THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD By MARION TALBOT and SOPHONISBA PRESTON BRECKINRIDGE WHITCOMB & BARROWS BOSTON, 1912 COPYRIGHT, 191 z By MARION TALBOT and SOPHONISBA P. BRECKINRIDGE THOMAS TODD CO., PRINTERS 14 Beacon Street,' Botton, Mass. TABLE OF CONTENTS . CHAPTER . , PAGE I. THE HOUSEHOLD AS A SOCIAL UNIT i II. THE HOUSEHOLD AS THE CENTRE OF CONSUMP- TION 10 III. SHELTER 20 IV. FOOD 29 V. CLOTHING 37 VI. MANAGEMENT 47 VII. DOMESTIC SERVICE 56 VIII. EDUCATION 67 IX. THE ACTIVITIES OF THE HOUSEHOLD 74 X. THE HOUSEHOLD AND THE COMMUNITY 82 INDEX 90 250776 PREFACE WE hope that the statements and suggestions in the following pages, supplemented with the questions, will lead housewives, either separately or in study classes, and students of social conditions in college and elsewhere, to find ways by which the household of moderate income and with children may realize its possibilities as an organized group of human beings. In these days, the constructive forces necessary for the maintenance of the household must be sought in new garbs, and those forces which seem to be disintegrating must be rein- terpreted in order to serve their higher purposes. No attempt has been made to treat the subjects presented in an exhaustive way or to do more than to indicate the wide range of interests which are the field in which the progressive housekeeper may serve and enjoy. MARION TALBOT S. P. BRECKINRIDGE Department of Household Administration The University of Chicago June, 1912 CHAPTER I, .* THE HOUSEHOLD AS A SOCIAL UNIT, THERE are students of modern social conditions who prophesy that the home and the family will not endure in their present form as social organizations. Moreover, these views have secured a considerable fol- lowing, and they have obtained a greater publicity than they really merit. The prevalence of these views doubtless seems greater than it is, partly because newspaper and magazine writers have widely quoted them and thus given them the sem- blance of more widespread authority than they actually possess, and partly because they reflect a general and very genuine dissatisfaction with many social phenomena apparent at the present time. Such evidence is found in the increasing frequency of divorce, the lowered birthrate, the multiplication of hotels and tenements, the increase of public places of amusement, and the deser- tion of families, either temporarily or permanently, by husbands and fathers. On the other hand, it is true that the dependence of the community upon sound family life as the condition of enduring community life is becoming constantly more widely recognized and more frankly acknowledged by persons of large experience in actual dealing with social problems. Those who work among the poor with any appreciation of their responsibility for the consequences of their ministry have long been familiar with the fact 2 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD that to attempt to serve any member of the family with- out taking into account the needs of the entire group is generally like pouring water into a sieve. The Charity Organization movement, with its program of "family rehabilitation," is a conspicuous instance of this emphasis upon the family as the ultimate social unit. Another is the Juvenile Court movement, with its theory that inade- quate family care amounts to dependency and justifies community interference in behalf of a child, whose claim to normal family life is thus recognized. More- over, the discussion of the treatment of dependent chil- dren, whether by means of pensions so that they may be cared for in their own homes, or after the "placing out" method whereby they are given homelike surround- ings with foster parents, has made the necessity of domestic efficiency on the part of the mother very clear so far as the poor are concerned. In the case of those who suffer from spiritual rather than from pecuniary limitations, the theory has not been so clearly formulated ; but the importance of setting higher standards of domestic, social, and administrative efficiency for women who administer incomes ranging from two to ten thousand dollars is becoming constantly more evi- dent. In the first place, these women are the ones who suffer more than any others from the influences which issue from a leisure class based on recently acquired wealth. These are the women whose incomes are most largely drawn from positions of a business rather than of an industrial character, among whom the canons of waste and idleness secure their widest adherence. To be sure, the college graduates belong largely to this group, , AS A SOCIAL UNIT, 3 as do most of the professional women. They are, how- ever, as yet, the exception and not the rule, and, to the domestic women of this pecuniary group, subject to all the pressure of the competitive and wasteful business standards of today, is intrusted the administration of the households from which will come the young people who will be able to take high school and college courses, and so constitute the leadership in political, professional, and business life. It is, therefore, of supreme importance that for women of that group the dignity and responsi- bility of their tasks should be made clear, and ideals of efficiency and utility substituted for those of waste and social competition. If this can be done successfully, there will be less misapprehension as to the seriousness of the domestic problem* It is not surprising that great confusion of judgment regarding the subject has