Euthenics, the science of controllable environment Part 4

Undoubtedly the old view of charity as tenderly caring for the sick--because there must always be a certain amount of sickness in the world--has held men back from attempting to make a world without sickness. The charity worker of the past had no hope of really making things better permanently.

The new view, based upon scientific investigation, is that it is not charity that is needed to support invalids who once stricken must fade away, but preventive action to give the patient hope and fresh air. Most important of all, the experience already gained shows how far from the truth was the old fatalistic notion of the necessary continuance of disease.

While the support of many agencies--dispensaries, clinics, hospitals, sanatoria, etc.--must for a time depend upon private philanthropy, the expense is in the nature of an investment to bring in a high rate of interest in the future welfare of the race. As soon as the belief in the efficiency of these agents reaches the taxpayer he will willingly furnish the funds for public agencies.

Today the child in the school is examined; then, if need be, is given special consideration at the dispensary, then sent to school, where, with fresh air, pure food, and hygienic surroundings, he will so strengthen himself as to combat the ravages of disease.

The a.s.sociation for the Improvement of the Condition of the Poor, New York City, not only sends bread to fill the hungry stomach, but now sends a wise and sympathetic worker to help women to understand food and money values, which means a permanent help. And it no longer simply says to the tired, worried woman who has had no education-stimulus along the line of cleanness, "Be clean," but sends in women to make the house an example, an exhibit of clean conditions, if you will.

Example is stronger than precept.

In the rapid growth of cities, so often beyond antic.i.p.ation, preparation for development or plans for extension have seldom been laid. Much suffering has been wrought to the families of men in our crowded cities, for there is no greater evil than the congestion of streets and buildings.

Many students of social conditions of today believe that the most serious menace is the situation best described as housing--the site, the crowding, the bad building, poor water supply and drainage, lack of light and air and cleanliness. All believe that it is economically a loss to the city in general, however profitable to a very few. To rent such buildings is a far greater crime than cruelty to animals or even the beating of women and children.

But groups of people the wide world over are keenly awake to this state of affairs, and though the problem is tremendous they are trying in numerous ways to solve it.

In some cities there are at present organizations urging "city planning," while in several foreign cities the munic.i.p.ality has already made regulations. In some cities there are munic.i.p.al model tenements, but this is still a project of too small proportions to affect the community.

Perhaps no modern movement that comprehends both the city planning and the housing of the working people is more ideal than the "Garden Cities" movement in England and the other countries following it.

If there is any spot on which the hand of the law should be laid, it is the congested districts in cities and mill villages. The evil has grown to such magnitude that the first steps will mean some drastic measures.

The author has elsewhere called it the _Capitalists' Opportunity_.

Instead of investing in an uncertain gold mine in some distant land, let the millions, for no less sum will suffice, be invested in a plot of land, whether an open field or a slum district depends on local conditions, and thereon cause to be erected habitations decently comfortable, wholly sanitary, and place over each group an inspector as both agent and teacher who shall be a friend to the tenants, and to whose office they may come freely with their needs. This plan has been in part carried out in the Model Tenements in New York, but variations and improvements are needed. There should be more light and air, more gra.s.s and trees, even if the buildings are fifteen-story towers.

The old story has been so often reiterated, "But the tenants will not use the devices," that the capitalist has become callous to this appeal. The missing link in the chain has been the instruction to go with the construction.

All department stores, all venders of new mechanical appliances, have come to recognize the value of demonstration, or instruction, in the use of articles as an aid to purchase. The advocate of better dwellings must take a leaf from the commercial book and _show how_. It is in this that philanthropy has been weak in the past. It has a.s.sumed a power to see, where there was only a fear of handling the strange objects.

There is a virgin field for the capitalist who wishes to use some millions for the prosperity of the country to build a short trolley line to a district of sanitary houses with gardens, playgrounds, entertainment halls, etc.; such a village to contain, not long blocks, but both separate houses and tenements from two rooms up, possibly several stories high, where the elders may have light and air without the confusion of the street. Dust and noise will be eliminated. There should be a central bakery and laundry, and, most important of all, an office where both men and women skilled in sanitary and economic practical affairs may be found ready to go to any home and advise on any subject. There has never yet been such an enterprise with all the elements worked out. Several, however, have shown the way, the Morris houses in Brooklyn, for example.

It is easier to take a city block and construct fireproof, high buildings than to solve transportation problems. We are losing our fear of the high buildings as we see the great value of light and air.

