THE MODERN CITY AND ITS PROBLEMS BY FREDERIC C. HOWE, PH.D. AUTHOR OF "THE CITY: THE HOPE OF DEMOCRACY," "THE BRITISH CITY: THE BEGINNINGS OF DEMOCRACY," "PRIVILEGE AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA," "WISCONSIN: AN EXPERIMENT IN DEMOCRACY," "EUROPEAN CITIES AT WORK" CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON CorrBioBT. 1015. BY CHARLES BCRIBNER'S SONS TO LINCOLN STEFFENS PREFACE IN so far as this volume carries a message it is that the American city lags behind the work it should properly perform. It is negative hi its func- tions, rather than positive in its services. It has been stripped of power and responsibility. It is politically weak and lacks ideals of its possibilities. It has so little concern for its people that they in turn have little concern for it. AVe have failed to differentiate between those activities which are pri- vate and those which are public.) (We have failed, too, to provide protection to the individual from in- equalities of power and position, and have left him a prey to forces as dangerous to his life and comfort as those against which the police are employed to protect. Further than this^e have failed to shift to society ^e burdens of industry which the com- ing of the city has created. We have permitted the sacrifice of low wages, irregular employment, and disease to be borne to the individual rather than by the community Those who suffer from these conditions are in reality a vicarious sacrifice; a sacrifice which society has no right to accept^ These conditions can only be corrected by a pro- gramme of city building, of city service, through vi PREFACE compulsory co-operation, or socialization. To this co-operation there are no set limits. But for many years to come the city will continue to increase its activities and enlarge its services. This is the lesson of the past; it is the promise of the future. Further than this, I have dissented from the opinion that the trouble with the American city is with the American people, with the idea that we are neglectful of politics, are too partisan, too tol- erant of evil. It is assumed that we have willingly abdicated our responsibilities and turned the city over to the professional politician as an easy escape ' from the burdens involved. t_This is the personal interpretation of politics. It is somewhat on a par with the assumption that the slave is responsible for his chains, the serf for his servitude, the sweat- shop worker for his poverty.. The conditions describeoT are results, not causes. Neglect, partisanship, tolerance of evil are traceable back to legal institutions, to constitutional and po- litical limitations, under which we have been com- pelled to work. Finally, this book is written from the inside of the city. It is a study of t at work; of the problem as seen by the official animated by a desire to promote the city's achievements and realize on its possibilities. This study is the result of many years of service, in the city council of Cleveland, on tlu city finance commission, as a member of the tax commission, and in the State senate. It is the re- sult, too, of intimate knowledge of many American PREFACE vii cities, of contact with reformers and politicians, of studies of municipal conditions in Germany, Eng- land, Austria-Hungary, and Switzerland, and of personal acquaintance with the officials of these countries. It reflects the view-point of the men who are doing things, and striving for things, rather than of those who analyze the city from the out- side. It accepts the new note in city politics, which is democratic, constructive, and social. FREDERIC C. HOWE. NEW YORK, December, 1914. CONTENTS PA OB PREFACE v CHAPTER I. THE CITY AND CIVILIZATION 1 II. THE ANCIENT CITY 9 III. THE MEDIEVAL TOWN 24 ~~ IV. THE MODERN CITY 34 -N V. THE AMERICAN CITY: ITS SUCCESS AND ITS FAIL- URES 50 VI. THE CITY AND THE STATE 66 VII. MUNICIPAL HOME RULE 76 VIII. THE CITY CHARTER 86 IX. RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 97 X. MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION IN GERMANY . . XI. MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION IN GREAT BRITAIN- . 132 XII. THE CITY AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION- 149 \ *> XIII. MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN AMERICA 165 ' XIV. MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 176 XV. CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA . 194 \ XVI. CITY PLANNING IN EUROPE 211 ix X CONTEXTS CHAPTER FAOB ./ XVII. POLICE, FIRE, AND HEALTH PROTECTION ... 231 XVIII. THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 25^ XIX. THE HOUSING PROBLEM 273 XX. MUNICIPAL HOUSING IN EUROPE 289 XXI. RECREATION AND THE PROBLEM OF LEISURE . . 305 XXII. THE CITY BUDGET XXIII. NEW SOURCES or Cnr REVENUE 346 XXIV. ( ..MLUBION BIBLIOGRAPHY 377 INDEX . 385 THE MODERN CITY AND ITS PROBLEMS THE MODERN CITY CHAPTER I THE CITY AND CIVILIZATION THE city has always been the centre of civilization. ' Civilization does not exist among a nomad people. In sparsely settled regions it is only rudimentary. Even to-day in the rural districts it does not pro- gress beyond the simplest forms. The great epochs of civilization have always coin- cided with a highly developed city life. This was true of Athens in the time of Pericles, of Rome during the early empire, of Italy during the Renais- sance. It was true of the Netherlands and of Ger- many in the Middle Ages, when liberty came to life after centuries of disorder, just as it is true of the last fifty years, which coincide with the develop- ment of the modern city. With the city came education, culture, and a love of the fine arts. They only exist under an urban en- vironment. For education and the fine arts come with leisure and accumulated wealth, which in turn are city-born. Science, invention, industry, are also urban. They, too, depend upon the division of labor and the wealth which such division makes possible. They involve 1 2 TIIE MODERN CITY the harnessing of power, the conversion of coal and water into steam and electricity, as well as the spe- cialization of activities and talents, which are only possible under urban conditions. And the larger the city and the more minute the specialization, the greater the co-operation and the more easy the pro- duction of wealth. The City and Co-operation. The city had its beginnings with co-operation, with mutual help. This, with the division of labor, made civilization possible. Co-operation began when one man tended the fields and another went to war. Others produced the tools with which the farmer tilled the soil and the soldier protected the state. Exchanges followed. The products of the field and the shop found their way to the agora, or market- place. Community began to trade with commu- nity. This was the beginning of commerce. Surplus wealth made its appearance, which enabled soci to support teachers and artists. Taxation was introduced, which enabled the di- vision of labor to be carried still further. This marked the beginning of compulsory co-operation. Then many services became accessible to all that had previously been confined to the few. Streets and highways facilitated the transportation of goods, and this widened the life of the community still furt! A standing army was provided, which relieved many men from the necessity of carrying arms. This widened freedom and increased the productiveness of labor and the time devoted to peaceful pursuits. THE CITY AND CIVILIZATION 3 Taxation is one of the greatest agencies of civilized life. Co-operation Only Possible in City. It was not possible to develop co-operation to any appreciable extent under rural conditions. It is not possible to this day. There is almost as wide a gulf between the routine life of the ranchman of Dakota and the clerk of New York as there is between that of the farmer of to-day and the husbandman in the times of the Pharaohs. City life for even the poorest is socialized to a wonderful extent. And as society changes from the country to the town, and from the town to the great city, the element of co-operation becomes more and more important. It involves a change from the doing of all sorts of things by each individual to the doing of many things by the com- munity and the consequent freeing of the individual, so that he may pursue his own calling and enjoy his own leisure. Co-operation, according to Prince Kropotkin, is a law of progress even in the animal world. In his Mutual Aid he says: 1 "Life in societies is the most powerful weapon in the struggle for life enabling the feeblest insects, the feeblest birds and the feeblest animals to pro- tect themselves from the most terrible birds and beasts of prey. It permits longevity; it enables the species to rear its progeny with the least waste of energy; it enables gregarious animals to migrate in search of new abodes. "Therefore combine practice mutual aid that is the surest means for giving the greatest safety, the i Pages 57 and 75. 