H N 80 S3 C7 UC-NRLF B 3 130 331 h "}■ I o 3wer to appoint it. Moreover, the present department is said to lack financial support from the Council, because, in the present form of city government, it is under a Board instead of being directly under a member of the Council. San Diego's sanitary assets are on the w^hole, good, but her controllable sanitary conditions are not yet at the highest prac- tical standard — not to mention an ideal standard. This is be- cause of the city's recent very rapid growth. Moreover, in the past few years municipal sanitation and new methods for pre- vention of disease have been so rapidly developed that these methods have not been used in most cities of San Diego's size. The municipal health department is naturally the organized ef- fort upon which the city depends for the vigorous pushing of measures for the prevention of disease and death. The presejit chief health officer is a physician in good standing. Such a health officer is next best to a trained sanitary engineer of whom there are but few in the country. It is not unusual in the cities of the size of San Diego to pay for only part of the time of the health officer. However, this is a serious handicap for an efficient de- partment. The city has already grown to a size where this can- not be continued. It should be wilHng to pay a salary large enough to obtain the full time of a scientifically trained man, who is familiar with the best methods of controlling public health. Such a man cannot be considered for a salary of less than $5,000, because an executive big enough for the position can secure a larger income in private practice. With such a man at the head of the health department, all subjects relating to the prevention and control of disease could be studied and a far-reaching and constructive program laid out. Cost The Health Department employs a health officer at $125.00 a month, who spends one hour of the day in the Health Depart- ment office and such other time as is necessary for the care of contagious diseases. It is not possible for a man in one hour or even in several hours a day to more than meet the urgent de- mands on his time as an executive. No time is allow^ed for the study of preventive measures in any local health situation. The city administration is said to have provided liberally for necessi- ties, but to have never gone beyond actual necessities. When one considers the heavy death rates from such a communicable disease as tuberculosis or the spread of the horrors of venereal diseases, one wonders what is meant by necessities in such a state- ment; especially, since eastern cities, where an active campaign against tuberculosis has been waged, have reduced their death rates from this scourge. In San Diego, tuberculosis has in- creased surprisingly. Furthermore, when eighty-five babies under a year old died last year in San Diego — a natural children's paradise — and when a majority of these deaths could have been prevented by a pure milk supply, and by giving mothers instruc- tions for the care of their children through public health nurses, one again wonders what is meant by necessities. The Health De- partment in 1912 expended $26,398. (See chart for per cent, spent for health as compared with other city departments.) The estimated cost for the last fiscal year is $31,739. The receipts are $10,725, making the actual cost to the city only $21,014. The pest houses will be maintained and enlarged at a cost of $6,375. At the present time there is no hosp'tal in the city where chil- dren with diptheria, scarlet fever, measles, etc., can be taken. They must be quarantined in their homes. Among the poor, either in the congested parts or in the scattered homes on the city's edge, there is little chance for proper protection of the rest of the family, or outsiders. Care of Communicable Diseases Under the state law, contagious and infectious diseases must be reported to the local boards of health. In the case of contag- ious diseases the health officer or his assistant visit for the pur- pose of quarantining. When a poor family is quarantined all needs are supplied, even to the employing of a special nurse if necessary. Bacteriological examinations are made, and anti- toxines given. Fumigation is performed after recovery or death. In the case of tuberculosis, the communicable disease causing sev- en times more deaths in the city for 1913, than all the other con- tagious diseases combined, and the cause of 15 per cent, of all deaths, there is no proper reporting.* Naturally, this is true where there is no public assistance offered even when the disease is reported. Fumigations are made after death of tubercular cases and sometimes after removal. For the latter a fee is us- ually charged. Nothing could be learned about the prevalence of venereal diseases, or of ophthalmia neonatorum, the great cause of blindness. Accurate information might be obtained if nurses were in the field visiting poor mothers with babies. Publication of Report Only a type-written copy of the annual report of the Health Department was available. An annual report should be publish- ed, and obtainable by every citizen. The Department does pub- lish a monthly bulletin on vital statistics. However, unnecessary material is printed instead of facts for the education of the pub- lic in health matters. For instance, much space is devoted to the climate of San Diego. It would seem that such a matter could be left safely to the Chamber of Commerce or the Meteorological Department of the U. S. Government. Milk Supply The milk supply of San Diego is unsafe because of lax regula- tions as to the quahty of milk sold and its delivery. The city re- quires a license for dairies and they are inspected. However, milk is still delivered in open wagons instead of in covered wag- ons and in sealed bottles. There is no regulation for keeping it cool while being delivered. The Health Department recently at- tempted to have an ordinance passed, requiring that milk be re- tailed in sealed milk bottles, that milk sold should not have a higher bacterial count than 1,000,000, a ridiculously low standard in itself as compared with other cities, and that no milk be. sold excepting from tuberculin-tested cows. All these measures failed to pass the council. Nobody appeared in their interest excepting the dairy-men. The women and doctors of the city are to blame, for if they do not p.ersonally come before the Council in support of proper ordinances, these conditions will continue to exist. The substitution of pasteurized milk when the original milk is dirty is not a solution of the question. * Annual Report of Health Officer for 1913. Report State Board of Health 1910-11. U. S. Census Mortality Reports. Meat and Other Food Inspection Meat and fish markets, bakeries, confectionery places, restaur- ants, groceries, fruit stands, etc., are regularly inspected and re- cords kept on score cards. A standing committee of house-wives should consult these score cards and check up the efficiency of the inspectors' work at frequent periods, giving them proper sup- port when necessary. The large slaughter house of the city is un- Mil K SUPPLY Inspection and Regulation is Necessary for Clean Milk.. The Health Department now /. Licenses dealers 2. Inspects Stores and Dairies 3. T^uhlishes "scores" on butter fat onl^. The Department Should Also /. Insist on low bacterial count and publish bacterial score 2. Insist on tuberculin-tested cows 3. Insist on delivery of milk in sealed bottles 4. Insist on milk k^pt cool in covered wagons during delivery. der United States inspection, the other two are under local inspec- tion. There is a high percentage of tuberculosis found in slaught- ered hogs in San Diego. As United States inspection in other places has meant little protection to the consumer, since diseased portions are cut out and the rest of the animal used for food, the meat supply of the city might well be the subject of further investigation. Plumbing Inspection The health department has a good plumbing inspection depart- ment consisting of a chief and three assistants. At present the plumbing department is making house to house inspections. After the city has been entirely inspected, the division expects to be able to reinspect all plumbing at least once a year. Up to a year ago the work of the plumbing department consisted entirely in issuing permits for new plumbing and in answering complaints. Consequently the installation of the regular inspection is a great step in advance. Every citizen of San Diego should welcome such inspection, and not only obey orders, but take an intelligent interest in the department's efficiency. Sanitary Inspection The general sanitary inspection is insufficient to meet the pres- ent needs of the city. There are only two sanitary inspectors. 10 and one of these has to spend much time in quarantine and fumigation work for contagious diseases. The result is that there is time for little more than the looking up of complaints. When a complaint comes in, the inspector usually attempts to inspect the whole block where the complaint occurs. Assistance has been rendered by two voluntary inspectors, a good example of public service. No perm.anent card record system for the houses inspected by the sanitary inspector is kept. It is thus impossible to look up the condition of any particular house or block from the records of the health department. Carbon copies of orders issued where repairs have been made are, of course, kept. Tenement, Lodging House and Hotel Inspection A state law, establishing certain standards for tenements, lodging houses and hotels went into effect last August. Accu- rate card records of each place inspected under this law are kept. Reinspections must be made constantly to keep them up to the standard. This work of inspection is vital if San Diego is to have healthful conditions and prevent over crowding. The present in- spector deserves the support of every public spirited citizen, even though it may hurt his pocket-book. Before condemning the work of such a division of the Health Department, any intelli- gent citizen should take the trouble not only to read the law which the inspector must enforce, but also consult the inspector and his records and understand the reasons for the orders given. Housing From records in the above division of the Health Department, from personal talks with the inspector and from the records of other social agencies as well as individuals, the following brief report on housing in San Diego is made. San Diego has a srnall percentage in the number of persons to a single dwelling, an im- portant factor bearing directly on the health of the city. More- over, the city has a large number of small homes, owned by the occupants. It has been repeatedly stated that San Diego has no housing problems; that there are no slum districts and no tenements. Nevertheless, if one considers the rapid growth of the city, and looks about even superficially in the poorer sections, these statements will be found to be incorrect. San Diego has not a bad housing problem at present as compared with large cities, but measures must be taken now to prevent over crowding and unsanitary homes. The most accurate records to be had on housing are the re- ports of inspections made in tenements, lodging houses and hotels. This work has been going on only since October first. About 500 places have been inspected, and about 85 per cent, have had to be repaired to conform to the law. Among these places, about 500 dark rooms, i. e., without outside windows, have already been found. Of these, 200 had to be closed for living purposes. This in itself is a startling record in an out-of-door 11 country. Under the state law, any place is a tenement which houses four famihes, or three families making use of the same halls and toilets. These tenements vary from the new and mod- ern apartment houses to old buildings and at one time better class residences now built over into housekeeping rooms. It is in the latter that much of the overcrowding is found. The importance of having the new and rnodern apartment house con- form to the law is thus shown. Even in good apartment house districts, families were found living in basements. This of course is comparatively