prevailed. Household tasks of outgrown value are retained because of their association with the real service to. family life which was rendered by them at an earlier period. Archaic methods persist, practices no longer in accord with the demands of the time survive, and belated eighteenth or nineteenth century habits of thought often dominate the household life of the group, when twentieth century business or educa- tional ideals are being applied to problems presented to the members of the group in their experiences outside the home. The inevitable result must be serious difficulty for the young woman who undertakes as wife and mother to direct the affairs of her family, as well as friction among the members of the group. The development of the factory system and the application of its principles 4 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD to many processes connected with the preparation of foods and the manufacture of clothing have prevented her acquisition of the various kinds of skill which her mother or her grandmother acquired as a matter of course. She cannot spin, weave, card, comb, bake, or brew. She can perhaps sew a little; she can cook but little, and then successfully only if she refrains from "stirring in judgment" and obeys the cookbook literally. Apparently, then, her status has been reduced, her influ- ence narrowed, and her position rendered less dignified and worthy. Moreover, much of the work which the domestic woman once did in the home, the wage-paid woman now does outside the home. Wage-earning is coming to have equal dignity with domestic life, and the wage-paid woman, while perhaps industrially bond, is domestically free. Yet it is, of course, obvious to the intelligent observer that never was the position of the housekeeper and home- maker in reality more important or her responsibility greater. The tragedy does not lie in the small scope offered for the use of her abilities, but in her lack of preparation to avail herself of her opportunity. For without warning a far more serious change has taken place than has been realized. The domestic tasks of an earlier day have left the home, not leaving behind them a void, but making way for a substitute which has crept in, calling little attention to itself and therefore unnoticed and unwelcomed. This substitute for the older making of yarn, cloth, bread, and beer is spending money for ready-made clothing, household goods, and food almost ready to be served. By her making, the house- AS A SOCIAL UNIT . 5 keeper of two generations ago provided for the wants of the aged, the children, and the other adults in her little group. If she planned wisely and executed well, Johnny had trousers that were warm, durable, and com- fortable, Jenny's little dress looked, wore, and felt well, and the husband's homemade shirt lasted until a suc- cessor was ready. Today, by her spending, she, with others like her, determines the fate of innumerable child- workers, whose labor, performed perhaps at night, is embodied in the sheets in which her Johnny and Jenny sleep, the table linen from which the husband eats, or the bottles from which the aged parent takes the reliev- ing medicines. By her buying, employers are tempted to continue the use of sweated labor on the curtains which hang in reception rooms like hers, and convict labor is enabled to compete with the union workingman, whose efforts to improve his conditions are thus rendered futile, Surely the position of one who holds such power, though only as she shares it with others who are under- taking a like task, is one of great influence, real dignity, and grave responsibility. And yet it is and must for some time be extremely difficult to equip young women to perform these duties and meet these responsibilities ade- quately. As has been said, the vacating of the household by the various industries to which reference has been made has sometimes seemed unduly slow, but compared with the long period during which they have been so associated with home life as to seem to be identical with home life, this egress has been accomplished with extraor- dinary swiftness. Within less than a century, the age- long practice of making in anticipation of a want already 6 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD experienced has been replaced by buying an article made, not primarily to be used, but to be sold, often for a want not yet felt. The goods that were the products of the labor of separate small family groups are now the prod- ucts of big business. Through the act of purchase, the housekeeper becomes related to those who buy and sell, who plan and toil and exploit, the wide world over. To meet such a situation, no preparation has been possible, because no such situation could be anticipated. It is, therefore, not difficult to understand why we still teach a little cooking and a little sewing, and so continue to relate ourselves with the long past of making, instead of formulating and inculcating the principles of spending which belongs only to today and yesterday. For the past, explanations may suffice and apologies be accepted. For the future, however, no excuse can be offered. We know today that the newly assumed function of spending is as important as the old function of making. We knov/ that those who spend determine the fate of those who make. We know that those who make and those who profit and those who spend are held by bonds of common interest, and we know that to those to whom so much is intrusted must be given wisdom, skill, technique, and