- sessed value of the land being higher than the selling price, Mr. Harmon cited an instance of recent date when the company which he represents had sold a piece of land in Boston for $10,000, the assessed value of which was $13,000. 154 Prof. Goodnow asked whether the assessors taxed unoccupied land higher than improved land. Mr. Harmon replied that thev did, though perhaps unconsciously. _ He stated that the minimum housing rate in Boston is about $1.85 per room for which he could get $2.50 or $2.75 in New York City. Prof. Goodnow asked Mr. Harmon whether he considered that land values in Boston are kept down by values on the outside. Mr. Harmon replied that he did, except as to central business properties. Prof. Goodnow asked what the tendency is in Pittsburgh. Mr. Harmon stated that in Pittsburgh there are three grades of valuation of land — city, urban and rural. Land unoccupied by buildings is assessed at the rural or two-third rate. The owners of land hold on to it very closely and the people are thereby forced into less space, because it is cheaper to hold land than to build and congestion of population results. Prof. Goodnow asked whether the high rates around Boston tended to decrease land speculation. Mr. Harmon replied that they did. He stated that in Boston it is cheaper to pay rent than to build houses; in Pittsburgh, the reverse is true. Mr. Harmon stated that it must be remembered that when you make the land tax so high that you destroy increment you are apt to depreciate land and therebj'- put a higher tax on other property. Because of the high rate on land, some western towns have become bankrupt. Mr. Harmon said he rather fears that the tax rate on unoccupied land is too high in Boston. He expressed it as his opinion that in New York a step could be taken to increase the charge against the land without dest»'">ving the element of increment. Prof. Goodnow asked whether Mr. Harmon had had any experience with the increment tax. Mr. Harmon replied that he had net. He repeated that the ethical side must be met and the most effective plan would be to destroy the monopoly of land and force construction and this would be done by increasing the tax on land. Prof. Goodnow asked whether it would have any effect on congestion of pop- ulation. Mr. Harmon replied that it would. Prof. Goodnow suggested that along with this, transit facilities must be increased and improved. Mr. Harmon replied yes. to a certain extent that would follow. He instanced the case of some houses he had been looking at to-day in one of the outlying boroughs which rent at the rate of $3.00 per room. They were about half a mile from the station. In his opinion, Hebrews and others now living on the East Side would take advantage of the better living conditions and lower rents in spite of the carfare and half mile walk. Mr. Bleecker asked whether Mr. Harmon thought the people now living close to their work would go to these localities. Mr. Harmon replied that he thought they would go more slowly, but that they would go. He stated that the tenement house has a very strong hold on the people, but that anything that will be done to increase the development of the outtying dis- tricts will pull away from the tenement houses. The poorest of these people, how- ever, cannot go to these localities on account of long hours and low wages. Mr. Harmon stated that if you increase the tax on land values it is practically the same as an increment tax. The secretary replied that it does not give any additional revenue to the city. Mr. Harmon stated that he is inclined to think that the assessed land values in Brooklyn has increased more rapidly than the intrinsic value within the past five years. That it will not be possible to raise land values except in some sections ; that the land values in Brooklyn are probably stationary for the time being, although they are increasing in certain localities. The Secretary: For how long? Mr. Harmon : I wish I could tell. Mr. Harmon told of the recent sale in Brooklyn at $7,500 per lot for which he could not have secured more than $3,500 per lot a few years ago. The Secretary : What would be the effect of an increment tax on congestion of population? !NIr.. Harmon : Purely theoretical. We cannot tell just what effect it would have. 155 HOi\. ALBERT SUDEKUM. MEMBER OF THE REICHSTAG, BEFORE THE NEW YORK CITY COMMISSION ON CONGESTION 01' POPULA- TION, OCTOBER, 1910. Municipal Taxation and Congestion. I thank you very much for the honor you have conferred upon me by asking me to address the New York City Commission on Congestion of Population and this distinguished audience. I shall not give you pretentious advice, but simply state what some of our great German cities are doing in the same field of activity. Practically every big city in every industrial country must face the question of congestion, especially in Germany and in those places in New- England where the tenement house exists very generally. During the whole period of the rapid growth of our German cities we left the whole work of town planning and housing to the activity of private individuals. We have, of course, in every town a Board of Supervisors, who formerly did nothing more than the title of the board indicates; they did nothing on their own initiative in the field of town planning. The primary reasons for appointing such boards was to secure the community against the dangers of fire and fearless house construction. If you look through the innumerable state and municipal laws concern- ing the housing problem as a whole, you soon will see that these reasons are still in effect to this very day. The law defines the material out of which the house may be constructed, the quantity of light and air which must be provided, the height of the house, the width of the street, the material of the roofs, the slope of the staircases and a multitude of other details too numerous to mention. What they did not do and perhaps could not do was to cope with the problem of congestion, as it was manifested in over-population of given districts of every tene- ment house and of every room in such house. A speculative movement in real estate bought up and is still buying all the land around the cities and the steadily growing industrial centres, enhanced the value of lands, consequently the rents, and forced a great part of the population as a consequence of this to live under trying conditions. The overcrowded tenements are the graves of civilization and manhood, of hope and ambition. About in the same proportion as the value of land increased, the ex- penditure of the community for the prevention of crime, sickness and misery increased. All this is familiar to you and I have no intention of boring you by repeating trite commonplaces. Let us come to the point : The war against these evils and their causes. There is no patent medicine which we can take to relieve the congestion of population. The problem is a complex one and needs a combination of several reme dies. The often advocated measure of municipalization or nationalization of the land is not to be treated by this committee, because such measures after all could not be the work of one single town; I,, therefore, will not discuss it. What we have to do is in my opinion : First, we must extend the area to be used for housing purposes; second, we must provide for light and air, and for playgrounds and parks in the new quarters; third, we must provide adequate means of transpor- tation for every citizen of the community; fourth, we must make our towns beautiful when we execute such reforms. We soon realize that the whole problem resolves itself into the question, how can the land be cheapened. For if the land is inexpensive we can build inexpensive houses and spare playgrounds and secure a pretty environment. You cannot cheapen the land in the heart of the business section of the city — we have no desire to do that — and it would probably be unwise to attempt to cheapen all lands used specially for business and not for housing purposes. But there are quan- tities of unimproved land, the price of which can be maintained on a reasonable level. That is a question of town planning. We ought not to wait until the private enter- prise opens up the block around the suburban districts. The present procedure is for the private enterpriser to bring the town into the country, what we must do, is to bring the country into the town. The municipalities must be given the right nOt to lay out, but to build the roads and streets, as for example the city of Frankfort is given the right. The municipality ought to be allowed to lay out its roads and high- ways without regard to the boundaries of private property. What we must overcome is the pure individualistic dogma, that property rights must not be interfered with. May I be permitted to use a simile? To-day I found in the "Outlook" of this week an article on vaccination and smallpox. An anti-vaccinationist points out in it the simi- larity. Who is so blind as not to see the truth in this reasoning. Now property rights are not more sacred than personal rights and private property must defer when the needs of the community demand it. The method of compensation is a secondary consideration and may be different in different places. 156 But the days of roads and highways are gone. Nobody can afford the time necessary to walk to one's business. There must be cheap and efficient means of transportation. In my opinion neither the surface cars, the subway or the L ar«> the most efficient means of transportation; it is pre-eminently the railway connection with the largest number of lines, possibly the state or municipally controlled railway, that would be most desirable. As long as the local means of transportation are in the hands of private companies that aim only at profit, there is of course little hopes of achieving this end. But I told you there are several ways of attacking the evil of congestion and if under existing conditions one cannot be used, the other can. Even a private company will follow in the direction of demand and if the demand migrates to the suburbs, the private company will pursue it. Hence it follows that we must accelerate the extension of our cities. We can do this by forcing the property owners to improve their land. How can we do that. The answer is : By taxation. In my country, we generaly tax unimproved land double the rate on improved land. The property owner may stand it for a time, but he will soon realize that his business requires the improvements. That is to say, he begins to build. And that is the desideratum, for we need more houses for dwelling purposes. Many housing reformers overlook the fact that it is of no social value to expel a horde of tenement inmates from one section and to herd them intcx another. A simple-minded policeman may be content to adopt such methods, he may believe that the war against congestion is compared to the crusade against the adul- teration of food, but the far-seeing statesman ought to use more intelligent tactics. You have no right to destroy one tenement unless you are prepared to open the doors of at least two new and better houses. Many German towns are beginning to construct houses on their own grounds and at their own expense. For instance, the town of Ulm constructed in eighteen years more than four hundred houses for working people in 1908 alone, forty-eight family houses costing 1,850,000 marks; the same town supports a number of co-operative housing societies; it owns more than two-thirds of the whole area; it is continually buying more land and does not sell a square foot of it. This example of Ulm has been followed by many other towns and is acknowledged to be tl.e best preventative of congestion. But it may be a question if the method can be carried out on a larger scale in our greater cities — our capitals of industry. Town planning as I described it above is a very expensive undertaking for a muni- cipality. As a consequence the question of how to provide the money arises. There is plenty of money in the world, and all we have to do is to take it from those who can earn it without toil and sweat. This brings me to the taxation of unearned in- crement. While discussing this question, bear in mind that there is a definite re- lation between the increase of population and the increase of land values. In Berlin every newly born infant or every immigrant who settles there is estimated to raise the land value about 1,000 marks, and in Greater New York the proportion will probably be about the same. Part of the increase of value should go to the community wdiich creates it. The taxation of unearned increment has a double effect. It checks the speculation on estates values and it affords more money to the municipality over and above the regular assessments. In my country the taxation of unearned increment is so very popular that our imperial government is now trying to have it operate through- out the empire. At least 1,200 large and small places have it already, and the reports show that the results are most satisfactory everywhere. Of course, in Germany it is still in its infancy and the schemes are almost all very tame. It is my opinion there is no reason to restrict this taxation to too small a margin. The higher the margin the better the effect. To sum up, I do not advocate a single remedy for congestion, be it a single tax or another one. I believe that the question is far too complex and baffling to deal with it without the use of different methods. Where there is a will there is a way. It is a moral crime that our cities, as great and magnificent as they are, should postpone the solution of the crying problem until it has attained to such proportion as to inflict incalculable misery and suffering on fu- ture generations. The people will be the happiest and will surpass all others, which first overcome this great difficulty. I can see by the quality of your commission that the far-reaching importance of this question has come home to my American brethren, and for their sake and the common cause of humanity, I wish you every success. Mr. A. C. Pleydell : The tax on unearned increment as I understand it is a revenue upon profits made out of selling land. Ts this correct? Dr. Sudekum : Yes, that is correct. The seller pays the tax on community earned increment and not the purchaser, so that the municipality gets part of the increase in the value of land instead of the man who sells it. The increases in the value of land from 1897 to 1907 were very marked in many German cities. 157 Mr. C. R. Lamb : Are there any laws in Germany which restrict the heights of buildings and so prevent congestion of population? Dr. Sudekum : Yes, the State laws are very strict and the heights of buildings are two stories in small towns and villages, three stories in large cities, and five stories in Ber- lin, and in most of the large cities also, there is a series of districts or zones in which all buildings must not exceed a specified height or number of stories, and must not cover more than a designated proportion of the lot area, and these regulations apply only to each district, so that in the centre of cities where land values are high, the higher buildings are permitted; in the outlying districts, only low buildings with large yards are permitted. Taxation lowers the price of land in Germany. Prof. Goodnow : Has anything been done to distribute factories? Dr. Sudekum : Yes. In Berlin, no new factories' are allowed in the centre of the city, and the location of factories is prohibited in other sections of the city. Mr. C. R. Lamb : What is the limit of space between tenements and factories districts? Dr. Sudekum : This varies in different cities. In Frankfort-on-the-Main, the two districts are continuous, while there are certain districts (Gcmischte \'iertel) in which both factories and tenements are permitted. Frankfort-on-the-Main was par- ticularly fortunate in that the city owned a large amount of land along the river front, and improved it for factory sites, renting the sites on long leases. Cologne merely enacted laws prohibiting the location of new factories in designated districts, but did not evict any already started. Mr. Otto David asked whether the tax on the vinearned increment would tend to create and enforce better buildings and larger rooms. Dr. Sudekum : It has that effect. The Secretary : Do you think it more economical to prohibit factories in cer- tain districts and for the City to construct belt lines or lines for carrying freight which would merely pay for the investment without netting any profit if necessary, than to construct expensive lines of transit for passengers? Dr. Sudekum: Unquestionably the former method for the City to construct belt Hues is the more economical and better for the workingman since it would save time and carfare. Mr. A. C. Pleydell : Is the tax upon land heavy in Germany? Dr. Sudekum : Yes ; it is about as heavy on the average as in this country. Mr. J. C. Pumpelly : In view of the difference in administration between American and German cities, do you think it wise for American cities to under- take the same policies and methods as have been adopted in Germany? Dr. Sudekum : I am unable to answer. The policies which have been adopted in Germany have been successful there. Table Comparing the Tax Levy on Land and on Buildings in Each Borough of New York to Raise the Tax Levy on Ordinary Real Estate of $115,080,377.79 in 1910, if Land Were Taxed at the Same Rate as Improvements and Twice the Rate on Im- provements. Levy on Im- Lev}^ on Im- Levy on Land. Levy on Land. provements. provements. Borough. Uniform Rate. Double Rate. Uniform Half Rate Rate. on Land. Manhattan $51,019,522 19 $63,727,911 17 $26,165,836 66 $16,293,833 22 The Bronx 4,666,706 04 5.829,98149 3,111,137 36 1,937,947 38 Brooklvn 10,809,279 27 13,077,043 38 12,536,896 27 7,570,304 32 Queens 3.624,257 83 4,391,115 40 1,951,523 46 1,182,013 24 Richmond 633,465 91 741,928 35 561,752 80 328,236 04 Total $70,753,231 24 $87,767,979 79 $44,327,146 55 $27,312,334 20 158 Table Comparing the Tax Lew on Land and on Buildings in Each Borough of New York to Raise the Tax Levy on Ordinary Real Estate of $115,080,377.79 in 1910, if Land Were Taxed at the Same Rate as Improvements and Twice the Rate on Im- provements. Total Levy Difference in With Land Levy on Land Borough. Total Levy. Taxed Double Between Uniform Rate. Rate on Two Methods Improvements. of Taxation. Manhattan $77,185,350 85 $80,021,744 39 +$12,708,388 98 The Bronx 7,777,843 40 7,767,928 80 +1,163,275 45 Brooklvn 23,346,175 54 20,647,347 70 +2,267,764 11 Queens 5,575,78129 5,573,128 64 +766,857 57 Richmond 1,195,218 71 1,070,164 39 +108,462 44 Total *$115,080,377 79 *$115,080,313 99 +$17,014,748 55 Table Comparing the Tax Levy on Land and on Buildings in Each Borough of New York to Raise the Tax Levy on Ordinary Real Estate of $115,080,377.79 in 1910. if Land Were Taxed at the Same Rate as Improvements and Twice the Rate on Im- provements. Borough. Difference in Levy on Improvements Between Two Methods. Result in Levy if Land be Taxed Twice the Rate on Improve- ments. Manhattan —$9,872,003 44 The Bronx —1,173,189 98 Brooklvn -^,966,591 95 Queens —769,510 22 Richmond — 233,516 76 Total —$17,014,812 35 +$2,836,385 54 —91,914 53 —2,698,827 84 —2,652 65 —125,054 32 Table showing the saving in taxes on several kinds of buildings in 1910 if land were taxed at double the rate on buildings to raise the total levy on ordinary real estate in 1910 exclusive of "real estate of corporations" and "special franchises." The tax rate in each borough in 1910 was as follows, on $100 assessed value : Manhattan and The Bronx $1.75790 Brooklyn 1.81499 Queens 1.81779 Richmond : 1.87501 The tax rate in the county varies because county expenses are a county charge. The tax rate on land if double that on buildings would have been in 1910, $2,193+, and on buildings, $1,096+. + Means increase in levy. — Means decrease in levy. * The difference between these totals is due to one-hundredth of 1 per cent, in the varying tax levy of counties. 159 The tax rate for purposes of comparison is taken for each borough : Assessed Assessed Tax Witli Type of Building. Land Values. Building Values. 1910 Rates. Manhattan and The Bronx — 1. Large tenement $12,000 00 $30,000 00 $737 94 Brooklyn — 2. Large tenement 10,000 00 28,000 00 689 32 The Bronx — 3. Three family 2,000 00 6,500 00 149 34 Brooklyn — 4. Three family 1,000 00 5,500 00 117 91 Queens — 5. Three family 1,000 00 5,000 00 108 60 Brooklyn — 6. Factory 20,000 00 40,000 00 1,088 40 IVIanhattan — 7. Office building 1,000.000 00 750.000 00 30,747 50 Tax Rate. Tax In 1910 If Land Were Taxed Double Saving With Type of Building. Rate on Buildings. Double Rate. Per Cent. Manhattan and The Bronx — 1. Large tenement ... . $59196 $14598 19.7 Brooklyn — ■ 2. Large tenement .... 526 18 163 14 23.7 The Bronx — 3. Three family 125 10 24 24 16.2 Brooklyn — 4. Three family 82 21 35 70 30. Queens — 5. Three family 75 73 32 87 30. Brooklyn — 6. Factory 877 00 21140 19.4 Manhattan — 7. Office building 30,152 00 595 50 01.9 This table illustrates the fact that the nearer the land value approaches the value of the building the smaller will be the saving to the owner if land is taxed double the rate of taxation on buildings. The most marked savings through the proposed system is in the case of small tenements in boroughs outside of Manhattan where land is relatively cheap. In the case of large office buildings on land of great value this saving will be relatively small. Table showing the comparative approximate amount that would have been paid by each borough of New York under a 5 per cent tax on net or clear increase of assessed value of land from 1909 to 1910. Note — The amount assessed in each borough for street widenings upon prop- erty benefited could not be ascertained for the year 1909, but the total for the four years, 1905 to 1908, was as follows: Manhattan $2,816,326 27 The Bronx 8,958,416 86 Brooklyn 4,537,214 51 Queens 614,455 07 Richmond 108,994 80 This amount, plus the amount expended by the owner of property for this pur- pose and for parks, pla3-grounds, streets, sidewalks, transit, etc., is deducted for every parcel before the increase is computed, and these expenditures are much larger proportionately in all boroughs outside of Manhattan, and would hence reduce the total amount to be collected from each borough. It is fair to assume, however, that one-fifth of the total gross increase in assessed land values each year in all boroughs^ 160 except Manhattan, is expended for the purposes referred to, and one-tenth in Man- hattan^ -——-^-^-—^--^-—===^:==^= Amount that would be secured from a Net increase in assessed tax of 5 per cent Percent Borough. land values, 1909 to 1910 on net increase of of land value Total Manhattan $67,908,843 00 $3,395,442 15 65.97 The Bronx 11,267,77100 563,388 55 11.27 Brooklvn 9,303,607 00 465,180 35 9.31 Queens 11,424,617 00 571,230 85 11.43 Richmond *46,818 00 Total $99,904,838 00 $4,995,241 90 100.00 * The assessed land value of Richmond decreased. Since the value of land in the 1911 assessment is full value any increase here- after will be bona fide increase in actual value and not due to increasing the rate of assessment. Form of a Progressive Tax Upon Increases in Land Values. The German form of taxation is a moderate increase paid at time of transfer. Copy of a Bill for Saxony of January 26, 1904. Section 53. In all communes having a population of more than 10,000, an incre- ment tax proportioned to the increase in value is to be paid by the transferrer in case of change in ownership of unimproved (umbebaut) land. Under exceptional local conditions the levy of an increment tax may be required by the supervising authorities in communes of less than 10,000 inhabitants. This levy is to take place if the commune may be regarded as a suburb or if an unusual increase of population has taken place in it. Section 57. The amount of the increment tax shall be: If the increase of value is 5 to 20 per cent of the purchase value (erwerbswcrt), at least 5 per cent of the increase. If the increase of value is 20 to 30 per cent of the purchase value, at least 10 per cent of the increase. If the increase of value is 30 to 40 per cent of the purchase value, at least 15 per cent of the increase. If the increase of value is 40 to 50 per cent of the purchase value, at least 20 per cent of the increase. If the increase of value is over 50 per cent of the purchase value, at least 25 per cent of the increase. If the increase in value is less than 5 per cent, there shall be no increment tax. Section 58. The purchase value shall be that value which the land has for its actual utilization on the part of the seller, or if there is no actual utilization, such value as it would have under appropriate agricultural use. Schemes for Berlin Progressive Taxation on Land and Improvements. Section 7. In addition to the tax stated in section 1 (transfer tax. Umsatzsteuer) an increment tax shall be levied in case the present purchase price of market value of the land shall exceed by 10 per cent, the price of value at the last change in owner- ship, regard being had to the allowances stated in section 9. For_ the levy of this additional tax it is immaterial whether the last preceding change in ownership has taken place before or after this ordinance goes into effect. Section 8. The amount of the increment tax shall be as follows: 5 per cent, of the increase in value, if this increase in value is more than 10 and up to 20 per cent. 6 per cent, of the increase in value, if this increase in value is more than 20 and up to 30 per cent. 7 per cent, of the increase in value, if this increase in value is more than 301 and up to 40 per cent. 8 per cent, of the increase in value, if this increase in value is more than 40 and up to 50 per cent. Q per cent, of the increase in value, if this increase in value is more than 50 and up to 60 per cent. And so on, 1 per cent, of the increase in value up to a miximum of 20 per cent. 161 For improved sites these rates shall be levied only if live years at most have passed between the last preceding and the current change of ownership. If more than five years and less than ten have elapsed, two-thirds of these rates shall be levied; if more than ten years have elapsed, one-third. For unimproved sites the increment tax shall be two-tliirds of these rates if more than ten years and less than twenty have elapsed since the last preceding change in ownersliip, and one-tliird if more than twenty years have elapsed. If the earlier purchase price or market value cannot be ascertained, then supplements lo the present selling price shall take the place of the increment tax. These supplements shall for improved sites, be : After 10 at 20 years, 1 per cent. For unimproved sites : After 20 at 30 years, 1^^ per cent. After 10 at 20 years, I per ceni After 30 at 40 years, 2 per cent. After 20 at 30 years, 2 per cent Over 40 years, 2>4 per cent. After 30 at 40 years, 3 per cent. Over 40 years, 4 per cent. Section 9. In ascertaining the increase in value taxable under Section 8, the base sJiall be the former purchase price, but to this arc to be added the f ollowmg ■ 1. All expenses for permanent improvement of the land, including expenses for building streets and for connections with sewers. Expenses for remodelling or im- provements are not to be taken into account, so far as covered by insurance payments. 2. In case of unimproved sites, which the transferer has not himself used for agricultural or manufacturing purposes, 4 per cent, interest of the preceding purchase price, less all receipts. Where land has been given without compensation for streets or public places, the whole purchase price remains attributable to the remaining land, and in case of division is to be attributed to the several parcels. No other additions are permissible. Any difference between the previous purchase price, supplemented by the allowances herein provided, and the present selling value, is to be regarded as an increase of value. Taxation on Increase of Land Vahie. The small increase of taxation on land values in Berlin and other German cities is particularly due to the fact that there are so many restrictions, even in the centre of the city, upon buildings, so that until within a comparatively few years there has been a relatively small amount of speculation and increase of land values in the inner part of the city. The proposition for an increment tax in Berlin was defeated particularly because of the proponderent influence of real estate owners in the city due to their property qualifications for the suffrage. As high as 500 fold profit has been made upon land in the suburbs of Berlin within the last twenty years. A similar condition prevails in Manhattan and in New York and justifies the rapid increase and progres- sion of taxation on increase in land values. Several of the large real estate operators have within a few years after purchase sold their land unimproved for from three to torty times the amount they had paid for it. Th^ following exemptions are made in certain German cities before the in- creased taxation since the object upon which the increment tax is levied is the unearned increase of value of real estate during a specified period. Most of the following allowances commonly specified in the German systems might be permitted in assessing the increment taxes in American cities. 1. All expenses for permanent improvement of the property, especially for addi- tions or rebuilding, provided these have not been met out of the insurance receipts, expenses for repairs and the like may not be deducted, since these serve not to m- crease the value of the property, but only to maintain it. 2. Expense for street building and for sewer connections. 3. Expenses resulting from the mere change in ownership, such as taxes, registry and legal fees, transfer taxes and the like. These deductions are, ho\vever, not allowed in all the tax ordinances. Where this allowance is provided for, it is usually by way of lump sum or general allowance— sometimes a general 5 per cent, allowance, some- times 3 per cent, and sometime 3 per cent, for unimproved land and 5 per cent, for improved. 162 Proportion of the Total Tax on Land, Total Tax on Buildings and Grand Total and Per cent, of City Budget that would have been paid by ordinary real estate in each Borough in 1910, if land were taxed at twice the rate that buildings were taxed to raise the total levy on ordinary real estate : Tax on Borough. Land at $2.19358. Manhattan $63,727,911 17 The Bronx 5,82<),981 49 Brooklyn 13,077,043 38 Queens 4,391,115 40 Richmond 741,928 35 Total $87,767,979 79 Per Cent, of Per Cent, of New York Total of Per Cent. Tax on New York of City Land. Tax Levy. Budget. 72.63 48.46 39.06 6.64 4.45 3.57 14.89 9.94 8.01 5.00 3.34 2.69 .84 .56 .45 100.00 66.73 53.78 Borough. Per Cent, of Per Cent, of Tax on New York Total of Per Cent. Bldgs. Tax on New York of City at $1.09679. Bldgs. Tax Levy. Budget. Manhattan $16,293,833 22 The Bronx 1,937,947 38 Brooklyn 7,570,304 32 Queens 1,182,013 24 Richmond 328,536 04 Total $27,312,334 20 59.65 12.39 9.98 7.09 1.47 1.1? 27.71 5.76 4.65 4.33 0.89 0.73 1.22 0.25 0.23 100.00 20.76 16.77 Borough. Total Tax. Per Cent, of N. Y. Total Tax. Per Cent, of City Budget. Manhattan $80,021,744 39 60.85 The Bronx 7,767,928 87 5.90 Brooklyn 20,647,347 70 15.70 Queens 5,573,128 64 4.23 Richmond 1,070,164 39 0.81 Total $115,080,313 99 87.49 70.55 REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON HEALTH, ALDERMAN ALEXANDER DUJAT, CHAIRMAN. In submitting these recommendations which call for the expenditure of large sums of money by the City, the Committee wish to call attention to a few facts brought out by their investigations and hearings, and based upon their own knowledge of conditions in the City. It is not claimed that the death rate of New York City is extremely high com- pared with the death rate of some other cities. Dr. W. H. Guilfoy, Registrar of the Bureau of Records of the Department of Health, submits the following statement ta the Committee : "New York's death rate in 1909 was 16.00 per 1000. Foreign Cities. London 14.00 per 1000. Berlin 15.10 per 1000. Vienna 16.8 per 1000. Paris 17.4 per 1000. Munich 17.6 per 1000. Rome 19.3 per 1000. Venice 22.1 per 1000. St. Petersburg 24.6 per 1000. Moscow 29.6 per 1000. 163 American Cities. Chicago 14.1 per 1000. Philadelphia 1 5.8 per 1000. Boston 17.7 per 1000. Compared with other cities, the crude death rate of New York City is somewhat higher than some and lower than others. The Committee on Congestion should not fall into the error that the crude death rate of a city is an accurate measure of that city's salubrity, as compared with that of other cities whose crude death rate may be lower. The death rate of any town, city or country is dependent upon a considerable number of factors, and the most important of these are the sex and age groupings or distribution of population. A city with a very high birth rate like New York City will have a considerable number of children living in it under the ages of five years, at which age the death rate is very high, consequently this would increase the mor- tality considerably above other cities in which the birth rate is comparatively low. \Ve find as a matter of fact that the birth rate in all the large cities of the world, with the probable exception of New York, has been decreasing within the past tep years, and that this decrease in the birth rate has gone hand and hand with a decrease in the crude or general death rate, due to the comparatively small number of chil- dren under the ages of five years, at which age the mortality is excessive. When this department receives the figures showing the sex and age-gronnings of the City of New York, as enumerated in the Federal Census of this year, it will be in a position to make accurate comparisons between the death rate of New York City and that of some of the other cities of the world. Until this is done, we maintain that New York City is equal to. if not superior, to any large city in the world from the point of view of healthfulness." While admitting that the crude death rate of New York City is not higher than many other large cities of the country, it must be remembered that Nevv York City is a combination of five boroughs with ver}^ different co'nditions, varying in density of population and extent of room overcrowding. The density of popula- tion per acre in each of the boroughs in 1905 and 1910 was as follows : Density per acre. Borough. 1905. 