rare, but is a condition which must be carefully guarded against, considering the difficulties other cities are try- ing to overcome where this evil is great. i ■ There are distinctly slum conditions in San Diego in sha^^s along the water front and among the Mexicans, negroes smd whites, in the tenement houses and cottages of the district softi'th of F street, and west of Sixteenth street to the water front. One instance was given of a tenement which housed twenty-three per- sons in four rooms. This represents possibly an extreme of over- crowding in the tenements but illustrates the need for a tenement house inspector even in San Diego. Some of the worst conditions were found in shacks along the water front. A few of these have already been condemned by the Health Department and the people moved out. They were living in such places, not from choice, but from the fact that these places offered cheap rents. When the question of moving them out was under consideration, it was asked where they could go and get cheap rents. Attention was called to the fact that they would only crowd into some other unsanitary place where the rent was cheap. "They will have to keep moving," was the answer of one official. It is difficult for poor Mexicans to secure cheap rents in San Diego, consequently they crowd themselves, several families into some old house or unsanitary shack. Some of these latter are presented to the view of the tourist on arriving. One or two instances were found of two room shacks in very bad condition renting for $5.00 a month. One or two other instances were found of shacks or two rooms in a tenement house rented out to a family for $8.00 a month. However, it was difficult to find anything for a family even where conditions were bad and there was over-crowding, for less than $10.00 or $12.00 a month. No three room houses with proper sewer connections and bath room were found for less than $14.00. In one instance, a group of small four-room houses with two fam- ilies in each house was found. In one of these a family of ten occupied two rooms. The rent was $10.00 a month. Many old places where conditions were not good were renting for $15.00 or even more. The cheap lodging houses for men and furnished rooms for single persons and families, according to experts who have stud- ied the housing problems of California cities, are one of the most serious problems and one of the greatest causes of the spread of tuberculosis and venereal diseases. San Diego has had its full supply of such places. 12 The whole question of housing, both in shacks, cottages, old houses and lodging houses should be made the subject for a thor- ough investigation, especially with a view of instituting cheap \ EASTSMDjrCC \ N06 DISTRICT MAP Xo. 1. Poorest quarter of city. Congestion and bad housing. Some manufacturing plants and mercantile establishments. Xo. 2. Chinatown and old segregated district. Cheap, new hotels, rooming houses, shacks and old buildings. Xo. 3. Logan Heights district. Old residences and small houses of cheaper grade. Xo. 4. Shacks on water front. Good homes higher up. Manufacturing plants and railroads. Xo. 5. Varies from best apartments to cheap boarding houses. Some residences. Xo. 6. Xew small houses. Dis- trict under development. No. 7. Downtown business district. Other dis- tricts — Best residences west, south and east of park. Include newer resi- dence sections. housing for the working population. It is not beyond the bounds of possibility for the city itself to become a landlord by develop- ing cheap housing accomodations on its extensive pueblo lands. It has already established a precedent for this by renting unsan- itary shacks to squatters on the water front. Where such high rent returns are expected on the money invested there is bound to be over-crowding in the slum districts. The Mexicans, unlike foreigners in some of the eastern cities, do not choose to live crowded in a few rooms. They are willing to live at the edge of the city and will even make their homes attractive with gardens if they can secure a rental within their small wage. There is a field in San Diego for some public-spirited citizen or group of citizens to build sanitary small houses close to a carline, which may be grouped together on a single lot, and rented for a small 13 sum. An interest of 10 per cent, or slightly less could even then be realized on the investment. Small Houses With Sanitary Accommodations. Several Grouped on One Lot. A Possible Suggestion for Cheaper Housing for the City's Wage Earners. Shacks and Old Buildings Used as Dwellings in City's Crowded District. Hospital Facilities The hospital facilities of the city are limited. There are two private hospitals, the aggregate capacity of which is about 170. No free beds are provided. The charges at both hospitals are prohibitive for many people. There are also private maternity hospitals and baby farms concerning which very little informa- 14 tion could be obtained. These should be investigated and a prop- er registration made under the Board of Health. In addition, the citv has two public hospitals; the Health Department Hospital for contagious diseases, only, and with a very limited capacity; the other, the County Hospital, will be described later. The only other free hospital treatment available is at the Children's Home Hospital, where there are twelve beds. The only public emerg- encv treatment in the city is given by a physician employed by the^ police department. Two rooms at the police station are set aside for this work, but are. such that the best results or even good results can hardly be obtained. An emergency station should be established in the down-town district with doctors and graduate nurses in attendance day and night, and surgically clean and well-equipped operating rooms. Until a vear ago the conditions at the County Hospital are said to have been bad. However, at the present time the County Hospital is under the management of a broad-minded, scientific physician. In spite of some bad features which he has not yet been able to change from lack of money the County Hospital probably offers the best hospital facilities in the city, with the best training school for nurses, and with an unusually fine free dispensary service. The hospital, however, should accept both free and pay patients. This would help to relieve the burden of public taxes', and take away the stigma attached to a hospital for the poor only. Under the present management the County Hos- pital has been taken out of politics. The best physicians and specialists of the city serve on the hospital visiting staff. _ This gives the physicians a chance for public service, and likewise for the experience and prestige obtained by such service. Two in- terns are employed. The head of the training school and her assistant, with the preHminary instructor and the head of the night nurses are all graduates from some of the best training schools in the country. Hospital conditions are such now that the best sort of training can be given, and there should be no hesitancy in advising any girl, particularly high school grad- uates, capable of becoming nurses, to enter this hospital training school. During 1913 a larger number of persons than ever be- fore — 1174 — were admitted to the County Hospital. Serious op- erations were perform.ed on 149 persons. The cost of mainten- ance was remarkably low, too low for future good hospital ser- vice, if the experience of other well-managed County Hospitals is to be considered. However, this is partly explained by the fact that indigents are kept under the same management, the cost of whose care is naturally much less than for medical and surgical cases. The cost has been 61 1-lOc per capita; $1.25 per capita is held to be the minimum for an efficient County Hospital. The salary of the director is too low. He should be paid enough to be able to give all of his time to the work, excepting possibly for consultation practice. The most serious criticism of the hospital at the present time is the fact that the city's poor must be lodged in the same build- 15 ing as the sick, a situation which is bad for both. Likewise, the tubercular must be lodged in the same building with the surgical and medical cases, another bad feature. Tuberculosis pavilions and cottages for the indigents should be built. The accomoda- tions for the insane are unsatisfactory. Provisions for their treatment should be made the subject of a special study. These are the most pressing and immediate needs. Ninety per cent, of the cases now treated at the County Hospital are from the city rather than the county. A natural division of responsibilities requires that the city should do its part by erecting a modern and adequate hospital for contagious diseases. When tubercu- losis cottages are provided there should be an increase in capac- ity to care for more patients than is now possible at the hospital. Separate cottages should be built for the treatment of incipient and advanced cases if the best results are to be attained. The cost of these cottages need be very little, — certainly no cause for de- lay. The care of the tubercular is one of the most pressing needs, and the first step in the campaign to reduce San Diego's enorm- ous death rate from this disease. For the protection of the lives of residents, visiting nurses also should be provided, in order that those who can be treated properly in their homes may be left there, and those who can not be so left with safety may be taken to the hospital. A minor factor, but one of importance if the most dangerous cases are to be reached, is the changing of the name of the institution for such treatment from "County Hos- pital" to "Sea View Sanatorium," or some such equally appealing name. No County Hospital can be most efficiently managed without a Social Service Department, with a trained worker to weed out such appHcants as do not need hospital treatment, to supply the facts concerning the conditions causing the disease, and also to follow up the convalescents when they leave the hospital, in order that they may not again become sick, necessitating renew- ed costly hospital treatment. The Associated Charities does give some such service as this to the hospital when called upon but if the county had a trained investigator for this work as well as the care of indigents, with visiting nurses connected with the dispensary in the city such work could be most effectively done. A dispensary or out-patient department has been well equipped and started in the old jail building. Likewise, physicians visit the homes of the indigent sick. Visiting nurses could add much to the present efficiency of the medical service, and without doubt could actually save money by giving proper care, with the advice of the dispensary doctors, to people in their own homes. This at present seems not to be done because the county insists that the city should do this, and the city, in turn, insists that the county is responsible. San Diego is now in a position to avoid the bad conditions to be found in many other cities, i. e., several bodies of visiting nurses more or less duplicating each others' work, and employed by different agencies. All work of such nurses should be centralized from the dispensary, and under the management 16 of the director of the dispensary and hospital. This would pre- vent over lapping, expense, and lack of care for those who most need attention. Since the county and city will probably event- ually be one, it does not seem impossible for them to unite in this public service. The county, for instance, might furnish the med- ical attention and supplies, and the city pay the nurses. If pub- lic funds are not available immediately for this purpose, some private organization should pay for nurses, until public funds are available. At -present the dispensary gives an average daily service to nearly twenty persons, a good record for the length of time it has been established. Clinics for different kinds of treat- ment are given by physicians at different hours during the day. Many minor operations are performed on Saturdays for school children. A very great service is thus rendered to the city. It would seem practicable for the city and county to unite at this time in appointing