intelligence with reference to the hard task to which they set their hands. Not only, then, are we beginning to recognize the significance of the spending function, but new measures are being worked out by which the importance of the efficient performance of the household task is estimated in terms of social well-being. In the child-study depart- ment of the Chicago Board of Education, the children AS A SOCIAL UNIT 7 who are brought before the Juvenile Court as truant, incorrigible, or delinquent are tested in ingenious ways to learn, if possible, the real source of their difficulty. It is the belief of the wise persons who observe these chil- dren in this close, scientific manner that in many cases their troubles grow, not out of natural inferiority, either mental or moral, but out of a lack of opportunity during the early days and weeks of their lives to form regular habits, to learn to coordinate well their bodily activities, and to cooperate and work naturally with other members of the group. In other words, the failure to secure regu- lar sleep, regular feeding, and regular play for the child at first, and then the loss of regular family life, and espe- cially the family meal, at which his needs receive due recognition as part of a group expression of a group need, and the lack of such discipline as the well-ordered home may furnish, lead the children into the humiliating paths which may end* in the truant and reform school; and even if the failure is not so conspicuous, the result may still be that the child will be prevented from coming into his kingdom of full individual development and full social participation. The casual observer may propose the substitution of the well-ordered institution for the task of securing such regularity and discipline in the e very-day household. But the mortality tables of institu- tions for children forbid the consideration of such sub- stitutions. If they do not receive in the home the kind of training that they should receive, they may become truant or delinquent; but if they receive institutional rather than maternal care, they die; and the risk is too great. 8 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD Because, then, of the significance of her task to the later life of the members of her group, and because, too, of her power to determine the fate of those workers from whose services she benefits either directly or indirectly, the woman who administers the affairs of a household may well regard herself as placed at the real heart of things, responsible for the conduct of that institution which is the unit of social organization. QUESTIONS 1. What features of the present form of family life are the object of criticism? 2. In case you think any of this criticism valid, what remedies would you propose? 3. In what respects, if any, may there be said to have occurred a decadence in home life? 4. What are the factors which go to make up sound family life? 5. How generally do you think that your judgment on this point would be accepted in your community? 6. What measures is your community taking to pre- serve family life ? 7. What are the forces of disintegration and of up- building to which the present-day household is subject? 8. What archaic methods and belated practices are retained in your household? BIBLIOGRAPHY The Family. Elsie Clews Parsons. New York : Putnam's Sons. Woman and Economics. Charlotte P. Oilman. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co. AS A SOCIAL UNIT 9 The Man-Made World; or, Our Androcentric Culture. Charlotte P. Oilman. New York: Charlton Co. Socialism and the Family. H. G. Wells. Boston: Ball Publishing Co. Rich and Poor. Helen Bosanquet. New York : The Mac- millan Co. x The Standard of Life. Helen Bosanquet. New York: The Macmillan Co. Preventive Treatment of Neglected Children. Hastings H. Hart. New York: Charities Publication Com- mittee. Domestic Service, Chapter I. Lucy M. Salmon. New York: The Macmillan Co. Some Ethical Gains through Legislation. Florence Kelley. New York: Macmillan. Report on Condition of Women and Child Wage- Earners in the United States, Volume I. "Cotton Textile Industry," Chapter I. United States Bureau of Labor, Washington, D. C, 1910. ' The Child in the City; Why We have Truants. D. P. MacMillan. Chicago: School of Civics and Philan- thropy. NOTE. The books referred to are expected to be suggestive rather than to give specific and detailed answers to the questions, and the lists have been made with special reference to students who have access to reference libraries. No attempt has been made to include in the bibliographies articles of value which have recently appeared in magazines. CHAPTER II THE HOUSEHOLD AS THE CENTRE OF CONSUMPTION THE household has lost its social value as the pro- ductive unit ; it remains, however, the centre of consumption. That the father should earn and the mother spend the family income is the allotment of function generally agreed upon. There are, of course, variations of this program. There are well-to-do households in which the father not only earns the support but pays the large items in the expense account, such as rent and other amounts which are periodically due. There are other households in which the wife is physically disabled or indifferent, and the father makes the daily purchases. In other families, too, in which the mother is interested in a professional pursuit, scholarship, the law, journal- ism, or teaching conspicuous examples could be cited of each the direction of the household may be jointly