1910. Manhattan 149.8 166.08 The Bronx 10.4 16.5 Brooklyn 27.27 32.8 Queens 2.3 3.4 Richmond 1.9 2.3 The density per acre for a borough or ward even is, however, misleading, as there are tens of thousands of the nearly eighty-three thousands of Queens prac- tically without an inhabitant, and about half of Manhattan's population is crowded on to less than one-fifth of its area. The indisputable fact remains, however, that New York's death rate is much higher than it need be and it is the opinion of your Committee that it can and should be materially decreased, since the loss of 25,000 to 30,000 lives a year from preventable deaths in the city is a serious fact which no civilized city can afford to neglect as New York has done in the past. Thus had New York's death rate been low as in 1908, as was London's, there would have been over 12,000 fewer deaths, or about one-seventh less. While it is true that New York City has a high birth rate, as Dr. Guilfoy states, it is also true that it has a large annual increment of population of healthy and strong immigrants to offset this high birth rate. Unfortunately, the records of the Bureau of Immigra- tion show the destination of immigrants only by states instead of by cities in states,, so that it is not possible to determine exactly how many immigrants arrived in New York City during each year. It is fair to assume, however, that about the same proportion of immigrants remained in New York City for a time as went to the re.st of the state. Out of a grand total of 256.425 immigrants who gave their des- tination as New York State in 1908. only 83,403 were women and children, and per- sons without occupation, or about one-third, and out of a total of 220,865 immigrants giving this state as their destination in 1909, only 75,829 were women and children and persons without occupation, again about one-third, while out of 280,880 in 1910, only 73,859 were women and children and persons without occupation — about one-fourth. Thus it will be noted that the population of the city is increased each 164 year by a large niimher of adult and healthy immigrants to offset the high birth rate to which Dr. Guilfoy refers. Neither does it follow that because there is a high birth rate that there need be a high death rate among children under five years of age. Thus in Bourneville, a garden city only three miles from Birmingham, England, the death rate among chil- dren under five years of age was onlv 72.5 per l.COO live births for four years, 1902- 1905. while the birth rate was about '40 per 1,000. In Port Sunlight, a similar garden city across the Mersey from Liverpool, where the conditions as to air, sunlight, space, etc., arc unquestionably of the best possible for any working class, the birth rate has been 42.6 per 1,000, and the death rate for. eight years only 9.6 to the thousand. The Registrar General of England in his re- port for 1907 says: "Speaking broadly, excessive waste of infant life is generally associated with a high birth rate, overcrowding, and the industrial employment of women." It is well known that both the industrial employment of women ' and "sweatshop labor" of women as well as tenement manufacture is an almost inevitable feature of congested life in New York City. As has, however, been demonstrated from the examples of Bourneville and Port Sunlight, a high birth rate does not mean necessarily a high death rate. The Department of health recently included the following as preventable dis- eases — Typhoid Fever, Pneumonia, Broncho-pneumonia, Smallpox, Cerebro-Spinal Menegitis, Diphtheria and Croup, Measles, Scarlet Fever, Whooping Cough, Diar- rhceal diseases. Tuberculosis Pulmonalis. The total number of deaths from Typhoid Fever, Pneumonia, Broncho-Pneu- monia, Diphtheria, Smallpox, Measles, Scarlet Fever, Tuberculosis and Diarrhceal diseases in New York City during the four years, 1905 to 1908, inclusive, was as follows : Under 5. 5-12. 20-69. Total. 55,870 8,093 51,379 115,342 The total deaths from these causes in 1909 was 28,700. The deaths from Diarrhceal diseases alone during this period were 5,380, chiefly, of course, among children five years of age or under. The Committee recognizes that not all of these deaths are attributable to room overcrowding, overdensity per acre, or even bad housing conditions. It is evident that poisoned milk fed to an infant will be as apt to kill it as living in a dark interior room. Its recommendations therefore cover this question of better inspection of milk and other municipal action in securing a wholesome supply of pure, cheap milk. The fact remains, however, that from the standpoint of the health and efficiency of the city's industrial popula- tion the loss of a thousand infants a j^ear is not as serious as the loss of the same number of able-bodied men and women of working age — that is. of the immediately potential producers. New York City has relied upon the annual influx of scores of thousands of immigrants to take the places of the thousands of adult men and women who are annually murdered by permitting them to live in the unsanitary and hopelessly dark rooms of the overcrowded tenements and to work in unsanitary factories and at starvation wages. The statistics furnished by the Health Departments and compiled in foreign cities prove conclusively that the greater the density of population per acre and the larger the number of occupants per room the higher the death rates and as well the sickness rates. Admittedly the death rates among Jews is lower than among Italians living at the same density of population. Corrections need to be made for age, sex and race, but no classification or refinement of statistics can hide the fact that the death rate of New York City is higher than it need be by several points and that two most important causes of this surplus rate is the overcrowding of rooms and the occupancy of dark rooms whose occupancy is sanctioned by the present Tenement House Law. This law permits nine persons, two adults and seven chil- dren under twelve, to occupy three small rooms with a cubic air space of only 2,340 cubic feet. Dr. W. H. Parks stated to the Committee : "I can state from my own knowledge that the more overcrowding you have, the more sickness and deaths there will be. As to the actual amount of such increase I have no statistics and so cannot state definitely. It is the opinion of all those who have studied this question that we have increased sickness in overcrowded rooms, and increased mortality among those sick, not only more sick, but of those that are sick more deaths. This is especially true of communicable diseases. Overcrowded rooms mean less fresh air for indi- viduals and therefore we now know less chance for recovery." Dr. Park stated, 165 "If possible, not more than two persons should sleep in the ordinary small city room," and recommended that persons have as nearly as possible 1.000 cubic feet of air space. Dr. \\'oods Hutchinson also stated, "Broadly speakinp, the mortality rate in any city or in any ward varies directly with the density of population, the higher the density of population the higher the mortality." He advocated that the minimum cubic air space that should be required is 600 cubic feet for an adult and 400 cubic feet for children, while 1,000 cubic feet should for ideal conditions be required for adults and 600 cubic feet for children. Dr. Abraham Jacobi stated : "There is no possibility of eradicating tuberculosis while people are crowded together as now in a few rooms. We can't stop diphtheria and measles and other contagious diseases as long as we have this congestion. Tu- berculosis is called consumption, but there is a difference; where there is a single case of consumption the whole family is doomed unless they are removed. We have been preaching rest, good food and sunlight and sending to institutions. "Advanced cases shouldn't be permitted to remain in their homes, as they will exterminate the whole family, but should be removed and cared for. Tuberculosis can be exterminated by taking care of incipient cases, but those in the last stages must be especially cared for. In one city institution there are 360 people where there should be only 150." Similar evidence as to physical results of overcrowding is furnished by the sta- tisticians and medical officers of several English cities as noted earlier in this report. The Committee in making the following recommendations does so distinctly^ on the basis of securing the minimum healthy conditions of living essential to an efficient citizenship and does not understand it to be any part of their functions to discuss or even consider the cost of securing a reasonably healthy standard of living. To fail to recommend a reasonable standard of health would be to admit that New York with all its wealth still finds it cheaper to kill people than to ensure for them healthy homes. The following are the facts regarding New York's health upon which the Com- mittee bases their recommendations : There are about 135, OCO people constantly sick in New York City. There are 35,000 to 40,000 people constantly being cared for in the hospitals of the city, the great majority of them either in the city's hospitals or in hospitals which receive a per capita or per diem appropriation from the city for the patients they care for. There are nearly 10,000 deaths a year from consumption and about 28,000 new cases of consumption every year, and those totals cannot be materially reduced so long as the occupancy of dark roms and unsanitary factories is permitted, and the city fails to make adequate provision for the care or cure of tuberculous patients. There are from 25,000 to 30,000 deaths from preventable diseases in the city annually. Of the 125.000 babies born in New York annually about 16,000, one in every eight, die. The death rates in congested blocks and overcrowded rooms in the city are much higher than those among the same races and ages living in less crowded conditions. The economic waste from certain preventable diseases in the city — that is the lo'JS of wages of men and women who die of these diseases — amounts in New York City to from $37,000,000 to $41,000,000 annually. Congestion of population is contributing very largely to the $10,000,000 a year which New York City spends annually on her departments for the prevention and the cure of diseases. This waste of life can be materially lessened by aggressive action by the city itself, with the expenditure of enough money. The Committee therefore makes the following specific recommendations: Whereas the requirements of the present Tenement House Law are that there shall be not less than 400 cubic feet of air space for every adult and 200 cubic feet of air space for every child under twelve years of age, and this is evidently not a sufficient provision of air space to comply with the requirement? of health. The Committee recommends that the requirement be increased to 600 cubic feet of air space for every adult and 400 cubic feet of air space for every child under twelve years. In view of the very great difficulty, however, of enforcing a regulation of this kind throughout the city, since the requirements of cubage and dimensions of rooms in tenement houses has varied in the different Tenement House Laws which have been enacted during the past 35 years, the Committee feels that the standard should be enforced only for the apartments instead of for each room. They rec- ognize that this is not an ideal arrangement, but if in the judgment of the Commis- sion it is feasible to require this cubage and provision of air space by rooms in tenements hereafter to be constructed and provisions for this cubage for apartments in buildings already standing and constructed prior to some date to be set in the future, the Committee would so recommend. 166 The law on overcrowding as it stands on the statute book at present is abso- lutely a dead letter and more effective means must be adopted to secure its enforce- ment than have heretofore been adopted. First. — The Committee therefore recommends that the Tenement House Depart- ment be requested to have placards prepared stating the maximum number of occupants permitted by law to occupy every apartment, or, if it be deemed feasible, every room, and that legislation be enacted requiring the owner of the house or his responsible agent to keep a record of the number of occupants of each apartment which he rents, and also legislation requiring the occupant or lessee of apartments to file an appli- cation with the landlord for each lodger whom he takes. In view of the fact more- over that so large a proportion of the population of the city live in one and two- family houses and that in all probability this proportion will increase in the near future with the spread of Manhattan's congested population to the other boroughs of the City, the Committee recommend that the same requirements as to cubic air space in apartments of one and two-family houses should be enacted, into law and that similar provisions should be made for the enforcement of this provision by the creation of a bureau charged with this duty in the Department of Health. Second. — Ample evidence has been brought before the Committee on Health, that the perpetuation of consumption in the city is inevitable if people are permitted to occupy dark interior rooms and tenements into which no sunlight ever penetrates. The testimony on this point has been unequivocal. Dr. W. H. Parks stated: "The best of my knowledge and belief is that three- quarters of those now known to have consumption will die without regard to what can be done for them, and it is only in the early stages that recovery is possible for a large percentage, so that there are some 20,000 in New York City that must die from the progress of the disease they now have." He stated further "that prob- ably 90 per cent, of these are adults and that most fatal cases of tuberculosis occur either in the first year of life or after reaching adult size. The most important thing is to supply a place where good air and good light can be got away from the city. Next to that give them rooms with good air and good light in the city and sufficient suitable food if they cannot afford it themselves. Every case removed from the city and made comfortable itself will remove one centre of infection. At the present time the number of tuberculosis cases in the city remains the same. That is, w^e have as many cases each year as the year before. This means, however, a less percentage of the whole population, because the city is rapidly increasing its popula- tion." Dr. Parks stated that he anticipated the same number of deaths annually, approximately 10,000, under our present method of treatment. He also stated that if an immigrant contracted tuberculosis elsewhere he would be more likely to suc- cumb to it because the room was dark and would be more likely to affect others in it. He stated also that any one that has had consumption should always live in the best possible conditions as to light and air space. It is even dangerous, he claimed, for a tuberculous person who has recovered after leaving the city to return to it and go back into the office work or ordinary city occupations. Dr. Woods Hutchinson stated that in his judgment it is not possible to extermi- nate tuberculosis if occupancy either for living or working purposes of the ordinary interior rooms, lighted only by a window from an outside dark room, which room itself is lighted from a narrow air shaft 3 feet or 4 feet wide is permitted. He suggested : "There should be such changes in the Tenement House Law or in the interpretation of it as to prohibit the use of those dark rooms, those that are tech- nically to be regarded as light, those that open into another room. No room in which it is not possible to read in the centre of the floor during all hours of daylight is fit for human occupancy." He remarked further : "I should say that as contrasted with other cities, the housing conditions here played a very considerable part in the preva- lence of tuberculosis, because wages are higher here, food is better, hours for labor are shorter and the climate is better than in the majority of great Europan cities, and we have a large amount of sunlight as compared with other cities." The Committee therefore recommends that a permanent B'^ard of Condemnation for the condemnation or ordering vacation of unsanitary buildings, dwellings, apart- ments, rooms and tenements, be created, which shall devote its entire time to the inspection of the scores of dark rooms in tenements, factories and dwellings in this city which are continuing the number of deaths from consumption. It is evident that the mere cutting of a window 4 by 7 feet from one dark room into another is absolutely inadequate to make the room fit for human habitation or even occupancy, and that many of these rooms must be permanently closed or at least permanently vacated. Many of the buildings are in themselves so serious a menace that they shouH be closed. The Committee is aware that some immigrants are careless in reference to this matter and absolutely indifferent, but the interests of the city re- 167 quire that they should be protected against themselves if necessary, since they come here robust, having to pass a very careful physical examination. As Dr. Hutchinson has stated : "We breed two-thirds of our consumption right here in this city, as the class of people that come here from the other side of the Atlantic are as et whole a healthy and superior class." In self protection, therefore, the city which must pay the cost of caring for the families of wage earners who succumb to con- sumption has the right to protect itself and require its citizens to accept the city's protection against these conditions. Third. — It is evident that the present facilities and expenditures of the city for ■caring for victims of consumption are inadequate, since there are long waiting lists in the various institutions treating tuberculous patients. The poverty of the citi- zens moreover prevents their securing proper food and refraining from work until they are physically able to go back to their ordinary employment. The Committee therefore recommends that the city make adequate provision to care for the victims of consumption away from their homes. They feel the city should also provide out- side of congested districts for the indigent families of these patients, especially when they are deprived of the earnings of the wage earner of the family. The Committee feel strongly that this is not a charity in any sense of the word, but only the debt which the city owes to these families. Fourth. — The Committee have had considerable evidence presented to them of the danger from a health point of view of manufacturing in tenements. At present a license is given for manufacturing in an entire tenement and not for a single apart- ment, and the result has been that tenement manufacture is carried on in apartments or tenements in which there are patients sick with scarlet fever, consumption, diphtheria and measles. It is hardly necessary to state that this is a serious menace, not only to the city itself, but to the other communities to which the goods manu- facured in these tenements are shipped. They therefore recommend that manufac- turing in tenement houses be prohibited if it be constitutional, and in any event that it be much more carefully regulated than at present and that manufacturers be held responsible for the place to which their work is sent and in no case should work be sent to any tenement in which there are children, for two reasons, presented in the evidence given before the Committee. First. — Families in which there is no contagious disease often give part of the clothing they have received to families one of whose members is sick in the apart- ment with a contagious disease. Second. — The cruelty to children of permitting them to work at home. It is not uncommon for young children, as young as four years of age, to work several hours pulling out bastings and doing other unskilled but confining work, which is most injurious when carried on for a number of hours. Manufacture of flowers js very common, too, and your Committee have seen young children working at night in this employment. Fifth. — The Committee recommends that provision should be made not only for the physical and medical examination of all school children, but as well for the treatment of all school children, in public and religious schools, if their parents are unable to afford this themselves. It will be noted, however, from the report of the Division of Child Hvgiene, Department of Health, that for the school year from September, 1908, to June, 1909, that 242,048 children out of 323,344 examined were found to need treatment, 183,862 on account of defective teeth, 38,329 on account of defective vision, 73,058 on account of defective nasal breathing, and 86,688 on ac- count of hypertrophied tonsils. Of the total number, 203,438 received treatment, or 84.06 per cent, of the 432,138 children found during the year 1909 to 1910 to have non-contagious physical defects 17 per cent, were reported as treated. The Bureau of Municipal Research in commenting upon the work of the Division of Child Hygiene stated: "Of every 100 school children examined by medical inspectors of this division, approximately 75 per cent, were recommended to secure medical treatment. Of the 75 in every 100 found defective, about 11 pr cent., or 53 children, are re- ported by this division as treated. Of the 11 per cent., it is fair to question from the records of the department whether more than 25 per cent., or 13 children, have re- ceived treatment which is recognized by the department itself as effective. "From records of the department it may in fairness be questioned whether more than 25 per cent, of the children reported as treated received treatment that by the standards of the department can be considered effective. "In view of the great efiforts of the department to urge treatments, it is there- fore very probable that a greater number of effective treatments cannot be secured because of limitations of clinics and the economic inability of parents to pay doctors' fees. "The question presented is whether the department shall make a constantly in- 168 creasing number of physical examinations in which a very small percentage of those examined receive effective treatment, or v^'hether it is better for the city to make fewer examinations and secure effective treatment in a large percentage of cases ex- amined." The Committee feel that it is wrong to take the ground that because the parents of children are too poor to give them the treatment which a medical^ examination shows that they need, that therefore the city should refrain from having them ex- amined. The revelations as to the physical conditions of children are most alarming and therefore the Committee recommend most emphatically that adequate appropria- tion be made to the Department of Health as above suggested so that every child in the School may have a careful medical examination as frequently as the Department of Health, which has in charge this work, deems necessary, and that adequate ap- propriation should be made for the treatment of children whose parents are unable to give them the proper care and treatment. Whenever the parents are able to give them such care they should, of course, be required to do so and should be punished for cruelty and neglect of children in case they fail to make such provisions for their need as is within their financial ability. On the other hand, if the city fails to provide the needed treatment for the children whose parents are unable to secure this for them, then it is guilty of as gross cruelty and neglect of the children as the parents themselves. The Committee feel that in emphasizing the responsibility qfthe city for careful and adequate treatment of the children they are merely emphasizing the fundamental duty of the city to protect itself, since the waste of the children of the city is most alarming. Sixth. — Impure milk causes many thousands of preventable deaths ampng in- fants, and much expensive sickness, which is a heavy cost upon the poorly paid wage earners of the city. The Committee recommend that adequate appropriation be made for the inspection of milk and for securing a supply of cheap and good milk for the city. This certified milk would cost only 15 cents per quart, which would mean a cost of approximately $1.00 per week for each child. Your Committee also recom- mend that the city itself establish stations for pasteurizing milk which could be made safe and sold at 9 cents per quart. Ninth. — The Committee recommends that more playgrounds should be pro- vided to counteract the physical results of room overcrowding and congestion of population. As suggested by Mr. Frederick L. Hofifman, the noted statistician, these playgrounds should be provided chiefly in the form of grass plots and serve as playgrounds for the children. Tenth. — The Committee recommend that the city restrict the development of outlying sections of the boroughs where land is now very cheap so that there will not be a density of over 100 to the acre and that the development be restricted to one and two-family houses. Mr. Hoffman made the following statement before the Com- mittee : "I am willing to go so far as to say that it is not only necessary, but the duty of every large American city like New York absolutely to central factory and build- ing operations within a radius of say fifteen miles of its centre as a reasonable transportation distance, and the city failing to discharge this duty is guilty of a grave negligence toward the most desirable class of its citizens." The housing problem is primarily a health problem and the mere fact that in- sanitary conditions and overcrowded tenements and rooms have been excused in Manhattan and in parts of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and even Queens because of high land values is no reason whatsoever why these conditions should be permitted to exist or to be duplicated in other boroughs. The precedents of foreign countries, notably Germany, Austria, France, Italy and England are adequate for the establishment of zones and districts outside of Manhattan in which the buildings should be restricted to the height of two or three stories for dwellings, which should not be permitted to occupy more than 50 per cent, or 60 per cent, of the lot area. Most large German cities have already estab- lished these districts and although permitting five-story tenements in the centre of the city, restrict the height of buildings in outlying districts to two and three stories, and, in some cases, limit the proportion of the lot area that may be covered to 40 per cent. England by its' Town Planning .A.ct, passed last year, has given the local authorities of each city the right to restrict the number of cottages per acre to from 10 or 12 or 20 per acre and a maximum density of 100 to the area. This is perfectly feasible in certain sections of New York City to-day, and it is the opin- ion of the Committee that on the basis of health alone this restriction should be imposed upon the outlying districts of the city. All the recommendations of the Committee are based upon the health require- ments and the Committee in submitting these recommendations respectfully ask 169 that the Committee on Legislation be instructed to prepare legislation embodying these recommendations and providing for their enforcement. Statements Presented to the Committee on Health. A. Statement by Mr. Frederick L. Hoffman. Statistician of the Prudential Life Insur- ance Company. Q. What is the relation between room overcrowding and mortality rates? Mr. Hoffman : On that point I would say that there can be no question of doubt but" that overcrowding results in a higher death rate. Increasing density of the population is, under normal conditions, followed by an increase in the death rate. The exception to this rule is met with in the case of_ model tenements, such as the Peabody dwellings, of London, where a death rate is experienced lower than the average. The effect of increased density is most pronounced in the higher mortality of children under 5 years. I have a statement of the Peabody Model Dwellings, in London, since 1891, and the death rate has invariably been lower than the corre- sponding death rate in London, and it is now down to 13.7 per thousand, while the birth rate is 28.9. Chairman Cantor : Are the people of these tenements of a higher social grade than those usually found in the average tenement? A. Yes, I think it is true that they are, but we must remember that the comparison is made with the population of London and not with the slum population, the death rate of which would be perhaps three times as high. In the case of Port Sunlight, outside of London, where model dwellings have been established, the general death rate for a period of 8 years has been only 9.6 to the thousand, while for England and Wales it was 16.7 to the thousand. The birth rate for Port Sunlight, where the conditions of health, as to air, sunlight, space, etc., are unquestionably the best pos- sible for any working class, has been 42.6 to the thousand, against 27.7 to the thou- sand for England and Wales; that is to say, while they had a larger birth rate, they had a lower death rate, which is practically never met with outside of such living conditions as those at Port Sunlight. The conditions in Essen, among the employees of the Krupp Corporation, have been much the same. There are no statistics for this population, but I have personally investigated the facts and I spent some time there last year, and there can be no question but that the right kind of community build- ing, such as has been carried on at Port Sunlight and by the Krupp Corporation, and at certain other places on the Continent, is followed by excellent results. I would say that what has been done at Essen establishes the principle to be followed here. This principle of municipal action, however, cannot easily be carried into effect ex- cept under the proper co-ordination of philanthropy and governmental power, com- bined with business opportunities, such as Lever Bros, had at Liverpool. This firm combined opportunities for work with opportunities for the most homelike mode of living, and they increased on the one hand the birth rate and on the other reduced the death rate, thus preventing the needless loss of life of the most desirable class of citizens. Q. You would say that with healthy living conditions here in New York we would both increase the birth rate and decrease the death rate? A. Unless you do improve room accommodations, I do not believe you will ever increase the birth rate. Q. Alderman Dujat: W^hat do you think the cause of this? A. Those who know most about the birth rate of London agree that the decline in the birth rate is due, almost entirely, to artificial restriction, but we rnust consider that artificial restriction may be in a large measure the result of artificial condi- tions of life, and that immorality and low vitality may go together as cause and ef- fect. If we do not furnish enough room for the people to live a decent family life, I think the effect on the mind must be profound in causing serious anticipation as to what the future conditions will be if there is a larger family, for which the room space under normal conditions of city life is insufficient. The statistics of Berlin prove conclusively that the mortality of those living in one room was much greater than in the case of those who had sufficient living accomrnodations in two, three or four rooms. The statistics of Budapest prove that epidemic diseases were decidedly more common among those who lived on dirty premises than among those who lived on clean premises. In the case of a cholera epidemic the respective rates of mortality were 90 cases per 10,000 for the population living in clean houses, against 420 for those living in dirty houses. The mortality of those living in cellar dwellings or basements has invariably been found to be excessive. In the city of Trieste the number of cholera cases were 9 per 1,000 for those living in basements and cellars, compared with 5 to the thou- sand for those living in the first story. If you were to be told of what were the 170 sanitary conditions of this city 40 years ago, you would not think it possible, any more than will the people fifty years hence accept as a standard the housing condi- tions of the city to-day. We consider it inhuman to-day that even the very poor should live in cellar dwellings underground, without light, good air and dryness, which is so essential for good health, yet little was thought of this sixty or seventy years ago. Just so will the standards of life, housing and working conditions in the future differ from the conditions accepted as tolerable and conducive to longevity at the present day. The most conclusive modern data concerning the relation of morbidity and mor- tality to overcrowding are the statistics of Glasgow for the year ending June 30, 1908. There was an epidemic of measles that year and the morbidity of children under one in the families living in one room apartments was 125 per 1,000, against 102 for those living in two room apartments, 27.5 in three room apartments, and 11.1 in four room apartments and upwards. At age 2 the corresponding rates were 232 for one room apartments, 197 for two room apartments, 54 for three room apart- ments, and 30 for four room apartments. Similar results were observed at older ages. In Glasgow they have been giving a great deal of attention to this question of housing and the effect on tuberculosis has been observed by Dr. J. B. Russell and Dr. Fife. Dr. Russell has very well said in regard to this question : "A copious supply of pure air and distribution of direct and diffused sunlight within and without the dwelling are not only wholesome to man, but are directly fatal to the bacilli distributed outside of the animal body. Sunlight is the only disin- fectant which sustains the man while it kills the microbe. Therefore, whatever with- draws from the air we breathe impurity of smoke, or dust, or foul exhalation, and from the sky above us that canopy of smoke which reduces our sunshine to twi- light, everything which promotes free motion of air without and within tlie house, every by-law which regulates the width of the street, the height of the houses, the arrangement of the buildings, so as to offer no obstruction to the winds, and to secure as much light and as little shadow in the hours of daylight as possible, which pro- motes the access of the sun's rays to dwellings, and helps to make the sky visible from the floor of all inhabited rooms, which widens and brightens lobbies and stair- cases in tenements, which prevents dampness of foundations and walls, every regu- lation which checks overcrowding both in the house and work place, which protects the artificer from irritation dust and fumes and secures to workers of every degree and kind natural light and pure air in the place of their emploj'ment, are all' precau- tions against tuberculosis." It is obvious, of course, that fresh air is essential, that it must be had in order to decrease the death rate, that overcrowding does increase it, and unless we do have more light, air, sunlight, etc., we shall not stamp out tuberculosis, but rather increase it and with it the general death rate. I think, therefore, I have fully an- swered your last question in the affirmative. Q. What is the minimum cubic air space that should be provided? A. I do not feel that I possess sufficient information on that point. Of course, I know that it is generally considered that 3,000 cubic feet per hour is required, but it is quite probable that even as small a proportion as 1,000 cubic feet will be suffi- cient to maintain a reasonable state of health. From what I know about- it. there is a considerable variety of information on this subject, and it is largely a question of the air supply, as well as the quantity and the conditions under which life is lived. If in a state of muscular inactivity, I should consider the required amount less, and in a state of muscular activity probably more, but to answer your question intelli- gently I do not posses the necessar)' scientific information. Q. What changes in the present tenement house law and building law relating to hygienic and sanitary construction would you suggest? A. My answer to that is practically the same as to the last question. That is a problem for architects and experts on housing conditions, model tenement construc- tion, room accommodations, etc., and not for one untrained in that line of work. I would like to say this much, however, that the mortality in rear tenements, or what they call in England back-to-back houses, is almost invariably excessive. In my in- vestigation of the sanitary conditions of the Trinity Corporation tenements, prac- tically all the elements of the present problem were brought to my attention, and it was made very clear to me that conclusions should only be arrived at after a careful inquiry into the facts. I had a census made of the Trinity population and I had obtained the official death rate from the New York Board of Health for five years, and I found by an exact comparison that the Trinity death rate was actually lower by several points than the rate of the sanitary district in which the tenements were located. It is easy to make suggestions on this question, but they are often extremely 171 ment. The only loss of employment will he that of the unsuccessful contractor and his permanent staff. The heaviest stress of competition will fall where it can be borne with the least suffering and where it is most needed to prevent stagnation." W. H. Beveridge: "Unemployment" (pp. 235 and 237). 