a commission to plan a unification of the whole public hospital and dispensary system. Such a consolida- tion of interests has been effected in Cleveland. Tuberculosis In addition to the measures already mentioned against the spread of tuberculosis, there is in San Diego a society for the study and prevention of tuberculosis, which in spite of tremend- ous odds has offered help to persons afflicted with the disease. It deserves greater support and interest from the public^ At present it maintains a small camp situated on the edge of the city. This camp, if properly supported financially could help much in relieving the County Hospital of real incipient cases, and in providing for convalescents by giving them the benefit of out- door living when they are able to do much for themselves, but need some attention. Some dispensary service is rendered also, which, again, if properly supported, might be developed to a greater degree of usefulness. Either this should be done or such service should be transferred to the County Dispensary. The latter seems the better course. Such work, if successful, should be built up about the personality of certain doctors and nurses. Greater co-operation between this Society and the director of the County Hospital is urged for the mutual benefit of both. The work of this Society and that offered at the County Hospital are the only provisions made for tubercular persons within the reach of the working man and his family, or the small salaried person. Infant Mortality There is no infant hygiene work in San Diego at present, and this in face of the fact that last year eighty-five babies died be- fore they were a year old, or a total of one hundred and thirty- five under five years of age. This is perhaps not large compared with the infant death rate in eastern industrial cities, but it is far too large for a city whose natural advantages and size should make ideal conditions for babies. It was impossible from the fig- ures available to find what proportion of these deaths were from 17 preventable causes, but from figures at hand it is safe to say that at least half, probably more, could have been prevented if mothers had been taught the proper care of their children, and if there had been a safe milk supply. Visiting nurses, for teaching infant hygiene are one of the first necessities, if a reduction in the number of infant deaths is to be made. It might be possible to use a public school building in the congested district of the southwestern section of the city as an infant welfare and milk station for such nurses. This has been done with success in INF A NT MOR TALITY Eighty-five San T)iego babies under one year of age died in 1 9 13. Most of them should have lived. Four Ways for the Health T)epartment to Save Babies 1 . By popular health education 2. By advice to mothers 3. By an infant welfare station with visitiug nurses. 4. By a pure milk supply. Shall We Prevent This Needless Tragedy Next Year? other cities. There is, furthermore, a need for a free day nurs- ery in San Diego, where working mothers can leave their babies in the care of trained nurses while away from home. There is one such private pay institution in the city but with limited capacity and doing its work under unsatisfactory conditions. Why should large sums of public money be paid for children as soon aa they become of school age, when possibly irreparable injury has al- ready been done them by lack of care and proper nutrition be- fore they have reached that age? Why is it that in as rich a city as San Diego there is no money in the pubHc treasury for dying babies ? I am told that when San Diego was a small town the people were up in arms whenever a baby died, and demanded to know the reason for such an unusual occurrence. Now that the town has grown to a city, people have forgotten to ask why their neighbors' babies are dying, and have forgotten to offer neighborly assistance to mothers to prevent such catastrophes. Brief Summary of Recommendations Extension of the sewer system and change in method of sew- age disposal. Proper refuse and garbage collection and disposal. Appointment of visiting nurses, which shall include special baby welfare, tuberculosis and general nurses. A plan for uniting city and county public hospital and dispensary work. The pass- ing of city ordinances providing a pure milk supply. A full time health officer. Further investigation of housing with a view to- ward supplying sanitary small houses. 18 PUBLIC EDUCATION Public Schools The school situation in San Diego is unique in that there are within the city hmits, a variety of types of pubHc schools. There is the purely rural ungraded school, with few pupils, typical of the country community, and usually under the jurisdiction of a county superintendent; there is also the suburban graded school of two or more rooms, typical of the small town or village com- munity having a population of from one to over five thousand; again there is the small grammar school of all grades, typical of the city with a population of from ten to thirty thousand ; finally there are the over-crowded city schools, typical of the city of more than fifty thousand inhabitants. These conditions compli- cate the administration of educational affairs which are entrust- ed to a board of five members elected for a four year term. The present Board is making an effort to look upon the Superintend- The Grant Open Air Public School. An Admirable Type of Building Suited to the 'Climate. ent as an expert' who shall be solely responsible for the educa- tional administration. Until this is in reality the attitude of the Board toward the Superintendent, San Diego's schools must re- main more or less an asset of the pohticians, and the responsi- bility for giving value received in the school system continue to be shifted between the Board and the Superintendent in the public mind. In some cities, the Board of Education is an un- salaried, appointive body, and for this reason, less in politics. 19 Along with San Diego's rapid growth in population, the school enrollment has increased tremendously, thus making it very diffi- cult to provide sufficient school rooms and teachers. Strenuous ef- forts have resulted in a progressive system built up in the face of great obstacles. There are too many pupils per teacher and overcrowded rooms and buildings, but the situation is being met as fast as possible. With heavy demands upon the building fund careful consideration must be given to the type of building to be constructed. It is pointed out that the new Washington school accomodating 750 pupils was built at a per capita cost of $130 for plant alone ; the Grant, accomodating 200, at a per capita cost of $95. The former has an expensive ventilating and heating plant and the latter is an open-air building admirably suited to the climate. The High School The High School has recently opened technical departments giving courses in the mechanical arts and home economics. It is stated that 30 per cent, of all the pupils take work in the well established commercial department and nearly all find local posi- tions, many before graduating. The work of the technical de- partments simply furnishes opportunity for finding vocational aptitudes. Vocational guidance is not attempted, although 42 per cent, of the boys work outside of school hours from four to forty hours per week, and many girls earn their way also. The Higt School plant cost a half -million dollars and is in operation two-thirds of the working days of the year for seven hours per day. Consequently, it is idle about half the time. Since not more than 50 per cent, of the students entering the Freshman Class graduate, it is clear that the community is not receiving a fair return, in terms of efficiently trained youth, for its invest- ment. In other words, the High School does not function in pro- portion to its equipment. Physical Training The physical training department seems to be well administ- ered on the formal side, but the feature of folk dancing and plays and games involving much free movement needs far more emphasis. In general, a way should be devised to secure larger playgrounds and more apparatus for the schools. Even under present conditions, however, co-operation between the Board of Playground Commissioners and the schools would mean money saved and a larger good to the districts served by each organiza- tion. For example, the school yards might be enlarged and used as public play grounds under the control of the Commission, after school hours, while the school buildings could be used as field houses. Dropping Out and Truancy A system of semi-annual promotion goes far toward preventing the usual loss of time to pupils obliged to repeat work. By this 20 means a child loses but half a year, and the city saves money. A still further saving might be effected if there were an all-year school divided into four quarters. This system has been adopted in Cleveland. The over-age child in all grades should be studied to determine the cause of his weakness. Such a study would be valuable in the solution of the foreign-child problem. The Mex- ican children are found principally in the crowded down-town schools and are not only irregular in their attendance but drop out soon after reaching the age of twelve. In most cities the numbers dropping out between the fourth and seventh grades are sufficient to. cause alarm. There is no data for determining the number of children dropping out of the grades in San Diego, nor for showing the relation between the children of school age in the district and those actually in school. Also there is no org- anized follow-up system of children transferred to other schools within the city or elsewhere. This may account for some of the children found during this Survey who are neither in school nor at work. The fact that "this is a tourist town" is an inadequate and unscientific reason, for there is too large a number of idle youth observable at least in the crowded districts. There is ap- parently a discrepancy between the number of working permits issued and the number of children at work about the city. The record shows 43 permits issued, during the present school year, 32 of which are held by children who have not completed the eighth grade. The attendance officer reports practically no tru- ancy in the city, but there are children on the street and at work during school hours and even those who have never been at school at all. A census of all children of school age in the city, and h systematic check on the children transferring and dropping out would help to determine the situation exactly. There are no night schools nor continuation classes for young people in em- ployment. In two stores there are continuation classes. The Y. M. C. A. has a small enrollment in a commercial and a drawing class. The Y. W. C. A. offers class work in domestic science, sewing, millinery, etc. However, this at best is limited to a com- paratively small number. A few classes exist in Missions and the Free Industrial School, for teaching English to foreigners. How- ever, all of these together do not reach the great number that could be reached by the public schools. In offering such oppor- tunities, the school plants could find a legitimate use. In conclusion, it may fairly be said that the school system ap- pears well organized and the progressive element concerned in its administration seems to be moving along lines that make for constructive progress. But with equal justice, a few of the more obvious needs of San Diego's schools may be shown as the result of this brief survey, in the following summary. More open-air school buildings of the type of the Grant and Jefferson, which should embody the idea typified in the new Francis Parker School, a private institution, of a minimum ex- pense for the building itself, with the standard amount of light 21 and air, hygienic seating, sanitary plumbing, and convenient and modern equipment for every phase of school work. The acquisition of more playground space around the various buildings and their use outside of school hours under proper sup- ervision, in co-operation with the Board of Playground Commis- sioners. Reorganization of the over-crowded schools so that each teach- er may have