4 THE MODERN CITY best guarantee of existence and progress, bodily and intellectual and moral. "The species in which individual struggle has been reduced to its narrowest limits and the practice of mutual aid has attained its greatest development are invariably the most numerous, prosperous and open to progression. Mutual aid allows the attainment of old age, the cumulation of experience, higher in- tellectual development, etc. The unsocial species on the contrary are doomed to decay." The city can only live by co-operation; by co- operation in a million unseen ways. Without co- operation for a single day a great city would st; still. Without co-operation for a week it would be brought to the verge of starvation and be decimated by disease. The city has destroyed individualism. It is con- stantly narrowing its field. And in all probability co-operation, either voluntary or compulsory, will continue to appropriate an increasing share of the activities of society. The Machine of Machines. The city is a machine of machines. The changes wrought by steam, electricity, and transportation, t lie mastery of nature and the multiplication of human hands through the harnessing of power, are the fruits of urban life. So are the college and the press. All these are city-born, just as they were two thou- sand years ago. The city is to civilization what the steam-engine was to domestic industry. It is the greatest machine of all. No discovery of man, no THE CITY AND CIVILIZATION 5 conquest of power can be compared with the achieve- ments and potentiality of the city. The city is the counter on which the wealth of the world is displayed; it is the clearing-house to which the most inaccessible quarters of the earth contribute. Here the destinies of people are deter- mined, not by a powerful potentate, but by the sub- conscious needs and demands of the people them- selves. The desires of the city direct the life of the shepherds on the mountain-side, the fishermen in Alaska, the pearl-divers of India, the plantations of the tropics, the wheat-fields of America and Russia, and the sheep and cattle ranges of Australia and Ar- gentina. They direct the wine-growers of France as well as the mill operatives of Pittsburgh. To its needs the ears of monarchs, statesmen, financiers, and captains of industry are attuned. To its wants the hands of hundreds of millions of workers respond. The twentieth-century city is the brain of a cosmic machine; it is the heart and sensory system of the world as well. The Changing City. To many people the city is an evil that exacts so terrible a tribute of misery that they would have us "return to the land." They dream of an age of rural simplicity in which wealth and want no longer stare each other in the face. They would stem the tide to the city and turn back the movements of a century and re-establish the conditions of our fathers. To them the city is not the hope, it is the despair of civilization. THE MODERN CITY But the tide will never turn. Back to the land is an idle dream, f We can no more restore the pas- toral age than we can go back to the spindle and the )m\ Undoubtedly there will be changes in farm life. L)enmark and Wisconsin are making agricul- ture both profitable and alluring. And the farm itself will change, for it, even more than the c is in a state of arrested development. Agriculture, with all its advances, has not been specialized; it has not responded, as has industry, to the division of labor and the co-operative movement. The city, too, will change, for the city is what it is because political thought has not kept pace with changing conditions. The city has grown more rapidly than has social science; more rapidly than has industrial democracy. In the first place, our political machinery has not been adjusted to performance of the city's task. It is clumsy, indi- rect, complicated. Almost always, too, the city has been under the control of a class that has used its power to enrich itself by laws at the expense of others. And these laws can be altered, just as they were created, as rapidly as the city becomes con- scious of its possibilities and acquires the power to correct these evils through political democracy. For half a century constitutions and laws, city charters, methods of nomination and n, have been so complicated that they prevented the free expression of the popular will. But this is rapidly changing. The city is being placed on a democratic basis. Home rule is being granted. Charters are THE CITY AND CIVILIZATION 7 being simplified. The caucus and convention are being abolished and the ballot is being shortened. The initiative, referendum, and recall are being added. With these changes it is no longer necessary for the city to be a behemoth, a thing to be feared. For the first time in history the great gains of science and industry, the economic and industrial possi- bilities of the city, are open to conscious social direc- tion and control by the people. And under this new democracy the city will be able to develop a life that has had no prototype in history. Summary* The city is the greatest agency of civilization as it is its most portentous problem. For the city en- abled men to specialize through the division of labor; it made education, culture, and the fine arts possible. It was the co-operation of many men dividing up the work to be done according to the fitness of each that enabled surplus wealth to be accumulated. This division of labor in turn led to co-operation both voluntary and involuntary; the co-operation on the part of the community itself through the use of taxation and the co-operation of countless private agencies in the production, distribution, and exchange of wealth. Civilization advanced through these means. And as the city increases in size the possibilities of co-operation increase as does the pro- duction of wealth, which in turn makes possible greater and greater leisure and expenditures for the refinements of Me. Even the evils of the city are not necessarily in- herent in urban life. They are due to the backward- ness of political thought and social science and the 8 THE MODERN CITY failure of co-operation to keep pace with the needs of the community. This in turn is partly due to the fact that the political machinery of the city has been inadequate to the expression of the popular will and the execution of that will when it seeks to realize itself. CHAPTER II THE ANCIENT CITY THE transition from rural to urban life is much the same in all ages. A family, clan, or industrial group forms the beginning. The members are united by racial, religious, or industrial ties. The Pilgrims of Massachusetts were not greatly different from the Greeks and Phoenicians who colonized the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. In very early days the community was united by family or religious ties. The members worshipped a common ancestor; their institutions were religious and patriarchal rather than legal, industrial, and po- litical. Cicero describes the members of a clan as those who could trace their lineage back to a com- mon ancestor, who could claim that their ancestors had all been freemen, and who were still in pos- session of their full rights. In early days even the right to use the land was enjoyed by the indi- vidual only as a member of a clan, for the land be- longed to the group as a whole. The Site. The site of early settlements was chosen for pro- tection. It was usually elevated, a place of refuge in case of attack. Into the stockade or walls the cattle were driven in time of danger. From these defences the settlers issued forth to the fields or to 9 10 THE MODERN CITY make forays on their neighbors. Such were the hill towns of New England. Such settlements as these were not towns. They were merely agricultural groups who lived about a common centre and worked in the surrounding fields. There was no co-opera- tion, no division of labor, no urban life. Institutions like the church and the market-place later made their appearance. In the ancient city there was a temple, a theatre, and a place for the administration of government. About these institutions the primi- ! ife of the community centred. Athens was located some distance from the sea for easy defence. The original settlement of Rome was on the Tiber, about fifteen miles from its mouth. Different clans occupied the seven hills, each of which had a citadel as a place of refuge for the set- tlers on the plains. In the Middle Ages people grouped themselves about the castle or the cathedral. They were retainers, vassals, peasants, serfs. The remains of such castles may still be seen towering high above the river Rhine. This was the origin of most European towns. During the Middle Ages trade followed well- recognized routes along the Danube and the Rhine from Constantinople to the Atlantic Ocean, along which routes Budapest, Vienna, Munich, Nuremberg, Frankfort, Cologne, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Bruges, Ghent, Hamburg, and Bremen were established. They were trading centres. In time these towns became rich and powerful. Flor< enoa, Pisa, and Venice became cities of importance because tl THE ANCIENT CITY 11 commanded the trade of the Orient. The towns of Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands ultimately be- came free cities. In many instances, especially in Italy, they expanded into states with tributary provinces under their dominion. They even gov- erned distant territories. Hamburg, Bremen, and Liibeck still survive as qualified city states within the German Empire, and Hamburg still has posses- sions which are separated from the city proper by a considerable distance. These cities are the only survivals of what was at one time the prevailing city type. They are still city states owing allegiance to the empire alone. The Modern Town. In modern times towns follow the railroads just as they followed the caravan routes during the Mid- dle Ages. Kansas City, Denver, Omaha, a hundred Western cities, owe their origin to the Pacific railroad systems. Towns, too, have sprung up about a par- ticular industry. Lyons, in France, is the centre of the silk industry, Rouen and Lille, of the cotton in- dustry, while the woollen factories are located at Rheims and the fashions at Paris. The great mid- land cities of England, Manchester, Sheffield, Leeds, Coventry, and Lancaster are wool, cotton, iron, and steel centres. In America proximity to raw mate- rials and good transportation facilities has deter- mined the growth of Pittsburgh, Gary, Cleveland, and Birmingham, while in Germany Essen and the industrial towns of the west have grown in impor- tance for the same reasons. 