215 Table of Labor Exchanges in Germany (1908). Type of Exchange. Number of Exchanges. Estimated Number of Situations Filled (1904). Public, General Employers' Guild " . . . Employees' Employers' and Employees' Joint Management. Chambers of Agriculture Commercial (i. e., for clerks, travelers, etc.),. . . . 400 30 2,400 1,000 60 11 550,000 230,000 213,000 120,000 51,000 50,000 25.000 These exchanges put would-be employers and employed into immediate communi- cation, and serve to supply a known market place lor labor. Principal Public Labor Exchanges in Germany. Town Population (1905)' Number of Situations Filled in the Last Year ' Male Female Total Character and Date of Establishment Berlin 2,040.090 84,375 15,182 99,557 Stuttgart. . . . Munich Frankfurt. . . Dresden Cologne 249,000 539.000 335,000 517,000 429,000 37.893 29,658 21,195 11,248 21,805 18,427 24,015 15,701 22,893 7,359 56,320 53.673 37,896 34,141 29,164 Dusseldorf . . 253,000 25,862 2.844 28,706 Leipzig . . . Mannheim Freiburg. . Strassburg Nurnburg. , 504,000 164,000 9,945 16,425 26,370 19,925 74,000 11.268 6.433 17.701 168.000 12.171 3.293 lS.464 294.000 9,878 4,940 14.818 Voluntary association (1883), with municipal subsidy since 1893. Municipal (1895). Municipal (1895). Municipal (1895). Voluntary association. Representative association, with all expenditure met by municipality (1894). Representative association, with all expenditure by municipality since 1906. P'ormerlv Voluntary Asso- ciation (1890). Voluntary association, with municipal subsidy. Municipal since 1905. Form- erly voluntary association (1893). Municipal since 1897. Form- erly voluntary association, with municipal subsidy (1892). Municipal (1895V Municipal (1896). 'These figures can onty be taken as a very rough indication of the population actually dealt with by each exchange. -1906 or 1906-7, except in the case of Frankfurt (1905-6). Later figures of situation filled can now be given for some of the exchanges, \\z. : Males. Females. Total. Stuttgart (1907) Munich (1907) Strassburg (1907-8) Nurnburg (1907) 39.201 23.717 27.i.=^n 3.307 5.175 62.918 33.602 60.752 1:^.772 17.079 10.874 16.049 216 In 1906 the Labor Olt'ice at Munich, which has a population of about 600,000, found positions for 53,673, classitied as follows : Males. Unskilled 11,978, or 40.4 per cent, of all males' situations Skilled (industrial) 1 1,346, or 38.3 per cent, of all males' situations Agriculture and forestry 3,947, or 13.3 per cent, of all males' situations Apprentices 1,^47, or 6.6 per cent, of all males' situations Hotel ami restaurant service 426, or 1.4 per cent, of all males' situations Commercial 14, or 0.0 per cent, of all males' situations 29,658 Hotel and restaurant service. Domestic service Unskilled Skilled (industrial) Agriculture Apprentices l*'emales. 7,738, or Zl.l per cent, of all females 7,077, or 29.5 per cent, of allfemales 6,587, or 27.4 per cent, of all females 1,868, or 7.8 per cent, of all females 489, or 2.0 per cent, of all females 229, or 1. per cent, of all females ' situations ' situations ' situations ' situations ' situations ' situations 24,015 Positions were found for 9,359 (7,594 males and 1,765 females), outside of Munich, including 291 in Germany outside of Bavaria, and 63 in foreign countries. The number of persons brought into Munich is considerably smaller. Work people sent to places more than 25 km. (15 miles) distant are allowed on presentation of a certificate from the exchange to travel on the State railways at half price, and in 1906 4,438 such cer- tificates were issued. The whole cost of the Labor Exchange is borne by the city. The Berlin Labor Exchange is the largest single institution of its kind, filling in a recent year about 100.000 positions, 30,324 of which were in the general labor section. It is a voluntary, not a municipal institution, although it receives an appropriation of about $15,000 a year from the city, and ultimate control and financial responsibility are vested in a voluntary association of subscribers. Applicants are charged on registra- tion a fee of 5 cents, for which they get a certificate admitting them to the waiting rooms of the exchange for three months, or until they get a position. These fees yielded in 1906 $4,120. In Freiburg the number of situations annually filled is 1 in 4.2 of the population, in Stuttgart 1 in every 4.4, and in Mannheim 1 in every 8.2. The following table shows for 1906 for the principal German exchanges the number of situations filled, percentage filled of situations offered and percentage placed of applications. A. Males, 1906. Berlin Stuttgart . Munich . . . Frankfurt . Cologne . . . Dusseldorf Freiburg . . Strassburg Nurnberg . Percentage Filledof Percentage Situations Situations Placed of Filled. OfYered. Applications 84,375 76.9 37,893 84.1 72.5 29,658 86.3 83.1 22.285 82.8 42.5 21.805 95.3 60.7 25.862 94.0 68.9 11.268 74.3 50.1 12.171 64.0 53.4 9.878 82.9 95.4 217 . B. Fem ales, 1906. Percentage Filled of Percentage Situations Situations Placed of Filled. OtTered. Applications. BerUn 15,182 61.3 Stuttgart 18,427 68.1 92.0 Munich 24.015 63.7 74.1 Frankfurt 15,701 74.4 82.5 Cologne 7,359 66.0 93.8 Dusseldorf 2,844 12.Z 71 A Freiburg 6,433 67.4 72.4 Strassburg 3,293 51.3 48.2 Nurnberg 4. 940 61^. 2 95 .2 Owing to differences in the methods of registration, the figures in these columns do not justify any comparison between one exchange and another; they can only be used to compare the activities of the same exchange in different years. The Cologne and Freiburg reports refer to persons applying ( Arbeitsuchendej, the others to appli- cations made (Arbeit or Stellen-gesuche), but do not all construe "application" in the same way. In Munich, at least, the recorded applications by no means represent all the actual applications. Practically all the important labor exchanges in Germany have committees of man- agement representing employers and employed. In 1896 the Trade Union Congress condemned the impartial public labor ex- changes ; in 1899 it adopted a resolution that "under present conditions the estab- lishment of public labor exchanges might be of great advantage to many trades," and recommended organized labor everywhere to take its part in the management of these institutions. Attitude of Public Labor Exchanges Tow.\rd Labor Differexces. The attitude to be adopted by public labor exchanges in matters where the interests of employers and employees are opposed has been naturally much discussed. Two questions present themselves. First — Shall the exchange intervene in questions and conditions of labor in the sense of refusing to notify situations in which wages and conditions do not conform to the "recognized," or trade union standard? The answer in Germany has everywhere been in the negative. No public labor exchange regards the enforcement of any par- ticular conditions of labor as within its functions. Employer and workman must make their own bargain ; the exchange cannot and must not attempt to do more than put them into communication. The utmost that may be done, and is often done where an employer offers an exceptionally low wage, is to call his attention to the fact, and to the small likelihood of his getting a man at that price. If, however, the employer wishes it, the exchange is bound to notify the vacancy and the wages offered. Any man willing to accept the offer is free to do so. This principle appears to have been generally accepted as self-evident by everybody concerned — by trade unionists as much as others. Around a second question — as to the attitude of the public exchanges in times of open dispute between the two parties — much controversy has raged. Shall men be supplied through these agencies to take the places of others on strike or locked out? To supply the men is apparently to take the side of the employers against the employees ; to refuse to supply them is apparently to take that of the employees against the employers. In this dilemma four principal alternatives have been adopted by different exchanges : 1. To ignore disputes altogether, i. e., to send workmen to a vacancy due to a dis- pute in exactly the same way as to any other (Nurnberg, Berlin till 1905). 2. To register vacancies created by a dispute and to notify them to applicants for work, but in doing so to give formal notice of the dispute to the individual applicants (Berlin since 1905, Cologne since 1904. Dusseldorf. Frankfurt), and also by placards placed in the exchange premises (Munich since 1898. Stuttgart since 1901, Strassburg). 3. To suspend operations within the range of the dispute during its continuance (Cologne till 1905. Barmen). 4. To make action in each case depend upon the meeting and decision of the In- dustrial Court sitting as an arbitration tribunal (Munich till 1898, Leipzig). There can be little doubt that the second of these alternatives hns most anproved itself in practice. It has been adopted in three leading cases — Berlin, Cologne, Munich — 218 after trial of one or other of the ahernatives. By 1907 the establishment or exclusive use of such an exchange has come to be a common demand of the workmen in collec- tive bargains or even the object of a strike. The remarkable conversion from former hostility to strong practical support is to be attributed to the following amongst other reasons : 1. Experience of the value of successful exchanges in shortening for the indi- vidual workmen the average period between one job and the next, and thus for the union the period of unemployed pay. 2. The failure of purely trade union exchanges to secure general use by employers, except in a few trades in which the men were already completely organized. 3. The establishment by employers of their own exchanges in definite opposition to trade unionism. A public (impartial) exchange is at any rate better from the work- men's point of view than an exchange managed deliberately with the object of main- taining a large reserve of labor or of blacklisting individual "agitators." The support given to public labor exchanges is not, indeed, uniform. The printing trade has throughout Germany its own independent organization, maintained by joint agreement of employers and employees. A very large number of trade union registries maintain a shadowy existence, and some few a real vigor. This, however, is due mainly to sectional feeling and conservatism; opposition on principle has practically died away. Suggestions Made by Mr. Percy Aldcn, M. P., for Dealing with Unemployment. (1) The Appointment of a Minister of Commerce and Industry, and the Estab- lishment of a Government Department to Deal Especially with the Question of Un- employment — If this is a national question, a special Minister at the head of a special department should have the responsibility placed upon him of dealing with it. The partial reorganization of existing departments dealing with labor is a necessary preliminary. (2) Compulsory Labor Bureaus — These bureaus in telephonic communication should be established in every district as in Germany, and should not be confined to municipal boroughs. They would supply the central department with all the facts and figures for each locality, and help to devise schemes for relief of distress by want of employment in that locality. They should do more than register the names and addresses of the unemployed. Careful investigation should be made in each case, to be followed by classification ; employers should be interviewed ; work should be found or suggested ; railway fares should be paid to districts where work was more plentiful and advice given as to relief stations, labor homes, etc. (3) Relief Stations and Labor Homes — The casual ward should be abolished and scattered throughout the coimtry, within walking distance of one day; should be relief stations and labor homes where the unemployed in return for a few hours' work can be boarded and lodged for one or two nights while a search is made for employment. There should be a labor registry in connection with each relief station and the stations and the labor bureau should "be in telephonic communication, so that the impostor and the idle vagrant may be easily discovered. (4) A Graded System of Farm and Labor Colonies — including the following types : (a) A Farm Colony for Married and Unmarried Agricultural Laborers or Men Accustomed to Work on the Land Who Have Migrated to the Town and are Willing to Return to the Country — The difficulties of repatriating the agricultural laborer are not insuperable, and the establishment of a colony removes most of them. There should be a time of probation as in Frederiksnord. in Holland. If this period is success- fully passed and the colonist has proved himself to be industrious and efficient, a free farm or small holding should be granted to him at a moderate rent, with security of tenure so long as the tenant proves himself to be able and willing to treat the land fairly. Loans of money for stock, seeds, etc., might be obtained through a local agricultural bank started by the colonv for this purpose on the Raiffeisen principle. The free farmers should be organized and taught to work co-operatively as on the small holdings in Lincolnshire and Norfolk. If cottages for the married men are to be cheaply built, the by-laws might have to be relaxed, and in any case the Government, through the county council, should assist in the matter of cheap loans for housing purposes. (b) A Farm Colony for Town-Bred Men. Controlled by a Large Municipality or a Group of Small Towns, or a Representative Committee Governing a Fairly Wide Area — These colonies would be for third and fourth rate mechanics chiefly, crushed out by severe competition, or for unskilled laborers of good character, who feel their inability to earn a permanent livelihood in the town. Changes in methods of industry 219 and severe industrial depression will account for the process of deterioration con- stantly going on in this class. Some ot them may have worked on allotments near the town; but the majority would have to be taught the rudiments of agriculture. The colony should, therefore, be an agricultural training school, so that after a period of probation men may be passed un to colony A. (c) A Colony bomewhat of the German Type, Including the Criminal Element and Men of Bad Character — The colonists would consist, in the main, of men of the low grade, unskilled, broken down through misfortune, the hopeless and weak-willed men below par, unable to hold their own in the severe competition of the town. In connection with this colony, the labor would be simpler, confined almost entirely to the more elementary work of market gardening, the improvement of land, the making of roads, the trenching of land, and a few simple indoor trades, like basket-work, brush-making and mat-making. Such men are frequently found to improve both in body and mind under the healthy conditions of colony life. The best of them would again be passed on to colony B. (d) Poor Law Farms for Epileptics, Inebriates and the Physically Defective — The various classes of inmates should be kept separate, and it would be as well to classify in each section. The treatment should be scientific and medical, for example, the percentage of cures in the cases of epilepsy is much greater where sufficient pains in the first place have been taken to trace the causes of the disease. At Bielfeld and W ilhelmsdorf much more care is now being exercised in this matter. For inebriates there are well-known methods of medical treatment which considerably shorten the time during which it is necessary to stay on a farm colony. (e ) Poor Law Colonies Compulsory for the Vagrant and the Wastrel — The example of the Belgian colonies must not be too closely followed. Every effort should be made to reform the vagabond, so that, while compelled to work, he may feel that a door of escape into a higher colony is still left open if only he chooses to avail himself of it. Many of our idle "ne'er-do-wells" are men who have sunk to this low level not altogether as a result of their own evil habits, but partly by reason of the fact that lack of work has caused them to become demoralized and degraded. A certain percentage even of these men might be reformed if properly treated, just as the young criminal is reclaimed by the Borstal system in England, or by the Elmira system in the United States. Men who are at present in a Poor Law farm, like that of Poplar, able-bodieH inmates of the workhouse, now willing and ready to do a good day's work, would naturally be handed on to a higher type of colony. (5) Unemployment Committees or Councils — These committees or councils with spending power conferred by legislation and dealing with the unemployed question over wide areas should consist of representatives of existing bodies somewhat on Mr. Walter Long's plan, with power to call to their aid the trades and union leaders. They should have full authority to deal with the whole problem and to co-ordinate the various agencies throughout their districts. The cost should be borne partly by the local authorities concerned, and partly by the Imperial Government. Under the control of these unemployment committees would be all local relief work, relief stations and labor homes throughout the area, together with a central bureau and one or more labor colonies on the lines already indicated. (6) The Reclamation of Foreshores and Waste Land, the Building of Sea-walls, etc., by the Government Department, on the Lines of the Experiments Made by the Dutch Government — The great advantage of this work is that much of it can be left for periods of depressed trade, when the unemployed of the large towns can be drafted out for periods of one or two months at a time. (7) The Apportionment of the Wasted Land by the Government — A beginning should be made with crown lands suitable for this purpose, thus creating a new and profitable industry. There are over ten million acres of waste lands in the United Kingdom suitable for afforestation purposes. C8) The Improvement of Canals and Inland Waterways — To be purchased by the Government at the present valuation. (9) The Reorganization of the Port of London, Carrying Out the Recommenda- tions of the Royal Commission with a View tn — (a) The improvement of the port and river. (h) The reclamation of the river foreshores and (c) The abolition so far as possible of casual labor in the docks. (10) Government Grants to Trades Union Unemployed Insurance, with a view to the encouragement of this form of self-help amongst all grades of skilled labor. The subsidies should be proportionate to the contributions of the trades unions. (11) A Shorter Working Day for All Government and Municipal Employees — This should especially be the case with regard to those who are employed in the work 220 of transport and locomotion, where foreign competition can play only a very small part. It has been pointed out that in the case of the London County Council tram- ways, shorter hours in conjunction with proper management have resulted in increased profits. (12) Until some, at least, of these recommendations are carried out, disfranchise- ment as a result of receiving Poor Law relief should be abolished. At present only the industrious poor are so disqualified, for the remainder, as a rule, have no fixed ■domicile. In addition to these direct methods of dealing with the problem of unemployment we must never forget that the solution of the question depends, in the long run, not so much on the immediate palliatives which we may be able to suggest as upon such reconstruction and reorganization of society as will give prominence to the ethical and the co-operative rather than the competitive factors in our national Hfe. While every eflfort is made to improve and strengthen individual character and to encourage the formation of such habits as will help to obviate many of the social ills we deplore. ■we must not forget the tendency of conditions and environment to create those evils. REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE COMMITTEE ON CHARI- TIES OF THE NEW YORK CITY COMMISSION ON CONGESTION OF POPULATION, PREPARED BY ALDERMAN STEPHEN CALLAGHAN, CHAIRMAN. After careful consideration of the causes of poverty in New York City, the Com- mittee have come to the following conclusions : First. That causes of poverty, such as unemployment, accident, bad housing or underemployment, low wages, overcrowding, sickness, widowhood, lack of male support, inefficiency or lack of training, drunkenness or laziness and pre-eminently the high cost of land and high rents due to land speculation and unjust methods of taxation, are not in any way removed or even materially improved, but rather aggra- vated by the present methods of both public and private charity in New York City. Public charity officials admit that they do not attempt to ascertain the causes which bring the patients to Bellevue or other public institutions, but merely take them as they come, and do the best possible for them when they make application, with the exception, of course, that they do not assist those who have not a legal right or claim to public charity. It is manifestly impossible for them to do this careful investigation unless they have larger appropriations for this specific purpose. It i= not the function of this Committee, it understands, to discuss or pass upon the efficiency of administration of any city or state charitable institution, since there are now municipal administrative committees charged with this duty, but merely to indicate to what extent the institutions are made necessary by congestion of popula- tion and room overcrowding and what effect they have upon perpetuating congestion and room overcrowding or really relieving these conditions. It is inevitable that with the multiplicity of private charities in the City responsi- ble to no one and dependent for adequate support upon the showing they make of persons relieved, visits paid. etc.. that there should be both duplication and waste. The City has not at present any outdoor relief — that is. relief to the poor in their homes, with the exception of pensions to the blind, this municipal function having been assumed bv private charitable societies with an enormous influence in the State Legislature on the plea that they could administer this relief to the poor of the City more economically, more efficiently and with better net results to the City as a whole, and thpt the City cannot be trusted to give public outdoor relief because there would be "politics" in it. The Committee finds, however, the following fact? with respect to outdoor relief. i. e.. relief to the poor in their homes by private charities: CI ) Over 150.000 persons, it is known, receive outdoor relief and a larger mmiber. counting in the beneficiaries of churches and small charities, probably at least 500.0CO persons, receive some relief annually in New York City, at least one in every nine persons in the Citv. (2) Much of the relief given by these societies is given to people living in con- gested districts with very high land values where they cannot possibly afford a proper standard of living on the usual wages for unskilled workers. (3) Relief is being given by certain charities in the City to people living in such unhealthy rooms and apartments that the Department of Health refused to grant a license for home manufacture, which indicates that the rooms M'ere in very bad condition. (4) Relief is given by private societies to families in tenements where manu- facture is constantly going on. 221 (5) That altliough private charities claimed a few years ago when they opposed pubHc outdoor relief, that they could meet the needs of the community for such relief, they are manifestly unable to meet these needs, if a decent standard is maintained among the wage-earners of the city. Honest and self-respecting citizens hesitate to apply to any society for relief, and the relief given by some of the large societies is inadequate to maintain a family and is not continued for a sufficiently long time, as admitted by some of the large societies. More money is given by societies in time of unemployment and in dull trade seasons. (6) That a large part of the money gfvtn by private charity is wasted or un- necessary because it is given to make amends or to counteract the results of bad housing conditions and unsafe or underpaid employment. The financial agent (at that time) of one of the oldest charities in Manhattan stated before the Committee that, "between one-half and two-thirds of the money spent on charity in the city is wasted or unnecessary." • The evidence presented by experts in charitable work and by a study of actual records shows that the public and private charity of the city is at best an ineffective and costly method of attempting to make atonement for bad housing conditions, low wages, and the evident desire of certain manufacturers in New York City to keep within walking distance of their factories a surplus of unskilled workers. They well know that starvation knows no minimum wage, and that the hordes of immigrants who come to this city looking for employment will for some time continue to work for these starvation wages. The continuance of private or public charity to these classes of unfortunates means that the land speculator, the tenement sweater and the exploiting manufacturer put upon the respectable and hard working citizens of New York City the burden of caring for the victims of their injustice and this means a very large share of the $15,000,000 which the City and state spend in New York City. As for private charity's expendi- tures of about $20,000,000 annually, this represents a premium put upon these private charities by these same three classes of exploiters of New York's wage earners, in so far as their exploitation creates the need for this expenditure. Third. So long as the present causes of poverty and sickness continue the cost to the public and private charity of the City will not only continue but necessarily increase. Even with the enormous expenditures today by the City and by the hun- dreds of private charitable societies but a small part of the money required to counter- act the results of the death-dealing conditions in the City is really spent. New York has never yet estimated what it would cost to do two things which it should long since have undertaken. To care through public funds for all the widows with children who are compe- tent to care for their children in their own healthy homes. To eradicate consumption as far as it exists to-day. It must in fairness be stated that so long as the occupancy of rooms now legally permitted to be occupied con- tinues, we shall continue to have about 28,000 new cases of consumption and 10,000 deaths from consumption every year, but the city is under solemn obligations to spend any amount needed to restore to health the lives of the citizens now being murdered with the City's connivance in the tenements of the City and as well to care for the families of these victims, and while this may be done under the Department of Public Charities, it must not be regarded as a charity, but rather as a solemn obligation the City owes to the families of those slaughtered in process of creating land values in the imperial City. The cost of carmg adequately for the present cases of consumption will be ap- proximately $8,000,000 for the first year, $5,000,000 for the second and lesser amounts each .succeeding year. Recommendations of the Committee. The Committee beg to make the following recommendations :^ (I) All private charities in the City, whether directly receiving subsidy from the City or not, but who occupy land or buildings exempt from taxation should be under the same supervision of the Department of Finance as those directly receiv- ing per diem appropriations from the City are now under supervision by the State Board of Charities. As has already been pointed out mo.st of these charities receive valuable appropriation from the City in the form of exemption frorn taxation, which amounts to approximately one-sixtieth at present of the total valuation of their land and improvements, and in some cases amounts to as much as several thousand dollars a year. In addition, the policy of many private societies is to give relief without much, and often without any realization of, the results of the charity. If immigrants become a charge on public charities within three years of their arrival they become liable to de- 222 portation under the Immigration Law ; they may, however, apply with impunity to private charities and receive sufficient aid to enable them to maintain a proper standard of living, and then as soon as the three years expire they are eligible to assistance from the public charities of the City or State. On the other hand, the giving of private charity to people in congested districts is most expensive to the City. In the long run the City or State must take care of the poor of any community, if private charities find that families applying for relief do not live properly or exert themselves ade- quately, they withhold or refuse relief, and this is the most that they can do to secure normal conditions in the family. With ^ich a wealth of charities in the City to turn to, however, the family that has even one member not feeble-minded can readily secure assistance. The city is ultimately responsible for the living or death of its citizens, and however zealous and scientific private charities may be they should not be permitted to assume the functions of government without governmental supervision at least. The present tendency of private charities is to give relief to those who apparently need it most and they unquestionably tend to hold in New York City many people who might otherwise take work outside of the City, even in those cities and districts without the multitudinous charities of New York. The City, as ultimate sponsor for citizens, should regulate and .supervise the work of private charities for citizens. At present there is no such supervision of the hundreds of smaller charities, ex- cept a Bureau of Advice and Information in the Charity Organization Society, which reports upon the fitness of societies or organizations applying to the public for support. It is an interesting illustration of the assumption by private charities of the regu- lative function of government, but indefensible on either practical or theoretical grounds. Strong charities such as the Charity Organization Society and presumably others should welcome City supervision over private charities. (2) More careful supervision should be made between classes of applicants for public charity; that is, a distinction should be drawn upon the basis of previous effort and conduct between those who apply for public relief. Those who have been hard working and thrifty and who are in want through conditions entirely be- yond their control such as loss of health through unsanitary housing or labor condi- tions or through the death or sickness or injury of the wage earner should not be treated as paupers in any sense of the word. They are entitled to relief just as much as veterans of a war. On the other hand those who have been shiftless and improvi- dent or have been addicted to the excessive use of drink or to other excesses should be treated on an entirely different basis. Any assistance given to the former class should be regarded as relief due them by the City; any assistance given to the latter class should be regarded as charity and the taking thereof should involve a stigma upon the recipient. To a certain extent this distinction is already made by the Department of Public Charities. The agents of many of the large charitable societies frequently stated before your Committee that their societies are unable to meet the demands upon them, and that they are unable to give adequate relief to the families regarded as under their care or to continue that relief for a sufficient length of time. (3) Private charities having shown definitely that they cannot provide the assistance which is needed by the poor of New York City, it is evident that recourse must be had to public outdoor relief; that is, to relief by the City to the families whose chief wage earner is unable to provide for them in their own homes outside of con- gested districts. In this way the City can prevent much of the sickness and resultant expense to the taxpayers, due to the under-nourishment of families and, at the same time, encourage the distribution of families. Your committee appreciate that there are some dangers in this policy of improving the condition of the poor, which we dis- cuss, but believe that these dangers are not anv more serious than are those of relief by private charities. Dangers of Public Outdoor Relief. (a) The relief may practically result in a lowering of wages since the employer may feel that as the City will look after his workers if he doesn't pay them sufficient wages, he may, therefore, with impunity, continuously underpay them. This danger inheres equally in giving relief to the ooor by private charities, and the Committee on Labor and Wages of this Commission have already suggested a corrective to such pro- cedure on the part of the employer by suggesting the creation of an Industrial Com- mission in the City, whose duties it shall be not only to intervene when strikes or lock- outs are threatened but as well constantly to investigate labor conditions and wages paid in the City, both to skilled and unskilled wage earners, organized and unorgan- ized, and to endeavor, by persuasion, and where necessary, by publicity, to secure the payment of better wages. (b) "Politics" will interfere with the giving of adequate relief to families who need it, and, will involve waste and giving of large sums to families when the wage- 223 earning voters belong to the party in power. Undoubtedl}' there may be a tendency to utilize the expenditure of any public funds to further political ends just as the dis- tribution of private funds by private societies is susceptible of being used for the furthering of private ends. In the judgment of the Connnittec, however, any such improper use of funds can be corrected by proper publicity. (c) The net result of the City's giving relief to the poor in their homes will be to give this charity to the landowner and tenement sweater since it anchors people in congested districts. In so far as relief is given to people in congested districts by the City, when they would otherwise move to sections where they could get healthier hous- ing at lower rents, the same benefit will be conferred upon landlord and tenement owner, as is conferred when the relief is given to those in these places by the private charities of the City. It is true that this is the result of a good deal of private charity and that the ultimate beneficiaries of so-called charity, a difference between public and private charity is, that the giver of private charity has no control whatsoever over the recipients of their charity, except a shadowy moral control and the threat to withhold relief. It is only government that can determine the location of recipients of charity and government which should do so. Private charities may continue their care of families as long as they have funds to do this and then drop the families, but the City is responsible in the long run for the indigent sick and infirm. It need hardly be stated that the City should not, any more than should private charity, give any relief to people living in unsanitary tenements in congested districts or to those who are dissipated. As has already been stated a distinction