no more pupils than she can properly handle. This result might be gained by an adaptation of the so-called Gary plan — giving pupils lockers instead of desks; having special teachers of music, drawing, etc., assigned permanently to one building; and arranging a daily program which would require some groups to do all of their special work in the morning, and their academic work in the afternoon and vice versa. The adop- tion of some such plan would keep the whole plant in full opera- tion. There would be no idle space within or without at any hour of any day. It would require more teachers but would relieve the congestion now existing in too many of the buildings. Improvement in meeting the needs of the over-age, non-English speaking child. This means not only teaching him to read intel- ligently, but to interpret the life around him as a means toward making him a good citizen. Some form of continuation classes for children working on temporary working certificates and for those who have com- pleted the eighth grade and find the High School courses not adapted to their needs. A vocational purpose to a part or all of the technical work in the High School. The basis for such re-organization would be found in the results of a vocational survey of the city and county, showing: (a) what vocational opportunities are open to stu- dents leaving school before graduation as well as to graduates, (b) what opportunities for advancement each vocation offers, (c) what are the futureless occupations, (d) what are the health conditions of each occupation. The department of public instruction should include a Voca- tional Guidance Bureau: (a) to instruct parents and pupils regarding the desirabihty of various occupations, (b) to de- termine the natural abilities which are required in each occupa- tion, (c) to determine the training necessary or desirable be- fore entering each vocation, (d) to bring together the em- ployer who has a position to offer and the boy or girl who is fitted for the position. There should be more school doctors and graduate nurses. The present medical inspection of 10,000 children is made by one phy- sician and two nurses, one graduate and one practical. It is perfectly clear that good as the plan may be, the force for carry- ing it into effect is inadequate. Further recommendations are : more kindergartens ; more free play and folk dancing; aboHshment of the roller towel, (paper towels should be supplied) ; a trial of the all-year school plan; 22 special attention to the care of chronic truants and dehnquent children, (the present "coaching rooms" do not meet the need for the training of so-called incorrigibles, and children somewhat mentally deficient) ; wider use of the school plant as civic centers and for night schools for foreigners ; development of Parent- Teacher Associations ; finally, an intensive survey of the whole educational field by disinterested experts outside the school sys- tem. Public Library The city has an $80,000 Carnegie Library, centrally located. By referendum vote, a minimum of four mills from the city tax funds are set aside for library expenses. Last year, $24,000.00 was spent for this purpose. The library has outgrown its pres- ent quarters and does not render adequate service. Moreover, sub-stations are needed in the home districts. At present, four public schools have from 25 to 50 books from the public library, and these are distributed by teachers. Residents in one school neighborhood contributed out of their own pockets toward build- ing small quarters on the school grounds, to be occupied as a li- brary sub-station. An assistant whose salary will be paid out of the library fund is to be placed in charge. At the suburb of La Jolla a branch library is maintained with an assistant in charge. Such facilities as are now offered do not meet the needs of home sections of the city which are not served conveniently at the main library building. The library itself, should provide sufficient sub- stations with assistants m charge who shall not only adequately supply the needs of the reading public, in different sections of the city, but also shall be capable of awakening a wider demand for public library books. 23 RECREATION San Diego offers exceptionally varied and extensive natural advantages for recreation, with its land-locked harbor, beaches, back country, and near-by mountains. The climate is temperate throughout the year and there is a low rainfall ; these two factors especially making for an ideal out-of-door country. In addition, the city has most unique opportunities for developing public re- creational facilities through its ownership of large tracts of pueblo lands adjoining the settled portions of the city. Balboa Park, the city's main public park, com.prising 1400 acres, and reached in a fifteen minute walk from the down town section of the city, offers splendid possibilities for recreational develop- ment. The city has begun to realize upon these opportunities through its Municipal Board of Playground Commissioners and Play- ground Association. This commission already has in operation, the Rose Park Playground, located on an entire city block at Eleventh and I streets, with an area of one and two-fifths acres. The grounds are well equipped with play apparatus and super- Adults as Well as Children Need Public Recreation Places. Mexicans Play- ing Game Resembling Quoits on Vacant Lot in Crowded Section of City. vised by men and women directors. They are open every after- noon and evening with a daily attendance of about 160. Boys' and girls' clubs meet regularly here, with the organization of boy scouts and camp fire girls as special features. In addition, the Playground Commission has been given 50 acres in Balboa 24 Park ; 10 acres of this will be developed, to be known as Golden Hill Playground. A field house already has been erected with an assembly room accomodating about 300. This building is open for evening work and is used by organizations of adults as well as children, for dancing and club meetings. About two acres of land have already been graded for the University Heights Play- ground, apparatus has been provided, and the playground is ready for occupancy. School house grounds are used to some extent by school chil- dren as play spaces. These are equipped with a limited amount of apparatus as baskets for basket ball courts, swings and see- saws. They are used at recess time and during noon hours, gen- erally under supervision of teachers. A fine opportunity is of- fered especially at the newer schools where there is considerable play space, to make more extended use of the grounds outside of school hours, under regular supervision, possibly under direction of the Board of Playground Commissioners. No general attempt is made at present to use the school buildings as evening recrea- tional centers for the organizations of boys' or girls' clubs. Nor has provision been made for evening entertainment as dancing under proper supervision, for the young people of a particular neighborhood. There is a single exception to this. At one pub- lic school a regular Fridaj^ night dance for students and friends is now held. Such use of the schools as recreational centers and social centers as well, that is, for the use of such organizations as the various neighborhood Improvement Clubs, might well be placed in charge of a special director of school centers. This is done at present in other cities. The duties of the director would be not only to supply the demand for, but create interest in, healthful and wholesome forms of amusement, which would cater to the needs of each locality. In this way, the less wholesome in- fluence of down-town commercialized amusement places would be successfully counteracted. Public Baths The city has no free baths or bath houses excepting the ex- tremely limited accomodations at the field houses at Rose Park and Golden Hill Playgrounds. This, in spite of the fact that there is a splendid stretch of bay front along the city tide-lands, with special natural facilities for safe, all-the-year bathing. Already application has been made to the City Council by the Board of Playground Commissioners for two blocks of city tide-lands to be used for bathing purposes. A single important drawback, to this use of the water front for public bathing facilities, is the fact that at present the waters of the bay are polluted by the city's sewage. The "harbor is nothing but a cesspool" was the statement of a person in autliority. It is evident that a proper disposal of the city's sewage should be made immediately. The popularity of the San Diego Rowing Club, the admission fee for which is prohibitive to the ordinary wage earner, indicates a possible future undertaking for the city in renting row boats at a small fee. It is unfortunate that the main amusement resort, 25 the Coney Island of the city, at Ocean Beach, can only be reached by payment of 25c for the round trip, a rather prohibitive price for a considerable number of amusement seekers. Saloons San Diego has 55 saloons, or one for every 1400 inhabitants. This ratio upholds the reputation of Southern California as a comparatively "dry" section of the state. It is stated on good authority that the laws prohibiting serving liquor to minors or allowing them to remain in saloons are strictly enforced. No liquor is served at the few public dance halls in the city, and no saloons are run directly in connection with the dance halls. Howeve'r, at one dance hall at least, return checks are given at the door and an opportunity is thus offered patrons to frequent saloons in the neighborhood between dances. One public dance hall at least, is under suspicion as the resort of prostitutes. Minors under 16 are forbidden by ordinance to remain in pool and billiard rooms unaccompanied by parents or guardians. Boys and young men frequent these places and the attendance is par- ticularly heavy on Sunday afternoons. The influence of such places is bad. Movies Regulation of moving picture shows is a question of special im- portance both because of the low price of admission, and their popularity v\'ith children as well as adults. The city has at pres- ent a total of 17 "movies" with a seating capacity of about 8800. There is no public censorship board, such as those in operation in the larger cities of the country, to exclude vulgar or vicious pictures. The only remedy at present is police interference on complaint of citizens. This has not been found satisfactory in other cities. There is no ordinance as in other cities prohibiting the attendance of a minor under a certain age unaccompanied by a parent or guardian. Safety protection for patrons at moving picture shows is looked after by the building department. Cer- tain conditions, however, exist which are not altogether satis- factory. For example, in one picture house, there is a wooden wall betvfc^een the auditorium and the adjoining building which is used as a place of emergency exit. This is apparently in viola- tion of the law. Another picture house has had an emergency exit opening into the kitchen of a dairy lunch — not an ideal ar- rangement. Additional instances of undue carelessness in the matter of fire protection could be cited. The operators' booths need close inspection, both to provide healthful work conditions for the machine operators, and to guard against the not infre- quent fires which catch from the films. Picture houses should not be kept in comparative darkness. The pictures are improved if presented in a fairly well lighted room, and improper conduct on the part of men patrons toward women and girls is thus pre- ■yented. The need for additional public recreational facilities in the city is immediate and pressing. Such facilities are required for 25 both adults and juveniles, especially for the latter. Although the Y. M. C. A. has a growing boys' club organization, and the Y. W. C. A. provides recreation for women and young girls, neither agency can begin to meet the entire needs of the city. Both of these agencies require a membership fee, are religious in character, and do not reach the poorest in the community. The Free Industrial School is located in the district where boys' and girls' club work is much needed, but at present it does not meet the