12 THE MODERN CITY Other cities owe their origin to waterways and sea- port harbors, and as nationalism widens into inter- nationalism the seaport will become the commanding city of the country. London is to-day the capital of the commercial world because England is its clear- ing-house. In tune this ascendancy will pass to New York, where it will in all probability permanently remain. The growth of seaport cities will increase with freer trade and the expansion of the world mar- ket. And they rather than industrial or capital c-ities will be the metropolises of the world. The Greek City Athens. Greece produced the first great cities of Western civilization. Tin -y reached their eminence in fifth century B. C., when they became the centres of the civilization of the world. The population of Athens was never more than 200,000, of whom 180,000 were slaves. The city lay about a high plateau on which was erected the Acropolis. Here was the original set- tlement and the stronghold. Below the hill, on all sides, lay the lower city. To the north of the en- trance to the Acropolis was the agora, or market- place. It was filled with booths for traders and was the place for gatherings, parades, and reviews. The market was in full swing by nine o'clock in the morn- ing and continued until noon, when the stalls were removed and the business of the day was over. "For anyone coming from Asia it seems as if in entering Athens he was coming into an ants 1 nest. . THE ANCIENT CITY 13 It was around the Acropolis that the houses were crowded together and the population always in ac- tivity. There wagons were passing to and fro filled with merchandise from the ports or conveying it thither. The streets and public places in which peo- ple passed then: lives presented a busy and noisy scene. Women as well as men were to be seen in the streets going to the markets, the public games and meetings of corporate bodies. From the earliest hours of the day large numbers of persons might be seen bringing in vegetables, fruit and poultry and crying their wares in the streets." 1 The Greek Idea of the State. Athens, Corinth, Sparta, were more than cities. They were city states; at times powerful empires. Each city was an independent commonwealth, de- claring war and making peace. It knew no outside sovereign, no state or nation of which it was a part. It made its own laws and the laws for the surround- ing territory. The city was sovereign. In this it differed from the cities of to-day, which are depend- ent upon the state or the nation, for with us the city is a political agency of a larger community, while the ancient city imposed its will on dependent ter- ritory which it held in subjection. Athens extended its sway over the entire ^Egean Sea. It became an empire. But it still remained a city state. In area the city was about the size of an English county. "Ten men/' says Aristotle, "are too few for a city; 100,000 are too many." According to 1 The Habitations of Man in All Ages, chapter XVII, p. 196; E. Viollet-Le Due. 14 THE MODERN CITY Aristotle the state was "an association of similar persons for the attainment of the best life possible." It was a sort of partnership for mutual benefit, the benefits being the safety and comfort of the com- munity. To be a citizen was to have an equal voice in the assembly. If the state was in danger all of the partners must defend it by military services; if it was enriched by conquest all the partners v, entitled to the advantages. The promotion of the beautiful was a common concern as was the protec- tion of the common life from violence and injustice. It was not enough for a citizen to vote and pay his taxes. He must be personally active in every civic and military function. He was soldier, judge, and member of the governing assembly, and he must per- form these duties in person; he must vote his opin- ions and express them in the council. He could not act by proxy in either capacity. For this reason, according to the ancients, the ideal city must be lim- ited in population. The citizen, too, must be able to attend on the duties of government frequently, for \vhirh n ason thr city must be limited in area, while ill-- citizen must be endowed with leisure. The citizen scarcely knew the meaning of personal as opposed to public rights. He was a part of his city as he was a part of his family. And the city was a growth from the family to the clan, and from the clan to the city. But in this transition the rela- t i( >n of the citizen remained much the same. He was still a part of the family with an added reverence for the city. Of individualism, of the sanctity of THE ANCIENT CITY 15 private as opposed to public property, there was little conception. The city and the family encompassed the life of the average citizen. This is why ostra- cism was such a severe penalty. Caste and Citizenship. Residents were divided into three classes. First, there were the citizens for whom the state existed. Then there were the slaves attached to their master or to the state but without voice in the government. Finally, there were the resident aliens, who were their own masters, who might be rich and respected, but who enjoyed no voice in the government. They were not eligible to public office, but they paid an annual poll-tax for the privilege of living in the city. Citizens differed hi the amount of their property. Some of them were rich and performed no labor of any kind. Others were of the trading or artisan class. But among the Greeks the ideal citizen was the man of leisure who devoted the greater part of his time to public affairs. He required slaves and laborers to free him from material concerns. Other- wise he would have no time for public duties or to train himself in physical perfection, which the Greeks considered essential to the perfect man. Citizenship was a matter of birth. The child of a citizen was entitled to be registered in the clan during infancy. At the age of eighteen he presented him- self for admission to the roll of adult citizens in one of the local divisions. Here his claims were care- fully examined, and if found to be satisfactory he was admitted to full citizenship. He could then marry, 16 THE MODERN CITY bring an action at law, and enter upon his in- heritance. His life was carefully regulated for him in order that he might become a perfect citizen. From eighteen to twenty he served in the army, after which he could adopt his own career. At the age of twenty he could attend the meetings of the assembly and have an equal vote with all the other members. Until the age of thirty it was considered bad form to speak from the platform, at least until all the seniors had spoken upon the subject. When he reached the age of thirty he was eligible to be a juryman in law courts, and from this time on his abilities alone determined his eminence as a < Admission to citizenship was a formal affair. It had to be first proposed at a meeting of the public assembly and later ratified at another asseml After that an inquiry might be made into the claims and character of the person before the sanction was beyond recall. For the Greeks held citizenship in high honor and they guarded it very jealously. Political Equality. The underlying motive of Greek citizenship was equality. The equality was not of wealth but of rights and opportunities, and the state endeavored to preserve this equality by guarding against any undue power by any man or group of men. .'Ml cit- ixens \veiv equal before the law: re equal to enjoy as far as possible every opportunity of leg- islation, of holding office, and of administering jus- tice. There was great diversity in financial and THE ANCIENT CITY 17 social standing, however, some citizens being great estate owners and others small farmers. Some were factory owners, merchants, ship owners, and shop- keepers, while others were artisans, seamen, peas- ants, and hucksters. The Athenian had a contempt for labor only because it interfered with his leisure time. It left no opportunity for mental and phys- ical culture. There was no titled aristocracy and little social ostentation. The standing of the citizen depended on his social qualifications and refinement. In politics the practice has been described as "one man, one vote, and a perpetual referendum." Public Architecture a Symbol of the Greek Idea of the City. The Greeks took pride in their public struc- tures, in their temples and amphitheatres. From $30,000,000 to $35,000,000 was spent on the Acrop- olis alone, while the men who erected it were con- tent, for the most part, to live in humble homes. The cost of the Propylsea, measured by the pur- chasing power of money, was about $7,500,000. Water was drawn from distant rivers and springs by underground conduits. It was not brought into the individual homes but was carried by slaves from the public springs and fountains. The theatres be- longed to the city but were leased out to private managers. On public occasions and religious fes- tivals the theatres belonged to the people and all citizens who applied were allowed admission. Gymnasia for physical training were scattered about. Round about them were gardens and open 18 THE MODERN CITY spaces for athletic games. The fields were sur- rounded with terraces, dressing-rooms, and colon- nades, where the older men gathered for discussion while the younger ones participated in the sports. Throughout the city there were colonnades under which the Athenians walked or lounged, protected from the rain and the wind. For the life of Athens was largely a leisure life devoted to politics, the arts, the drama, and philosophy. Apart from the public buildings and gardens, there was little splendor in Athens. The streets were crowded and narrow. They were dusty and inade- quately supplied with water. They were badly paved and were not kept clean or lighted at night. There was no adequate sewage system and garbage was thrown into the streets. Of municipal adminis- tration in the modern sense of the term there was no conception. The Economic Organization of the City. Not more than 10 per cent, of the people were free. Approximately 20,000 citizens enjoyed tl leisure at the expense of .180,000 slaves, who culti- vated the fields, carried on trade, and performed all the clerical and manual work. To be well and strong, to be an athlete, to know philosophy and the drama, to live upon the streets and public places, to discuss the latest oration or engage in public debate the welfare of the city this was the normal life of the Athenian in the most brilliant days of Hellas. No other interests were worthy of emulation. ( tu re, art, and physical well-being were the animat- THE ANCIENT CITY 19 ing motives of life. The making of money was as inconsequential among the free Athenians as are the fine arts among us. In this respect our point of view is almost completely reversed, for the ancient Greeks lived for life. The city was the citizen's temple, the abode of his gods, the inspiration of his