should be made in relief granted to various classes of applicants. Out- door Relief should be dispensed through a Board of Trustees of Public Outdoor Relief, appointed by the Mayor, analogous to the trustees of Bellevue and Allied Hospitals, to be provided with an expert administrator, offices, investigators and equipment. Although the Committee have not found that all the witnesses who have appeared before them have agreed with them on this proposition, they are willing to accept the conclusion reached by the Minority of the English Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress. This conclusion is given in the Minority Report (p. 690) : "That the abolition of Outdoor Relief to the non-ablebodied is, in our judg- ment, wholly impracticable, and, even if it were possible, it would be contrary to the public interest. There are, and in our opinion there always will be, a large number of persons to whom public assistance must be given, who can, with most advantage to the community, continue to live at home ; for instance, widows with children whose homes deserve to be maintained intact, sick persons for whom domiciliary treatment is professionally recommended, the worthy aged having relatives with whom they can reside, and such of the permanently incapacitated (the crippled, the blind, etc.) as can safelv be left with their friends. Nor can the community rely on voluntary char- ity providing for these cases. In many places such charity does not exist, and in many others there is no warrant for assuming that it would ever be adequate to_ the need. Moreover, our investigations show that voluntary charity, in so far as it exists in the forms of doles and allowances to persons in their homes, has all the disastrous char- acteristics of a laxly administered Poor Law." It should be noted that despite the fact that there are in New York City hun- dreds of relief-giving agencies, that there are practically none in either Queens or Richmond, while their efforts have been concentrated chiefly in the congested Borough of Manhattan and the congesting sections of Brooklyn and The Bronx. (4) The City should pay pensions to widows with children when these widows are competent to care for their children. The number of widows with several chil- dren in New York City at present can be only estimated, but the methods now fol- lowed by the private charities and the City alike in dealing with such cases is entirely unsatisfactory. Private charities admit that they cannot give adequate relief, while the City, to a large extent, separates the family, putting the children in_ institutions and letting the mother earn her own living, when the total cost of caring for three or four "children in institutions, whether public institutions or private institutions, in receipt of per diem or weekly appropriations from the City, may be greater than the cost of caring for the entire family. The care the mother can give the children is worth, however, a larger expenditure by the City. This relief should also be admin- istered through the Board of Trustees of Public Outdoor Relief, but widows should be required to live in districts selected by this Board of Trustees, and in wards with a density of not over 300 to the acre, and under housing conditions approved by this ' Mr Homer Folks, former Commissioner of Public Charities of New York, al- though questioning the feasibility of public relief to the poor in their homes, favored 224 before the Committee the granting of pensions by the City to widows with children, .provided the mothers meet certain standards as to character. He emphasized, how- ever, that this relief should not be regarded in any sense as charity to the widows, but that it should be done on a basis, so far as practical, to take it out of the realm of charity and approach as nearly as possible to an indemnity for the earning capacity of the husband, so that the mother may be enabled to bring up her children as they would have been brought up had their father lived and worked for them. Former Commissioner of Public Charities, Robert W. Hebberd, stated that some private charities in the City do not give, as a rule, more than $1 to $1.50 a week to families, which, of course, is not enough to support the family adequately, so that the family must be broken up and the children placed in institutions. He strongly endorsed the City's giving pensions to good widows with children. Mrs. Mary Kingsbury Simkhovitch, who has been for many years head resident of Greenwich House Settlement, and in constant touch with the conditions of poor families on the lower East side, advocated the giving of pensions to such widows with children as the only humane method of meeting the City's responsibility to their families, as well as a more economical method of caring for the children. The Minority Report of the Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress recommends : "That for widows or other mothers in distress having the care of young children, residing in homes not below the national minimum of sanitation, and being themselves not adjudged unworthy to have children entrusted to them, there should be granted adequate home aliment on condition of their devoting their whole time and energy to the care of the children. That for the childless wives of able- bodied men in attendance at a training establishment, adequate home aliment be granted, conditional on their devoting their time to such further training in domestic economy as may be prescribed for them." (5) The City should adopt a policy of removing charitable institutions from congested districts (except emergency hospitals and similar institutions). Mrs. Flor- ence Kellcy has submitted to the Committee a list of 50 institutions of different kinds located in congested sections of New York. The total assessed values of the sites alone of six of these institutions in 1909 amounted to $4,026,000, which is, of course, tax exempt, while the total appropriation by the City to these six institutions for 1910 was $945,487.66. The cost to the City and the wastefulness of permitting such- institu- tions to occupy costly exempt sites is very serious, but even more serious is the evil effect upon the children and other inmates of such institutions. The congestion and overcrowding in some of these institutions, the Committee was informed, is as serious as exists in any tenements in the City. Commissioner Folks, who is recognized throughout the world_ as an expert in child saving and child caring work, stated that the most serious evil of the crowded conditions in institutions for children is the fact that children do not have a chance to develop the affections in a purely normal way, and it is impossible to reproduce the kind of home life they will have to live subsequently. Mrs. Florence Kelley also called attention to the fact that for the health and wel- fare of public charges it is obviously desirable that they should have most favorable surroundings, which they cannot have in the crowded parts of New York City. By reason, too, of the unsuitable location of certain charitable institutions in New York, the City's charges committed to them cannot be employed at outdoor occupations such as might befit tlieir physical and moral needs, but are confined to the work of the institutions and the needle trades and laundry work. These latter aro two of the most undesirable occupations for which women and girls can be trained. Various suggestions have been made as to the best methods of securing the removal of the scores of charitable institutions now located in congested districts of the City. Commissioner Hebberd recommended that a much larger per capita appro- priation be given to institutions that are organized on the cottage plan in the country, so that this in itself would be an inducement to remove their institutions. He also advocated the City's taking an active policy in encouraging the removal by refusing to give them appropriations after a stated time. Commissioner Folks also stated : "It is essentially the right thing for the City to use its influence to expedite the removal of such institutions to the country, and insist upon its being done. T do not mean by any harsh methods o^ through coercion. I would begin by calling on them for a statement as to whether thev are planning to go to the country and when they expect to go, and by declaring that the City was in favor of this cottage system, and urging upon these institutions to adopt it and that within a reasonable time, and then again later call upon them for a report of progress, and if they have not in any way given the matter attention or done anything further about adopting this plan, fix a time limit for them to do something in." The Committee therefore recommend that the Comptroller should be re- 225 quested to ascertain from the management of everj' charitable institution, except emergency hospitals in Manhattan and lower Bronx and the western half of Brooklyn, in receipt of per capita, per diem or weekly appropriations from the City for their inmates, as well as from the City departments, whether they plan to remove from these districts to cheaper land, either in the outer sections of the City or in the City limits, and if so, when they plan to move, and that they should be notified that if they have not taken any steps to move their institutions prior to July 1, 1912, that they will not be eligible for any appropriation from the City for the year 1913. They feel that this action is justified, inasmuch as the assessed land values of charitable institutions tax exempt in congested districts in the City amounts to approximately $25,000,000. This land being tax exempt, is assessed at lower values than it would be if improved by buildings for commercial, business or tenement purposes; moreover, the buildings themselves are, of course, tax exempt, and it is most conservative to estimate that the property including several scores of acres would, if improved by buildings for commercial and business purposes, add an additional taxable value to the City of ap- proximately $70,000,000. This amount, it must be remembered, represents approxi- mately one one-hundredth of the taxable value of the real estate in New York City, including land, improvements, real estate of corporations and special franchises. At a tax rate of $1.80 per hundred on the assessed value, this represents a total annual loss to the City of $1,260,000, and this is practically a net loss, since the total values of land and buildings in the outlying sections of the City would be a relatively small ag- gregate as compared with this loss to the City of the tax exemption on these institu- tions in the central part of New York. The total assessed value of private and public charitable institutions in Manhattan, The Bronx and the western and north central part of Brooklyn in 1910 was $68,523,050, and the total appropriations made to chari- table institutions through the Comptroller's office was $4,734,252.26. While it does not come directly within the scope of the Committee on Charities to refer even to the labor problem, they nevertheless note their agreement with the Minority Report of the English Royal Commission on the Poor Laws and Relief of Distress, "that no effective steps can be taken towards the 'Decasualization of Casual Labor,' and the Suppression of Unemployment, without simultaneously taking action to ensure the immediate absorption, or else to provide the full and honorable main- tenance, at the public expense, of the surplus of laborers that will thereby stand revealed." This does not mepn that the Committee believe that the City or the State is responsible for furnishing work to the workless in New York City, nor would they make this the Mecca for those who do not work for more than a few hours a day or a few months or weeks in the year. They recognize fully that although statistics have not been prepared showing that immigrants as they arrive in New York cannot maintain enough to support themselves, yet the consensus of opinion has been that the enormous majority of immigrants are living in overcrowded conditions even for a number of years after they arrive here, largely because they cannot produce the amount necessary to enable them to maintain the standard of living in New York City. It would certainly be a serious mistake for the City to attract any more immigrants to become a public charge, even for a few years after their arrival. As a practical means, however, of enabling the class who are now practically dependents, and the vastly larger numbers who would be dependents upon either public or private charities if New York City dares to enforce a decent and healthy standard of housing, the Committee suggest that the City should purchase large tracts of land, either in par- tially settled sections of the Boroughs of Richmond and Brooklyn and Queens, where land has today only a nominal value, and provide decent homes for the City's poor similar to the New York City Farm Colony, as the report of that institution shows that inmates of this colony are able to raise a large proportion of the vegetables which they consume. While also statistics have not been kept either by private charities giving relief which indicate to what extent their beneficiaries must live near their work, they indicate the following very important causes of poverty: Long hours of work, temporary employment, low wages, high rentals and lack of training. The Committee are convinced that it will be entirely feasible to train adults in agriculture and in gardening in this larger City Farm Colony, as the State is distincly and sorely in need of trained agriculturists and farm laborers. The people who do this work should be paid at the rate locally current for the work, while any products should be sold by the City at the current rates ; also, a careful record should be kept of the actual cost of the institution to the City. (6) The Committee also urges the necessity of a Municipal Labor Exchange or Bureau, and that the State be urged to undertake immediately the reclamation of waste lands in the State, as well as a wiser forestry policy. The Committee have not underestimated either the responsibility of industry for the support of workers nor the personal element and individual responsibility for 226 poverty. They endorse the principle of workingmen's compensation and employers' liability. They recognize that both public and private relief, whether indoor or out- door, are only interim measures, but nevertheless essential under present organization of society. They urge the development of a system of public social insurance, and that such a system of public insurance be adopted, based upon cost and incumbent upon all members of the community with an income of less than $1,200 a vear and permissive up to $2,000. A. Statement of Hon. Robert JV. Hebberd, Secretary of the Slate Board of Charities, on Charities. There are a great many charities connected with churches as well as fraternal societies in the City that are spending large sums for charity and it is not possible to estimate exactly what they are spending. It is evident, however, that the present methods of charitable societies is not improving permanently the sufiferers from con- gestion or establishing better standards of living, because they are not deaUng ef- fectively with conditions which are making their work necessary. We cannot exterminate consumption without distributing population and keeping people out of unsanitary and dark buildings in which they are living now. It is very difficult for the government to establish completely a standard of living, that is to determine what food and how much people must eat, but the state or municipality must ■establish a housing standard. Alderman Callaghan : Do you think public outdoor relief should be given, or can the private charities themselves meet the present demands? Commissioner Hebberd : Private charities claimed some time ago that outdoor relief in New York City was a bad thing and detrimental to the public interest and secured its abolition, claiming that they could meet the needs. It would be better for private charities to come out now and say that they are not able to raise the money needed to relieve destitution in the City and that they are not filling the bill in this respect. The National Conference on Dependent Children called by President Roosevelt emphasized the fact that good women bringing up children should be helped in their homes, since this is a great deal better for them than breaking up the homes and placing the children in institutions. In order to do this, however, private charities in the City must pay the mother larger sums than they do at present. Some charities do not give as a rule more than $1 per week for families, which of course is not enough to enable them to support the family adequately, even with what the families can earn themselves. Alderman Callaghan : Should the City give money to private charities giving relief in homes and exercise very careful supervision over the expenditure thereof? Commissioner Hebberd : The City should not give money to private charities giving relief in homes until private charities admit they cannot raise the money necessary to look after families in their charge. Alderman Campbell: Can you give any figures of cost of children in institutions? Commissioner Hebberd : The City pays $2.10 per child per week for all children committed through the City departments to institutions; and if they are cared for on the cottage plan 25 cents per week more per child. A good many of the private chil- dren's societies, however, pay money to families who board their children, if the children are kept in good condition. The City should pay at least 50 cents per week per child more in institutions which care for children on the cottage system since this would be a great incentive to them to go into the country where the children would be healthier and be better kept; $2.10 per child per week is not sufficient to meet the ex- pense of shelter, food, doctoring, clothing and teaching of children and the City is not paying enougn at present so that the children can be properly cared for. Most of the institutions are giving the City more than they, are paid for and the State Board of Charities has supervision over all institutions which are drawing public money, and they cannot secure the funds or appropriation until they have a certificate from the State Board of Charities that the conditions are right and children or others well cared for. The Commissioner of Public Charities in New York City should, however, have some one who could visit these institutions more regularly and keep closer supervision over the children. The Brooklyn Howard Colored Orphan Asylum has difficulty in getting a sufficient support to care properly for children in its charge at the low rate paid by the City, but they have promised to move out to St. James, L. I. Unless an institution has a large enough endowment or Brothers and Sisters to serve without pay, they cannot afford to give children adequate care at $2.10 per child per week. Alderman Callaghan: In what condition are the hospitals in the City? 227 Commissioner Hebberd : They are also under supervision of the State Board of Charities if in receipt of public money. At least 1,200 cubic feet per patient is required; although the State Board of Charities decided to permit that to be reduced in certain hospitals to 800 cubic feet if superior ventilating conditions are provided. The City has not made any appropriation for the construction of buildings for some time, although the population is increasing at the rate of 150,000 a year and the number of sick and infirm to be cared for increases about 500 to 1,000 a year and the City must make large appropriations to catch up with the needs. Alderman Callaghan : Should hospitals except emergency hospitals be moved out of the City? Commissioner Hebberd : It is not feasible to do that for most hospitals, but Blackwells Island and Randalls Island should be kept for children and Flatbush Hospital in Brooklyn should also be improved with hospital parks for the sick. Penal institutions should be removed to Rikers Island and the workhouse to Harts Island. Penal institutions should be placed outside of New York City or on the islands. About $35,000,000 was spent in New York City by private and public charities last year, including expenditures by the State for public charities. Expenditures for Public Charities, including Department of Health and Bellevue and State Hospitals $15,000,000 00 Expenditures for Private Charities about 20,000,000 00 This estimate includes construction of buildings and interest on investments for various public and private charities. The policy of giving inadequate relief by private charities tends to keep people in congested districts. The Tenement House Law regarding overcrowding should be enforced as it is not enforced at present, and the City would then see what the result would be in diminishing overcrowding in the rooms. A few cases vigorously enforced would suffice to deter people from living several in a room. Commissioner Hebberd was asked whether the private charities not in receipt of public moneys should be under the control of the public authorities, but preferred not to commit himself on that point at present. The Hospital Commission Report suggests the provision of large yards for hos- pitals. Alderman Campbell: Are there any young men in the almshouse? Commisioner Hebberd : There are a few able-bodied men in the almshouse and there are opportunities for them to work on the farm. Any young men there are in some respect mentally deficient. B. Statement Submitted by Mr. Homer Folks, Secretary of the State Charities Aid Association, Formerly Member of the Board of Aldermen of New York City and Commissioner of Public Charities, 1902 to 1903. Chairman Callaghan asked Mr. Folks if he had prepared a statement to the questions which had been submitted to him and Mr. Folks replied that he had not done so, but said he had looked them over and would comment informally as follows: "The topics which you have asked me to speak on include a number of subjects on which the State Charities Aid Association has had no occasion to take any attitude on or to give any study to, and I will therefore speak not as Secretary of that organi- zation but entirely as an individual. Answering the first question as to what is the result of maintaining charitable institutions in congested districts where land values are high, my answer is that further congestion is the result, and congestion of a very serious kind in these institutions. I am more especially interested in the institution for the care of needy children and have no hesitation in saying that to keep these institutions in the congested portion of the City is an extremely unfortunate thing for the inmates of these institutions irrespective of any effect it may have on those portions of the City. As to land values, of that I do not feel quahfied to speak, but as to the inmates of the institutions, I have given that matter considerable thought for a long time. We have some very good illustrations of institutions that have moved out and have rebuilt in the country where they can get plenty of land at a moderate price and where they can build on the cottage plan and the building on small farms and the directors secure individual atten- tion .for each inmate there and bring each inmate there in closer relation with grown- up people who care for them and who are called House Mothers and House Fathers. I think it is the general belief of all institutions that the cottage plan is desirable. It is recognized by the City, as the Board of Estimate pay a larger sum per week to institutions that have adopted this plan. Among these are the St. Christopher's Home for Children at Dobbs Ferry, and the Orphan Asylum Society, which left Riverside 228 Drive and went out to Hastings, the New York Catholic Protectory in its country- branch in the upper portion of Westchester, all have this plan, and the Hebrew Guardian Association is now rebuilding on the cottage plan in the country. The Catholic Protectory have a section of a large farm and are putting up some buildings on the modified cottage plan. My impressions are that there is nothing more serious than the congested conditions of some of these institutions in the sense of having such a large number of people in a very small area, as for instance the older portion of the New York Catholic Protectory. I think the situation is fully appreci- ated by the managers of these institutions and they would be glad if they could see their way clear to finance the new enterprise and move out to the country and rebuild on the cottage plan; at least I know that some of the managers feel that way about it. (a) The evils of having a largo number of children in institutions in congested districts are of many kinds. There are those that are purely physical, there are those that relate to the normal development of the children, there are those that relate to the mental development and the impossibility of reproducing the kind of homelife they will have to live in subsequently, and the most serious of these in my judgment is the moral considerations, as the children do not have a chance to develop the affections in a purely normal way. Q. Should private charities be encouraged to continue institutions in such districts ? A. No, I think that where the City largely supports institutions, as it does in most cases, or even if it pays nothing at all, it is not only the proper thing for the City to use its influence to secure their removal to the country, but it is par-excellence the way to accomplish the result, and as the City has a great deal more at stake than anybody else as to the character of its future citizens, and as the surroundings and life of these children to-day have so much to do with the future character of these men and women, it is essentiall}' the right thing for the City to use its influence to expedite the removal of such institutions to the country and insist upon its being done, f ('o not mean by any harsh methods or through coercion. 1 would begin by calling on them- for a statement as to whether they are planning to go to the country and when mey expect to go and by declaring that the City was in 'favor of the cottage sysem and urging upon these institutions to adopt it and that within a reasonable time, and then again later call upon them for a report of progress and if they have not in any way given the matter attention, or done anything further about adopting this plan, fix a time limit for them to do something in. Q. Why do charitable institutions remain in the City and desire to remain? A. Inertia. The fact that the managers can visit them more readily, that the parents of the children can visit them more frequently and that perhaps they had not heard about this other way of doing it very much and had not given the matter any consideration if they had heard. Then I think that no doubt that naturally they are waiting for their city property to increase in value so that it will enable them to buy and build ; some of our wealthiest charity institutions gained their wealth in that way. Q. What is the result of giving charity to the residents of congested districts and occupants of overcrowded rooms in such districts? A. li you mean the giving of private charity by private asociations, etc.. T would say that it all depends on how wisely it is given. In its best form, fami- lies should be removed from their overcrowded rooms and overcongested dis- tricts and forced to live under conditions which are healthy and sanitary. The giving of help in many cases should be dependent upon these people maintaining better standards of living and more sanitary conditions. The enforcement of rules for health and sanitary conditions should remain entirely on t'nose getting relief. Relief giving does not have any effect either one way or the other, except as it is inadequate on one hand or adequate and with proper standards on the other. (b) As to that part of the question relating to sanitation. I think I shoflld plead not having any particular knowledge on that, as I have never gone into the matter at all, and if I should have to consider this matter I would call upon experts to advise me. Prof. C. E. Winslow of the City College is one very excellent authority on that subject. Q. To what extent, if at all, do private charities, by inadequate relief to people living in congested districts and overcrowded rooms, increase the cost of the public charity of the City by making it possible for people to remain in congested quarters to their physical deterioration or impairment? A. That implies a degree of knowledge of the different private charities which I do not possess. I do not know. I should believe, generally speaking, a reasonably high standard is maintained ; I have no means of knowing. Q. Are private charities able to meet the cost of providing decent or healthy 229 standard of housing for underpaid workers in congested quarters? If not, should the City renew its policy of giving relief to the poor in the homes' A. By private charities I take you to mean those that administer private funds. I believe that the state should exercise the power of inspection over all charitable institutions, whether public or private, where there is charity given, not only to pre- vent the waste of money, but more particularly to protect people from being in- jured. I am clear and strong on that, but I should not, however, think it desirable that the City or State should have the authority to lay down rules and regulations by which the private charities handling private funds should operate, but I think the power to inspect these institutions and careful reports made of the conditions found, and the publicity of this information would cure the evils, but I do not believe that we have better administration when we tie these people hand and foot by rules and regulations. No. I do not think that private charities are able to meet the cost of providing decent housing for underpaid workers, etc. At least they say they are not, and I am willing to take their word for it. I know, for instance, that the Hebrew Society have at times said that it was not able to give relief to those that came to it, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society in Brooklyn have stated that at times it was forced to stand by and see the children of widows committed to institutions, and the home in this way broken up when they would have liked to keep the home together by charit5% but were unable to do so. I do not think that the City should re-establish a general outdoor relief sys- tem, and do not think we would be any better off with such a system than we are now, for the reason that so long that it is given as charity to all kinds of people needing relief, it will alwaj's be asked and those that really do need it will not ask for it, and those that will take advantage of it many times are not the most worthy of it, and the worthy poor will not apply. As to what they do in this respect in foreign countries, I do not know. I do not think that this relief business should be broken up, and not necessarily that all should be treated alike. For instance, I think it is possible to treat a widow and her family in an entirely different way from others. That is a problem by itself. I think the time has come when we ought to consider the necessity of making some more adequate provision for widows in their homes. Now, of course, if private charity comes forward with a large amount for that purpose this might meet the situation, but it has not done so yet. I do not believe that the distribution of public funds to widows who meet certain other standards as to the character, etc., would be exposed to the evils that would be attached to a general outdoor relief system, and that it should be done on the basis, as far as practical, as to take it out of the re'alm of charity and approach as near as possible to an indemnity for the earning capacity of the husband, and I think this would be working along the right lines, and if the widow did not wish to make a public charge of her children she should be helped in this way to bring up her children as they would have been had the husband's wages continued, and the nearer we can come to making this method possible the more it would realize my standards and views. Of course this applies only to the respectable widow with children. If some plan could be worked out by which we could pension the widows or as an indemnity for the loss of the hus- band's earnings, I think \-ou would find a good deal of support for that. It is a hard plan to work out, but I have no doubt but that it is the correct principle. Q. I think the only condition should be that she occupy quarters that comply with the minimum standards of air, space and light, but I would not say that she should go to the country, but that she should live in the proper kind of quarters as to light, windows, etc., which go to make sanitary conditions and healthy condi- tions, and I think it should be one of the provisions, however, that there should be no boarders in such quarters and some means outlined to make sure that this is complied with. Q. What is the ultimate result of giving relief to the poor in congested dis- tricts ? A. The result of giving relief depends on how wisely it is given. I do not think it tends to reduce wages or increase congestion, if properly done, and I do not see how it increases land speculation. Q. What should be the relief policy of the city with respect to the care of widows with children now living in congested districts and overcrowded rooms? A. I am ready for the City or State, if the private charities do not come for- ward and do it, to see either the City or State provide for widows with children. I think it is time that widows with children should be provided for by the City or State, and I do not believe that a woman can be a mother and be wage earner and take care of the children at the same time, that is, if there are several children. Even if the children were sent to a Day Nursery in the daytime, I believe it would 230 be asking too much for a mother to take care of herself and two children continu- ally; she would break down, get tuberculosis, pneumonia or some other disease, and the City would be saving in the wrong place and eventually all become a bur- den on the charitable institutions. I think a woman can support herself and one child without any trouble. I think the private charities could take care of the Day Nurseries, because it does not take very much money. Q. Are Day Nurseries inspected by doctors? A. I do not know, but I think so. 1 think, however, that they should be under very close medical observation. Q. Would a law giving the City the right to send doctors in to inspect Day Nurseries be constitutional? A. I think so. Q. What jurisdiction has the State over private charitable institutions? A. To rro extent, except to protect the health of the people in such institutions on the health side only. I think the City or State should insist upon a periodical examination of all children going to these institutions, the same as required by the public schools. I think this periodical examination of all children by good medical authorities could be enforced and should be, so that all children may be examined by a competent doctor before being admitted to such institutions, and periodically thereafter. Q. What would be the relief policy of the City with respect to underfed chil- dren in the public schools? A. I have not given that question close enough study to enable me to speak about it, but I am willing to give my impressions upon it. I think it would be de- sirable that meals should be furnished at cost at the schools. I do not think they should be free. I think the giving of meals to such as cannot pay for same should be( treated as a charity problem, but would not make any difference between the meals furnished to the children. I think the meal should be furnished to all those that want to take it, and all who take it should pay for it, and if any cannot pay for it the funds for those should be provided by private charity, so that every meal should be paid for. Q. What would be the ultimate result of giving meals even at cost? I was told by Miss Kittridge, who is connected with the Lunch Associations, the other day, that a difference of VA or 2 cents per meal would be more than the parents could afford. A. I do not think this would interfere in any way with the general problem. Mj' preference is that the school itself should furnish the meal at cost. I do not particularly object to the meal being furnished by others, but I think it would be better if the school would do this. I am more interested in the children getting food and good food and the worth of their money rather than I am in just who does it. Q. Can the evils of congestion of population be alleviated or even mitigated more than temporarily by public or private charity, or are the landlords, the tenement sweater, the employers and those interested in immigration steamship lines, the rea' and permanent beneficiaries of such relief? A. No. The question of distribution of population is not one to be settled by charity. Charitv has some effect on it. but only in a small way. Q. We asked a doctor connected with a charitable association why poor people did not move to the country, and he said they always answered him when he asked this question that if they moved to the country they would not receive any help from the charitable institutions. Mr. Folks : I think congestion is such that it has to be met by other things than charity, by transportation, by ordinances as to where factories are allowed to be, etc., where fhe work is to be done, and while charity enters into it, of course, it is only in a very small way and is but a very small part of the congestion question in my judgment. Q. Should New York City adopt the policy of some foreign cities and provide large farms with small industries, homes, etc.. for its citizens who cannot maintain a decent standard in congested quarters with high land values, and train them on to self-support there? A. I should not think so. I think the City would be making a mistake to do this, to provide large farms and try to train them to be self-supporting there. I think it would be more likely to train them to be dependent. I think the question oif trade teaching should be handled as an educational matter entirely and entirely divorced from the question of charitable support. I think we should go further than we do in our educational institutions; we should be teaching children more manual training rather than so much drawing and art, etc. The only way for a boy to get a first-class manual training is for him to be so bad that he has to be sent 231 to a reformatory. I think this manual training is absolutely necessary with the high- est standard of practical education, and should be available for all children. Q. What would you do with the adults that have no 'training in any particular line, that is, the unskilled workmen of this City, of which there are 10,000 out of work in this City to-day? A. I should question your fact, unless in exceptional times. I should think there is, as a rule, a great deal of work for unskilled workmen in New York City, and always likely to be, as they are always digging subways, foundations, etc., and we always have a great deal of that sort of work to do. We should have classes tio train men how to work in public schools if I had anything to do about it. I think it is a misconception if you mean to imp!