existing need because there is a lack of volunteer work- ers and the present management is unable to handle the situa- tion. Last summer in one locality, seventy boys were brought together for an evening's entertainment, with but little effort, by a boys' club organizer temporarily at work. There is no agency in that particular locality which adequately meets the needs for boys' club organizations. In several sections of the city, boys' gangs now flourish. Such gangs seek their amusement on the city water front where influences are bad, or have their camps in the canyons revelling in indecent stories, cigarette smoking, and crap shooting. The city through its Board of Playground Commissioners, and its school centers yet to be established, must meet this need for wholesome recreation. Otherwise, the com- munity's children must be left to the tender mercies of the com- mercial amusement places such as the public dance hall, with their questionable influence for good and frequently most cer- tain influence for evil. 27 DELINQUENCY The police department of San Diego numbers 90 men, or in the proportion of one to about 900 inhabitants. San Diego compares favorably with Eastern cities in this respect, the general stand- ard in the East being one officer to each thousand inhabitants. About a year ago, the police department gave commercialized vice a telling blow when they closed the restricted, or "Stingaree" district, and drove the women and their male companions who were profiting from vice, from town. A number of the close packed cribs in which the women plied their trade were torn down. Since then the police have maintained this policy, direct- ed against the segregation of vice and its implied sanction under the law. At present certain hotels and a number of rooming houses are under suspicion as the resort of prostitutes, and the men who trade with them. Only a thorough investigation will reveal present conditions in the city. County Jail The new county jail is a model of its kind and efficiently man- aged. The worst feature of the jail is that its inmates are kept in idleness, except for a few trusties, who do the necessary work of cleaning up. A chain gang from the jail formerly worked on the outside, but this practice was discontinued, it is understood, because of the citizens' protests against parading the men before the public. This is a short-sighted policy. Effort should be made to put the "honor" men at least at work at county road build- ing. This is being attempted in one other county in this state, to the writer's knowledge, and is becoming more and more the practice in the Middle West. The men serve an average sentence of six months. No reading matter is provided them excepting magazines. In New York State, the state prison association pro- vides libraries in the different prisons. At the city lock-up, six men were confined at the time of the writer's visit, who had been sentenced for minor offenses and for short terms, in the city police court. They "asked to be kept at the lock-up instead of at the county jail because they can get more privileges." These men were being kept in idleness excepting for the work of cleaning up about the lock-up. One or possibly two men would be sufficient for such work. The re- mainder should be transferred to the county jail. Juvenile Court The judge of the Juvenile Court hears all cases of girl de- linquents in his private chambers. Hearings of boy delinquents are held in a large court room in the county court house, and court proceedings are carried on in an informal manner. The boys' cases might better be held, as are the girls,' in a small 28 private room, with an adjoining room for delinquents and wit- nesses while awaiting their turn. Thus the idle public would be excluded as spectators and the proceedings would be kept entirely free from the atmosphere of the court room. It is not .necessary for the judge to impress the boy or girl with the dignity of the court so much as to put himself on immediate confidential terms with his young charges. In the County Juvenile court, there are three paid probation officers, two women and one man. The time of one woman probation officer, however, is taken up en- tirely by office work. There is no volunteer system of probation officers, although a Big-Brother movement has been instituted recently. In addition to caring for juvenile probationers, and investigating cases at trial, the man probation officer and single woman officer, available for probation work, also care for adults released on probation. Each officer attempts to care for about 150 probationers, which is a task beyond reason. In the New York City Juvenile Court only about 40 probationers are as- signed to a single probation officer. In San Diego, if an office clerk were engaged at a salary of $75.00 a month, the woman probation officer now receiving $100.00 a month, and kept entire- Iv at office work, could be transferred to do actual probation work. The present situation is relieved to some extent, however, by the work accompHshed through the recently informally estab- lished Juvenile Bureau of the Police Department. This bureau handles children's cases coming to the attention of the Depart- ment and co-operates to some extent with the County Juvenile Probation officers. The bureau is operated by a specially appoint- ed woman police officer, and two policemen. It is fortunate per- haps, that while the county probation officers are carrying too heavy a burden of work, the city's police department is kindly disposed toward juvenile offenders, that it gives them "another chance" and places them under an informal probation through its Children's Bureau. However, the police department of San Diego, or of any other city, have too much of the odor of re- pression and punishment to make such influence really beneficial. Efficient juvenile probation w^ork for the whole city demands a more unified system than this, if only for the purpose of keeping accurate records of the city's child delinquents. Such divided responsibility in handling juveniles can only result in confusion and inefficiency and establishes a dangerous precedent. Both the city and county probation work should be carried on under a single head, the county probation office. In this way, the evi- dent intent of the state juvenile court law would be carried out. A word should be said regarding the sensational printing by the newspapers of details regarding so-called juvenile crime, such details including the names and pictures of the offenders. In some cities the newspapers have agreed among themselves to exclude such stories for the good of the children as well as the community. San Diego's daily papers might well profit by this example. 29 In the city police court, and in the other two justice courts, it is customary for the judge to release adults convicted of minor offenses on an informal probation. An investigation should be made to determine the need for a paid probation officer's services for adults in these courts. This investigation should show also how far adult probation is employed in the county courts and the need for supplementing the present work of the County Juv- enile Court officers in this respect. Adult probation is quite as much needed as juvenile probation if the criminal laws are to be tempered with practical efforts at reforming the offenaer. County Detention Home The County Detention Home is by no means a credit to the city and county. Thirty children have been crowded into accom- modations for eighteen. At times two boys are obliged to sleep in one small room. The girls must go to their rooms in the even- ing as they have no common sitting room. Both girls and boys have sleeping accomodations under the same roof. Its name is misleading since not only are children kept here awaiting trial, but for some length of time as in any home for children. It does not "detain," as it has no provision for caring for the boys or girls who are runaways and who must be kept safely while awaiting trial. It is not surprising then that children under sixteen are held occasionally for safe keeping in the city lock-up and county jail. It is understood that they are kept from older prisoners, it is true, in both places, but if the county jail is crowded, this is difficult to accomplish. Quarters for a detention home should be obtained in the neighborhood of the County Court House, and not twenty-five minutes ride from the center of the city as is the case with the present detention home. Provision should be made for safely guarding children while awaiting trial. To illustrate the present lack of method in providing for juveniles and the need for public institutional care, the following instance may be cited. A dependent child, a girl 15 years of age, was re- ferred to the County Probation Office. Until this child could be sent East to relatives she was kept successively at the Door of Hope, a small private institution for young delinquent women, at the Detention Home, at the County Hospital, and at the County Jail. It is recommended that present institutional methods of caring for juveniles in San Diego be examined to find out whether there is not an immediate need for a training school for boys and girls, preferably on the Farm 'Colony plan, such a home to be located on the city's pueblo lands. The building by the county of a new and larger home for children upon this plan would seem the logical step to take. As already suggested, additional probation officers are much needed, and there should be a de- tention home for children awaiting trial, to be located in the vicinity of the County Court House. 30 INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS— FOREIGN POPULATION In the U. S. Census for 1910, about three per cent, of San Die- go's population or 1071 were classed as wage earners- This was on the basis of a total population of over 39,000. This percentage is a little below the average for eight other of the largest cities of California. On a basis of 80,000 population the city at present has possiblv a working population of 12,000. This includes, in addition to"^those classed distinctly as wage earners, all workers in the building trades, mercantile establishments, on street cars, etc. .Organized labor claims a total of 5,000 union men. This is probably too high a figure at the present time of industrial de- pression. The State Bureau of Labor for 1911-1912 gives 3,702 emplovees in a total of 187 manufacturing, wholesale and retail establishments of the city. This number is exclusive for the most part of workers in the building trades. Of this total 29 per cent were women. The following establishments employed a total of over 150 persons, as follows: Lumber and milling, 269; restaurants, 329 ; slaughtering and meat packing, 209 ; clothing, retail, 349 ; department stores, 216 ; laundries, 316. Hours of Work and Wages of Males Of the above total working population, 29 per cent, worked eight hours or less, 46 per cent, worked nine hours, 24 per cent, worked ten hours. About 15 per cent, received $12.00 or under per week. The remainder received over $12.00 per week. Rates for organized labor were quoted as follows in the State Bureau of Labor report: Carpenters, 50 cents an hour for forty-four hour week; compositors, job and newspaper, $4.00 to $5.00 for an eight hour dav ; bakers and confectioners, $18.00 to $25.00 for a fifty-six hour week ; bartenders, $20.00 to $25.00 for a sixty hour week; barbers, average $16.00 for a sixty-seven hour week. From other sources it was learned that the contractor's price for unskilled labor is at present a minimum of $2.00 for a nine hour day. Women and Girl Employees According to the State Bureau of Labor report, 1076 women were emploved in manufacturing, wholesale and retail estab- lishments. Establishments employing over 85 women and girls have the following number of employees: Clothing, retail, 166; department stores, 148; restaurants, 86; laundries, 204. Wo- men and girls are employed in seasonal industries at fish packing and in olive works. Under the state law women and girls are given an eight hour day. If we assume $9.00 as the lowest liv- ing wage to be paid for women and girl employees oh the rather incomplete figures given later in this investigation, and