ambitions. Rome. Rome, like Athens,*was a city state. It, too, owed allegiance to no higher authority. Colonists went forth and organized other communities on the Ro- man model, but they always remained dependent upon the mother city. The total circumference of Rome in the time of Nero was about twelve English miles. The popula- tion was about 750,000 and never exceeded 1,250,000. Even as late as the end of the republic Rome was a disorderly, congested, unsanitary city. The streets were crooked, hOTy, and badly paved. The Rome of Augustus "was a city grown up anyhow." The fashionable street, the Vicus Tuscus, had a pavement of only thirteen and one-half feet wide. There were some long, paved streets in the Campus Martius, but the many hills and valleys made the laying out of splendid roadways difficult. Apparently there was no attempt at an orderly plan until after the great fire in Nero's tune. Building fronts were not uniform with the street line, while the houses were tall and of irregular height. They protruded into the narrow streets and spoiled the architectural effect. Taverns, booths, 20 THE MODERN CITY shops, and business establishments jutted out into the roadways, which were used by dealers, trades- men, butchers. Industry was carried on in the midst of traffic, and pedestrians were compelled to get along as best they could. Horace complained of the crowding in the streets, of the turmoil which it on by day and by night. Long before day- break bakers and milkmen began to cry their wares; the workshops added to the noise; heavy wagons, beasts of burden, side by side with pedestrians, ped- lers, beggars, snake-charmers, jugglers with trained animals, all were mingled together in the street life of the city. The thoroughfares were so congested that it was necessary to issue orders prohibiting carts and wagons during the day. Housing. Only the wealthy lived in separatfi.houaes. The mass of the people dwelt in huge tenements called "islands/ 1 because they were detached from other buildings and were separated from one another by roadways. These tenements were often three four stories high; the ground floor was occupied by shops; the upper floors by single rooms with small, irregular windows which looked out upon the street. There was little home life, and the people used their rooms almost solely for eating and sleeping. The tenements were usually owned by capitalists, and in the early empire most of the lodgings were so cheaply constructed that a few years' rental re- paid their cost. Landowners covered the lots with tenements of as many stories as possible; they cut THE ANCIENT CITY 21 down the size of rooms and limited repairs just as they do to-day. The partitions were thin and of- fered little protection from heat and cold. Police and Health Administration. In the early years of the empire Rome had a police force of about 7,000 men which served as a fire brigade. The streets were badly lighted or not lighted at all. Pedestrians carried their own torches, not only for protection but because the roadways were slimy and dirty, while traffic was dangerous to life. According to all accounts the city was badly protected and was the scene of many disorders. Houses were kept closed during the day and slaves were used as night-watchers. Robberies were com- mon. There was still danger from bandits, while the youthful noblemen did not hesitate to engage in marauding excursions at night. The city was also very unhealthy. It was terribly congested, and the network of canals, the overflowing of the Tiber, the frequent famines and plagues produced bad sanitary conditions and a high death-rate. The Public Baths. The bath was a centre of the life of all classes. It is estimated that there were 856 baths in the city in the fourth century, many of which were richly or- namented. The thermal baths of Nero contained 1,600 marble bath seats, while those of Caracalla and Diocletian contained almost twice as many. Here the people gathered for physical exercise, for discussion, for recreation. By bathing twice daily the Roman believed he could double the span of his life. ' 22 THE MODERN CITY The baths were filled by a motley crowd ; the noise was deafening. Here the philosophers came to argue; here the poets recited their verses; here poli- ticians came to intrigue; here, too, were thieves and pickpockets. An inscription on a gaming-table of this period says: "To hunt, to bathe, to gamble, to laugh, this indeed is to live." Leisure Life in Rome. Life in Rome, as in Athens, was li ved out-of-doors. The Forum was the centre of its activities. When a prominent citizen was buried the funeral procession passed through the Forum, where an oration was <1< 1 oin the rostrum. Public banquets and gladiatorial combats were held here, while magis- trates, statesmen, and even emperors harangued crowds on public questions. Trials were sometimes IK 1.1 in th Forum, where state questions were dis- cussed and many sanguinary battles fought. The well-to-do citizens spent their timo in politics, in war, in banqueting, and at the baths. "The public places, gardens, temples, colonnades, and monuments," says Frederic Harrison, "were perpetually thronged with citizens v w each other by sight and name, who spent their lives in a sort of open-air club, talking politics, art, business, or scandal criticised Aristophanes' last comic opera and Cicero's furious attack on Clodius. And in cool of the day they gathered to see the young lads wrestle, race, leap and box, cast the javelin or stone; and the younger warriors practised feats v r horses or with the spear and the shit "The habit of constant discussion and witnessing shows grew on the Greeks, as the habit of bathing THE ANCIENT CITY 23 grew on the Romans, until these things became a mania to which their lives were given up. Whole rivers were brought down from the mountains in aqueducts, and ultimately in the Roman empire the city population spent a large part of their day in the public baths buildings as big as St. Paul's Cathedral and of magnificent materials and adorn- ment where 5000 persons could meet and take their air-bath in what was club, playground, theatre, lec- ture-hall and promenade at once." 1 Summary. Whereas the life of the modern city is essentially industrial and commercial, the life of the ancient city was essentially military and political. The modern city is democratic, while the ancient city was or- ganized on a caste basis. This made leisure possible. Menial labor was performed by slaves, who in the Greek cities were in the great majority. The ideal life was that of a free citizen, able to give himself to war, to politics, to philosophy, and to discussion. These were the main activities of life. And the architecture and the planning of the city reflected the interests of the citizen. Unlike the modern city, the ancient city was paramount in the lives of the people. 'Individual rights in the modern sense of the term did not exist. The citizen existed for the city in which he lived and to which he dedicated his services. The ancient city differed from the modern city politically in that it was an entity in itself. It was a city state. It owed allegiance to no higher power. It did as it chose in all things. As its boundaries widened the new territory remained subject to the city, and whatever its size the city never lost its sovereignty. 1 The Meaning of History, pp. 227, 230. CHAPTER III THE MEDLEVAL TOWN CENTURIES of disorder followed the decline of the Roman Empire. All life was uncertain and the towns were small and poor. War, pillage, and fam- ine checked the growth of population and wealth, while the absence of trade and industry prevented t!i" growth of towns. The common people 1. about the castle or under the protecting walls of an abbey, to secure such protection as it offered. The peasants worked the fields and in time of war fought for those within the castle. It was an old saying: "There is good living under the cross." For tlu> church was a safe sanctuary. The area within the towns was restricted by walls so as to make defence as easy as possible. And defence was the primary consideration in the planning of the town. People livnl closely packed together in houses whose upper stories projected out over the street, as they do to-day in the old parts of Frankfort, Nuremberg, and Rothenberg. The Beginning of the Towns. 1 1 was not until the tenth century that anything like municipal organization appeared. There was no commerce to speak of, and each community supplied its needs through the market-place, about which the fanners and artisans gathered to barter their wares. M THE MEDIAEVAL TOWN 25 The municipal awakening began in Italy and along the Mediterranean, where commerce with the East had survived the incursions of the barbarians. It gradually extended along the Danube and the Rhine and into Flanders and France. Along these routes towns were established, as they were about the Black Sea. By the thirteenth century municipal life was pretty well developed. "The cities hummed like bees, the streets were still narrow, irregular and unsanitary, but they were teeming with life. Encumbering them were bales, baskets, venders crying their wares, and enormous signs swinging in the wind which sometimes imperilled the safety of passers-by. It was a new civilization bursting into bloom. Splendid monuments arose, attesting the public prosperity, and churches lifted towards heaven their domes, campaniles and spires; glorious belfries which dominated and threatened their surroundings awaiting the approaching time when the inimitable town halls, with their brilliant ornamentations of stone, should cause them to be forgotten. The town bell was the public voice of the city as the -church was the voice of the soul. The city in the thirteenth century lived, spoke and acted. It was a new factor in society." 1 Description of the Town. The town was protected by walls entered at fre- quent intervals through massive gates. Frequently there was a series of encircling walls erected at dif- ferent intervals as the town grew in population. 1 Emancipation of Medieval Tovms, by A. Gery and A. Reville, edited by Frank Greene Bates and Paul Emerson Titsworth, p. 67. 