}- that there are as a rule a large number of able-bodied men who are willing to work and cannot get it and thus become the objects of charity. I have not had much of any success in discovering in the alms- houses people who are able to do any work ; they are all pretty well maimed that are there; the able-bodied ones are not there; I did not discover any considerable capacity for labor there. I think those who are in the almshouse or such places are pretty well down and out in the physical sense. There are exceptional times, however, when the demand for work for able-bodied men is urgent and we have no sufficient provision to meet it. Q. What do you think of the question of giving privileges to sell fruits, papcr:j, etc., on the streets and stands to people who are unable to do hard manual labor:" A. I think well of that and also of making a ruling as to age for boys for messengers, etc., so that men would have to be employed. I think there is a good deal of work done by children that should and could be done by adults who cannot do other and heavier work. Q. At what age would you permit children to go to work in the private in- dustries? A. At such an age that there would not be any children there at all. Q. Don't the 16-year age law apply now in the day time? A. Yes, I believe so, and the 21 "for the night work for messenger boys, and while you mav think this somewhat of a hardship on a number of children that may have to work" I believe it would be working a benefit for a large number. Q. If relief to immigrants in congested districts increases congestion, should legislation be enacted requiring private charities to report all relief given by them and making the application for such relief cause for deportation, or at least appli- cation a determined number of times? A. While I should question the premises and therefore throw out the con- clusions so as to speak. I do not think that relieving immigrants in congested dis- tricts increases congestion if properly done or given. Therefore, I should not favor legislation of this kind. I should favor the power of inspection of their work by the State. I would not make the application for such relief a cause for deportation; T would not favor that. I would simply force them to live in conditions that are sanitary and in accordance with proper standards for health, and if you are helping these people you can force them to do these things, because if you are helping them you can givethem to understand that j-ou will do so only if they comply with these conditions and that they move into healthier quarters, and that you will help them to move into such quarters and remain in such quarters. Charity is expensive when well done and the question of congestion must be handled _ separately from the question of charity. I would not continue to allow them to live in such rooms as you say many of "them are living in to-day. I would forbid the occupancy of such rooms as breed tuberculosis. In regard to the immigrant, I should not treat him differently from anybody else, because I think he is as well able to support himself as anvbody else. I do think that immigrants are a whole lot better able to take care of themselves than we think they are. We excuse ourselves for all kinds of improper conditions that ought not to continue, by saying that we have so many immigrants here, but I do not think this is any excuse at all. Q. What would you do with the people that do not earn enough to maintain the standard? A. I think thev can maintain the standard of living and the immigrant is not so much a cause of worry as we think he is. Q. You mean to say that an unskilled worker in this City can maintain the .stand- ard and set w^ork bv cutting wages? A. That is a little beyond my depth, yet generally I would be inclined to answer in the affirmative, that he can get work, as there is lots of work to be done here as a rule. I am not speaking of exceptional conditions when there is much unem- ployment, but of what seems to me the ordinary conditions. 232 • Chairman Callaghan : My experience is lliat the foreigner has more work than the native. Secretary: Do you think there is plenty of work to go around? Mr. Flynn : No, I do not think there is work enough to go around, and an un- skilled laborer only makes about $1.50 per day, and he cannot rnaintain a family on that, and they cannot get the work unless they work for starvation wages. Labor is' a commodity just the same as potatoes, when plentiful it is cheap, when scarce it is high. The foreman of a factory in New England told me once that it was the un- employed that regulated the price of wages. C. Statement Submitted by Mrs. Florence Kelley, Secretary of the National Con- sumers' League. The whole administration of the charities in New York City, public and private, tends to produce congestion of population. The City gives charities the use of valu- able property which is exempt from taxation and these institutions keep their inmates in these congested districts until they get the increase of these valuable properties and the City by its present policy puts a premium on congestion. Children should be in the country and the City should not pay any money for the children who are being cared for in the City. Whenever the Board of Estimate and Apportionment grants money for charitable institutions in the City it should be on conditions that their Board of Managers should take active steps to remove from the City to the country within the next year. Some institutions train their inmates now in needle trades, which are congested trades. The Board of Estimate and Apportionment, however, has promised to investigate the result of giving municipal monej' to institutions in congested districts. The Hebrew Orphan Asylum now occupies $1,000,000 worth of tax exempt land. They train children, however, only for the congested life in the great City. The City permits the institution to get the increase in the value of the land. Alderman Callaghan: How many have been removed from the City? Mrs. Kelley : It is not definitely known. Alderman Callaghan: What brings the child back into the Citv'' Mrs. Kelley : The fact that the families live in the congested districts where the charitable societies pay their rent. Alderman Callaghan: Why do charities do this? Mrs. Kelley : Because if the family stays where the congestion is worst it can get work from the sweated districts at low pay. This tends to keep families in congested districts, otherwise they would go into less congested districts and healthier parts of the City. Private charitable societies are creating congestion in its worst form by assisting people to remain in congested districts. Alderman Callaghan: Should the City establish its own employment bureau? Mrs. Kelley : Yes, and it should run it free as every city and State should, and as is done in Germany. Alderman Callaghan: Would you abolish private employment agencies? Mrs. Kelley: If the City conducts good employment agencies this will result in driving out private agencies. Alderman Callaghan : Do you think that an effort should be made to have the immigration law amended so that those who are in receipt of public as well as private charity two or three times after having been here a certain time should be subject to deportation? Mrs. Kelley : It seems hardly human to return to the Pale of Russia people who have been driven out by the persecutions in that country. The Secretary : Do you think, however, that the fact that those families apply for relief frequently would justify the City in determining their location and in exercising further control? Mrs. Kelley : That seems entirely reasonable. D. Statement by B. Ogden Ckisohn, Chairman Corlears District Connnittee, Charity Organization Society. At a recent meeting of the Corlears District Committee of the Charity Organiza- tion Society, the question of the high rents paid by the Italians was considered. The Committee discussed this subject at some length, especially the phase of it which brought out the facts that frequently so much rent was paid from the earnings of the breadwinner as to leave an insufficient amount for the purchase of the necessarj'' food. Believing that you are desirous of obtaining information gathered by experts on the subject which your Commission is investigating, I was requested, as Chairman of the District Committee, to furnish some facts which might be of interest to you. 233 Roughly speaking, there are 81,140 Italians in the section cast of Broadway and south of Houston street. These came largely from the southern part of Italy, from Sicily and the Neapolitan section, and live in three districts : First. — West of the Bowery from Houston street to Park row^ and up the river front to Pike street. Second — In the district east of the Bowery from Houston to Canal street, bounded on the east by Allen street. Third — A rapidly growing section along the water front, north of Grand street, containing at present about 8,000 individuals. The contention is that the rents are large and that as a result the food supply for adults and children is insufficient for growth and efficient work. In many cases the families are forced for part of the year to become the recipients of private or public charity. This can be substantiated by the following facts gathered by workers living in the district, having expert knowledge of hundreds of Italian families . Wages. — The majority of the families live in two or three-room tenements, paying $9 to $16, the average being about $12.50 per month The rent per room is about $5, wath unsatisfactory toilet and water facilities. The wages are very largely those of a day laborer — from $1 to $1.75 a day. The men w-ork as street cleaners, tailors, shoe-makers, barbers and operators in tobacco. The girls and boys are forced to work early and are employed largely in factories where the wages range from $2.50 to $6 per week. As you doubtless know, a great number of the women are forced to do home work. This is characteristic of the whole section. They carry work to their homes where the workers hnd the conditions unsatisfactory, and the pay shockingly inadequate. Many of these tenements where such home work is done under unsanitar\' conditions are unknown to the inspectors. Food. — A careful investigation was made of the kinds of foods used by these families and in the majority of cases it was found that the diet was unsatisfactory for this Northern climate, consisting largely of vegetables, fish and bread, with little meat. Inquiry was made of the amount of food per individual and without exception the person gathering the statistics answered that the amount was insufficient for the growth of children and for satisfactory work on the part of adults. Many little children were suffering from malnutrition and many school children were found during the winter months when work was slack to be insufficiently nour- ished, and charitable and social workers have found it necessary for several years to render, during these winter months, a steadily increasing amount of private and public charity to such families. The interpretation of these facts seems to be that the amount of money spent for rent left an entirely inadequate amount for food, clothing and protection against the cold. It was further ascertained that the Italians spend a very small amount for amusements and that the money earned is used to an unusual degree in meeting necessary expenses of life. It has been further discovered that the vitality of school children of the Italian races in this part of the City is less than that of children of other races and of children in other parts of the City, and that largely because of tlie demands of the home boj's and girls were forced to work as soon as their working papers could be obtained. The chief object of this communication is to emphasize the various conditions relating to the home, and we believe that it should lie within the power of your Commission to remedy them in some way. Our suggestions are as fololws : First — That in many of the old houses for which the tenants pay ample rents, the owners should be compelled to improve them and make the sanitary arrangements satisfactory and furnish such apartments with a ready supply of water. Second — That some plan might be worked out by your Commission for the more regular equalization of work among the various classes so that the employment maj- spread over the entire year, which it does not seem to do at present, every one being overworked during the rush season, and there being much idleness during the off season. Third — That the building of lofts containing various kinds of manufactures em- ploying Italian men and women be suspended in the crowded districts on the east side and that further building of this kind be confined to the newer parts of the City, so that the working classes will be encouraged to establish themselves in these outlying districts. 234 E. Statement of IV. Frank Persons, Superintendent 6f the Charity Organization Society of The City of New York, to the Committee on Charities. The Secretary: Does the Charity Organization Society send to the country or elsewhere outside of the City dependent famiHes who could be made self-supporting by such removal to places where there is available work? Mr. Persons : The Charity Organization Society finds it relatively difficult to move dependent families to the country or elsewhere outside of the City. This can seldom be done unless the family can be sent to neighborhoods in which relatives reside or close friends who are willing to give assurance that the family will not become dependent in its new home. A majority of the important relief agencies throughout the country and many public relief officers have signed an agreement binding them not to transport a dependent family from one community to another v.-ithout advance assurance that the family will not thereby be made dependent upon the charity of the community to which it goes. A just regard for the future welfare of the family, irrespective of the interests of other communities, does not permit the society to send such families beyond its jurisdiction and oversight without adequate assurance that the change will be for their distinct advantage. There is some demand for the services of married couples on farms, but this is limited usually to those who have an actual experience in such work; naturally there are few such families in this City known to charitable agencies. Sickness exists on the part of one or more members in approximately two-thirds of all the families under the care of this society. Until health is restored, the family must be kept within reach of hospital or medical care. The demand for unskilled labor outside the City, for instance, on railroad con- struction, is usually for men who can live in the construction camps. Men who accept such employment are not able to take their families with them. In the nature of the case such work is temporary. All these conditions tend to prevent men with families removing their homes from the City, even though they accept such work. Homeless men or single men are placed in such employment outside of New York City much more frequently. In July of this year, 166 single men were placed in permanent work ; in June, 92 ; in May, 105 ; in April, 95, by the Joint Application Bureau. Any successful effort to secure the permanent removal of dependent families from the City to the country requires continuing oversight after the change of resi- dence has been made. There must be special organization and equipment for such work. It is attended necessarily with large expenditures for transportation, adminis- trative expenses and the relief needed until permanent self-support is assured. The Industrial Removal Office, 174 Second avenue, was established in 1900 to relieve the congestion in Jewish quarters in New York City and to divert Jewish immigrants from the large sea ports of the Atlantic Ocean to the interior. In eight years, 46,513 persons have been sent by this agency to over 1,000 towns and cities throughout the United States. All expenses were provided by the office, no charge being made for the beneficiaries. The Jewish Agricultural and Industrial Aid Society. 174 Second avenue, was organized in 1909 to assist and encourage Jewish immigrants to becom.e farmers. This agency helps its beneficiaries to find suitable farms and grants loans on easy terms and at a low rate of interest toward the purchase of farms and for equipment. It has aided nearlv 1,300 Jewish farmers in 24 States and in Canada, with loans aggregating over $600,000. The Baron de Hirsch Fund, 43 Exchange place. Room 705, w-as organized in 1891 for the benefit of Russian, Roumanian and Galician immigrants who have been in this country not longer than two years. Its purpose is to Americanize and assimilate the immigrants w-ith the masses by teaching them to become good citizens and to pre- vent, by all proper means, their congregating in large cities. The North American Civic League for immigrants was organized in Boston about two years ago. The New York Committee of the League had headquarters at 32 East 22d street. The Committee proposes to undertake educational w-ork, to study questions of transportation, the distribution of immigrants, to secure desirable legislation, and to carry out the recommendations of the Commission on Immigration of the State of New York, which was appointed by Governor Hughes in 1908. While it is doubtless of great advantage to the families concerned to remove them from congested districts to localities in which there are cheap rents, abundant labor, and relatively good wages, this effort alone will not solve the problem of congestion in New York City. The number so removed must ever be small in relation to the whole number residing in such localities. Their removal does not 235 prevent other families moving into the same congested quarters to take their places. The Secretary: If the City should enforce the present law as to overcrowding, would it not drive many people below the dependent line; that is, if they were obliged to pay for twice as many feet of floor space and if they were already on the verge of dependency? Mr. Persons : I can foresee no other result assuming that the expenses of living are increased without a corresponding increase in the income of the family. Alderman Campbell : Does the Charity Organization Society receive requests for men to work on large construction projects on railroads? Mr. Persons: So far as I know such requests have never been addressed to the sonety, and if they were it would be difficult, as I have stated above, to send married men either with or without their families to take this kind of employment. F. Statement by Mrs. William Einstein, President Widowed ]\Iothers' Fund Associa- . lion, New York City. The manner in which private charity in New York (and New York is mainly typical of other States), '"«d handled the problem of assisting the widow, fills, in my opinion, one of the blackest pages in the history of philanthropic endeavor. Charity organizations dispose of the widow with children in this wise: If the woman is strong enough to ^vork, she must furnish the main support of the family and supplementary relief is given. If what she earns and the relief given prove insufficient, commitment of the younger children has been advised by the relief agency. When the woman breaks down from overwork, the society "helps" her to place her other children in institutions. The mother stays with friends or in a hospital_ until she recovers her strength ; then, having only herself to provide for, no relief is deemed necessary, and she is left to shift for herself. The records show that in the vast majority of instances the woman is obliged to spend the larger part of the day or night scrubbing floors, doing washing, or working in a factory^doing anything but mothering her children, who must take care of themselves usually upon the street. At the Conference of Charities last spring, the superintendent of one of our most efficient orphan asylums, submitted the results of a very comprehensive study of dependent families of widows being supported by three important charitable organ- izations in New York City. . , "These figures indicate that those pensioned (meaning widows) arfe not being adequately supported; that they are living in quarters congested altogether beyond the dictates of health, morality and decency, that they are being compelled to eke out a living far inferior to that required by normal standards. The amount of relief given beyond the earnings of mothers and children is, in the cases assisted only by the private relief society, barely sufficient to cover rent, and in other cases where co-operative efforts prevails, the amount of relief is very meagre, compared with the average size of the family." A fitting climax to the statement of the facts quoted in the opinion of Mr. Adolph Lewisohn, President of the Hebrew Sheltering Guardian Society, uttered at the Washington Conference, one of the organizations involved in the comprehensive study above mentioned. "The experience of philanthropic societies throughout the United States," said Mr. Lewisohn, "is convincing that in the case of widowed mothers, if the mothers were given ample subsidy, there w^ouid be no necessity whatever of placing their children either in institutions or foster homes. In this we have an exceptionally simple solution of the children problem by caring for the children, not in institutions, not in foster homes, but with their own mothers, who can give them the parental love and the parental attention whose value is incalculable and which cannot be obtained for them in any other way." The failure of private charity to cope with the situation is forcibly summed up by Mr. Robert W. Hebberd at a recent hearing of the New York Commission on Congestion: "Private charities claimed some time ago that outdoor public relief in New York City was a bad thing, detrimental to the public interest, and secured its abolition, claiming that they could meet the needs. It would be better for private charities to come out now and say that they are not fulfilling the bill in this respect." Mr. Hebberd adds the significant remark : "The policy of giving inadequate relief by private charities tends to keep people in congested districts." In contrast with the conditions obtained in this country, it may not be amiss to note how European countries have recognized the special needs of the widowed mother and what is being done to relieve them. In some of the cantons of Switzerland Miss Jane Addams stated the method of relieving the widowed mother with children eliminates every hint of dependency and 236 makes "pauperizing" impossible. Every child of a widow, who is of school age. at the end of a successful week in school, receives a scholarship from the Canton. The money is given as a scholarship and the child takes it home to its mother, not because he is the recipient of charity, but because the law-givers of Switzerland having found it to the advantage of the state that a child should go to school when he is under fourteen years of age, quite as much as it is to the interest of the state that a child after a certain age should be at work. In Berne, ciiildren are boarded with their widowed mothers ; strict super\ ision is kept, and if the children arc found to be ill-treated or neglected, the parent may be sent to the penal workhouse. In Zurich, the municipality has organized a regular bureau to watch over poor school children and see that they are well cared for. If a widow has more children than she can support, her rent is paid, bread and milk bill, too, andi she receives presents of food and clothing. All this without being placed on the pauper list, nor does the mother feel that she is the recipient of charity. Australia has derived a very safe and sane plan for the relief of fatherless children who have mothers living. The State Charities Department boards the children with the mother, paying hei" a certain sum for each child. To properly safe- guard the children from possible mismanagement the mother is placed under the care of local ladies' visiting committees, composed of groups of volunteer workers or friendly visitors, and is subject to the same regulation and strict supervision as are provided for the protection of children boarded out with strangers. There is no fear of pauperizing in Australia because the care of the children of widows, in fact, of all dependent children, has come to be regarded as educational rather than as charitable. This is in line with the trend of modern philanthropy, being wholly preventional in character. In Vienna the Poor Board allows the widow with more than one child 6 to 10 kronin per week for each offspring. Even little Denmark has kept pace with the times. From public funds relief is granted to widows from $14 to $24 per month, quite an adequate allowance when we consider the purchasing power of money in that country. In the case of widows of railroad employees, the government, which controls the roads, allows two-thirds of the husband's salary during her life. In Germany industrial accident insurance, which is carried on mutually by the employers, by the workman, and the funds of the empire, has proved a most effective way of insuring the mother against dependency when the breadwinner is taken from the home. Hundreds of thousands of children have been provided for without the least taint of charity. In each of these countries the state has presumably realized that the destitute widow with srnall children presented a problem that was too big and too important to abandon to the chance of private charity. We can no longer neglect the crying need of tlie children, was the keynote of the Children's Conference in Washington. The keynote of the structure we are trying to erect is the crying need of our widoived mothers. To keep the home intact and avoid commitment is our policy. Every family in our charge is granted a sufincient allowance to permit the mother to stay at home and devote herself to the care of her children. The relief is also permanent, that is, until one or more of the children can support the family. Our work is boarding in children with their mothers instead of boarding out children with foster mothers. We endeavor to raise the standard of living by ample subsidy, by removal to less congested districts and into more commodious and better appointed homes, by elimination of lodgers, and by expert and friendly advice we lead them to a better and more intelligent ordering of their lives. In "the case of families having a small income, the association supplies the difference between the rating of its standard of proper housing and feeding and the amount the family can earn in its handicapped condition. To save itself from bankruptcy, the private relief society must ultimately admit that it is incapable of coping with the situation. Then we shall have to choose between the barbarous, merciless breaking up of good families and the lawful intervention of the State. But it cannot be denied that the home and not the ort>han asylnn: is the foundation of society, that its own mother and not the foster mother can be of most service to the child in its development. The most precious of our natural resources, the ^ family, is the fundamental social institution, and the State, therefore, is the logical and the only competent and adequate agency to aid the widowed mother in bringing up her children. In 1897 a bill was introduced in the New York legislature authorizing the Comp- troller to pay for the maintenance of children of mothers compelled by poverty to demand their commitment, the money to be transmitted to the woman through the 237 agency of a well-known children's society. The bill was violently opposed by private charity officials, as some of you may remember, but it is noteworthy that the vigorous objections then raised were against the terms of the proposed statute which was admittedly objectionable, and not against the principle involved. The State Charities Aid Association in its resolutions condemning this bill con- cluded thus : "Resolved, That we hereby desire to place on record our convictions, that children should not be committed to institutions for the sole reason that their parents are destitute, except as a last resort, and that cases of hardship should be obviated so far as possible through a more efficient co-operation between private relief-giving chari- ties and committing authorities and not through outdoor relief." Causes of Poverty. Since poverty is recognized as a cause of congestion and room-crowding, it seems appropriate to study some of the causes of poverty. Dr. Edward T. Devine, General Secretary of the New York Charity Organization Society, in studying the causes of poverty, which has resulted in application for relief to their society by 5,000 families, gives the following statement regarding the disabilities existing in these families. He states, morover, "these are, in the main, American families, either by birth or long residence ; they are not, therefore, as a body, laboring under the dis- advantage of recent arrival in the country, and in this respect they differ from some of the other groups of dependent families in New York City." The Principal Disabilities Present in Five Thousand FamiHes in New York City Under the Charge of the New York Charity Organization Society. Number of Disabilities. Individuals Families Per Affected. Number. Cent. 1 Unemployed 4,424 3,458 69. 16 f Based 2 Overcrowding 2,014 44 . 68 -i on Cases 3 Wido\yhood .... 1,472 29.44 [ Studied- 4 Chronic physical disability, other than tuberculosis or rheumatism 1,603 1,365 27.30 5 Temporary physical disability, other than accident or childbirth 1,158 984 19.68 6 More than three children under fourteen .... 944 18.88 7 Intemperance 1,000 833 16.66 8 Less than 5 years in New York City .... 814 16.28 9 Tuberculosis 675 619 12.38 10 Desertion and persistent non-sup- port .... 606 12.12 11 Head of family sixty years old, or more .... 599 11.98 12 Laziness, shiftlessness, etc 667 588 11.76 13 Childbirth 363 363 7.24 14 Rheumatism 359 347 6.94 15 Immorality 337 256 5.12 16 Mental disease, defect or deficiency 267 248 4.96 17 Cruelty, abuse, etc 229 221 2.42 18 Accident 201 198 3.96 19 Untruthfulness. unreHability 210 194 3.88 20 Criminal record 161 151 3.02 21 Violent or irritable temper, etc 148 140 2.80 22 Waywardness of children 160 129 2.58 23 Disposition to beg 134 117 2.34 24 Child labor (generally not illegal) . 45 42 0.84 25 Gambling 22 22 0.44 Overcroii'diiig. According to the standard we have adopted, more than one and one-half persons to a room, we must assume that none of our 539 single men and women, each of whom has at least one room, is overcrowded, while twenty-five per cent, of the 867 families consisting of two persons, often a man and a wife, or a mother and child, in a furnished room, are overcrowded. In the case of these two groups, single persons living alone and two persons in a furnished room, the standard is of comparatively 238 little value. There are sufficient serious objections to the furnished room dwelling, but excessive overcrowding is, perhaps, not especially conspicuous among them. After we reach the families with three members, however, we find a steady increase of overcrowding, as is to be expected with the increase of the size of families, as families of live members are overcrowded in a larger proportion of instances than families of six. Nearly all of the families with eight, nine or ten members are overcrowded accord- ing to our standard, and all of these with more than this number, with a single excep- tion of a family of fourteen occupying ten rooms. The Charity Organization Society states that on November 1, 1909, there was sickness in 713, over one-half of the 1,376 families in their charge. United Hebrew Charities. The United Hebrew Charities gives the following as the primary causes of appli- cation at the time first application was made during the fiscal year ending September 30, 1910: Causes of Distress. Sickness (exclusive of tuberculosis) 2,221 Tuberculosis 1,073 Unemployment 1,348 Insufficient earnings '. . . 