assumed as suits the professional convenience of either or both. There are communities of considerable extent the great textile centres, mill towns in England and Scotland, and certain factory towns in New England where the mother regularly contributes by her labor to the family income. The sum of these exceptional family groups is absolutely large ; relatively, however, it is small enough to justify characterizing them as "exceptional." However many may be the cases of the women who earn or however questionable the desirability of their becom- 10 AS THE CENTRE OF CONSUMPTION II ing wage-paid workers, it is universally accepted as suit- able that the women of the household should spend. Among large numbers of the community it is, in fact, the practice for husband and wage-earning children to turn in to the wife and mother their entire pay, to receive back for personal and separate use the amount her judg- ment allows, on the basis of knowing and planning for the needs of the entire group. It has been pointed out that in the past slight atten- tion has been paid to this function of the housewife, because in the past, when the home was the centre of production, the interest was focused upon the technical processes involved rather than upon the wise allotment of various goods to various wants. Moreover, where the great volume of wants are satisfied by making goods rather than by purchasing them, the latter seems rela- tively less important. In this country, too, nature has been so bountiful and the access to the means of produc- tion on the whole so free that penalties for unwise use of resources have been lacking, and there has therefore been relatively slight inducement to improve the tech- nique of consumption. The same wasteful methods have prevailed in pro- duction for the market. Only- as the struggle for life grows keener and access to the means of production more difficult, as land is appropriated and capital is organized, as the growth of cities and improved means of communication reveal to all members of the commu- nity the struggle necessary for many, has the producer for the market on the one hand and the housewife direct- ing the consumption of her family on the other begun 12 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD to take notice of the deplorable waste which has char- acterized the activities of both. On this account much is said and written as to the desirability of cost-account- ing in the factory and office. In the same way the need is voiced for the housewife to learn to plan more care- fully and to enter upon each year's activities prepared to benefit from the experience, failures, mistakes, victories, and successes of previous years. This means a system of cost-accounting carefully worked out so as to reduce the labor of keeping it to the lowest point consistent with its intelligent use in com- paring the results of methods used and of experiments tried. It also means careful and deliberate planning, the preparation of a budget in which the wants of the group are recognized and allowance is made for the fullest satisfaction of each want consistent with the adequate recognition of the others. It means, of course, a standard of living adopted on the basis of careful thought as to the pecuniary resources available for the group, the probable changes in the earning capacity of the man, the social claims upon the group, and the domestic and social capacities of the woman. The first consideration in determining the amount to be spent, after taking account of the maximum fixed by the total income from all sources the earnings of the husband, income from invested securities owned by both husband and wife, earnings of the children, etc. and the minimum set by the actual cost of the shelter, food, and clothing consistent with health and decency, would be the allotment of resources as between present and future wants. When there are children, the cost of edu- AS THE CENTRE OF CONSUMPTION 13 cation must be anticipated as relatively greater when they reach the adolescent period. The claims of the man's business may require sudden change in domicile or make a more costly method of living seem advantageous. Inherited tendencies of a physical kind may make it seem wise to lay aside a considerable proportion of the current income against the time of illness and incapacity. On the other hand, generous nourishment for man and child alike, or apparently extravagant expenditures in educa- tion or recreation, may ward off the dreaded invalidism or bring in relatively larger returns in increased earning capacity in later years. These considerations and others like them should weigh with the young housewife to whom the husband intrusts the responsibility of planning their joint domestic undertaking. Not only should she consider seriously the claims of the present and of the future; she should have a pretty clear idea of the wants other than physical which will demand satisfaction and avenge themselves if ignored. She will, of course, recognize the fact that food adequate in amount and well selected, shelter wholesome, decent, and if possible beautiful, and cloth- ing of the kind to meet the needs of warmth, freedom of motion, tastefulness, and rational conformity to pre- vailing styles must be supplied. She will, in addition, allow for the schooling of the children and provide the opportunity for the entire group, by means of daily news- papers, the weekly and monthly magazines, and the purchase of books, to indulge to a reasonable extent the desire to