taken as the basis of the minimum cost of living, we find from the State Bureau of Labor report that 50 per cent, received $9.00 or over. This is less than the percentage for the entire state, which is 60 31 per cent. Forty-one per cent, received $6.00 to $9.00, 8 per cent, received less than $6.00. The percentage of those earn- ing under $9.00 runs as follows, in the principal establishments already given : Laundries, 66 per cent. ; clothing, retail, 20 per cent. ; department stores, 64 per cent. ; restaurants, 61 per cent. ; confectionery, 65 per cent. In other words, over 60 per cent, of the women and girl employees of the respective totals for laun- dries, department stores, restaurants and confectionery estab- lishments received less than $9.00 per week. From the Woman and Child Labor Exhibit made in the city in August, 1912, the following figures are given regarding cost of living, per week, for working women in San Diego: Room rent $2 ; meals 60 cents a day, $4.20 ; total $6.20. Additional items are Expense for clothing, laundry, recreation, sickness, and inciden- tals. According to this exhibit, 90 out of 163 working women and girls reported were wholly dependent on wages. At Unity House, an unsectarian home for working women and girls, from 8 to 16 girls are accommodated for $3.50 a week, board and room. For from $3.50 to $5.00 a week the King's Daughters' Home, the same class of institution, accommodates 20 girls. The Y. W. C. A. also has accommodations for working girls. The above figures taken from the State Bureau of Labor report and the Woman and Child Labor Exhibit, illustrate farily accurately, it is believed, present conditions. This is borne out by the testimony of well- informed persons interviewed at the present time. From the limited data at hand, nine dollars is apparently the lowest living wage for working girls in this city. Child Labor From the State Bureau of Labor report of 1911-12, 171 minors under 18 years of age were at work in manufacturing, wholesale and retail establishments. Working permits may now be issued by school authorities to minors between the ages of 12 and 15, under certain conditions. While it is understood to be the policy of the school authorities to issue such permits in but few cases, the law as it stands does not come up to the standard set by the National Child Labor Committee for the whole coun- try. This standard excludes children under 14 years from "ordi- nary gainful occupations." It is estimated that there are 400 newsboys in San Diego, but there is no state law regulating street trades other than that boys shall not be at work between 10:00 p. m. and 5:00 a. m. The National Child Labor Committee rec- ommends that boys under 16 shall not be permitted to work at street trades between 8:00 p. m. and 6:00 a. m. Messenger boys number about 25. It is stated on good authority that "they are acquainted with almost every apartment that is questionable in San Diego." According to the state law, no minors are to be sent as messengers to houses of prostitution, or other questionable re- sorts. The small private messenger companies are said to offend in this regard rather than the well established companies. To summarize industrial conditions in San Diego, especially as they relate to state laws, established for the protection of work- 32 ing men, women and children, we find the following: Women workers are protected by a law limiting their workmg hours to eight per day ; a Workmen's Compensation law ; men and women workers are protected by law against fraud at the hands of pri- vate employment agencies, (a movement is now on foot to estab- lish a free municipal employment agency) ; the work of mmors under 18 is limited to eight hours per day; minors under 16 are not permitted to work between 10 :00 p. m. and 5 :00 a. m. Much better results have been obtained in the enforcement of these laws since the recent opening of a branch office of the State Bur- eau of Labor in the city, and the appointment of a special agent to cover San Diego and neighboring territory. The state mini- mum wage commission is now at work making an investigation whch, it is hoped, will serve as a basis for establishing a mini- mum wage for women workers. Needs of the community to be relieved further by state legisla- tion may be summarized as follows : There are no adequate state factory inspection laws ; minors under 14 should not be granted working permits ; street trades should be regulated ; minors un- der 16 should not be allowed to work between the hours of 8:00 p. m. and 6:00 a. m. ; newsboys should be issued badges. Further legislation or a more strict enforcement of existing laws is need- ed to check the apparently extensive operations of loan sharks, or money lenders, at exhorbitant rates of interest, fattening on the needs of the small salaried man or the working man and de- manding from 100 to over 200 per cent, interest as a yearly rate. The legal rate of interest in California is 24 per cent. A Provi- dent Loan Association, or similar institutions such as operate m Eastern cities, should be established to meet the real needs of small borrowers. Foreign Population Of the city's population, according to the United States Census of 1910, 18 per cent, were foreign born whites, 21 per cent, of foreign or mixed parentage, 57 per cent, of native parentage. Of California's seven largest cities, San Diego has, next to Pasa- dena, the largest native population and the lowest percentage of persons of foreign or mixed parentage and of foreign born whites. Of the foreign born population in 1910 about 4000 were Northern Europeans. Other foreign born were: Mexicans 1222, Italians 331, Austrians 182, Greeks 68, Chinese and Japanese a total of 507. Unless there is a considerable development of the others 516. Unless there is a considerable development of the present limited industrial opportunities in the community, the city cannot well become an important point for the landing of im- migrants on the coast. However, a development of the back country about San Diego, and the establishment of railroad con- nections with Imperial Valley and Southern Arizona, the latter already a definite undertaking, may make San Diego an immi- grant station of importance. On the present basis of prices for land in this part of the state, only immigrants with considerable savings could be attracted for the purpose of purchasing mde- 33 pendent holdings. A government immigrant receiving station will be located on the city's new municipal pier. It is suggested that a trained nurse be appointed by the immigration authori- tes, to care for immigrants detained for medical inspection, es- pecially women. If this were done, serious evils now found at some of the older immigrant stations could be avoided at the start. A private home for immigrant women and girls has been opened recently, to meet future needs. Mexicans The Mexicans both foreign and native-born number at present from three to four thousand. About them center the most defi- nite problems in the social life of the community, such as over- crowding and unsanitary home conditions. These problems are focused about this nationality not only by reason of their num- ber, but because a considerable proportion are a stable element in the community, centered about family groups. About one- quarter are located in the neighborhood of Rose Park playground in the southeastern section of the city — the district where crowd- ing in cottages, shacks and tenements is at its worst. Others are scattered along the water front and the more prosperous may be found in different sections of the city. It is said that there are but few Mexicans in the skilled trades as carpenters, masons, etc. For the most part they work with pick and shovel for the gas company, street railway, and on water works, or for general con- tractors at a minimum wage of $2.00 a day. Other Mexicans are employed as teamsters. Mexican boys who are educated in the city schools, as a rule do not obtain employment in mercantile establishments. Mexican girls are found in the laundries, cracker factories, olive works, and fish canning industry. As a class, the Mexicans in San Diego are said to offer more promising material from which to develop good citizens than those of the same na- tionality who enter the country through El Paso, Texas, a prin- cipal immigration point. At present two small Protestant Mis- sions are working among the Mexicans, the Baptist and Presby- terian. The main social agency, however, which reaches them upon a community basis, outside of the public schools, and the Catholic Church, is the Rose Park playground. With a small day wage restricted for the most part to intermittent manual labor, with the large families and low standards of living of the Mexi- cans, it becomes the special duty of the city's social agencies to afford all possible opportunities for development for this nation- ality and especially for the children, on a basis of proper Ameri- can standards. An important agency for accomplishing this purpose might well be a Social Settlement established possibly in the neighborhood of the Rose Park playground. Such a settle- ment could interpret the needs of this section to the community as a whole, and join as well in a movement shaping itself toward a definite social program for the city. 34 Causes OF DEPBNDEmY As SHOWN BY TWO YEAFS BSCOWS OF Associated ^ — r— ^ Chaeit/es MAHY OF THESE CAUSES AFE E'ENOmiE jyFOUOH COOPEFATim EFFO^r 35 BETTERMENT AGENCIES The question has been asked by persons otherwise intelligently Informed, "Are there any poor in San Diego ?" Visit the homes of the poor in the more crowded sections of the city or read the stories of distress resulting from sickness and unemployment which are on file at the Associated Charities. The answer must be decidedly in the affirmative. Various agencies and institu- tions are at work in San Diego to help in relieving such distress. A list of agencies has been prepared and will be found at the end of this report. No attempt has been made in the following state- ment to give an account of the work of even the more prominent charitable agencies in the city. Those mentioned serve rather as guiding points in outlining the city's charitable growth and needs. A brief review of the charity situation in San Diego brings to light the following facts. The city's poor, now receiving indoor relief from the county, are provided for at the County Hospital. This situation should be remedied at once by housing the poor in separate quarters. The county supervisors "^f or the citv, three in number, are the main agency dispensing material relief to the poor in their homes. This relief is usually in the form of gro- ceries. In supplies, alone, $13,000 was given during the last fiscal year of the Board, the larger share of this amount going to resi- dents of the city rather than of the county. This public money the Board spent in the press of other duties, without adequate means for investigating the circumstances of families or individ- uals receiving aid. Nor were they able to do constructive work in upbuilding the individuals or families assisted, by established methods of organized charity. The Supervisors, however, have taken a step in the right direction by instituting a card catalog record of persons receiving relief in their homes. One Supervi- sor at present refers cases for relief to the Associated Charities for investigation. This is but a step in the right direction. The Supervisors should appoint a trained investigator to investigate the circumstances of families assisted and aid as far as possible in a constructive effort to place the family upon a self-supporting basis. This is the method followed by San Francisco's Countv Supervisors. The services of such an investigator could be se- cured probably without actual increase in the total amount now spent in relief. Moreover, the county board's investigator could assist physicians at the County Hospital by weeding out cases which do not call for hospital treatment or for which other and better arrangements could be provided in the home. This service the Associated Charities now gives, to a considerable extent, and whenever called upon. In San Francisco, where the county em- ploys an investigator