767 Non-support 7 Widowhood 973 Desertion 708 Old Age 339 Accident 128 Imprisonment 87 Mental Defects 39 All others _ 1,593 Of these ("all others") 1,593 cases, 594 were not cases of distress, but cases in which returns were made by the applicants on loans previously granted to them. The following brief summary of the work of the United Hebrew Charities for the year ended September 30, 1910, is very significant : To 929 widows having 1,579 children under 14 years of age $66,930 00 To 526 families in which tuberculosis was cause of distress 32,575 00 To 2,760 families whose distress was due to sickness, old age, accident or unemployment 124,044 00 For clothing, coal, medical supplies, furniture, transportation, etc 25,035 00 To help people become self-supporting 9,991 00 Total, 4,235 families received $258,575 00 All this is exclusive of work done by constituent sisterhoods, who aided 1,420 more families, among whom they distributed about $100,000, of which amount subsidies from the United Hebrew Charities aggregated $26,025 ; total disbursed by United Hebrew Charities in material relief, $284,600. We found permanent employment for 71 handicapped persons. We made 65 women partly or wholly self-supporting through our splendidly equipped work room. Administration expense was 14 per cent, of the total disbursements less than one- half of the largest non-Jewish organizations doing similar work. Number of families applying for aid to United Hebrew Charities for fiscal year ending September, 1910 9,283 Number of individuals represented in above 43,821 It will be noted that the Society itself gave in relief ot various kinds total of $284,600 to 4,235, or an average of $6,720; while the constituent sisterhoods gave about $74,000 to 1,420 more families, or an average of $52.11. The Society note that their administrative expenses were only 14 per cent, of the total disbursement, less than one-half of the largest non-Jewish organization doing similar work. SuMM.vRY OF "The D.anish Poor Relief System" by Edith Sellers. Prepared for the Committee on Charities of The New York City Commission on Congestion OF Population. Administration. In all Denmark, except Copenhagen, the administration of all poor relief, both old age as well as pauper, is vested in the local authorities to whom are attached paid officials and honorary officials. In Copenhagen, with its population of about 500,000, the administration of poor 239 relief is entirely in the hands of paid ofticials and vested in a department presided over by the Third Section Burgomaster, appointed to office by the Municipal Council, subject to the veto of the king. P'or poor law purposes the city is divided into twelve districts, arranged in three groups of four districts each. Each district is under the care of a District Superin- tendent, and a group is under that of a Group Inspector. Both the Superintendents and the Group Inspectors are always specially trained and devote all their time to their work. A Local or District Superintendent has nothing to do with old age relief, or the public charities, it is only pauper relief that he distributes. The Group Inspector is directly responsible to the Burgomaster for the Poor Law administration of his four districts, he watches over the Superintendents and revises their accounts, and is chief of the Special Bureau that administers the Old Age Relief Law. General Principles. The fundamental principle of the Danish Poor Law Relief is that every desti- tute person has a right to relief, and almost equally fundamental principle is that those wdio require relief through no fault of their own should have better relief than those who tlirough their own laziness, wastefulness, drunkenness or wantonness, are in need of relief, the former class are entitled to relief, the latter class are paupers. The distinction is vital and obtains throughout the entire system of Danish relief. Denmark prefers to spend money on warding off pauperism rather than on re- lieving paupers. The most important features of the Danish Poor Relief System. i. The classification of paupers. 2. The poorhouse. 3. The workhouse. 4. The pepal wotkhouse. 5. The treatment of children. 6. The old age relief law. 7. The destitution test. 8. Outdoor pensioners. 9. Old age homes. Every town or commune is primarily responsible for its own poor alone. Pauper relief is regarded in Denmark not as a gift, but a loan, and the one re- ceiving it becomes a debtor to the community. Any man who leaves his family un- provided for may, if they obtain relief, be treated as a pauper and sent to the work- house, even if he has refused to apply for or accept relief. Persons in Denmark can be forced to go not only to a penal workhouse, but to an ordinary workhouse. 1. The Classification of Paupers. The Poor Law Act of 1891 requires local authorities "to take measures to secure that destitute persons be not left without the necessaries of life or, in case of illness, without proper treatment and nursing." They must house these persons, feed them, clothe them and tend them, unless they prefer to provide them with the money with which to do these things themselves, but the poor law authorities have practically a free hand to carry out their duty in their own way. They may not "farm" out the paupers nor send them to live in turn with each of the rate-payers. The Poor Law authorities decide where a pauper should live, whether in his own district or another, or in a workhouse, and in which one of the three grades of the workhouse. Even if the local authorities grant him out-relief he is under their control. If admitted as a pauper to the workhouse, he cannot go in and out, but may, under proper arrangements for appeal, be detained. 2. The Poorhouse. _ ' The Poorhouse in Denmark is reserved for the respectable and those either old or incurably invalided, and as a convalescent home for the feeble. Widows with children are sometimes sent here also, but the disreputable are not permitted to be placed in the poorhouse, nor are imbeciles. The poorhouse at Copenhagen stands in a beautiful garden and has accommodations for 2,000 people, men living on one side of the house and women on the other, while twenty-four rooms are reserved for mar- ried couples, and a wing for incurables. There are three classes: (a) The very respectable, who have just missed ranking as pensioners. (b) The fairly respectable. (c) The third class who have been weighed in the balance and found wanting. This third class have no privileges or freedom, but can get promoted by their own o-ood behavior, just as those who do not conduct themselves properly in the higher 240 classes are put into this third class. No one is obliged to work, but if they do worlc they are paid for it. 3. The Workhouse. The workhouse is of two kinds. In one the inmates work on the land, in the other they are employed in workshops. In Denmark all paupers above eighteen (18) may be sent to a workhouse, and as a general rule if able-bodied are sent there. Even in these institutions a classification is made, and the better behaved secure recognition. The inmates are encouraged to look for work and are paid for work they do in the institution, but all are obliged to do something. In both classes of workhouses, that is in those to which the confirmed loafers as well as merely the paupers are sent, there are workshops of every kind, all carefully organized and managed by industrial ex- perts, according to the most approved modern principles. Tailoring, shoemaking. carpentering, bookbinding, weaving, glass blowing, metal working and locksmiths' work are always carried on in the two workhouses in Copenhagen, as well as usually paper hanging, painting and building. (The system seems very similar to that of the Elmira Reformatory.) 4. The Penal Workhouse. The penal workhouse is maintained primarily for the benefit of professional loafers, vagrants, etc., men and women alike. A penal workhouse is usually main- tained jointly by several communes, and since 1891 they have succeeded in practically eliminating vagrancy. Even here the occupants are required to work productively and must keep half of what they earn until the time comes for them to leave the institu- tion. 5. Care of Children. The weakest part of the Danish poor law system is the fact that children are kept in some poorhouses temporarily until other arrangements are made for them. All children, however, who are supported by the community, whether living with their parents or not, are, until they are eighteen, under the direct guardianship of the au- thorities, who have the right to remove them, if necessary, from their parents. Many children are, however, relieved in their homes with their parents, and all others, where suitable homes can be found for them, are boarded out, if possible, with someone who keeps a cow. An interesting interchange of country and city children is obtained by the custom of sending thousands of workingmen's children from the ctities down into the country during the summer, while during the winter the children of the hosts during the summer are sent into Copenhagen as the guests of parents whose children have been cared for by them during the summer. This is not under the poor law, however, and the railroads give free transportation to the children. 6. The Old Age Relief Law. Denmark deals firmly with the young who will not work in order that it may deal justly, too, with the old age who have tried and done their best to support themselves, but have not been able to save even a competence. In the same session in which the Danish legislature passed the Poor Law Reform Bill enabling the authorities to deal sternly with the vagrant it passed also the Old Age Relief Bill, by which the aged re- spectable poor were removed once for all from the jurisdicticw of the Poor Law and a special system of relief was instituted for their benefit "By this law, if a Danish subject who has completed his sixtieth year is 'unable' to provide himself or those dependent on h'm with the necessaries of life or with proper treatment in case of illness, he maj', if he choose, instead of applying for pauper relief, apply for old age relief. For this relief to be granted to him however : (1) "He must not have been convicted of any crime, or of any transaction gen- erally accounted dishonorable, in respect of which he has not received rehabilitation. (2) "His poverty must not be the consequence of any action by which he, for the benefit of his children or others, has deprived himself of his means of subsistence, and it must not be caused by a disorderly or extravagant mode of life, or be in any way brought about by his own fault. (3) "For the ten years preceding his application for old-age relief he must have had a fixed residence in the country : and during that time he must not have received pauper relief, or have been found guilty of vagrancy or begging. (4) "Also, this clause, it must be noted, did not form part of the law in its original form-; it was added to it in 1902, 'he must not have led a life such as to cause scandal, he must not have been convicted of drunkenness or of immorality.' "In order to obtain old age relief, in fact, an applicant must prove that he be- longs to the respectable poor class, and that his poverty is owing to his misfortune, not his fault. If in this he succeeds he takes rank as a pensioner: otherwise he falls under the jurisdiction of the Poor Law, and becomes a pauper. Thus the aged poor 241 in Denmatk are now divided into two distinct classes, the pensioners and the paupers, the deserving and the undeserving; and the two classes are kept entirely apart." When this law was passed in 1891 three-quarters of the workers in rural districts were earning less than $120 a year. In Copenhagen the administration of the Old Age Reform Law is in the hands of three Group Inspectors, each of whom has his own staff of assistant officials, and his own Bureau quite apart from the ordinary Poor Law Bureau. The terms for granting this relief are quite strict. In 1892 the first year the law was in force, out of 5,339 applications for old age relief that were sent in 1,019 were refused, whereas in 1903. out of the 1,358 applications sent in, only 158 were rejected. Any applicant living in a town whose claim to old-age relief is refused, has the right to appeal to the Minister of the Interior, if living in a rural commune to the Chairman of the County Council. The Burgomaster, with the help of the Old Age Committee (composed of a Burgomaster, a member of the municipal Council and the three Group Inspectors), not only decide who shall receive old-age relief, but also what form it shall assume, for the law gives them latitude in this respect and stipulates that the relief granted may be given in money or in kind, as circumstances require, or consist in free admission to a suitable asylum or other establishment intended for the purpose. When applicants have become pensioners, the three inspectors become their guardians, and see that they conduct themselves properly, for if any of them, after receiving old age relief,- com- mit any action which if committed before would have prevented receiving it. such as drinking or squandering their money, they forfeit rank as pensioners and become paupers. A man also forfeits rank as pensioner if, after he is granted old age relief he marries and in consequence requires more relief. In rural districts the administra- tion of the old age relief law is under the control of the Chairman of the County Council, and in towns under that of the Minister of the Interior. Form of Application for Old Age Relief. Old-Age Relief. No. Schedule A. For Men and Unmarried Women. Application for Old-Age Relief under the Law of April 9, 1891, to Commune of Copenhagen, from Full Name and Position. Living at. Born in Parish County. The following questions must be answered as fully as possible; and certificate.^ of identity and other documents procurable by the applicant in confirmation of the statements made, must be enclosed. 1. Has the applicant during the last ten years resided uninterruptedly in this country? And if so, where? And for how long in each place? 2. Has the applicant during the last ten years received any kind of pauper relief for himself, or his wife, his legitimate or illegitimate children, adopted children or step-children; and if he has. in what form? When was it given and by what com- mune? 3. Has the applicant during the last ten years been convicted of vagrancy or begging? 4. Has the applicant ever been convicted of any crime? If so, when and of what crime? 5. Which Commune does the applicant consider the Commune from which he is entitled relief? 6 The number of the members of the family, and the age of each member of the family. Does the applicant live alone, or with relatives, or others? If with others, with whom ? Schedule B. For Widows and Divorced or Separated Wives does not differ materially from Schedule A. 8. (a) What is the occupation of the applicant, and also of the members of his family? (b) The approximate total amount of the income of the applicant and of the members of his family for the last year? (c) How much of this income is derived from a pension, or annual allow- ance, interests, legacies, real estate, gifts, or similar sources of income? 9. Has the applicant any prospect of aid from relatives or others? Or has he any expectation of any inheritance? 242 10. The property of the applicant? (Capital, real estate, right to yearly allow- ance, chattels, outstanding claims, etc., stating the approximate value.) 11. The debts of the applicant? 12. What was the applicant's house rent during the last year? 13. The cause of the applicant's poverty? Full information concerning the health of himself and his wife, and their capacity for work, etc. 14. What amount of relief does the applicant require, and in what form would he wish the relief to be given ? 15. Other information which the applicant himself deems it necessary to give. I hereby declare that to the best of my belief all the answers given to the above questions are correct and given without reservation, and in such a form as to be in accordance with the truth. Date. Signature. Residence. We, the undersigned, who are personally acquainted with the circumstances of the applicant, certify that his poverty is not the consequence of any action by which he, for the benefit of his children or others, has deprived himself of his means of subsistence ; and that it has not been caused by a disorderly or extravagant mode of life, or been in any way brought about by his own fault. Date. Signatures. Residences. N. B. — That the relief which it may be necessary to grant the applicant before the question of his claim to old-age relief has been finally settled, will be considered as pauper relief should this claim be refused. The first declaration is signed of course by the applicant himself, and the seconcT by two rate-payers who know him personally, and are acquainted with his circum- stances. Should the form when handed in be found to contain any false statement on the part of the applicant, he forfeits forever any claim he may have had to rank as a pensioner, and may be sent to prison for a fortnight. His witnesses, too, are pun- ished, unless they can prove that they had good reasons for believing that the state- ments to which they testified were true. 7. The Destitution Test. The Danish law provides that in order to obtain old-age relief an applicant must be "without the means of providing himself or those dependent on him, with the necessaries of life, or with proper treatment in case of illness," and when the law first came into force certain jurists claimed that this meant that if he had any little savings he must spend them before relief could be given him. The Minister of the Interior decided however that this would merely put a premium upon thriftlessness. In 1902 the law was amended so that for old-age relief the local authorities "must leave out of consideration any income or house accommodation he may possess from private sources up to the value of 100 kroner" (about $29 a year), and they are also allowed if they deem it advisable to leave out of consideration any income he may have from an annuity, a legacy, a pension, or any dwelling accommodation which he may possess up to an equal amount. If he has received any pauper relief during the ten years that precede his application for old-age relief he is ineligible for such relief. 8. Outdoor Pensioners. Although the law permits local authorities to determine whether old-age relief shall be given in money or kind, or consist in admission to some suitable asylum the law requires that the pension they give "shall be sufficient for the support of the per- son relieved and of his family and for their treatment in case of illness." The custom is to give these adequate allowance or old-age pensions to such pen- sioners as are either strong enough to take care of themselves, or have relatives or friends, able and willing to take care of them. In each separate town or commune the local authorities determine what is "sufficient for the support of the person relieved"; this of course varies from town to town. In Copenhagen, the average old-age pension is about $47 for a married couple and $38.25 for a single person, while in rural districts is respectively about $30 and $22. In addition the pensioners receive in case of illness medical attendance, medicine and whatever else the doctor orders for them. Most of the pensioners, too, either have some supplementary income or are able to earn a little. 243 9. Old-Age Homes. So long as pensioners are fairly vigorous they generally prefer to live ir their own homes. When they are too feeble to do this however they have recourse to old- age homes. These are reserved exclusively for old-age pensioners, and no paupers are admitted on the principle stated by the Director of the Copenhagen Poor Depart- ment. "It is sheer waste of time and money trying to make decent old folk com fortable, if you shut them up with folk that are not decent." The pensioners are taught to look upon these homes as their right, so long as they conduct themselves properly. Instead of great dormitories all the inmates sleep (in the Copenhagen home) in bedrooms accommodating two, three, five or a maximum of six persons, while the smoking rooms and sitting rooms are common property. Each married couple has a separate room. Their food is nutritious but simple and tasteful. The institution is in the midst of a great garden. Statistics. On January 1, 1893, when the law had been in force one year, 30,957 persons were in receipt of old-age relief, and they had dependent on them chiefly wives — 12,869 more, or a total of 43,826. On January 1, 1902, there were in all Denmark 44,118 pensioners, 6,593 belonged to Copenhagen, and 28,462 to rural communes. In 1891 the population of Denmark proper was 2,449,540, and approximately 1.8 per cent, of the total population, and 17.8 per cent, of the population above 60 were in receipt of old-age relief, or counting the dependents, nearly one-fourth of the population over 60 years of age, and about 2 1-2 per cent, of the total population. The total cost of old-age relief in Denmark in 1901, counting administration as well as relief, was about $1,534,150. I^OREiGN City Farm Colonies. In foreign countries Municipal Farm Colonies are usually a part of a system, there being several or at least one state colony and the city institutions related to these. An important Labor Colony is the one conducted by London at HoUesley Bay, described by Mr. W. H. Beveridge. "The first is the attempt to remove men altogether from the urban labor market by training for new occupations on the land. The most noteworthy example of this is the farm colony established by the London Unemployed Fund in February, 1905, at Hollesley Bay, in Suffolk. This colony, which has now been purchased by the Central Body for London, comprises a total area of 1,300 acres, 600 being arable, 250 heath and the residue pasture, woodland, etc., and has living and sleeping accommodations for nearly 350 persons. At its commencement three main objects were laid down : "1. The provision of special work for periods of exceptional distress. _ "2. The provision of more continuous work for men who are not only in excep- tional need of work, but who either have already lived upon the land, or show a marked aptitude for country life. "3. The establishment of suitable men and families in agricultural or other rural industry, in various forms, e. g. : "(a) Ordinary farm situations, preferably in districts where wages and condi- tions are good and where a movement towards small holdings, allotments, market gardening, co-operative farming, etc., is developing. "(b) Market gardening or ordinary gardener's situations. "(c) The establishment of small holdings in the neighborhood of the colony or elsewhere (either with or without some intervening period of service elsewhere under 'a' or "b'). This will be the hope held out to the picked men on the colony. "(d) Emigration." In the administration of the colony, emphasis has been more and more laid on the third object and particularly on the establishment of men on co-operative small hold- ings. The Central Body has not, however, been able itself to establish small holdings, the Local Government Board having ruled that this was a purpose outside the scope of the Unemployed Workmen Act, and great difficulties have been experienced in plac- ing the men elsewhere. "The settlement of men in ordinary farm situations, para- graph 3 (a), or in market gardening or ordinary gardener's situations, paragraph 3 (b), has proved in most cases impossible. Consequently, the only considerable outlet for the men trained at Hollesley Bay has been that mentioned in paragraph 3 (d), i. e., emigration." (Note, pp. 181 and 182.) 244 Statement of Number of Public and Private Societies and Organizations in New York City Dealing With Different Classes in 1907. (Prepared by the New York Charity Organization Society.) In 1908 the total number of societies in the City, including all those receiving state or municipal aid, was 2,868; in 1909, 2,566. Classified List. Manhattan Bklyn and and Rich- Bronx. Queens, mond. 38 116 59 1 82 12 3 80 9 3 15 3 2 36 3 30 3 54 1 1 10 1 1 475 91 74 10 29 4 2 1 9 3 93 Z6 3 Class I. Care and Relief of Needy Families in Their Homes — Div. 1. Relief by Employment Div. .2. Feed, P^uel, Clothing and General Relief, includ- ing Transportation Div. 3. Day Nurseries and Kindergartens Div. 4. Fresh-Air Charities Div. 5. Legal Aid and Advice Div. 6. Relief for National Calamities Div. 7. Relief for Foreigners Div. 8. Special Relief for Various Classes, Callings, and Professions Div. 9. Nursing and Care of the Sick in their homes. . . . Div. 10. Burials Total Class II. Relief for Destitute, Neglected and Delinquent Children — Div. 1. Asylums, Homes and Cheap Lodgings for Chil- dren Div. 2. Children's Societies Div. 3. Children's Courts, Probation Work and Refor- matories for Children Totals Class III. Relief in Permanent and Temporary Homes for Adults— Div. 1. Municipal, State and National Home for Des- titute Adults Div. 2. Private Homes for Adults Div. 3. Situations with Free Board, also with Free and Cheap Lodgings Totals Class IV. Relief for the Sick— Div. 1. General Hospitals^ Div. 2. General Dispensaries Div. 3. Special Hospitals, Dispensaries and Associa- tions, also Homes for Convelescents Div. 4. Hospitals and Homes for Incurables Div. 5. Women's. Children's and Lying-in Hospitals and Women's and Children's Dispensaries Div. 6. Training Schools, Homes and Agencies for Nurses Div. 7. Visitation of and Diet and Aid for Sick in In- stitutions Div. 8. Medical Colleges, Schools and Societies Div. 9. Ambulances Totals Class V. Relief for the Defective — Div. 1. Relief, Homes, Asylums and Societies for the Blind 16 1 1 39 13 2 60 18 2 115 29 5 35 29 2 39 38 1 60 16 1 12 4 38 8 21 11 1 7 1 2 33 15 14 16 1 259 122 8 245 Classified List. Manhattan Bklyn. and and Rich- Bronx. Queens, mond. Div. 2. Relief, Homes, Asylums for Deaf Mutes 8 Div. 3. Relief for Cripples, including Hospitals, Homes and Societies 21 Div. 4. Relief, Asylums and Schools for Insane, Feeble- minded and Epileptic 16 Totals Class VI. Treatment of Delinquent Adults — Div. 1. Reformatories for Men Div. 2. Reformatories for Women Div. 3. Probation Work, Prison Associations and So- cieties of Crime Totals Class VII. Preventive Social Work — Div. 1. Savings and Loans Div. 2. Beneficial Societies Div. 3. Education and Special Training Div. 4. Improvement of Social Conditions Div. 5. Settlements Div. 6. Clubs Div. 7. Libraries, Reading Rooms and Museums Totals Class VIII. Supervisory and Educational Work — Div. 1. State and Municipal Boards and Departments.. Div. 2. Private Associations for the Improvement of State and Municipal Institutions and Departments.... Div. 3. Conferences of Charities and Correction Div. 4. Special Training in Social Work Totals 39 57 12 4 19 4 12 3 35 7 49 3 1 55 15 110 23 12 9 41 12 51 8 33 10 1 311 80 2 23 8 2 10 1 4 2 There are also 653 churches of different denominations in Manhattan and The Bronx; 479 in Brooklyn and Queens and 68 in Richmond. In addition there are 167 Societies for Religious and Moral Work in Manhattan and The Bronx, 42 in Brook- lyn and Queens and one in Richmond. Summary of Report of School Feeding Made by the Department of Child Hygiene OF THE Russell Sage Foundation. The New York School Lunch Committee reports the following as a part of the results of an investigation of the home conditions of 262 children that have come under its observation: A large part of the children were adjudged to be suffering from mal- nutrition by a Medical Inspector of the Department of Health. In 221 families, 21 mothers worked outside the home and were not at home to prepare the noon lunches. This represents 9.5 per cent.of the mothers. This cor- responds fairly well with the result of another investigation made at School 51, where it was found that 200 or 10 per cent, of the children had no one at home to prepare a noon lunch for them and in consequence were getting their lunches on the street or in the small stores in the neighborhood of the school. In 258 families there were 60 which had no prepared lunches at noon for the children, or 21.2 per cent, of the families. Of the families of 130 children taking the lunches at school, 48 or 38 per cent, had no lunches available for them at home. The daily food supplied to the children was estimated approximately from da^-^ given by the parents or caretakers of the children. In 222 families 157 were supply, ing insufficient food. This represents 71 per cent, of the families under observation. Of 141 children taking the lunches at school, 108 or 17 per cent, had insufficient food at home. This estimate was also supported by noting that the children in this group fell below the weight gained by the children with sufficient food at home. 246 The use of tea and coffee among school children is the greatest dietary abuse. The following table shows the findings for 226 children. Per Cent. Tea or coffee once each day 131 58 Tea or coffee more than once each day 79 35 No tea or coffee 16 7 Another indication of the home conditions, casting some light upon the difficulties of the mothers in the matter of providing sufficient food for the children is found in the study of the room congestion as noted in the table following. Per Families. Cent. 1 person or less per room 1 to 1.5 persons per room 1.5 to 2 persons per room 2 to 2.5 persons per room 2.5 to 3 persons per room Over 3 persons per room Total Taking $825 as the necessary yearly income for a family of five to maintain itself in an adequate manner, the following table shows another reason for the malnutrition of the children under investigation. The included data represents only that which is complete, and no figures are included that do not represent the total earnings of the family as far as could be secured from the family. 17 8 47 22 63 29 39 18 38 18 13 6 217 Per Families. Cent. Income over $16 per week 53 36 Income under $16 per week 93 64 Total 146 Of 106 families, whose children were taking the lunches at school, there were 11 families or 75 per cent, whose income fell below the desired $16 per week. The 146 families fell into the following income groups : Per Families. Cent. Income over $25 Income $20 to $25 ' Income $15 to $20 Income $10 to $15 Income $8 to $10 Income under $8 16 11 19 13 22 15 51 35 14 10 24 16 Of the 106 families whose children took the lunches at school, 38 or 36 per cent, were in the $10 to $15 group; 11 or 10 per cent, were in the $8 to $10 group; 24 or 23 per cent, were in the under $8 group. The benefit of a single school lunch has often been questioned, but the investigation of the effect of such lunches upon the weight of the recipients shows very well the benefit to the children. While two groups of children of about equal size were under observation, the records were not as complete as desirable; the children had moved, remained subject to the observation such a short time or were absent too long to keep in the class for the period covered by the two observations of data, where measurements were required. For these reasons, one group who recei^ ed lunches numbered 143, while the second group which received no lunches numbered 81, as far as the completed records were available. The numbers are not large, but the results of the examination are very suggestive of the value of the school lunches. 247 Table Showing the Degree of Underweight Among the Children Suffering from Malnutrition. Age. Number of Mal- Average Average nutrition Number of Weight, Weight, Cases at Children Pounds, Pounds, or Above Malnutri- Normal Average tion Cases. Children. Normal Weight. 4 37.1 41 10 17 40.5 45 3 31 42.8 49 5 41 48.9 54 6 60 53.7 60 13 34 56.7 66 2 34 62.3 72 1 22 66.0 79 3 13 72.4 88 1 4 63.0 99 2 77.5 110 5 years , 6 years , 7 years 8 years 9 years 10 years 11 years 12 jTars 13 years 14 j^ears 15 years Total 262 44 Still in an investigation of 210 malnutrition cases, found that 175 had tea or cofifee once a day and 25 had it two or three times a day. Spargo reported that of 12,800 children in 16 schools, 2,950 or 23 per cent, went to school without breakfast or with merely bread with tea or coffee. Dr. Lechstrecker found 9.32 per cent, of 10.707 children in New York Industrial Schools suffering from malnutrition. He noted that only 1,855 or 17.32 per cent, had an adequate breakfast. The average cost for a family of five in the United States for alcohol, coflfee, tea and cocoa for the years 1903-1907, was $95. Of 391 families studied by Chapin, only 25 per cent, used bottled milk and 66 per cent, used loose milk in all the income groups up to $1,200. Of 318 families, 243 or 76 per cent, made expenditures for alcoholic drinks at home ; 125 or 39.3 per cent, showed an annual expense for this purpose of over $30. A study of typical families in Washington, D. C, showed that 25 per cent, of the total income is spent for bread and meat, and this amount is 60 per cent, of the entire food budget. The general average of the families studied by Chapin showed that 8.3 per cent, of the yearly income was spent for sugar, tea, coffee and condiments, and 6.8 per cent, for alcoholic drinks. There was only 21.5 per cent, of the income spent for eggs, milk and cheese. There is little difficulty in understanding why 82 or 19.5 per cent, of Chapin's 218 families were found to be underfed. Chapin found as the result of his investigation that there was a large amount of underfeeding among the families of all income groups. Families. Per Cent. Underfed. $400 to $600.. to $800.. to $900.. $900 to $1,100. Over $1,100 .. 25 1^ 151 32 73 22 94 o 48 The above table shows the amount of underfeeding in the various income groups. The New York Committe on Physical Welfare found 41 per cent, of malnutrition in the classes of children coming from families with an income of less than $16 per week. In New York City in 1906. of 78,401 children examined, 4,921 or 6.3 per cent, were suffering from malnutrition, sufficiently pronounced to be noticed by the inspector. In 1908, c^i 219.585 children, 5,923 or 2.8 per cent, were reported as cases of malnu- 248 trition. During the same year, in Manhattan, of 89,951 children, 3,678 or 4 per cent. were reported as suffering from mahiutrition. Washington, D. C, showed 121 ill-nourished children examined to be suffering from malnutrition. The great various differences existing in the figures for malnutrition in different parts of the country are due to a variety of causes as personal equations of the examiners, different standards of living, and the fact that malnutrition is stated as a defect only when no other defect will account for the condition of the child. Many of the defects, asanemia, enlarged glands, etc., are also cases of malnutrition, but are not included in that column. In an endeavor to ascertain the percentages of malnutrition in the schools sup- plying the children for the study on lunches, a special medical examiner looked over 957 children in Public School 21, and 1,094 children in Public School 51. In the former he found 130 and in the latter 153 children with malnutrition, a total of 283 or 13.3 per cent of the 2,051 children under the close scrutiny of the examiner. Superintendent Maxwell's 10th report states that 60 per cent, of defectives suffer from malnutrition. The school lunches provide a means of off-setting the lack of proper nourish- ment at home. The amount of food units or calorics supplied by the lunches is based upon an estimation of the average of the children at 10 years, and the estimation of the daily caloric needs of children of that age at 1,680 calories. The school lunch aims to supply at the minimum one-fourth of the day's caloric needs though it generally supplies over one-third and often one-half of the daily caloric needs of the child, as can be seen upon examining the menus provided with the statement of the caloric values attached. A charge of 2 cents is made for each lunch provided. In those cases where the parents cannot afford to pay for the lunch, the cost is met by relief societies or by private philanthropy. The City pays for the lunches provided to the children in the special classes for defectives. The following is self-explanatory. Public School 21, number of lunches served during 1909, 31,287 (23,235). Public School 51, number of. lunches served during 1909, 22,884 (23,235). Public School 21, average daily attendance at the lunches, 162 (149). Public School 51, average daily attendance at the lunches, 119 (121). Public School 21, cost of food per capita, $.0326. Public School 51, cost of food per capita, $.0242. Public School 21, average cost of lunch served, $.0429. Public School 51, average cost of lunch served, $.0489. A previous table has called attention to the gain in weight of t'he children taking the lunches. At Bradford, England, the especially poor children were given three meals a day. During the first two weeks the average gain of the children was one and one- fourth pounds. At Whitsuntide the children were at home for two weeks and during this period, when they were having only the meals at home they made an average loss of one pound. The causative factors in malnutrition in children lie largely in the home. They are a complex, interwoven series of facts, each of which is important in completing the picture of malnutrition. Poverty, alcoholism, poor hygiene, physical defects of children, lack of dietary training, extravagance in the purchase of foods, domestic waste, lack of maternal care, employment of the mothers outside the home, lack of training in cooking and household economics. The high cost of food to those who buy in small quantities is an added factor in the cases of the very poor families. The use of tea and coffee among children is a general factor in the causation of underfeeding. 