know what is going on in the world about and what the past has meant. If she is wise, she will 14 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD allow for such social intercourse as will give her group a sense of close relationship with other groups; for recreation which brings relaxation and gives free play to individual and original powers; for such service of the poor and needy as cultivates the spirit of service and gives a sense of unity with the whole wide world; and for such enjoyment and appreciation of beauty as unites the individual harmoniously with the universe. Her first plan must be tentative, and on the whole experimentally tried out. No very definite instruction can be given as to the proportion of income to be assigned to the various activities of the family. This is not because the subject has not received attention. Various plans have been proposed for formulating proper standards of family life. Le Play, the French student of family life, spent many years observing the customs of family groups in many parts of the world, in order that the possibilities of controlling one's environment and the extent to which the environment is determining might be better under- stood. On the basis of extensive and elaborate compu- tation, Ernst Engel undertook to deduce certain "laws of expenditure" which indicate within wide limits the relationships between total income and the proportion allotted to any special wants. These "laws" are usually formulated as follows: 1. The lower the income the larger the proportion claimed by sustenance. 2. Lodging, warming, and lighting absorb an invari- able proportion, whatever the income. 3. Clothing claims a constant proportion. AS THE CENTRE OF CONSUMPTION 1 5 4. The larger the income the greater the proportion allotted to well-being. These studies were limited, however, to families on a low pecuniary level. The conclusions, therefore, have no weight as indicating what is desirable. They merely summarize the practice of those who have lived under the pressure of poverty, and indicate in statistical form the truism that so long as a family is in the grasp of severe poverty, food will claim a disproportionate share of the slender resources. If as the income increases the proportions allotted to housing and clothes remain con- stant, it is because with housing and clothing are asso- ciated satisfactions of varied kinds, social intercourse, beauty, display, which demand satisfaction. It is to be hoped that true bases of expenditure may some day be formulated; but that will be possible only when more intelligence has been devoted to the house- hold problem. When housekeepers, trained in the tech- nique of spending, wise as to the nature of the interests intrusted to their care, become interested enough to keep careful accounts, to make experiments which require patience and devotion, and to report the results for the benefit of others engaged in similar undertakings, a body of data will become available from which conclusions as to desired standards of living may be drawn. Obviously, however, the intelligent young house- keeper will even now familiarize herself with the sug- gestions contained in such studies as those referred to, in order that she may obtain the help which they may afford in determining when and how to meet peculiar needs for which special provision must be made. For example, if l6 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD shelter, heat, and light assume a fairly constant propor- tion, and that somewhere near one fifth, and she finds that her expenditures conform pretty closely to that measure, she may feel fairly well satisfied, unless she should argue that during the first few years of married life, when social demands are few, while her children are little, she will reduce this item to an even lower claim by doing without a sitting room and guest room, or by some other limitation in housing, in order that there may be large freedom later on when the husband is able to be at home more and the children demand more space and more entertaining. In such a spirit of foresight and regard for values will she distribute all her resources her money income, her own time and strength, and the time and strength of those whose service she commands. Especially in- teresting questions arise in connection with processes formerly closely related to family life, now ready to sever connection with it. Weaving and spinning have gone. Should sewing go? Will she make the little gar- ments for the first baby, or buy them already made and save her eyesight and nervous force ? Brewing was once a household process. Shall baking go? Will she make or buy her family's supply of jams and other sweet things for the winter's enjoyment? If she lives in a community where there is no wage-paid work for women which might attract her for a time ; if the bakers of her town make poor bread under conditions of which she cannot approve; if the children need home baking because in their community domestic science has not been put in the school curriculum and they need to be taught to use their AS THE CENTRE OF CONSUMPTION \J hands under any of these circumstances she may well decide to cling to the earlier practice. And so with many other decisions. Perhaps her task cannot be better de- scribed than by saying that she will allot the various units of her resources so that she will get out of every one at least as much satisfaction as if it had been allotted to any other use. With such a guiding principle, with the self-control and patience necessary to keep careful accounts and com- pare the results of the experiments as the years go by, and with the cooperation of the husband in encouraging such experimentation, the management of the group would become and remain a problem of increasing interest and dignity. QUESTIONS* 1. What is meant by the home as a "place of con- sumption"? 