26 THE MODERN CITY Round about the walls were moats filled with wa- ter and crossed by drawbridges. The sites of these old walls may still be seen in Cologne, Frankfort, Bremen, Munich, Nuremberg, and Vienna. The Ring- strasse of Vienna, probably the most beautiful street in the world, was laid out on the site of the fortifi- cations which surrounded the old city up to as late as the middle of the last century. Inside the town was a castle, or citadel, the last place of refuge in case of attack. It usually o< pied the most inaccessible point and was still fur; protected by walls. In the watch-tower, which sur- mounted the town hall, were bells which warned th< ( itizens of danger and were used to call them to assembly. These bells also announced the hours of work in the morning and of rest in the evening. The tower, with the town seal, was an emblem of freedom . 1 1 was the first thing destroyed if the town was captured by an enemy. The Town the Cradle of Liberty. The trade of the East started a movement of emancipation from the feudal lords, who owned the land on which the towns were built, which con- tinued for several centuries. Men began to tr. from place to place. Peasants became artisans, mer- chants, and employers. In time the towns became rich, Imt the land on which they were built was still owned by the feudal lords, just as was the agricul- tural territory which surrounded them. The n tits were still vassals like the peasants in the ii< Ms; th< y were subjects of the overlord, upon THE MEDLEY AL TOWN 27 whose land the town came into existence. They en- joyed no political or social rights. As the artisans became wealthy they resented their dependence. They protested against the dues they were compelled to pay; against the interference by the lord with their local affairs. They desired to manage their markets and to trade with other towns as they saw fit. They demanded guarantees of free- dom, which they ultimately obtained, sometimes by purchase, sometimes by conquest. These guaran- tees were embodied in written charters, which are the origin of the charters which cities enjoy to-day. The towns of Germany gradually divided into two general classes: those which were in substance free and independent republics, or Freistddte, directly dependent on the Emperor, and those which were partly free but owed some allegiance to ecclesiastical or lay overlords. The free cities provided their own form of government, they looked after their own de- fence, collected their own taxes, and knew no inter- ference in the management of their affairs, whether domestic or foreign. In case of serious controversies they looked to the Emperor for protection and were willing to aid him in the preservation of the general order. The Guilds. Just as the population of Greece and Rome was divided into citizens and slaves, so the later mediaeval city was divided into a caste system organized about industry. A merchant aristocracy arose. Trade and commerce, far from being despised callings as in 28 THE MODERN CITY ancient times, were the dominating motive in the life of the community. The principal activities were gold and silver smithing, cloth making, saddlery, arms and iron working, and trading in all kinds of local and foreign commodities. Each trade was or- ganized into a separate guild, which in many towns became a close corporation. To it men were ad- mitted by birth, by purchase, and by adoption. Each trade or industry was organized by itself and was composed of the masters, who had a number of apprentices associated with them. The guild was in reality a trade monopoly. It regulated all of the conditions of the industry. It determined the styles and fixed the prices to be charged. Each guild decided who should be admitted to its membership and the rules which governed it. It was possible for a newcomer to engage in a trade only with the consent of the guild which controlled it. No man could work as an artisan until ho had served as an apprentice under the direction of a maa- Everything was regulated and controlled. The guilds formed the governing class, from v ill-' aldermen and magistrates were selected. The oty was almost wholly an agency of business, while citizenship was a privilege to which men were ad- mitted through their occupations. This was par- ticularly true of the cities of southern Germany and tii-- N lands which were rich trading centres. Citizenship. In some towns citizenship was granted to the peo- >f th< town and suburbs; in some it was limited THE MEDLEVAL TOWN 29 to those within the walls. In others the suffrage was a privilege conferred on those who owned property or belonged to the guilds. Some communities ex- cluded serfs, natural children, and debtors, and others the entire laboring class. The towns of the north usually refused the right of citizenship to nobles and churchmen. Nowhere did manhood suf- frage, as we understand it, obtain, while the right of holding office was generally reserved to the well- to-do classes, which formed an aristocracy of wealth. Frequently they alone enjoyed the right of citizen- ship. As the town grew in prosperity the merchants became more and more exclusive and the right of citizenship a commercial privilege. Ultimately al- most all of the northern towns were governed by the merchant guilds or livery companies, although by the fourteenth century the artisan class had gener- ally obtained some voice in the community's affairs. Administration. Administration was far from uniform. In some communes the government was vested in a general assembly of citizens which chose the magistrate and aided in the administration. In others the govern- ment was in a body of peers who held office for life and filled all vacancies within the body. In some of the northern towns the overlord reserved the right to select the magistrate, frequently from names submitted by the municipal assembly. The fffice of magistrate was usually reserved to the wealthy classes or to a few families which guarded the priv- 30 THE MODERN CITY ilege jealously. Members of the artisan class were not eligible to office. End of the Mediaeval Period. The mediaeval city with its privileged guild or- ganization continued down to the period of French Revolution. For the most part it had lost the equality and freedom of earlier days and had become a close corporation and in many instances thoroughly corrupt. The old type of town could not survive democracy on the one hand and industry on the other. The liberties of the burgher class had become special privileges which degenerated into the worst sort of abuses. The towns were governed under a re- stricted suffrage which in most instances was no suffrage at all. In addition, as the towns grew in population administration broke down. There was no provision for health or sanitation, no police or fire protection, no schools, no control over building or provision for the common decencies of life. Bad as were the conditions in the mediaeval towns, it is probable that the city was never so inadequate to its needs as during the generation which followed the development of factory industry in England in the last quarter of the eighteenth and the first qua of the nineteenth centuries. Doctor Albert Shaw has described the conditions of the British city of the later mediaeval period as follows: "As for municipal conveniences, those were times when life was simple and 'modern improve- THE MEDLEVAL TOWN 31 merits' not so much as dreamed about. The streets were narrow, with the houses built close upon them. The pavement was of the rudest character. There were simple surface drainage and no garbage re- moval or cleansing system. Water was supplied from a few town fountains or public wells. Street lighting had not been invented and early hours were prescribed. Most towns had a skirting of common lands where the cows were pastured and where in many cases fuel was procured. The houses were in large part built of wood, and in spite of vigilant 'watch and ward' and compulsory hearth precau- tions, destructive fires were not infrequent. The death rate, of course, was high. There was infection in the wells and no means of checking the spread and fatality of frequent 'plagues' that swept the towns. But the science of public sanitation being undiscovered, these things were accepted piously as inescapable visitations of God." 1 The Transition in England. In the sixteenth century municipal corporations in England were largely self-governing. In them the love of freedom was nurtured. As time went on administration became incompetent and corrupt. The most flagrant abuses were prevalent. Electors were freely bribed and public moneys were wrong- fully used. There were few citizens who enjoyed the suffrage, and they were used as part of a political machine for the maintenance of parliamentary ma- jorities. Cities were pawns of the King or of polit- ical parties. They were little more than rotten bor- oughs in national politics. Suffrage was a matter 1 Municipal Government in Great Britain, p. 21. 