1910. Public School Luncheons, Financial Statement. Periods covered by this report: September 13, 1909, to June 30, 1910; September 13, 1909, to June 29, 1910. P. S. 21. P. S. 51. Number of Days Lunch Provided 193 182 Expenses. Expenses. Food Material $843 69 $666 50 Wages of Cook and Services 384 25 348 70 Furnishings and Miscellaneous 114 86 94 19 $1,342 80 $1,109 39 249 Receipts. Receipts. Sales of Food Tickets $476 49 $617 40 Sales of Penny Desserts 268 16 1 53 97 $1,044 65 $771 37 Deficit for 193 Days $298 15 $338 02 30 Checks Sold 25.883 20.580 Statistical Analysis. P. S. 21. P. S. 51. Total Paying Attendance (193 days) 24,187 14,088 Lunches for Services 2,702 2,304 Free Lunch for Needy — L Malnutrition Cases 2,481 4,865 2. Just Needy Cases 1,917 1,627 Total number served 31,287 22,884 Daily Average Paying Attendance 125.32 73.4 Total Daily Average 162 1 19 Daily Average Expense $6,957 $5,778 Daily Average Deficit $1 . 545 $1 . 761 Average Cost per Lunch per Day .0429 .0484 Average Income per Lunch per Day .0334 .0337 Average Deficit per Lunch per Day .0095 .0147 Cost of Food per Capita 0326 .0242 Cost of Services per Capita .01598 .0202 Cost of Furnishings and Miscellaneous .0038 .0042 Free Tickets $131.94 $194.76 Report of the Committee on Public Squares and Buildings of The New York City Commission on Congestion of Population, Alderman James J. Mulhe.a.rn, Chairman. The Committee have held three meetings and examined a number of witnesses. It was the Committee's intention to prepare a map showing in detail the specific loca- tion of existing public squares and buildings and to make suggestions as to the loca- tion of future public squares and buildings. In view of the fact, however, that the Committee have had no appropriation to make such a study and that the Board of Estimate and Apportionment plans to create shortly a Commission to make City plans for the City, the Committee wish merely to make certain general suggestions with reference to the decentralizing of the life of the City, and to point out the prin- ciples which in their judgment should govern the locating of New public squares and buildings. The creation of civic centres in various cities of this country and abroad has been increasingly recognized as an important part of the City plan. The most conspicuous illustration of such civic centres is the grouping of plans of the City of Cleveland, which recently created a Committee composed of three members, who have been given absolute power over the location of all public buildings. Their plans include the laying out of a mall, headed by the United States Post Office, the Custom Office and a new City Hall, while Buffalo has also been planning a civic center by grouping public buildings, as have also Chicago, Washington, Baltimore. St. Louis, Milwaukee, Minneapolis and many small cities of the country. The main features in this plan have been the groupings of these public buildings to ensure aesthetic and harmonious settings and convenience of access between the various public buildings, Federal. State and Municipal. Most of these cities, however, differ uniquely from New York City in that they have not the five distinct boroughs, each with a certain degree of home rule and independence of action, while in addition to the grouping of public buildings there has been made an effort in many of the cities to group around a com- mon centre, public buildings other than administration buildings referred to such as school houses, libraries, and similar place of concourse. Many better parallels, how- ever, for New York City are to be found in the cases of London, Paris, Berlin Vienna and Munich among the important cities of the world. Thus London has 27 boroughs, each with its own administrative building and other public buildings. Paris has in each arrondissement a small grouping of public buildings, while Berlin, Vienna and Munich, although boasting a splendid central group of public buildings such as the 250 Ringstrasse in Vienna and the Square in Munich, yet have the decentralizing influence of a large number of smaller groups of public buildings. In the plan for Greater Berlin, by which it is proposed to enlarge the area of the city by about 461,000 acres, provision is made for these civic central points, each with its group of public administration buildings, and they are located in relation to the developement of the city and the existing factory, business and commercial districts. It is true that New York City has a unique situation since each of the boroughs is composed of small formerly independent political communities. With the enormous distances of the City, however, it is especially necessary that the City should provide a number of these buildings for local administrative purposes. The method of ad- ministration has, of course, an important bearing upon the question of civic centers and the location of public squares and buildings, since if there is a larger degree of local autonomy a larger part of the business with the City can be conducted in each of the boroughs than if it were necessary that a person wishing to attend to official business should come to Manhattan from all of the other boroughs of the City. The grouping, however, of public administration buildings will also have an important bearing upon the locating of business and the creation of shopping, office and com- mercial centers, so that the location of these centers should be determined very care- fully before the projection of new lines of transit and in relation to the existing devel- opment of the boroughs. In large boroughs like Queens and Brooklyn it would seem advisable to have sub-stations of various departments such as the Department of Health, in several sections of the borough and avoid the time inevitably spent in coming to and from these centres. The Committee feel preeminently the importance of a definite city plan in which these public squares and buildings shall be provided for and recognize that such a plan must be made by a central governing body of the city instead of following any whims or local interests or prejudices. The only recommendations therefore that your Committee have to make are as follows : Recommendations of the Committee on Public Squares and Buildings. First — That a city plan be prepared for New York City by the Board of Estimate and Apportionment Engineers with such help as they shall require, at the earliest pos- sible moment ; such plans to be manndatory upon the City. Second — That there shall be in each Borough at least one large place reserved for the Public Administration Buildings of the Borough, such as Court House, Borough Hall, Board of Health and other departmental offices of the various City Departments, which shall be reasonabh^ accessible to all the Boroughs and especially to the existing commercial, financial and business districts. Third — -That in the larger Boroughs there should be a series of sub-civic centres and grouping-s of Administration Buildings. Fourth — That there should be in each Borough an effort to group the public build- ings, such as school houses, libraries and similar buildings, with the exception of fire stations, so far as possible in a park or with open ground around so as to give adequate setting and stimulate local interest and pride. Fifth — Although the Committee recognize that provisions for Municipal Recre- ation Play Centres with enclosed buildings is not immediately feasible, they feel that the City before long will undertake such provisions and urge that they should be made part of this centre. Sixth — The Committee endorse the principle of excess condemnation of land for acquiring sites for these buildings in outlying Boroughs, although questioning the feasibility and practicability of such excess condemnation where land values are at present extremely high. Not only may this lead to the location of new settlements, but in some cases it will provide for the cost of improvements. Eighth — The Committee recommend that all developing companies and individuals should be compelled to plot out their land in accordance with the City map. Ninth — The Committee recognize that the Mayor's Art Commission has certain authority in the City, but call attention to the fact that they can merely withhold their approval from any public building on public land and that the City has in the past in several instances secured sites for public buildings and then have been compelled to abandon them because the plans were not approved by the Mayor's Art Commission. Recommendations of the Committee on Crime and Delinquency of the New York City Commission on Congestion of Population, Alderman W. Augustus Shipley^ Chairman. The Committee has held three meetings and examined six witnesses. Various in- vestigations have been suggested to them as to the bearing of the question of rela- tions between crime and delinquency and congestion and room overcrowding. It has 251 been impossible, with the means and time at their command, to make such investiga- tions as the importance of the subject requires, but they nevertheless feel, after hear- ing the evidence presented, tliat more important than a study of the police records and the statistics of the Court of General Sessions and the Special Sessions, as to the last address given by those convicted of the various crimes, would be a study of the home conditions of those convicted of crime and juvenile delinquency. The Double Problem. The Committee have had a double problem to investigate — that of crime and the relation between so-called criminals over 16 years of age, and that of delinquency, or the shortcomings or moral failings of juveniles under 16 years of age, and congestion and room overcrowding. They have studied this question from the point of view of the home surroundings, as known of both classes of so-called criminals and juvenile delinq^uents. The City's Crime as Serious as the Criminal's Crime. Nearly every witness who has appeared before the Committee has emphasized that the home surroundings of both the criminal and juvenile delinquents and the bad housing conditions, the lack of parks and playgrounds, the poverty and sickness of the families, have been among the most important, if not the most important, fac- tors in fostering and producing immoral conduct of both criminals and delinquents. The Committee feel very strongly, therefore, that the City is equally as guilty as any criminal who has been arraigned in Special Sessions and decidedly more so than any juvenile delinquent, because the City has permitted conditions to continue through- out many sections of the City which are largely responsible for the criminality of the children and often of the adults. These conditions the City could have and should have prevented. Mr. Orlando F. Lewis, Secretary of the Prison Association of New York City, who appeared before the Committee, stated that 60 per cent, of the men sent to Elmira are from New York City, and most of them from the congested districts, and that although one cannot state definitely that this is due to congestion, it is true that the conditions of congestion and overcrowding predispose to crime. Mr. Lewis stated that the result of the present methods of dealing with vagrants and drunkards in New York City is not calculated to reduce the number of vagrants. The principal objection to the Municipal Lodging House is the fact that there is no obligatory work test and that many men remain three days and under certain circumstances and in many cases longer, without giving any return to the City. He stated that there is a population of at least 20,000 floaters in the 90 lodging houses in the City, which average 125 beds each, and that there are at least 5,000 or 6,000 in the lodging houses in Brooklyn, while there are many thousands who sleep in the streets, parks, etc., so that the total number in the City is perhaps 40,000. Mr. Lewis urged the endorsement by the Commission of the proposed Farm Colony for New York State to accommodate 600 men, the maximum committment to which should be not over one and one-half years for the first offense. Mr. Lewis stated that the most serious result of congestion in relation to delinquency was to conduce to crime due to the overcrowding in rooms, and he felt that it was not possible to control con- gestion and overcrowding in rooms without a closer supervision. Mr. A. Bullard, Agent for the Prison Association, stated : "I find it impossible to separate congestion, poverty and immigration. The poor and the immigrants live in the congested districts, and both poverty and recent arrival in new and strange environments are handicaps to the struggle for existence, and increase the temptations to crime. My observations would lead me to say that at the very least 75 per cent, of our City crime originates in the congested districts." He submitted data showing that a good many of the men who are sent to Elmira come from overcrowded rooms, but stated that he had not established any sta- tistical relations. He emphasized especially the overcrowding of individual homes which might and does occur in many partially settled districts, as follows : "Of all the manifest relations between congestion and crime, that which has struck me the most forcibly is in regard to offenses against public morals. The lack of proper play spaces for children forces them into the evil contacts of the gutter. The lack of parlors in the homes of the poor forces the growing girls to meet their men friends outside, often clandestinely. The presence of strange men boarders in the overcrowded homes of the congested districts has a notoriously bad influence, and prostitution in the tenement houses is perhaps the most disintegrating of all the evil concomitants of congestion." Juvenile Delinquency. Mr. Ernest K. Coulter, Clerk of the Children's Court of New York County, stated that congestion is responsible for a vast number of the cases that come to 252 the Children's Court of New York City, since environment counts nine-tenths in the whole proposition of juvenile delinquency, and that the bad environment of conges- tion has been responsible for the trouble of most of the 80,000 children who have been brought into the Juvenile Court since it was started. (Mr. Coulter has been connected with the Court since it has been founded.) The room overcrowding Mr. Coulter ascribes largely to the poverty of the families. He emphasizes the bad features of this overcrowding on the physique of the children and, hence, upon their morals, as also of the unsanitary and dark rooms in which they are living, and stated that there is little space in their rooms for the children day or night, unless they are put to work. The most skillful pickpockets in New York City are children. The employ- ment of children in the tenements is a serious problem and should be prohibited, while the high rents require the labor of practically all members of the family, even chil- dren of five years of age are working for blood money. Mr. Coulter suggested that the number of factories in a given district should be restricted and that the names of the real owners of every tenement should be put on tenements. He remarked that "seldom do tenement owners themselves complain of congestion because they know the greater the crowd the greater the rate of rental that can be charged." To the following statements of Mr. Coulter careful attention should be given : "There have been little children brought to Court on charges of no proper guard- ianship suffering from syphilis contracted from these lodgers. Only recently a case came to the attention of the courts where a thirteen year old girl had strangled her baby, of which one of the lodgers in the house was the father." Cost to the Community. Mr. Coulter reported that the cost to The City of New York was $5.62 each time a child is arraigned in the Children's Court of New York County, and that this is about one-seventh of the per capita cost of the child's education for one year. When a child is committed it costs the City at least $120 for the maintenance of each child in the institution and there are about 1,800 children annually committed to the institutions, making the total cost approximately $216,000 for each year they remain, while of course the wretchedness and suffering of families and of the children par- ticularly, is vastly more important than the money cost to the City. Statistical Evidence of the Results of Congestion. Mr. Coulter stated that the 39th Police Precinct contributed most heavily to the arraignment of children in the Children's Court of New York County.. This precinct is bounded on the south by 96th st., on the west by Central Park and Lenox ave., on the north by 116th st., and on the east by the East River. The total popula- tion of this precinct is approximately 220,000. out of a total population this year of 2,762,522 in Now York City (Manhattan and The Bronx), the population is therefore approximately 8 per cent, of the City's population, while the precinct furnished 12 per cent, of all the arraignments in the Children's Court on general charges and 9 per cent, of the arraignments because of improper guardianship. This district, of course, is rapidly becoming congested and includes what is known as "Little Italy." The 9th Precinct furnished the third highest number of arraignments. This is bounded on the south by Division St.. on the west by the Bowery, and on the north by Houston st., and on the east by Clinton st. and Norfolk st. It has a population of approximately 130,000, or slightly under 5 per cent, of the population of the county, while the arraignments on general charges of this precinct were 7 per cent, of the total for the City and the arraignments on charges of no proper guardianship were Sy2 per cent. Miss Julia Richman, Principal of School 56, stated that she would ascribe all the evils of child life on the East Side to three main reasons : First — Inefficient parenthood. Second — The absolute lack of respect that children have for their parents and lack of authority that parents have over their children. Third — The economical conditions under which they live. Miss Richman admitted that overcrowding is a most serious factor, and she instanced numerous cases which have come to her notice of the result of the demoral- ization of children due to personally observing the relations between the father and the mother inevitable with the overcrowded conditions of the home, especially when lodgers are taken in. Miss Richman thought that there was more accidental prostitu- tion than direct prostitution as the result of this overcrowding. She stated, however, that the prevalence of the push cart on the East Side is a most potent and continual source of crime by tempting young children to steal. Miss Richman declared that ade- quate provision of parks and playgrounds should be made where the boys, especially, could work off the surplus of animal spirits and urges that Sunday baseball be permit- ted as safeguard for the children of these districts. Miss Richman also called attention 253 to the large number of widowers with children to support who could not get any one to care for them and therefore kept the oldest child out of school in order that she might look after the other children. Miss Richman advocated the careful but tactful enforcement of the law against overcrowding and felt that the City should, at whatever cost, see that these people had decent accommodations rather than the over- crowded rooms in which they are now living on account of destitution. The part time evil in the schools is particularly bad for children over 8 years of age since they need the supervision and control furnished them in schools during the number of hours provided for in a full day of schooling. Miss Richman advocated that the City should furnish a meal to children at noon for three cents, under careful super- vision so that if any child could not afford to pay the money it could be furnished the meal without any charge. Miss Maud E. Miner, Secretary of the Probation Association, who has been for several years a probation ofticer herself stated that she laid Crime and Delinquency particularly to three causes : First — The sweatshop home. Second — The deserted home. Third — The overcrowded home. The sweatshop home is often due to the poverty of the family, all of the members in the home taking in work in order to earn enough for the family to subsist. She stated that she know of many cases where young children were going to school and working until 12 o'clock at night in these sweatshop homes and then from 12 until 1 o'clock studied their lessons. She advocated a system by which the deserting hus- band should be made to work and what he earns given for the support of his wife and children. Overcrowded Rooms. Miss Miner instanced a case of a woman being arraigned for vagrancy where she had been plying her trade in the same house with a mother and her children ; the mother, of course, simply wanted the money and did not realize the effect of such conditions upon her children. It is impossible to maintain sex decency when it is permissible for nine people to live in two rooms, men, women and children all huddled together in these two or three rooms, and it is very harmful for the children to spend their time on the streets, but there is no other place for them to ' go to. Many of the moving picture shows on the East Side are very injurious to the morals of the girls, not merely because the pictures shown are bad, but the balconies and aisles are dark and the girls sit beside immoral men, who often inveigle them into immorality. It is true that a great rpany girls now support cadets, and Miss Miner stated that this is largely due to the congested conditions of the work places, the homes and the play places. There are men in the congested districts that have five and si-x girls working for them as prostitutes. It is extremely difficult to convict .such cases. Many of the girls working in the factories do not earn more than $4 and $5 per week, most of them in unskilled trades, few of them are skilled and find it impossible to rise, many of them are below par mentally. Miss Miner stated that instead of developing more parks and playgrounds at present, that those in the City now should be under better supervision, to protect the children from loafers and immoral men who frequent these places. Miss Miner thought that less overcrowding would relieve the moral conditions, especially if the taking in of boarders was pre- vented. Recommendations of the Committee on Crime and Delinquency. Your Committee therefore make the following recommendations : Since the present Tenement House Law permits nine people, seven children and two adults or four adults and three children, to occupy an apartment of three rooms, this law should be amended to prohibit the occupancy of so few rooms by so many people. The Law should be enforced, as there is no pretense of enforcing it at present. As it stands upon the statute book to-day it is absolutely a dead letter. First — The Committee recommend that the requirements as to cubic air space in apartments be increased to 600 cubic feet for each adult and 400 cubic feet of air space for each child over 12 years of age, that this law be vigorously enforced by placards in the apartments stating the number of people that are permitted to occupy the apartment, and that the owner or his responsible agent be required to ascertain how many tenants are to occupy the tenement when it is being leased, also that the lessee be required to register the fact with the owner of the tenement or his responsible agent when he is taking in a lodger. Second — The Committee recommend that no lodger be permitted to occupy a room with a child over 12 years of age of the opposite sex. The Committee appreciate 254 that this is a law difficult to enforce, but the frightful results of failing to prevent these conditions has been amply demonstrated before your Committee. The Committee recommend that tenement house manufacture be prohibited, or if that is not possible, that no manufacturing be permitted in tenements in which there are children and that the manufacturer be held responsible for the places in which his goods are being manufactured. Fourth — The Committee recommend that more playgrounds and places of recrea- tions of a more wholesome kind be provided for, and more coreful supervision of the existing playgrounds, parks and recreation centres. They feel that the City could wisely conduct places of recreation under proper supervision themselves, where they do not exist at present. Fifth — In view of the inevitable injury to children of the overcrowded conditions of city life, the Committee recommend that restriction on the height of tenements in outlying districts should be enforced. Sixth — Since poverty is one of the principal causes of overcrowding and the consequent delinquency, the Committee recommend that relief be given where neces- sary to the families who are now living in congested districts by the City itself, their removal, however, to better quarters being a condition of their receiving such relief. Seventh — The Committee recommend that the Department of Education be urged to arrange talks for mothers on the danger to their children of permitting them to occupy the rooms with lodgers, the values of such talks having been referred to by several of the speakers before your Committee. Eighth — The Committee urge that more physical exercises be provided for chil- dren in the Public Schools and that the City should immediately take steos to elim- inate entirely part-time by providing adequate teachers and rooms for the total attendance at the Public Schools without overcrowding the rooms. Ninth — The Committee recommend tha,. steps be taken to have the dark and insantiary rooms occupied in many oi the tenements vacated and kept permanently vacated. Tenth — The Committee recommend that the principle of the City Farm Colony be extended and that instead of maintaining an institution in the crowded sections of the City, other adults or children who are in need of relief, that they should be taught agriculture and gardening m institutions similar to the present Farm Colony. Eleventh — The Committee recommend that in the congested districts of the City, where it is possible, that the streets be closed at certain times so as to permit the children to use these streets as playgrounds. Summary of Foreign Methods of City Pl.\nning. The most important features of city planning in foreign countries which have been suggested, in substance, are as follows : First — -Proper housing of the city's masses for a reasonable proportion of a fair wage, and within easy access of their work. Second — Direct and adequate roads connecting the main business centres of a city with smaller roads of such width and construction as not to impose an unnecessary and burdensome cost upon the occupants of small houses. Third — A proper system of water supply and sewage disposal, pipes and con- duits for wires. Fourth — The economic location of factories and prohibition of factories in dis- tricts where they will be an injury to the neighborhood, and, as a necessary corollary, provision of means of carrying freight. Fifth — The elimination of the cost of carfare, as far as possible, to the work- ing population. Sixth — The decentralization of the city's business, pleasure and educational dis- tricts and interests. Seventh — The provision of adequate parks, playgrounds and open space.s, with space for public buildings, to furnish not merely sites but settings. Eighth — Such control over the location and volume of buildings for manufac- turing and office purposes as will enable the city authorities to anticipate and pro- vide adequate means for carrying passengers. Ninth — The control of the development of new and unbuilt sections of a city, and the incorporation of adjacent areas so that their development may similarly be controlled. In addition, however, one must note the instances of a remarkably effective exercise of the police powers of the State known as the Lex Adickes. Under this law, enacted by th^ Prussian Diet in 1902, either at the instance of a majority of owners of over half of the area of irregular and uneconomic plots, or on the initia- tive of the city itself, these lots may be thrown into a common pool and redistricted. 255 so that each lot shall be of the greatest value for use. This seemingly arbitrary requirement that the owner shall not be permitted to corner a district and render the economic use of a plot impossible is carefully safeguarded and constitutes a strong argument for utilitarianism on strictly economic grounds. The redistribution is carried out by a commission, consisting of two commissioners of the Provincial Council and at least one building expert, one lawyer, one certified surveyor and one further expert. Up to 40 per cent, of the land to be redistributed must be ceded to the city free of charge; for any amount exceeding this the city pays, but the law plainly states : "The redistribution is to be undertaken for the advantage of the public." The ground for streets and open places is separated from the total beforehand, and the remainder, in the form of regulated plots of land, brought in, in the report. Every owner receives land located as nearly as possible in the same locality as his original holding. The value of the building land apportioned must at least equal that of the old plot, otherwise the difference in value is to be made good to the owners in money. In the same way, compensation is made for buildings, market gardens, nurseries and the like which have been taken. If the redistribution takes place on the motion of the local authorities, the streets created rnust in general be available for public use within four years. Under the opera- tion of this law in Frankfort nearly 250 acres up to 1909 had been redistricted, and many handsome private and public buildings constructed thereon. The municipal authorities at Frankfort summarize the advantages of this method of creating usable land out of irregular hodge-podges : "The erection of buildings of an uneconomic and unhygienic kind is prevented, and the future inhabitants are protected from unfit dwellings. The property of every party interested is improved. Misshapen streets are avoided, the streets being made from the first in continuous lines; long enduring traffic difficulties are cleared away, and consistency in the ex- tension of the city is rendered feasible. The market for the building lots is enlarged and harmful speculation is thwarted. Thus the redistribution of town land, with its tendency to a healthy reform of land ownership, deserves to be placed beside the many expedients for the, at the root, fundamental dwelling question." Similar legis- lation has been enacted by other States of the German Empire, notably by Hesse, Hamburg and Baden, and also by democratic Switzerland. Under the Badenese law, however, the ground for public roads is purchased by the city, and this expenditure is made good to the community by the parties concerned only when the building operations have commenced. It is customary in German, Austrian, Swiss and English cities for the local authorities themselves to prepare the plans for the city. The exact methods by which these plans are prepared vary from city to city. Sometimes they are developed by the building department, sometimes by the city engineer or by an oft'icial in charge of the transit lines of the city, which are usually owned by the city — a valuable asset in securing an economic city plan — but always the city engineer has the chief charge of the plans. The following summary gives the procedure under the New Town Plahning Act of England : "The Procedure Regulations of the Town Planning Act. "Made by the Local Government Board under section 56 of the Town Planning Act, and dated May 3. 1910. "Outline. "1. Resolution of borough or district that they are prepared to consider a pro- posal to prepare a scheme or to adopt one prepared by landowners. "Notice of such resolution to be given within seven days to any council interested in the land. "2. A large scale 'Map No. 1' of the projected scheme to be deposited at a place convenient for public inspection. Copies of the map to be furnished to every council any part of whose land is included. "Notice of the projected scheme and of the deposited map to be inserted in newspaper, and served on owners, lessees and occupiers of land included in the scheme, and to councils any of whose land is included, and to the county council if a main road is affected. "3. Consideration of representations made in writing by owners and others in- terested in land included in or affected by the scheme, also by urban and rural coun- cils affected — conference thereon. "4. At least one meeting, summoned by fourteen days' notice, of all interested. "5. Not less than two months from service of the notices mentioned in para- graph 2, the promoting council passes a resolution to apply to the Local Government Board for authority to prepare or adopt the scheme. 