2. What are some of the results which should be attained from the expenditure of money? 3. For what needs must the income of a family provide ? 4. What are the evidences that the outlay of. money on household expenses is generally unsatisfactory? 5. Why has little attention been paid to the division df income? 6. What determines, in most cases, the amounts spent on the different household departments? - 7. What should determine them? 8. What constitutes good buying?' 9. Describe five observed instances of good or bad buying . l8 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD 10. What is meant by "good standards of living"? 11. Under what conditions do you think a house- keeper is justified in taking up gainful employment? 12. What considerations other than those of pecuni- ary and industrial economy should help determine the method of living? 13. How can greater simplicity in living be secured? 14. How may the housekeeper use her power of imitation for the good of the family? 15. What should follow from the improvement of material or physical conditions of living? 1 6. Make a list of the industries which have in general disappeared from the city household. 17. Make a list of those which have partially dis- appeared. 1 8. Make a list of those which you think may dis- appear with advantage to family life. 19. Make a list of interests and occupations of the housekeeper which do or may replace the lost ones. 20. Criticize the following division of income for two adults and three children, viz. : rent, $50x3 ; wages, $500; operating expenses, $500; food, $700; clothes, $300 ; other satisfactions, $500. BIBLIOGRAPHY Economic Function of Woman. E. T. Devine. New York : Teachers College, Columbia University. The Queen's Poor. Chapter I, "Husband and Wife among the Poor." M. Loane. New York: Long- mans, Green & Co. AS THE CENTRE OF CONSUMPTION Ip \ The Woman Who Spends. B. J. Richardson. Boston: Whitcomb & Barrows. The Cost of Living as Modified by Sanitary Science. Chapter IX, "Organization of the Household." E. H. Richards. New York: J. Wiley & Sons. v General Sociology. Chapter XXXI, "Interests"; Chap- ter XXXII, "The Individual." A. W. Small. Chi- cago: The University of Chicago Press. x The Standard of Living among Workingmen's Families in New York City. R. C. Chapin. New York: Charities Publication Committee. Home Problems from a New Standpoint. Caroline L. Hunt. Boston: Whitcomb & Barrows. American Economic Review. II, 269. "The Backward Art of Spending Money." W. C. Mitchell. CHAPTER III SHELTER THERE are three terms which are often confused in popular usage, viz., housing, housekeeping, and home-making. Each one has a distinct meaning, and yet they all go together to make up one whole, and that a very important concern of the housewife. We may use as an analogy the human body. There is first its struc- ture or its anatomy, then its physical activities or its physiology, and finally its spiritual life or its soul. Housing is the material form which shelter takes ; house- keeping is the direction or maintenance of the physical aspects of the house, while home-making is the crown of all, the nurture and development of that spirit which finds expression in the popular phrase, "There's no place like home." Much of the so-called "bad housing," when closely scrutinized, proves to be bad housekeeping and bad home- making. Changes in housing laws will not better these conditions. There must be education for housekeeping. But more important still for right living and the wel- fare of society is education for home-making. This means the education of husbands and fathers as well as of wives and mothers. Little can be accomplished for the betterment of the home until this fact is recognized by public opinion and the significance of the home not of its processes merely is recognized equally by men and women. 20 SHELTER 21 As the civilization of our time grows more complex, the relation of the individual to other individuals and to the community becomes more dependent and intricate. The change manifests itself in many forms, among which one of the most important and obvious is the larger control over the individual and his activities assumed by the state, showing itself by the adoption of new statutes and the organization of new administrative machinery. One of the latest phases of individual activity to be taken over by the community is that of the householder. The earlier attitude of the law towards a man's dwelling was shown in the adage that "A man's house- is his castle," expressing the idea that at the outer door all rights of the outsider, even the public, ceased, and beyond that point the power of the occupant was complete. This view of the rights of the householder has had to yield to the modern conception of the relations of men to each other, and the question, "Am I my brother's keeper?" receives quite different answers now, when the brother's right to life and health are had in mind, from those given in the older days, when men's minds were centred on obtaining freedom from official control. In this respect, as in other directions, it is recognized more and more fully that the limitations of one man's