32 THE MODERN CITY of birth, purchase, or co-optation. The town was governed by self-elected citizens and frequently by self-elected officials. Councilmen frequently held office for life. In case of vacancy the remaining councillors filled the office. As a consequence the towns lost the confidence of the people. The local regulations and ordinances were not obeyed. The towns had little revenues and but little authority. With but a few exceptions they were devoid of pub- lic spirit, wholly unrepresentative, and given over to the ruling caste. h were the conditions in Great Britain de- scribed by the royal commission which reported to Parliament in 1835. As a result of this investiga- tion the Municipal Corporations Act of that year was passed, which remains, with subsequent changes, the municipal code of Great Britain. Summary. The mediaeval town partook partly of the ancient, partly of the modern city. It was far from demo- cratic and was organized along industrial caste lines. In its later development it was governed by the guilds, made up of the master merchants and craftsmen, under whom were apprentices and de- ]>< -infants, who enjoyed little or no share in the p eminent. And just as the ancient city reflected the ideal of leisure, so the mediaeval city reflected the prevailing interest, which was trade and commerce, on the one hand, and religion on the other. Its great structures were dedicated to these ends, and much of the beauty of the old cities of Germany and the Netherlands is THE MEDLEVAL TOWN 33 a reflection of the life of the merchants of these ages. The sites of early towns were fixed by military considerations. In later times trade routes and harbors fixed their location and growth. Cities were planned for protection and were close-walled within a limited area. They were devoid of comfort and conveniences but became the centres of a highly organized industrial life. The movement for modern liberty began in the mediaeval town. The bonds of feudalism were broken by the wealth and power of the burghers, who resented the taxes and dues imposed upon them by the overlords. Gradually they secured their freedom, sometimes by purchase, sometimes by con- quest. Their rights were then inscribed in charters, which were the first guarantees of modern liberty. The mediaeval town was destroyed by modern in- dustry, on the one hand, and by democracy on the other. The increasing urban population and the gradual liberalization of thought destroyed the caste-like corporations which existed all over Europe and led to the enactment of uniform municipal codes in England, France, and Germany in the early years of the nineteenth century. CHAPTER IV THE MODERN CITY city is like a human being in its growth. In beginning its functions are simple; as it passes into adolescence it acquires new needs; when it reaches maturity its life is as diversified as that of the highly developed man. We can see this evolution going on before our eyes. As the cross-roads, the mining-camp, or railroad-station emerges into a settlement, it de- taches itself from the county and becomes a village. Its functions are still but little different from what tiny wore before. The roads are unpaved : there are no sewers or sidewalks, no police, fire, or health de- partments. The streets are not lighted or cleaned. The individual lives much as he did before. The only difference is that he now has neighbors. He is in a position to co-operate. A graded school is one of the first things established. A few street lights are installed, which are put out in the earl Sidewalks appear; increasing traffic leads to paving with some cheap material. As the town grows, one or more constables arc employed, more as a precau- tion than a need. Voluntary fire departments with rude apparatus are organized. But for the most M THE MODERN CITY 35 part life remains much as it was in the country dis- trict from which the village has insensibly developed. The Town. When the village becomes a town its activities increase in number and importance. The close living of people has given birth to certain perils as well as needs which can only be satisfied by the community. Wells are in danger of pollution. Pos- sibly an epidemic of disease breaks out. A con- flagration takes place which destroys a portion of the town. A movement is started for a public water supply. Possibly the State board of health compels its installation. A private company is granted the franchise or the community itself builds the plant and provides itself with water from wells or near-by streams. With the growth of the town provision is made for the public health. Sanitation is bad, and bonds are issued for the building of sewers and the in- stallation of a sewage-reduction plant. The light- ing of homes and streets from a common plant be- comes profitable, and a franchise is granted to a gas or electric lighting company; or, as is more com- mon, the city itself installs the electric-lighting plant and grants a franchise to a private company for the supply of gas. The streets are better lighted. The volunteer fire department becomes inadequate and provision is made for a permanent paid department. Police and health officers are provided for. The community is no longer rural; it is urban. In 1910 there were 1,173 communities hi the United 36 THE MODERN CITY States with a population of from 2,500 to 5,000 in- habitants. They contained an aggregate population of 4,105,656 people. The City. When the community increases to 5,000 popula- tion a new form of government is required. The town becomes a city, and a charter is adopted which provides for several departments in place of the amoeba-like organization of the village. A mayor is elected and department directors are provided for. A city solicitor and city engineer are appointed. The street department builds, cleans, and waters the streets. The health department inspects plumbing; it insists upon the installation of closets; it pre\\ the pollution of streams. The city is scattered o a wider area and new means of transportation are landed. A private company is granted the right to lay tracks in the streets and operate cars under a franchise. Business and domestic needs lead to the installation of a telephone plant. The community has now reached man's estate. 1 1 has evolved from rural into urban conditions by imperceptible additions to its activities. And each IK w activity has made life eaaier, safer, and more comfortable for almost everybody. The health of the community is improved. Sickness and the death rate are diminished. Through a common plant the city delivers an unlimited supply of water to the home at a cost of but a few cents a day. Op- portunities for education have developed from the single school into elementary and high schools with THE MODERN CITY 37 opportunities for advanced study not possible in the country district. Life and property are pro- tected by the police, fire, and health departments. Building codes have been enacted, regulating the construction of houses and factories as still further protection against fire. The Change in Life. Life, too, has changed. The factory has appeared; work has become specialized. No one produces for himself alone; he produces for the community, pos- sibly for the whole world. Women and children leave the home and are employed in the mills. A new industrial relationship appears and with it dif- ferences in wealth an^l station. Recreation is no longer confined to the* home or the church. It is provided by the theatre, the motion-picture show, the saloon, and the streets. There are labor-unions and clubs. Human life has been widened in a great variety of ways; it is richer, more diversified, more complete. And each step in the evolution from the country to the city involves increasing co-operation, both voluntary and compulsory; it involves further division of labor and specialization of work. Wealth is now unequally distributed. The man- sion has appeared along with the tenement. The community has enriched a few with grants to water, gas, electric-lighting, street-railway, and telephone companies, which have increased in value through the growth of the city. Land values have increased until a single building lot is now more valuable than all the land underlying the town a few years before. THE MODERN CITY Property that could be bought for a hundred dollars an acre is now sold at the same price for a single front foot. Speculators have laid out suburban territory in building lots to sell at speculative prices. Cottages are torn down to make place for tene- ments in which the rent of a single apartment equals that of a whole house of but a few years before. Poverty appears. Men must now pay for trans- portation, for water, and for light, and they must pay a single corporation, for there is no comp tion in these services. Rent, too, has increased until it is one of the heaviest items in the family budget, a burden which must be met before any other ac- tivity is possible. ^^ These are some of the gaJTFand losses of the city. They are social rather than individual. A few are enriched by the growth of the city, while the many are made poorer by it. For tin- value of land and the value of franchises, from which many of permanent fortunes of our large cities come, spring from the growth of the community rather than from the efforts of the individuals who own them. The gains have been largely due to the activities assumed by the community, to the many new services un< taken, while the burdens and losses are traceable to the socially created wealth, to the land and franchise values which have been left in private hands. The Metropolitan City. When the community reaches larger propori it changes again. The number of municipal activi- ties is greatly increased. Co-operation is extended THE MODERN CITY 39 still further. The individual no longer knows his neighbors. He is increasingly dependent on the com- munity for protection, for services, for enjoyment. His health and his life are endangered in countless ways. Immigration has added a large foreign-born population. A vagrant and criminal class has come in, recruited by the vicissitudes of employment and periodically increased by changes in industry and hard times. The control of vice and crime is one of the most insistent of problems, requiring heavy expenditure for police, for courts, and for penal institutions. There is danger from impure food, which passes through many hands and no longer bears the guarantee of the near-by shop. It must be inspected; weights and measures must be over- seen. The factory has grown into a loft building, badly built and with inadequate fire-escapes, which may sacrifice the lives of hundreds of people. The tenements, too, are a menace. They are not owned by the occupants but by speculators. There is in- adequate light, often no light in the rooms at all. One and two rooms frequently house an entire fam- ily, as well as boarders taken in to eke out the rent. Houses must be inspected; the size of rooms and the amount of air space must be regulated. Tenements must be kept clean and sanitary, with provision for water, baths, and other means of cleanliness made difficult to the individual by the growth of the city. New means of transit must be provided by ele- vated and subway systems. New health problems arise. The garbage must be cared for; the streets must be better paved, lighted, and policed. A thou- 40 THE MODERN