for all such work, the communitv has bene- fited by improved service to those assisted, in time saved to coun- ty officials and, according to the report of the county officials, hy an actual saving of funds. San Diego has a number of small private agencies which give occasional relief to the poor, such as the Ladies' Hebrew Aid So- ciety, the St. Vincent De Paul Society, both types of well known organizations of other cities, the various missions, churches, and benevolent and fraternal organizations. A thorough investiga- tion of the results accomplished by these agencies would show probably that they are working at cross-purposes with one an- other, and with the County Board of Supervisors. Such at least has been the condition of affairs in other cities farther advanced than San Diego in methods of relief giving. An Associated Char- ities in any city is organized for the purpose of preventing this lack of system, or possible overlapping of charitable efforts in aiding the poor. A main purpose of this Society is to act as a clearing house among the community's different charicaoie agencies, giving out information regarding individuals or fam- ilies aided. Moreover, it opposes relief giving in the form of doles merely, and instead makes a constructive effort to place the individual or family back upon a self-supporting basis. This it endeavors to do not only by relief giving but by the continued personal service of its workers based upon intimate knowledge of the family's needs and resources. A third function of an As- sociated Charities is the studying of conditions in a community which cause poverty and distress and as far as possible, the rem- edying of such conditions through a definite social program. What has the Associated Charities of San Diego accomplished,, if we measure its activities according to the standards set by similar associations in other cities? Although it employs a wo- man worker, well trained in methods of organized charity, the society has been badly handicapped for lack of funds. On tv/a occasions, it has not' been able to publish a yearly report for lack of money. At times the society has been behind in the payment of salaries to its woman worker, her temporary assistant, and the small office force. Apparently, the community has failed to grasp properly the main principles upon which the work of an Associated Charities is based, and has responded but slowly in giving it adequate financial and moral support. Credit is due,, however, for what the Society has accomplished under such ad- verse conditions. To illustrate, it acts as a clearing house in giv- ing to the smaller private relief -giving agencies, information re- garding needy families, and stands ready to co-operate more fully in an exchange of such information. It regularly investigates cases for relief referred to it by one of the County Supervisors. It investigates the circumstances of individuals requesting ad- mittance at the County Hospital. The Society's own fund for re- lief giving has been of necessity small. However, it has expended a total of $350.00 given on two occasions by the city council for the relief of the unemployed. It has handled the relief funds of certain fraternal organizations on special occasions, and it dis- 37 tributes shoes and clothing given regularly by the school chil- dren at Thanksgiving time. As for the Society's remaining func- tion of investigating the causes of poverty, and working toward their removal, facts have been obtained in records of families re- lieved, but no program has been outlined for the removal of these causes. The Children's Home, a private institution, accommodating about ICO children, is excellent both in equipment and manage- ment. It is a pleasure to visit such an institution where the chil- dren escape the ordinary institutional stamp and are afforded some near substitute for home life. In spite of the good work done by such an institution, it is nevertheless true that a child placed in a private family under proper conditions and with the necessary supervision, is better off than in an institution however home-like. Unless the co-operation of private child-placing so- cieties now operating in San Francisco and Los Angeles can be secured in San Diego, the city's charitable agencies themselves must face the problem. In order to meet the question squarely as to the superior value of child placing in private homes over in- stitutional care, a careful investigation should be made of the circumstances of children now in the city's institutions — espec- ially of those children supported by state and county funds. Such an investigation would cover the Children's Home, the Helping Hand Home, the County Detention Home and any other private homes in the city where children are regularly kept for pay. Sim- ilar investigations in other communities have shown what is probably true of San Diego, that if the money now spent in giv- ing the child institutional care by state or county were given in certain cases to the mother and added possibly to her small earn- ings, the child would be better off with the mother than in an in- stitution as a public charge. Such a readjustment might even lead to an actual saving of money for the tax-payer and with bet- ter results secured for the child. This investigation into the in- stitutional care of children should discover also how far the state and county aid now given for the support of children in institu- tions and in their own homes as well, is adequate according to approved standards of relief giving. While the County Supervi- sors in San Diego give v;illingly to institutions for the support of children, these officials, we are informed, are not accustomed to the idea of giving relief to the mother or responsible relative suf- ficient to provide comfortably for the child outside of an institu- tion. There is no public central registration of all dependent chil- dren in San Diego. The Juvenile Court offers machinery for such registration and should do this work. Before the whole problem of relief giving and of charitable as- sistance to families in their homes can be solved in a measure, by local charitable societies, both state and county must provide ir.- creased accommodations in institutions for the tuberculous, in- ebriates, insane and feeble-minded. Mention should be made of the Helping Hand Home, a small private institution for men, women and children, conducted to 38 some extent on a pay basis. It is supported in part by county funds paid for children kept at the Home. The physical care of the inmates is not up to the best practical standards. For ex- ample, sleeping accommodations are provided for ten persons in the basement of this Home under conditions which are contrary to ordinary standards of cleanliness and sanitation. San Diego is making an attempt to aid unemployed men, with profit to the community, through an enterprise probably unique among American cities. The city maintains a camp on its exten- sive pueblo lands throughout the year where from 20 to 25 men are accommodated for ten days each. The men work at tree planting and land clearing, and receive 50 cents a day, board and lodging for their services. The following is a summary of the present charitable needs of the city : Separate quarters should be provided for the indigent poor now kept at the County Hospital ; adequate support should be given by the community to the work of the Associated Chari- ties; a trained investigator should be employed by the County Board of Supervisors; an investigation should be made of the need for care of dependent children in families rather than in in- stitutions. 39 CIVIC IMPROVEMENT The physical arrangement and appearance of the citj'- mar)c the confines of this subject. San Diego ah^eady has a vakiable Vacant Lot Cultivation. ^'^v^:*^*K . I "Vacant Lot as a Dumping Ground. City's Refuse Disposal Left to a Private Contractor. •contribution in John Nolan's report on city planning. Citizens, however, as a whole, have so far failed to recognize the value of 40 this report, and have been content to drift or accept something- much inferior to its suggestions. The pueblo lands of the city, a heritage from Mexican land grants, offer the community a most unique opportunity in shaping its physical development. These lands cover some 6400 acres to the north of the city, but within the citv limits, and are scattered in small sections throughout the residential districts. Only a portion of the latter are accur- ately mapped out. Charts should be prepared at once so that the use of these sections could be developed as occasion arises. The chief asset of the city at present under development is Balboa Park, comprising 1400 acres and the site of the Panama Exposi- tion buildings. The failure to provide a general plan for the im- provement of Balboa Park which will meet the city's require- ments as to traffic as well as for park purposes is inexcusable. The park lies in a line between the center of gravity of the upper mass of the residential section, and the center of retail merchan- dise and wholesale and lumber distributing centers. The park is still the football of immediate needs and pohcies. The present method of control of new additions is inadequate, comparatively ineffectual and expensive in result. Hope for better things ha& come with the conception of the Exposition. A unanimity of pur- pose and recognition of the necessity for a "city beautiful" has begun to develop. The value of city planning and its influence on general appearances will be appreciated more fully after the Ex- position. After the Chicago World's Fair, that city recognized this more fully and great projects were made possible owing to the education of the people by the Exposition. Two public squares, located in the down-town section, add to the city's at- tractiveness. The now undeveloped city tide lands offer a splen- did opportunity for beautifying the water front and reserving it to some extent at least for recreational purposes. Such an oppor- tunity other cities have thrown away recklessly by surrendering unconditionally to commercial interests. In the city's future commercial development, it should conserve and add to its beauty as a natural playground spot of the country. The bill board evil is evident in the city. Unsightly bill boards should not be per- mitted to detract from the general appearance of broad streets^ now a most attractive feature. The natural beauty of the can- vons should be preserved by preventing their use as dumpings grounds for refuse. San Diego is fortunate in having historic spots of interest, with its mission ruins and associations connect- ed with Ramona's marriage place at Old Town. These must even- tually become the heritage of the city. 41 TAXATION AND PUBLIC FINANCE Any community should know whether its local government is conducted efficiently and economically ; whether citizens are pay- ing their share of taxes according to benefits received ; and what per cent, of each dollar expended goes to the various public de- partments. A simple accounting system is necessary and a bud- get making with opportunities provided for public discussion. Those citizens who are specially interested in an extension of public service, as in increased activities of the Board of Health, should have this information. The city has an opportunity at present in the preparation of its new charter to provide for greater publicity in its municipal finances. The present city government is described as a "mongrel" com- mission form of government. Five councilmen are elected at large. The Mayor and City Treasurer are also elected. Ordi- nance-making and the executive power are both vested in the City Council, each member of which has charge of one or more of the city departments. Three coun cilmen may act over the CoMFAFAm^ Cost or C/rr DfPMTMf//T6 Statisvcs fof I9J2 42 mayor's veto. The present charter is compHcated and difficult for the ordinary citizen to understand. The power of recall is uncertain under the charter and has not been tested. At the head of the county administration are five supervisors elected at large. Neither the city nor county have civil service regulations. Records of transaction of the Council are not indexed. Depart- ment reports are not