freedom may be absolutely essential to the enjoyment by another man of ordinarily favorable conditions. The law has always recognized as a basic principle in the use of property the maxim, "Thou shalt not so use thine own as to injure another's"; and in this principle support was found for the whole theory and law relating - 22 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD to nuisances, public and private. In these days the health has become a matter of public interest and control, as the public peace long has been; and control of the use of a man's house has been taken over by the public with something of the same completeness with which the use of the streets and highways long has been regulated. The forms which the regulation has assumed are first, preventive, exercised by administrative boards or officers with large and incisive powers of inspection and direction; and second, penal, enforced by the ordinary criminal processes of the law. The control thus exer- cised is usually in this country a matter of state, rather than of federal, control, largely delegated to the local units, and varies greatly with the needs of different locali- ties and their respective stages of civic development. Because of the wide range of these variations, it would seem worth while for householders, either individually or through special or general clubs, to make a study of the subjects over which control has already been assumed in the most progressive communities, and to discuss the tendencies manifesting themselves. There should be the twofold purpose of informing the members of those com- munities which have taken an advanced position w r hat obligations have been laid upon them, and of suggesting to members of those communities which are backward in this respect what they may reasonably demand of their legislative bodies and to what objects the public opinion of their neighbors may profitably be directed. But however important the legal relations of the householder to the community at large may be, it is not the only nor perhaps the most important subject for SHELTER 23 study. To be sure, a long step in advance is taken when a householder realizes that society is no longer an aggre- gation of isolated units, enters into the modern spirit of the obligation of the individual to the community, and heartily obeys the laws which control the rights of house- holders in the use of their property. But he does not reach the full conception of the modern view until he realizes that there is a finer and higher ideal than that of merely conforming, however intelligently and will- ingly, to the regulations laid down by the community in which he dwells, and considers the sacrifice of the seem- ing liberty a trifle in comparison with the larger oppor- tunity for the best citizenship. No matter how specific, detailed, and exacting the body of sanitary law in a community may be, there is a large uncontrolled field of obligation and duty which the true citizen should enter. His house may conform in every respect to the law, but the way in which he may use it is largely a matter of choice. Here he should rise -above and beyond the law and make his house a unit of health, not only for himself and his family, but for the community at large, through the wise, intelligent, and public-spirited way in which its use and activities are directed. There are two interesting tendencies in sanitary theory and administration concerning which the house- holder should inform himself. The first, in brief, is to lay less stress than in the past on the environment and more on personal contact as the medium for the spread of disease. The second is the burdening of the sanitary code and the health department with matters which in the light of modern knowledge have nothing to do with 24 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD health, except occasionally in a very remote degree. For example, the disposal of household rubbish and garbage and the abatement of the smoke nuisance should be con- trolled by legal enactments enforced by competent expert officials, but on the ground of decency, order, beauty, and cleanliness, rather than on the ground of their effect on health. On the other hand, a careful study will show that new enactments affecting housing and involving health, that will secure such facilities for cleanliness as simpler plumbing and a cheaper and more abundant water supply, are gravely needed. It is not fitting to discuss the details of house sani- tation in this place. It should be noted, however, that, though damp cellars, dark rooms, and "sewer gas" are now known not to be the cause of tuberculosis, diphtheria, or typhoid fever, it is generally believed that when a person is in vigorous health or has a high degree of so-called "vitality," he is usually able to resist the attacks made by the germs of those and similar diseases. It is undoubtedly true that one of the factors in securing this vigor of body is the environment. Proper shelter then demands free movement of clean air both without and within the house, means for rapid and com- plete removal of body wastes, plenty of diffused light, such freedom from standing water, rubbish, .dirty streets, and smoky air as would disturb peace of mind, ample facilities for cleanliness, and plenty of space to secure, at least at intervals, that degree of privacy which health of body and of soul alike demand. Such are briefly some of the sanitary considerations to be observed in housing. SHELTER 25 On the economic side there are also interesting