256 "6. The resolution is sent to the Board, together with : "(a) A large scale 'Map No. 2,' indicating the extent of the land comprised in the scheme, which parts of it are already built upon, which parts are not likely to be used for building, and defining the jurisdiction of the various councils affected. The map must also show existing buildings, highways, roads, sewers, pipes and mains, and also projected roads and open spaces. "(b) A declaration that the necessary notices have been served, etc. "(c) A small scale 'Map No. 3,' showing the surrounding country to a distance of five miles. "(d) A copy of objections not withdrawn. "(e) A general description of the scheme, particularly in relation to existing conditions. "(f) Estimated cost of the scheme (1) to the promoting council, (2) to any other council interested. "If the scheme is promoted by landowners, then: "(g) Map No. 2 must indicate the proposed sewers, pipes, mains, etc., and the following information must be furnished: "(h) Council's observations. "(i) Names and addresses of persons interested in the land, whether statutes or by-laws would be infringed by the scheme; whether purchase of lands by any council is contemplated; information as to probable claims for compensation, and particulars of such claims by promoting landowners; estimated betterment. "7. Notice of application to the Board must be given in the local press. "If the board now authorize the council to prepare or adopt the scheme, the further procedure is as follows : "(a) Notice to be given as in paragraph 2: (1) That the board has made the order; (2) that the council proposes to proceed; (3) that persons desiring to make objections or representation must do so in' writing within twenty-one days. "(b) Hearing by the council of objections and representations. "(c) Preparation and printing of draft scheme by the council, with large scale 'Map No. 4,' indicating, in addition to the matters comprised in Alaps 1 and 2, details of proposed roads, pipes and mains, and particulars of the type of buildings to be erected on various portions of land, i. e., the purpose of such buildings and any restrictions as to their height or number to the acre. "Or, alternatively, adoption by the council, with or without modification, of the scheme prepared by landowners, and printing of the same, with Map No. 4, as above. "(d) Notice as in paragraph 2 of council's intention to finally adopt and submit the scheme to the board, and deposit the scheme, maps, etc., for public inspection, together with notice that the council will consider objections and repre- sentations made in writing within twenty-one days. "(e) Meeting, to which all interested are summoned by fourteen days' notice. "(f) Not less than one month from giving notice of their intention to do so, the council may, by resolution, finally adopt the scheme and submit it to the Board, together with : "(1) Maps similar to the No. 4 series, but finally rectified and called 'Maps No. 5.' "(2) A declaration that the necessary notices have been served, etc. "(3) A small scale 'Map No. 6' of the district in which the scheme is included, and showing all open spaces, elementary schools and other buildings. "(4) A large scale 'Map No. 7,' giving names and estates of owners of land comprised in the scheme. "(5) A copy of objections not withdraw. "(6) All particulars specified in articles VIII. and IX. (see paragraph 6) and certain other particulars. "(7) Estimated cost. "(8) Local acts, provisional orders, by-laws and regulations in force in the various districts included. "(g) The council give notice by advertisement that they have submitted the scheme to the Board, that copies are available for inspection and that objections and representations may be made to the board within one month. "(h) If the Board propose to modify the scheme, they will send the draft order to the council, who must notify all concerned that any objections to the modified scheme must be made to the board within a month. "(i) The draft order of the board finally approving the scheme will be pub- lished in the 'London Gazette' and notice given in the local press that any person may object by writing to the board within twenty-one days. 257 "(k) \\'lien the order of the board approving the scheme has been made, the council must give notice in the local press and also notify all concerned. "(1) The board may vary or dispense with any of the regulations other thaE those required by the act. H. C. DOWDALL." Information and Suggestions Regarding Congestion of Population and Methods OF Preventing Congestion in German Cities. Submitted by Mr. Otto David. 1. With few exceptions there are no statistics giving the density ot population per acre by districts and blocks, in German cities. There are statistics giving the size of the cities or their population which may give a picture of the density of these cities. 2. About the distribution of population in relation to living quarters, that is : number of rooms ; the large cities maintain statistical offices, which besides the gen- eral taking of the census prepare such statistics all the time. 3. In connection with the various laws about the use and condition of living quarters, there are in existence chiefly three systems of inspection : (a) Volunteer inspection, as an honorary office. (b) Professional inspection by paid officials. (c) Inspection by the co-operation of both in connection with so-called Wohnungs Kommisionen (Housing Commissions). The Hrst system, which is used for instance in Hamburg, has proven itself to be insufficient. No headway can be made without the co-operation of the professional element ; where there is a thorough housing inspection, we have to deal everywhere with a more or less forceful co-operation of the professional element. In fact the general inspection at the present time is performed by a police officer of a building department and in many places very good results have been obtained. We do not find the co-operation of professional and volunteer inspection very often. In the city of Strassburg this co-operation has worked the best. The co-operation of volunteer elements in these cases has the advantage, that houseowners as well as tenants make the execution of orders more easily possible, if plain civilians participate in giving these orders. In general, the effectiveness of inspection depends upon how many facilities are at the disposal of the housing inspectors and its frequency and regularity in accordance with the official regulations. 4. The authorities in Germany have vacated the overcrowded dwellings in only a very few cases. The majority of German cities having a deficiency of small dwell- ings, and as the occupied dwellings necessarily are occupied by families with a great number of children, who, anyhow, ha\e hard work in finding suitable accommoda- tions, the result of vacating would be that these families would become absolutely shelterless. In cases of vacating dwellings, the department of public charity are required to provide shelter for families affected by such vacating. 5. Private or public charities would have to be called upon only in very few cases of vacating dwellings where the activity of public authorities is not considered beyond what is stated under number 4; but charitable organizations exist in a number of cities, who put means at the disposal of families with a great many children, to help them in getting an additional room, for instance, a family of six with only two rooms, will be helped to rent three rooms. There are also organizations to fight consumption which assist in procuring additional rooms. 6. A statistical comparison of death rates in overcrowded rooms of tenernents in congested districts is not common now though in former years such comparisons were made. It is necessary to be careful in using these comparisons, because a high death rate is caused, not only by bad housing conditions, but also by bad nourishment, long working hours and bad sanitary conditions in certain city districts, besides many- other causes that may have an influence on the death rate. 7. In regard to cubic air space, there are only figures, which give the area, that can be utilized for the buildings proper in general, factory regulations are left to- the state. Restrictions on factories are generally put only on such ones, become a nuisance to their surroundings. F. Statement Submitted by Mr. Frank Bailey, Vice-President The Title Guar- antee &■ Trust Co. There are three subjects I submit for your consideration : 1. An alteration of the Tenement House Law so that three-story buildings may be constructed for three families on a basis of rental which will give a return on cost both to the builder and owner. Prior to the Tenement House Law, this class of construction was largely adopted in Brooklyn. The properties have always sold well; they have been comfortable and 258 hygienic and liave been a favorite class of investment on the part of the people with small sums. Under the new law, the tenants have had so much light and air and the cost of construction has been so great that these three-story houses are no longer feasible. They have been replaced by the two-family house, which requires a tenant to pay more money, and the three-story house caring for two families on a floor. 2. The Tenement House and General Building laws of the City and the Regu- lations of the Board of Health should all tend towards making tenement house owner- ship more comfortable than it is, otherwise there can be no increase in tenement house construction for the account of decent owners. H the tenant throws garbage in the back yard, the tenant (not the owner) should be fined; if the tenant wastes water, it is the tenant (not the owner) who should pay. In other words, an entire change in the attitude of the authorities to the end that some of the responsibilities now assumed by others should be brought with great vigor upon the tenants. This change would produce better living upon their part, and would result in more tene- ment house construction of the best kind. Just as long as the attitude of our laws is one that produces tenement house ownership as only feasible in the hands of those who will use their efforts to dodge the proper statutes and regulations, in those who care nothing about the tenant excepting the amount of money which can be obtained from him — which class of ownership is bound to exist as long as there is as at present persecution of tenement house owners to the extent now existing — just so long will there be a congestion proposition in New York City. 3. An entire change of the Tenement House Law so that the requirements for the $3,000 apartments should not be the same as the requirement for the $5 per month flat. Many a poor tenant moves from the new flat into an old and inferior building because he cannot pay the coal bill necessary to heat the flat having an air ;:haft as great as the big steam-heated building. When this new Tenement Law was passed. I prophesied that the result would be congestion and a herding of people in large tenements. Whether that prophecy was true, I leave you to judge. I feel sure that there is no class of measures which will tend more to reHeve congestion, and that, too, rapidly, than the fixing of responsibility for misdeeds of the tenant and allowing the construction of three-family houses on an economic basis in both the Boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, and a tenement house law which differentiates the class of construction. The proportion of each block for uncovered area I take to be prac- tically the same as percentage of block covered, and for private dwellings, the present law provided that 90 per cent, of the lot area may be covered. What the actual condi- tions are I do not know, as I have never had occasion to look it up. As a general thing, however, new buildings being erected cover about the full 90 per cent. There are no records in my department showing these conditions as they actually exist. That would be a matter that could be determined possibly from the insurance maps, w-hich show private dwellings as distinguished from tenements. They give these facts approxi- mately, wathin 5 per cent, or 10 per cent. On these maps blocks are drawn to scale and the houses are located to scale, though it is such a small scale that you can easily make errors in taking the dimensions as they do not give more than the width of the lot, but no information as to the shafts or size of the houses. You could only approxi- mate it. Mr. Chairman: Do you, in your plans filed, indicate just what percentage of the lot is occupied? Mr. Miller : They do not indicate it in that way. They give the dimensions of the house to be erected and the man who examines it or the plans sees that 10 per cent, of the lot is uncovered, that is in the case of private dwellings. We get the dimensions of the building and from that we figure to see that the uncovered area is provided, and our inspectors make the report showing those conditions, but if it is more than 10 per cent, we make no note of it. We simply examine to see that 10 per cent, is left un- covered. In the case of buildings occupied in part for business purposes and in part for dwellings, the entire lot may be covered in that portion of the building occupied for business purposes, so that we have a great number of buildings in which there are stores on the first floor and dwellings above where the entire lot area is covered in first and 90 per cent, covered above. Mr. Chairman : Do you find that the filling up of the entire area of the first floor would affect the conditions, and what effect would it have on such conditions to be changed ? Mr. Miller: This is a matter of judgment. Mr. Chairman : Do you think some discretion should be allowed or lodged with the Superintendent of Buildings? Mr. Miller : No, I think the law should say what shall be allowed in such cases 259 and he should see that the law is carried out. What shall remain uncovered is a matter of judgment, and if it is to be based on anything, it must be based on statistics of some kind to show what effect this covered area has on the occupants. If the con- ditions throughout the block are such that in one case 2-stories are occupied by stores and only one story by stores in another, then it would have decided effect. The uncov- ered areas for warehouses and factories is not fixed at all, that is to say, warehouses and factories can cover the entire area. In of lice buildings there is a restriction of 10 per cent, if the building is not located on a corner, but there is no provision made as to how much or how large a corner lot is or may be. If the building occupies the entire block, no uncovered area need be provided because it is all corner building. Commercial conditions make it necessary, however, to provide some uncovered area to light the covered area. In hotels the restrictions are very severe. In the tall hotel buildings, say 20 stories high, the restriction is such that you cannot cover more than about 40 per cent, of the lot area above the second story. For corner lots 98 per cent. of the lot may be covered. But a corner lot is restricted to 3,000 square feet. For interior lots 10 per cent of the plot must be left uncovered for the first five stories in height and ZYi per cent for each story above the fifth. As to the restriction of the height of buildings there is none except what the effect of uncovered area may be. There is no law as to the height of buildings. Restriction as to cubage is the same thing. In my opinion the height of buildings should be restricted. I think it is desirable from man}' standpoints. Just what it should be I am not prepared to say now. An opin- ion of that kind is influenced by a great many things and I must say that I change mine from time to time. Sometime in the future 1 shall be glad to state my judgment of that point. And I shall be glad to submit to the Commission the recommendation I have made regarding the restrictions for uncovered areas. I submitted it to the Building Commission of 1907. As far as such restrictions are concerned. I do not believe in specif3'ing a percentage. I believe in specifying certain definite requirements ; for in- stance, yards at the rear increasing in depth according to the height of the building; also provisions that any courts shall have minimum sizes rather than fixed per- centage, and that no living room or sleeping room shall be permitted that does not open to the outer air or on a court of the minimum dimensions. The present law does not provide anything regarding the rooms, except the excise law in regard to rooms of hotels. There is no specific provision as to where the uncovered area shall be left. One of the Commissioners some time ago took the stand that it must be left at the rear of the lot, but he was unable to enforce it, and he was beaten in the courts, as in the Martha Washington Hotel which runs from street to street, where he insisted on the light court remaining across the centre of the building. The courts, -as I recollect it, decided that all the Commissioner could require was that the percentage of uncovered area should be provided and that the applicant was at liberty to place it where he saw fit, provided it secured light and ventilation to the building. Of course that was a matter of judgment, but so long as it secured light and ventilation it could be disposed of as the applicant saw fit. There is nothing specific about the location of the court. In other words, j'ou could locate the court wherever you pleased, provided you left sufficient light and air. As to the demolition of unsanitary houses, of course, our department has no authority. It might be a good thing if we did have authority to remove some illegal structures. We have authority to remove unsafe buildings. The question of zone areas has never been taken up. No, we have no restrictions, except as to the form of construction, which, of course, does not make any difference to the question at issue here, whether it is fireproof or not. As to basement dwellings. I believe all residence buildings should be treated alike. If a certain amount of light and ventila- tion is necessary for the occupants of tenements, it seems that the same is necessary for the occupants of hotels and dwellings, and my view on that point is expressed in this provision submitted to the Building Code Commission, that no living room or sleeping room should be placed in any building unless it has direct exterior ven- tilation. There are quite a number of plans still filed for interior rooms, but very few interior unlighted rooms. But in this I am not covering tenement houses. We only pass on the construction of the tenements. I might say that there are very few private dwellings in Manhattan being constructed. There are as many theatres as private dwellings. As to the standard floor area and cubic feet of space for rooms. I have also ex- pressed myself in those recommendations. There is at present nothing in the law requiring certain area or cubage in rooms, except I think there may be something in the requirements as to lodging houses. There is a charter provision as to lodging houses. Mr. Chairman : Will you take up the question of cubage of buildmgs and the volume of buildings, aside from tenements, as a means of restricting the intensive 260 use of land? Do you favor that system as tlie Mayor's Commission suggested, and to take into consideration the cubage and area of the lot in the restriction of build- ings? Mr. Miller : I do not think that is necessary, if we fix the minimum require- ments for yards and shafts and fix possibly the heights of buildings. In other words, the same might be effected by legislation. It is not the cubage we are after. We are after light and ventilation of the buildings for the occupants. In the second floor these have to have light and ventilation as well as those on the upper floors, and the shafts ought necessarily to increase in size. That will restrict the building in cubage, especially if you have a limit on height. You can accomplish the same thing by the cubage method, but it won't do to specify the height and cubage both to- gether, as one interferes with the other. The same thing about percentage of lot to be covered and the sizes of shafts and yards. You can accomplish the thing by either method, but I think that to specify the minimum of yards and courts is the better way because then we know we are getting the uncovered area in the places where we need it. Mr. Chairman : Do you think, from your knowledge of one or two-family houses, of which there are a few in Manhattan, it would be well to have the same provisions as for tenements? Mr. Miller : I do. I think occupants of dwellings are entitled to the same consideration as those in any other type of buildings. My view is that all residence buildings in which there are living rooms should be treated alike in that respect. But that is impracticable for certain reasons, as the tenement-house question is a ques- tion by itself, and it may be desirable, for practical reasons, to treat tenement houses a little differently than other types of buildings, but as a general proposition they should be treated alike. Sometimes more people are crowded into a two-family house than in tenements, such families taking lodgers. I will be glad to give you any suggestions that occur to me in addition in better form and in writing. Statements Submitted to the Committee on Factories. A. Statement Stibmitted by Hon. Jolin Williams, Commissioner of the State De- partment of Labor, on Methods of the Department. He stated that the Department made inspections at least once a year of all fac- tories in New York City, and that the report submitted by the Deputy Inspectors carries information as to whether the factories inspected were located in any other place previously so as to determine whether they are identical. A comparison of statistics of the number of factories by boroughs would not be of particular value. Proximity of the labor market is an important factor in determining the location of factories. There are about 26,OGO factories in New York City and 14,000 tenement houses licensed for tenement manufacture, making about 40,000 places to be inspected. There is a permanent force of 35 inspectors for New York City, but during the winter the up-State inspectors are brought down so that the number averages about 40 for the year. Last year officers of the Department visited 160,000 tenement apartments in New York City. The Department inspects every tenement in which there is an apart- ment used for manufacture. Mr. Williams stated that he is opposed to the idea of having a Bureau of Investi- gation or Mediation and Conciliation unpaid, since members must give practically all their time to the work of the Commission and could not do this on a volunteer basis. He doubted the wisdom of attempting to make investigations except upon complaint. W'hen asked whether he thought manufacturing in tenements could be abolished in time, he replied that in his judgment this is not possible, but if the experience of the community proves that further regulation is needed this regulation can probably be secured. In answer to the question as to the best means of distributing factories Commis- sioner Williams stated that he had not given the matter much consideration and would wish to do so before making a reply, but suggested that it may be within the limits of the State's province to prohibit the establishment of a factory in a tenement above the first floor. He thought that an effort to prohibit the location of factories in Man- hattan by requiring space between tenements and other buildings was not feasible, as so many factory buildings have already been constructed without this provision. He- stated in conclusion that as a means of regulating tenement house manufacture it might be possible to place upon the manufacturer the responsibility of seeing that no- work is given to families where children would do any of the work. 261 Death Rates in New York and Some Foreign Cities. The Department of Health of New York City have furnished the following sta- tistics of the crude and corrected death rates of a few cities : Death Rates per 1,000. Crude Corrected Death Rate. Death Rate. London 14.00 14.70(1^8) Berlin 16.00 17.63 (1906) Paris 18.00 19.12 (1906) New York 15.96 17.69 (1909) They also show that Bostoij's death rate corrected to New York standard .is 16.3 as compared with the New York rate of 15.96. E. Statement by Mr. G. E. Dc Palina-Castiglione, Manager, the Labor Information Office for Italians. 1. Necessity of Regulating the Business of Taking Boarders or Lodgers Within the Limits of The City of New York. For foreign laborers who have their families here it is customary to take in their houses as boarders, or lodgers, those of their countrymen who are alone, or whose families have been left abroad. The number of laborers resident without families being enormously large, the business of taking lodgers is very profitable. The run- ners of such tenement apartments or lodging houses charge each lodger from $2.50 to $3 per month. For this amount they supply (1) one place in a bed (changing linen every fifteen or twenty days) ; (2) fuel to cook foods and use of the family stove; (3) washing of the personal linen of lodgers. H\^gienic and sanitary conditions in such tenement apartments and houses are deplorable, destructive of health and good morals. Families living in two or three- room apartments often have five or six lodgers who sleep together, two and some- times three in one bed. Such overcrowding absolutely prevents the possibility of boarders washing, bathing and taking the proper care of their bodies. Promiscuity of living often corrupts habits and causes sexual depravity. Contrary to the general opinion, on account of higher rents, conditions are worse in the new tenement houses than they were in the old ones. It seems advisable that your Commission consider the possibility of requiring all persons who take lodgers, whether in separate houses or apartments, to obtain a license which would be granted only after a proper inspection of the premises, and which would definitely limit the number of lodgers ; all licensed houses to be under the inspection of the Board of Health and all licenses to be immediately revocable for just cause. , Several other countries have such a law and in some, in Germany and in Switzerland, for instance, it is strictly enforced. 2. The enactment of such a law as above suggested should be simultaneous with the opening of lodging houses where accommodations identical with those actually supplied by private lodging houses should be supplied at an identical price ($2.50 to $3 per month). Such lodging houses should be built in the heart of the districts in- habited by immigrants. They could perhaps best be built and run by private individuals. The City might appropriate a certain amount to be given as subsidy or prize to the founders of such lodging houses. •3. A. Compulsory Teaching of English to All Adult Residents of the City Who Cannot Prove that They Know the Language. Ignorance of English is the strongest barrier to the distribution of immigrants, and it is the main cause of their congested colonies. Foreigners, who do not under- stand English, feel lost when they are not surrounded by people who_ speak their own language. There are many immigrants who have lived for years in this Citj^ and have never left the districts inhabited by their countrymen. An ignorance of English prevents foreign laborers from becoming acquainted with opportunities existing outside of the places where they live. 4. Reduced Rate of Transportation on Cars. Elevated and Subway, from 5 a. m. to 7 a. m. on All Working Days. This system has been in force for several years in some European cities, and it has produced some good results, inducing wage-earners to go and live in the less ■crowded districts. In several European cities during the two hours from 5 a. m. to 262 7 a. m. (and in some to 9 a. m.) the fare is as low as five centimes (a little less than one cent) per person. Colonisation as a Means of Checking Congestion. As long as the average wage of laborers employed in construction and mainte- nance work, either in city or country, is larger than the wage of farm laborer, it is of no use to make any effort to induce immigrants, who in their own country were farmers, to go and work on farms here as farmhands. But the alien farmer or farm laborer could be induced to go farming as farm owner. There are hundreds of farms, even in New York State, either abandoned or poorly cultivated, which can be bought at an average price of $10 per acre, buildings included. The price of some of these farms no more than covers the cost of their buildings. A large number of them may be purchased by making a small cash payment in advance (from $100 to $300), the balance in small installments. Immigrants are entirely ignorant of the existence of these farms. The Department of Agriculture of New York State issues now and then a list of farms on sale in this State, but owing to the fact that this list is pub- lished only in English, it is useless as far as the non-English speaking population is concerned. The Department ought to publish information of this kind in the principal languages spoken by the foreign population of the State, and list the descriptions of farms according to price. But even the publication of these bulletins in foreign language would not provide adequately for the instruction of immigrants in the agricultural opportunities existing in this State. A large number of the total number of immigrants, and almost all those who come from the agricultural districts of Europe, are either illiterate or have not acquired the habit and need of reading. Therefore the publication in foreign language of the farms for sale would be of limited use. The State, either through the Department of Agriculture or the Bureau of Immigration and Industries, ought to employ special agents who speak these foreign languages fluently to canvass or lecture ip the foreign quarters of our great cities, and thus inform the immigrant population of the agricultural possibilities here existing. Sub-agents paid on a commission basis might also be employed with advantage to induce immigrants to invest their earn- ings in farms on sale within the State. Such sub-agents should be recruited among those who are in close and daily touch with immigrants (bankers, steamship ticket brokers, grocers, etc.). "The Abstract of the Report of the United States Commission of Immigration on the Immigration Situation in Other Countries" illustrates the extraordinarily successful work that the Canadian Government does to induce immi- grants to settle on land. We quote from this report : "Salaried agents of the Canadian Immigration Department are stationed in Lon- don, Liverpool, Birmingham, York, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Belfast, Exeter, Dublin, Paris and Antwerp, and under their direction an extensive advertising campaign is carried on. Officially prepared circulars in several languages, setting forth the inducements offered by Canada to agricultural immigrants, are distributed in large numbers; similar advertisements are carried in newspapers and other publications which circu- late among the classes most desired; permanent exhibits of Canadian products are maintained in several cities, and travelling exhibits are sent to various sections of Great Britain and Ireland and to agricultural fairs and other exhibitions throughout the Ignited Kingdom. "Another feature of the propaganda, and one which particularly indicates Canada's desire for immigrants, is the payment of a liberal bonus to several thousand so-called booking agents in the favored countries. These booking agents are for the most part local steamship ticket agents, and. theoretically, the bonus is allowed for the purpose of inducing such agents to favor Canada by directing thereto intended emi- grants who otherwise might choose a different destination. The bonus paid is 3^1 ($4.86) on each person 18 years of age or over, and 10s ($2.43) on persons between one and 18 years. In Great Britain it is paid upon tickets to Canada sold to British subjects engaged in the occupation of a farmer, farm laborer, gardener, stableman, carter, railway surfaceman, navvy or miner, and who signify their intention of fol- lowing farming or railway construction work in Canada. Female domestic servants are also included. A like bonus is paid on similar classes of immigrants from France, Belgium. Holland, Denmark, Norway. Sweden and Finland. During the fiscal years 1905 to 1909, inclusive, this bonus was paid on 16.5 per cent, of all British immigrants, and on 11 per cent, of all immigrants from continental Europe, admitted to Canada. "In England the Salvation Army is also utilized as an agency to promote emigra- tion to Canada, and grants of money are made to the army for that purpose. It is stated, however, that no immigrants are brought to Canada at the Government's ex- pen s'e. 263 "The British press is relied upon as a factor in promoting emigration to Canada through news articles relative to the progress and advantages of the Dominion, and also through the publication of letters from persons who have settled there. British newspaper writers and other publicity agents are encouraged to visit Canada, and it is stated that much desirable advertising has resulted. "Some years ago Canada inaugurated the plan of sending agricultural delegates to Great Britain to supplement the work of regular immigration agents, and this proved so successful that the practice has been continued. "For many years Canada has regarded the United States as a desirable field for immigration effort. The propaganda here is conducted under the direction of an of- ficial designated as inspector of agencies and press agent, and general agents are stationed in sixteen cities. The efforts of these salaried representatives are supple- mented by a large number of agents, who are paid a commission of $3 per man, $3 per woman, and $1 per child on bona fide settlers induced by them to settle in western Canada. During the fiscal years 1905 to 1909, inclusive, this commission was paid on 5.6 per cent, of all United States immigrant^; entering Canada." Xew York State, it is true, has no free land to offer, but, as I have said, many of the farms on sale in New York State are sold for a price inferior to the cost of their buildings, while the Canadian homesteads consist of bare and unfenced prairie land. I feel satisfied that a systematic propaganda conducted on similar lines would induce many immigrants now living in cities to buy farms throughout the State. It is a fact that a large number of aliens who after some years emigrate from the United States buy land and return to farming in their own country. This proves (1) that there are many of our immigrants who have money in sufficient amounts to buy farms : (2) that there are many immigrants who are really eager to devote themselves to agricultural work. Of course the number of immigrants who have money enough to buy farms is small in comparison with the total number of those immigrants who were farmers in their own country. A large number of those belonging to this class have not money enough to buy and equip farms and become independent. But the number of those having $200 or $300 is very large, and this amount is often sufficient to make the first payment on the purchase price of a farm, but it is not sufficient to stock the farm and Day living expenses until the first crop is marketed. This class of immi- grants could be induced to buy farms only by special inducements, such as that of paying the greater part of the price of purchase of the farm in installments after the crops are marketed, and of buying tools, stock and provisions wholly or partly on credit. Colonization companies working on such a plan would certainly appeal to a large number of this class of immigrants, and it would be worth while for the State to consider means of assisting the formation of such companies. Record of Number of Persons Placed by Largest Agencies for Distributing Population During 1910 in New York City, New York State and Other States. Xew New Organization. Total. York York Other State. City. States. National Emplovment Exchange.. 3,574 1,591 398 1,585 Period ending Sept. 30, 1910 Hebrew ."sheltering and Immigra- tion Aid Societv 732 .... 6S3 49 Nov. 30. 1910 Civic League of North America.. 3,834 .... 3.499 335 Oct. 5-Nnv. 30. 1910 Division of Information in the De- partment of Immigration 4,283 2,139 2.144 Year '-nded June 30. 1910 *Tndu=trial Removal Office....... 3.504 247 .... 3.257 1909 Jewish Agricultural Industrial Aid Society 343 217 .... 126 1909 New York State Department of Agriculture 4.944 4.944 1910 Labor Office for Italians 2,904 1910 Total 24,118 9.138 4.580 7.496 The Commissioner of Licenses of New York Citv states that the contract labor statements filed by employment agents show^ that 24,925 men exclusive of farm hands 264 were sent out of the City during the year ended May 1, 1910. *This Agency also granted Cduring 1909) 265 Farm Loans amounting to $141,- 494.4