CITY sand services must be performed by the community each day just to make life possible. Tenancy. The great majority of urban dwellers are tenants. As the city increases in size the percentage of ten- ancy increases, until in the larger cities the home- owner almost disappears. The census of 1900 shows that 87.9 per cent, of the people of New York live in hired homes. In Manhattan and the Bronx the proportion rises to 94.1, while in Brooklyn it is 82 per cent. Four fifths of the families in Boston, Fall River, Jersey City, and Memphis live in rented homes, while in Detroit, which stands at the head of the list, only 39.1 of the people own their homes. In one assembly district of Manhattan only fourteen out of 13,662 families own tln-ir homes free of mortgage and only forty-two own homes at all. The in... 1. TII city is a city of tenants; to an increasing extent it is a city without homes, for tenancy and the tenement preclude the idea of home as we are accustomed to understand its meaning. Home ownership is impossible in the larger < because of the prohibitive price of^cjtv land. It is out of the question to any but a very few. Nor i advisable for the worker to own his home. For modern industry has destroyed permanence in em- ployment. Even the skilled worker is compelled to change his place of residence from time to time to adjust himself to his work. To him home ownership is a danger and a disadvantage. It makes him de- pendent upon local employment ; it impairs his free- dom to organize, to move, to resist wage reductions. THE MODERN CITY 41 Leisure. The city, too, has changed the leisure life of the people. The open fields are far away, while the church is no longer a vital social force and the home is too often a crowded tenement in which there is no place for rest or recreation. The leisure life of young and old is largely in the hands of commerce; and commerce has no concern for its effect upon the community. The free hours of the family are spent in the saloon, "the work- ingman's club," in the theatres or motion-picture shows, in the dance-hall and the street. The city has destroyed the recreational opportunities of the smaller town. Changed Economic Relationships. The urban dweller has also lost his economic inde- pendence. He has become an employee. He no longer owns his tools. The relation of master and man has come, and a class division has arisen between the employer on the one hand and great groups of organized and unorganized workers on the other. Occasionally men rise from their class and achieve! independence, but the class remains, as does the I conflict. Women have become an important factor in ur- ban industry. A census report in 1909 shows that 19.5 per cent, of the industrial wage-earners are women, and the proportion is steadily increasing. Out of 42,000 women in Fall River, Mass., 18,000 were employed in gainful pursuits, of whom 15,000 were in industries. About one third of the females over ten vears of asre in Philadebhia were emDloved 42 THE MODERN CITY in some form of wage-earning, while one eighth were engaged in industries. 1 The employment of women still further changes home life; it affects marriages, the education and rearing of children, the character of the home. It is a disturbing element in wages. A recent report of the United States Government on "Women in Industries in the United States" says: "The story of women's work in gainful employ- ments is a story of constant changing or shifting of work and work shop, accompanied by long hours, low wages, unsanitary conditions of work, and want on the part of women of training, skill and a vital interest in the work. . . . The most surprising fact brought out in this study is the long period of time through which large numbers of women have worked under conditions which in\ great hardships to themselves, but shocking waste to the community." The New Citizenship. The American city differs from other cities in the world in that its population is largely foreign-born or of immediate foreign extraction. From the cen- sus of 1910 it appears "that the proportion of the total population repre- sented by white persons of either foreign birth <>r foreign parentage is very large in most of the 19 cities named; in each of 15 cities the percentage of these two rl-'inrnts, taken together, represented more than half the total population, and in 11 of them it is more than two-thirds. The 11 cities, with the j centage of their population n presented by these t * American City Government, by Ch*rk A. Beard, p. 11 THE MODERN CITY 43 elements, are: New York, 78.6; Milwaukee, 78.6; Chicago, 77.5; Cleveland, 74.8; Boston, 74.2; De- troit, 74; Buffalo, 71.3; Newark, 69.9; Jersey City, 69.7; San Francisco, 68.3; Minneapolis, 67.2. . . . "There were in New York (1900) 785,053 persons of German descent, a number nearly equal to the population of Hamburg, and larger than the native element in New York (737,477). New York has twice as many Irish (710,510) as Dublin; two and a half times as many Jews as Warsaw; half as many Italians as Naples, 50,000 to 150,000 first and second generations from Scotland, Hungary, Poland, Aus- tria and England. Chicago has nearly as many Germans as Dresden, one third as many Irish as Belfast, half as many Swedes as Stockholm. The variety of races too is astonishing. New York excels Babel. A newspaper writer finds in that city 36 lan- guages spoken, 49 newspapers published in foreign languages, and one school at Mulberry Bend with children of 29 nationalities. Several of the smaller groups live in colonies, like the Syrians, Greeks and Chinese. But the colonies of the larger groups are reservoirs, perpetually filling and flowing." l The Growth of the City. The modern city differs from those of ancient and mediaeval times not only in its industrial relation- ships but in the size and rapidity of its growth. In the days of Athens's greatest splendor the population which its walls enclosed was about 200,000, of whom not more than 20,000 were free. Rome never had more than a million and a quarter of people, while scores of cities to-day have a greater population than did London, Paris, and Berlin in the closing days of the eighteenth century. 1 American City Govern nent, by Charles A. Beard, pp. 24, 26. 44 THE MODERN CITY All over the world the city is absorbing an in- creasing percentage of the people. The growth in the United States since the Civil War, and in Ger- many since the war with France, has been continuous. The cities of England have grown most rapidly during the same period, although urban development in that country has been uninterrupted since the close of the eighteenth century. In 1910 the urban population of continental United States amounted to 42,623,383 people. This was 46.3 per cent, of the total. Ten yean earlier the urban population was but 40.5 per cent.; in 1890 it was 36.1 per cent., and in 1880 29.5 per cent. In til-- New England division more than four fifths of tin- people lived under urban conditions in 1910, while in the Middle Atlantic division the urban pop- ulation constituted more than seven tenths of the total. In New York nearly four fifths of the people in towns and cities. The lowest proportion of urban population is found in the South, where 25.4 per cent, are urban in the South Atlantic States, 18.7 per cent, in the East South Central division, and 22.3 per cent, in the West South Central rntirv United States increased by 21 per cent., while the urban population increased 34.8 per nt . Looking at it in another way, of the total in- crease in the population of continental United States during the last decade seven tenths was in urban territory and only three tenths in rural territory. THE MODERN CITY 45 Concentration of Population. An examination of the census of 1910 shows fifty cities in the United States having a population of 100,000 or more and containing in all 20,352,138 souls, or 22.5 per cent, of the total population of the country. Nearly one tenth of the total resides in the three cities of New York, Chicago, and Phila- delphia. The rate of growth of these three cities during the previous decade was 32.2 per cent. ; of the five cities of from 500,000 to 1,000,000 it was 20.4 per cent.; of cities of from 250,000 to 500,000, 34.7 per cent., and of cities of from 100,000 to 250,000, 41.5 per cent. Towns of from 2,500 to 5,000 people increased at the rate of 36.8 per cent, during the period. According to the census the urban population of the United States in 1900 and 1910 was distributed as follows: CLASS or PLACES NUM- BKB OF PLACES IN 1910 AGGREGATE POPULA- TION IN INCREASE, 1900-1910 1910 1900 NUMBER PER CENT. Continental U. 8 . 91,972,266 75,994,575 15,977,691 21.0 Territory urban in 1910 Places of 1,000,000 or more. . . 500.000 to 1,000,000 250,000 to 500,000. . 100,000 to 250,000 . . 50,000 to 100,000... 25,000 to 50,000 10,000 to 25,000 5,000 to 10,000 2,500 to 5,000 2,405 42.623,383 31,609.645 11,013,738 34.8 3 5 11 31 59 120 374 629 1,173 8,501,174 3,010,667 3,949,839 4.840,458 4,178,915 4,062,763 5,609,208 4,364,703 4,105,656 49.348,883 6,429,474 2,501,226 2,932,040 3,421,849 2,948,511 3,028,007 4,153,442 3,194,278 3,000,818 44,384,930 2,071,700 509,441 ,017,799 ,418,609 ,230,404 ,034,756 ,455,766 1,170,425 1.104,838 4,963,953 32.2 20.4 34.7 41.5 41.7 34.2 35.0 36.6 36.8 11.2 Remainder of country . 46 THE MODERN CITY New York. A suggestion of the size, confusion of tongues, in- crease in population, and cost of administration of a great city is indicated by the following description of New York : "A feature of the recent New York budget exhibit was the likeness of Father Knickerbocker, life s gazing in wonderment upon some statistics relative to the city of which he is the personification. 'N York, the second largest city in the world; popula- tion, 5,000,000' a city with more Jews than there ever were in Palestine ; more Germans than in any < in Germany except Hamburg and Berlin; more Bo- hemians than there are in Prague; and more Italians than there are in Rome. 'One million five hum! thousand increase in ten years; equivalent to the combined populations of Boston, Kansas City, and San Francisco.' More people respond to the au- thority of the mayor of New York than did to the first President of the United States; and the < ployees of the city constitute an army larger than marched with Sherman to the sea. 