tendencies to be observed. The rapid development of urban life, fluctuations in the kind of employment avail- able with the accompanying necessity of change of resi- dence, rapid transit, and the development of the apartment house are some of the modern influences which affect housing. The homestead known to many generations of the same family has practically disappeared. It is even growing to be a matter of uncertainty whether a family should own the house in which they live. Nevertheless, there are circumstances under which the question may very properly arise, and then considerations of economy, convenience, the future development of the neighborhood, financial security, comfort, probability of permanence, educational value, and sentiment, all have a bearing on the proper solution. Another question which faces the modern housekeeper is that of the relative advantages of the house, whether owned or rented, and the apartment. The house furnishes greater freedom, privacy, space, and comfort, but these must be weighed against the uncertain cost of operating, greater amount of service needed, more restricted oppor- tunity for absence, and usually greater distance from business, school, and friends, involving greater expense in car fares, and in time and strength than would gener- ally be required in the case of an apartment. QUESTIONS i. To what extent have twentieth century ideals and practices modified the idea that "a man's home is his castle," over which he has supreme control? 26 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD 2. What public agencies have you in your town for controlling housing conditions? 3. What private agencies are there for the same purpose ? 4. What general principles does sanitary science teach ? 5. Discuss the value of the practice of the principles of sanitary science as an investment. 6. What dangers may follow from the adoption of sanitary improvements? 7. What is a frequent motive for the adoption of so-called improvements and what is the true one? 8. What changes in construction are taking place (a) for good? (b) forbad? 9. What sanitary requirements should we make in housing beyond those we already have? 10. What architectural devices or changes in the house in which you live would you suggest which would tend to improve the sanitary conditions? 11. What are the factors in the ownership of a house, e. g., taxes ? 12. What are the factors of cost in the rental of an apartment, e.g., janitor service? 13. What are the factors of cost in the rental of a room in a hotel, e. g., bedding? 14. What causes lead to renting rather than owning a house? 15. What are the advantages and disadvantages of both? 1 6. What are the advantages of apartment house life? What are its disadvantages ? SHELTER 27 17. What factors govern the amount of the income paid for housing ? 1 8. One-third of the income was formerly considered the right proportion to be paid for rent. Why is it fixed lower now ? 19. Does higher rent always mean more total ex- penditure ? 20. V/hat architectural changes in your house would you suggest which would lessen the amount of house- work to be done? 21. How may the demoralizing habits which often come from renting* rather than owning a home be pre- vented ? BIBLIOGRAPHY Household Management. Bertha M. Terrill. Chicago: American School of Home Economics. Cost of Living, Chapter IV. Ellen H. Richards. New York : John Wiley & Sons. Cost of Shelter. Ellen H. Richards. New York: John Wiley & Sons. House Sanitation. Marion Talbot. Boston: Whitcomb & Barrows. Practical Hygiene. Charles Harrington. Philadelphia: Lea & Febiger. Care of a House. T. M. Clark. New York : The Mac- millan Co. The House. Isabel Bevier. Chicago: American School of Home Economics. Principles of Sanitary Science and the Public Health. W. T. Sedgwick, New York : The Macmillan Co. 28 THE MODERN HOUSEHOLD Housing Reform. Lawrence Veiller. New York : Chari- ties Publication Society. Household Hygiene. S. Maria Elliot. Chicago: Ameri- can School of Home Economics. x The Standard of Living, Chapter V. F. H. Streightoff. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. CHAPTER IV FOOD T 7ARIED as are the changes which all phases of * household and family life have undergone, in none are they more striking than in that which has to do with the satisfying of the primal need of mankind nutri- ment. It is true that it is no new thing to realize that people must not be allowed to go hungry. The new ques- tions are: What kinds of food will best serve the real needs of the body; in what quantities shall they be pro- vided; what methods of preparation should be chosen, and how can use be made of modern economic and commercial conditions so that the family income can be utilized to bring about the greatest returns in health and satisfaction with the least expenditure of time, strength, and money ? The fire on the hearth, the spit, the crane, and the brick oven have vanished. Only here and there traces remain of the churn and the cheese press, the curing of meats, the drying of fruits and vegetables, the brewing of beverages, the caring for stored and too often decay- ing potatoes and apples, and the filling of closet shelves with jars of pickles and preserves. In their places have come gas and electric stoves, the fruit and vegetable trains from Florida and California, the gigantic stock- yards, slaughter houses, and packing plants, the factories for the preparation and preservation of every kind of food substance, the cold storage warehouse, the creamery, 29 3