There is chance for work in this direction, for in spite of rapid transit some must live in the center of things.

Let a philanthropist or two, instead of building hospitals, set some bright young architects and sanitarians to devising such suitable housing conditions for city and suburbs as will obviate the necessity for hospitals. Any lover of his kind, any one who longs for fame, could find both it and the blessing of the homeless by this means, and in the end get a fair return for his investment.

The Federal Department of Labor[7] has studied workingmen's houses, but _living in the house_ has not been worked up. The housewife has no station to which she may carry her trials, like the experiment stations which have been provided for the farmer. Here is another opportunity for the capitalist to hasten the time when the State will supply these. The way will very soon be laid out and the first steps taken.

[7] Bulletin No. 54.

For the immediate present some standard of healthful housing is needed, and now that a similar type of house and of apartment house is being built in all cities and towns from one ocean to the other, and from Texas to Maine, such a standard is compatible with conditions.

A score card for houses to rent would save much wrangling. The agent shows the card with this house's rating, and the tenant learns that some of his wishes are incompatible with the standard, and some would mean a much higher rent than he is willing to pay. Professor J. R.

Commons, Department of Economics, University of Wisconsin, has devised a score card to serve the house hunter and householder as a standard of comparison. This should serve the house builder as well, indicating what the demand will be forty or fifty years hence.

At present the rating stands somewhat as follows:

Dwelling, 100 points

Location, 18 points out of 100 Congestion of buildings, 26 points Common entrance for two or more, discredit 2 points Bas.e.m.e.nt, discredit 5 points Sunlight, credit 16 points of the 26 Window openings, 11 points Air and ventilation, 13 points Structural condition, 6 points House appurtenances, 26 points Well outside, discredit 3 points

The final score card may vary somewhat.

For rent collectors there is also a score card.

Occupants, 100 points

Congestion of occupancy, 61 points cubic air s.p.a.ce 1,000 cu. ft. per person, no discredit 600 cu. ft. per person discredits 20 points Condition of air and ventilation, 18 points Cleanliness, 21 points

A score card movement might be started as a hobby, and in the end lead public opinion to judicial choice and action. No such movement, however, is possible without leaders, and leaders of the right type.

The lesson for the community to be drawn from a study of crowd psychology is that of leadership and loyal cooperation. The common man is likely to be possessed of one idea at a time. If such an one becomes a leader, there is danger that equally vital factors will be overlooked. Safety is found in a combination of leaders to make an all-round improvement.

Each individual is too busy in his own affairs to look after his own, much less his neighbor's, health and comfort, hence community life, with its advantages, brings its own dangers. Children in school in contact with other children; crowds in trains, in elevators, stores, in lecture halls, contract habits as well as diseases. The need for large quant.i.ties of supplies at one point brings long-distance transportation and cold storage difficulties. The man who caters to public need does not look far ahead to consequences, and if unrestrained may prove more of a menace than a convenience.

The safe and reasonable way is to delegate to certain persons the making and enforcement of regulations corresponding to the needs of the times, and then to obey them, even at some personal inconvenience.

Each community should put into the hands of its health officers the carrying out of the rules it has agreed to as an _insurance_ against outbreaks of disease. Does a man let his fire insurance policy lapse because the year has pa.s.sed without a fire? Even if the regulation seems superfluous to the particular individual or family, let it be remembered that there are inflammable spots in every community.

Eternal vigilance is the price of safety in sanitary as well as in military affairs. As in the army, the community must delegate scout duty to certain chosen individuals and rely on their report for safety.

CHAPTER IV

_Interchangeableness of these two forms of progressive effort. First one, then the other ahead._

Preventive medicine is the watchword of the hour, and enlistment in the cause can come only through education....

He who understands the dangers is thrice armed, and is trained and ent.i.tled to enlist in the home guard to protect the health of his household and neighbors.

_Dr. M. H. Rosenau, Harvard Medical School._

The next generation of parents is being made strong or weak in home and school today by an environment furnished by parents and teachers. These latter cannot be too well instructed in physiology, hygiene, and biology.

_Prof. John Tyler, The Responsibility of the Medical Profession for Public Education in Hygiene._

The new view is a social view, which seeks in all movements, whether of research or of remedial action, for the common welfare.

_Edward Devine, Social Forces._

Democracy means that the best of all life is for all, and that if there are many incapable of entering into it, then they must be helped to become capable.

_Ralph Barton Perry, The Moral Economy._