usually published, although the finance de- partment publishes a report. Some departments have no fire- proof safes for records in the city hall. Taxation It may be stated as a general principle that if a government is conducted efficiently and economically, any tax rate which meets the community needs is justifiable. The tax rate for the city for 1913 was $1.90, and for the county within the city lim- its, $1.45, making for 1913 a total tax rate within the city and for city and county purposes, of $3.35, on an assessed valuation of $100.00. There is no established standard for the assessment of real or personal property in city or county. The state law pro- vides that all property shall be assessed at its full cash value. The law defines full cash value, but in practice, the matter is left to the discretion of the assessor and his assistants. In a general way, the 1913 assessment was based on one-third of the fair mar- ket price, for the city, and one-half for the county, as to real property. The result of the low assessment was a high tax rate. The expressed purpose of the new city assessor is to assess prop- erty (realty) in accordance with the law, i. e., at its full cash value. The cash value is far below the speculative or market price prevailing in San Diego. This is characteristic of all rapid- ly growing western cities. Realty values are not yet on a set- tled income basis as in the older eastern cities. The increased as- sessment for 1914 will lower materially the tax rate, and will be more satisfactory to every one excepting the speculator. Revenues and Expenditures The auditor's report for the year 1913 will be ready for deliv- ery in April of this year. The total receipts for the city from all sources, including bond sales, were over $6,000,000.00, and the total expenditure over $5,000,000.00. The total assessed value of real property for 1913 was over $55,000,000.00 and of personal property over $5,000,000.00. The receipts from taxation, fees and licenses are sufficient to meet the ordinary expenses of the city. Improvements of a permanent character such as buildings, docks, sewers, park and water improvements, bridges, etc., are met by bond issue. The present bonding limit has been reached within about $200,000.00, but will be greatly increased after the 1914 assessment roll is completed. The city budget is approved by the council after estimates of the heads of the various depart- ments have been submitted to -the auditor. According to the present auditor, the 1914 budget which is under preparation, will be presented for public criticism, and discussion before adoption. Recommendations — There should be a uniform system of ac- 43 counting for the city. The pre-audit system of accounting now- used by the state administration should be adopted by the city. Fees, licenses, etc., should be paid to the City Treasurer and not to inspectors in the different departments. The city should com- bine the office of assessor with the corresponding county office, and equip the department with a complete set of plats, showing the character of each parcel of land in the county. Tax collec-* tions should be made by one officer for city and county. The city auditor should not be the assessor, as his time is sufficiently oc- cupied in looking after the city's accounts. One treasurer for <;ity and county is sufficient. For the assessment of property, the Somers system should be adopted so that there may be an -equitable valuation of property. 44 LIST OF CHARITABLE AND SEMI-CHARITABLE AGENCIES Relief -Giving Agencies Public Board of Supervisors — Location, County Court House. Super- visors for the city: J. P. Smith, Chas. Swallow, T. J. Fisher. Secretary, Miss Allen. Private Associated Charities — Location, Eighth and B streets. Under auspices of Board of Directors. Registrar, Miss Mary Dietzler. Telephone, Sunset Main 3940, Home 4786. Purpose, co-operation with other agencies in assisting needy families. Ladies' Hebrew Aid Society — Under auspices of Board of Di- rectors. President, Mrs. L. A. Blochman. Purpose, to aid needy Hebrew families in co-operation with Associated Charities. Hebrew Sisterhood — President Mrs. Rebecca Cohn, 620 Eight- eenth street. Purpose, to aid needy Hebrew families, in co-oper- ation with Associated Charities. St. Vincent de Paul Society — Under auspices of Catholic Church. Manager, Mr. Martin, Our Lady of Angels Parish. B'nai-Brith — Under auspices of Hebrew men. President, Mr. S. I. Fox. Purpose, relief for Hebrew men. British Benevolent Society — President, Allen Hutchinson, 1733 First street. Secretary, W. G. Daniels. Women's Auxiliary, British Benevolent Aid Club ; President, Miss Eleanor Partridge. Purpose, to render aid to British subjects. Lodges — Masons, Elks, Shriners, etc. Purpose, relief for needy, particularly among own members. Outside work in co- operation with Associated Charities. Missions — Give material relief together with religious work. (See Missions.) Needlework Guild — Under auspices of national organization. President, Mrs. M. L. Slocum. Purpose, supplying new clothing to needy. Institutions for Children Public Detention Home, Mission Valley. Under auspices of County Board of Supervisors. Home for juvenile delinquents and de- pendents. Private Children's Home — Sixteenth and Ash streets. Under auspices of Board of Directors. President, Mrs. Thelan; Secretary, Mrs. Flynn; Superintendent, Mrs. Miles. Purpose, home and nursery for dependent children from three months to fourteen years of age. On both free and pay basis. 45 Helping Hand Nursery and Home — Location, 2245 G street. Superintendent, Mrs. A. E. Dodson ; Matron, Mrs. Price. Charges, free or whatever able to pay. Purpose, home and day nursery for children of all ages and home for working mothers. Mothers' Home Association — In process of being established. Institutions for Adults Private Frederika Home for Aged — Location, Chula Vista. Under aus- pices of Board of Directors. Matron, Mrs. Emma Saylor. Pay institution. Purpose, home for aged. Pisgah Home for Men — Location, National City. Superintend- ent, Mr. Green. Purpose, religious home for needy men. Helping Hand Home — Location, Fifteenth and J streets. Superintendent, Mrs. A. E. Dodson; Secretary, Mr. Har- rison ; Matron, Mrs. Halleck. Charges, on both free and pay bas- is. Purpose, home for men, women and children; to render aid to unemployed, and to give home to those earning a very low wage. Hospitals and Dispensaries Public County Hospital — Location, University Heights. Under aus- pices of County Board of Supervisors. Director, Dr. L D. Web- ster; Superintendent, W. S. Heller. Charges, free and pay. Pur- pose, hospital treatment for the sick. Home for indigents. Free County Dispensary — Location, old county jail. Under auspices of Board of Supervisors. Director, Dr. Webster. Pur- pose, to give free medical treatment to the sick unable to pay a physician. Private Children's Home Hospital — Location, Sixteenth and Ash streets. Under auspices of Children's Home Association. Charges, free and pay basis. Psychopathic Home, "Park Knoll" — Location, National City. Manager, Mrs. Harriet F. Taylor. Charges, based on ability to pay. Purpose, a home, rest and treatment for persons tempor- arily mentally deranged. Missions Salvation Army — Location, 940 Third street. Under auspices of world organization. Officers: Commander, Adjutant J. F. Hamilton ; Field Worker, Mrs. Hamilton. Purpose, religious, aid rendered to extremly needy. Rescue Mission — Non-sectarian. Location, Third between G and H streets. Under auspices of private Board of Directors. Superintendent, Tom Nowell; Ass't. Superintendent, Dr. Bark- ley. PuiTDOse, religious, meals and lodging given to destitute men. 46 Chinese Mission — Location, 645 First street. Under auspices of First Congregational Church. Superintendent, Mrs. Margaret Fenton. Purpose, religious, and aid to Chinese in interpreting American life. Japanese Mission, Congregational — Location, 527 Eighth street. Same nature as Chinese. Minister, Rev. Fugi. Presbyterian Mexican Mission — Location Thirteenth and K streets. Under auspices of First Presbyterian Church. Super- intendent, M. Ibanez. Purpose, religious, and assistance render- ed in interpreting American life to Mexicans. Baptist Mexican Mission — Location, Columbia and Date streets. Under auspices of First Baptist Church. Superintendent, Mrs. Duggan. Purpose, religious, teaching classes, and relief given to Mexicans. Attention given to newly arrived immigrants. Peniel Mission — Fifth and F streets. Volunteers of America — Location, 532 Fourth street- Captain, M. W. Allender. Homes for Girls and Women Unity House — Non-sectarian. Location, Front and Elm streets. Under auspices of Unitarian Church, and Board of Di- rectors. President, Rev. H. B. Bard; Matron, Mrs. Buchanan. Charges, $3.50 per week. In special cases girls taken free for short time when cannot pay. Purpose, home and recreation for w^orking girls receiving small wage. King's Daughters' Home — Non-sectarian. Location, 1744 First street. Under auspices of Board of Directors. President, Mrs. M. A. Vincent; Matron, Miss Hodge. Charges, $3.50 per week and up. In special cases girls taken when they cannot pay. Purpose, home for working girls. Y. W. C. A. — Location, 646 Broadway. Auspices, National Board in N. Y. and local Board of Directors. President, Mrs. Philip Morse; Matron, Miss Esther Lacey. Charges for rooms, $5.00 and up per month. Policy is to care for needy girls tempor- arily, if possible, when they cannot pay. Purpose, home for em- ployed girls. Immigrants' Home — Location, 1152 Grand avenue. Under aus- pices of Home Missionary Society, M. E. Church. Matron, Mrs. Allen. Charges, adapted to ability of individuals to pay. Pur- pose, home for immigrant girls and women. Agent to meet boats and trains to assist girls and women. Miscellaneous Door of Hope — Location, East San Diego. Auspices, Board of Directors. President, Mrs. Dan Armstrong. Charges, none. Purpose, home for delinquent girls. Society for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis — Branch national association. Location, camp on edge of city. Free dis- pensary at Eighth and B streets. Secretary, Miss A. F. Hutchin- son, office of Associated Charities. Purpose and character, to aid 47 in the cure of tubercular persons, and the prevention of the di- sease. Y. M. C. A. — Location, Eighth and C streets. Under auspices of national organization, (Local Board of Directors.) Presi- dent, Mr. George W. Marston; general secretary, Mr. Fred D. Fagg. Newsboys' club, no dues. Other work on pay basis. Y. W. C. A. — Location, 646 Broadway. Under auspices of Na- tional Board in N. Y., and Local Board. President, Mrs. Philip Morse ; General Secretary, Miss Ellen Cobb. Travelers' Aid, free. Other work on pay basis. Employment Agencies — (a) Associated Charities, free. (b) First Baptist Church, free. (c) Y. W. C. A., pay. Rates $1.00 for non-members, 75c for members. Free to employer. (d) Y. M. C. A., pay. Rates V2 of first week's wages, with concessions. Fifty cents extra for non-members. (e) Women's Social Service Agency, pay. Rates, 5 per cent of salary for employee, and 5 per cent for employer, depending on length of service. Free Industrial School — Location, National avenue and Twen- ty-third street. Under auspices of Board of Directors. Resi- dent Superintendent, Mrs. Barnes. Purpose, club work and ev- ening classes for adults and boys and girls. Humane Society — Location, Chamber of Commerce. Under auspices of Private Board. Helped by county to extent of $100 per month. Secretary, Mr. Mutters. Purpose, prevention of cruelty to animals and children. City Farm — Location, near La Jolla. Under auspices of City Council. City Forester, Max Watson, in charge. Purpose, de- velopment of pueblo lands, and incidentally temporary employ- ment for men unemployed. Playgrounds — 1. Rose Park, Eleventh and I streets. 2. Gold- en Hill, Balboa Park. 3. University Heights. Under auspices of City Board of Playground Commissioners. Purpose, free and healthful recreation for children and adults. Seamen's Rest — Foot of H street. Superintendent, Miss Gen- evieve Purrier. Auspices County Christian Endeavor Union. Purpose, free reading room and rest room for sailors. Religious. 48