'Area, 327 square miles; 5,000 miles of highway; 2,000 miles of sewers; 341 miles of water front.' A birth every four min- utes; a death every seven minutes; a marriage ev eleven minutes. Annual school bill, $30,000,000; $8,250,000 for fire protection; $10,000,000 for chari- ties. Cost of a single election, over $1,050,000. Bonded debt, over $800,000,000. Total budget for 1'12, $174,000,000." ' The European City. The German city has grown as rapidly, possibly more rapidly, than has our own. There are thi: * National Municipal Am**, vol. I, p. 378, Ford H. MaoQrafor. THE MODERN CITY 47 three cities in Germany with a combined population of over 12,000,000 people. This is 20 per cent, of the whole. The total urban population in Germany equals 49 per cent, of the whole. The German city remained nearly stationary up to the middle of the century. There was comparatively little growth from 1850 to 1870. In 1871 only 25 per cent, of the people lived in towns of more than 5,000 people, at which time there were but nine cities of over 100,000 population. Now there are forty-seven. Accord- ing to the German census of 1910, there are seven cities in Germany with more than half a million pop- ulation. They are Berlin, Hamburg, Munich, Leip- sic, Dresden, Cologne, and Breslau. There are four other cities of more than 300,000 people, and twelve cities with more than 200,000 and less than 300,000, and twenty-four others of from 100,000 to 200,000. In Germany, as in America and England, the city is a by-product of steam, electricity, and trans- portation. Those countries which lead the world in industry, commerce, and civilization are the coun- tries in which population is predominantly urban. And in none of these countries is there any sugges- tion that the urbanizing movement will be checked. On the contrary, from decade to decade the cities draw to themselves an increasing percentage of the population. The Twentieth-Century City. The twentieth-century city bears but slight re- semblance to the city of the past. It is no longer a place of refuge, of protection from attack. It has 48 THE MODERN CITY lost the cohesion of the family and the clan. No single religion unites the citizens; no legalized caste divides the free from the slave, the master from the apprentice. It is no longer sovereign as it was in Italy and Germany. It has become an integral part of the state. Its life, too, is no longer local, it has become international. Every corner of the world contributes to its population, as does every race and creed. The steamship and the railroad have made the city a clearing-house; they have brought New York and Pekin into closer commercial relations than were the neighboring communities of England two uries ago. The power of the hand operat has been multiplied into many horse-power by steam and electricity, while tin* division of labor has in- creased the productive capacity of the individual a thousandfold. Tin* industrial city is a new fore, the world. Summary. The nineteenth-century city is almost exclusively an industrial product. It is not united by religious or class ties. It is cosmopolitan in its population and, with certain limitations, is administered on a democratic basis. The most rapid urban development is in England, America, and Germany, where industrial progress has been most rapid. And in these countries the city is the -dominating force in the life of the nation. It is in these countries, too, that urban co-opera t has advanced most rapidly, as a response to the needs which the city creates. This co-operation has been both voluntary and compulsory, and the com- THE MODERN CITY 49 fort and convenience of the city is in direct ratio to the extent of this co-operation. The greatest cities of the world are those in which co-operation has been carried to its furthest extreme, as in Ger- many and England. This co-operation has been necessary because of the dangers and vicissitudes of urban life. Poverty has appeared along with the factory. Health is en- dangered by disease and bad sanitation. There is little opportunity for recreation. Education can no longer be left to the home. It is necessary to pro- vide many services from a common plant which in rural communities each individual supplies for him- self. Crime and vice appear, which must be regu- lated and controlled. Individual property rights are increasingly subordinate to the public weal. The urban worker has lost his independence and has become an employee, while the home is broken up by the entrance of women and children into industry. The American city, too, is cosmopolitan; it draws its population from all over the world. This pre- sents new problems, new difficulties. Finally, the modern city is organized on a democratic rather than a caste basis. It is governed by elective officials, responsible to the public through the ballot. CHAPTER V THE AMERICAN CITY ITS SUCCESS AND ITS FAILURES THE city is assumed to be our most conspicuous political failure. Municipal office has rarely at- tracted men of conspicuous ability. There is no permanence of tenure in the higher offices and no provision for the expert. We have had few munici- pal standards and few conspicuous administrations. There has been little thought of beauty or comfort; little planning for the future, (jhe boss and priv- ileged interests have controlled the party and, through the party, the city itself.^ In addition, up to very re- cently the spoils systenl'has prevailed in the ap- pointment of employees whose allegiance has been to the person who appointed them rather than to the city itself. As a consequence there has been much inefficiency and dishonesty. These are some of the more obvious failures of our cit The Personal Interpretation of the City. Three explanations are usually offered for these conditions. They arc: first, the iruli (Terence of the voter; second, our unyielding partisanship in city elections; and third, the absorption of the people in material pursuits, in trade, commerce, and moi getting. It is a common saying that we get as good government as we deserve. 50 THE AMERICAN CITY 51 This may be termed the personal interpretation of American politics. It ascribes our failures to the voters. And accepting this interpretation, reform has been sought in non-partisan movements, in the election of better men to office, in the rejection of one party and the substitution of another. Up to very recently our efforts have been directed toward im- proving the character of officials, and jthe rallying cries of reform have been: "Turn the rascals out/' "A business, men's administration," "Economy/ 7 " Efficiency/' 1 " Non-partisan government." This has been the motive of reform up to very recent years. We have treated the evil as personal rather than as institutional. Inadequacy of Personal Interpretation. None of these movements went to the heart of the problem. Not infrequently reform administrations disappointed their supporters and quite frequently, at the end of a term, they were turned out of office. Through experience, too, we gained a deeper insight into the underlying causes of our failures, while within the past few years magazine writers and criminal proceedings have shown that the trouble _is not personal so much as institutional; that our cities are what they are because of obstacles which' would make it difficult for any people to be well governed. Before discussing these institutional conditions let us analyze the American city and ascertain to what extent the current estimate in which it is held is justified. 52 THE MODERN CITY Some Examples of Efficiency. And a survey of conditions shows that a number of cities have been honestly administered for years, and the number is rapidly increasing. A number, too, have been animated by big visions of social achi< ment, notably Cleveland, Toledo, and Los Angeles. To-day the complaint is not of dishonesty so much as of inefficiency and the absence of a programme of city building. Some city departments, too, are in advance of those of any in the world. Our fire departments have long been efficient. Fire apparatus and the morale and training of men are generally of a high standard. Bad fires are not traceable to the fire depart ii nut so much as to our building codes. The free public library is distinctively an Ai can institution. No country in the world has opt up branches and democratized the use of books and reading-rooms for circulation and research purposes as have we. Travelling libraries send books into the schools, clubs, and even to private individuals. Art exhibits are organized as well as story-telling classes for children. Library boards are generally filled with men and women who take pride in t! work, the administration is free from politics, and service rendered is of the most public-spirited k Commissions come from Europe to study our libra- ries, just as commissions from this country go to 1 gland and Germany to study departments in whi h these countries are most advanced. The free public library is one of America's contributions to munici- THE AMERICAN CITY 53 pal administration. It, possibly more than any other municipal function, is suggestive of what the Amer- ican city can do when free to realize its ideals. Our Public Schools. The public schools of America are fairly compa- rable with those of any country. With us education is on a democratic basis and it has the virtues and faults of its ideals. And viewed from this, the demo- cratic standpoint, our schools are probably as effi- cient as those of any other country. And there has been great improvement in recent years. Boards of education are commonly filled with men and women interested in the work, as are the higher educational positions. The appropriations for school buildings, for equipment, free school-books, gymnasiums, play- grounds, kindergartens, for the promotion of school hygiene, nurses, and health officers, are more gen- erous and progressive than those of any other coun- try unless it be Germany. Newer school buildings in a number of cities are lavishly provided with con- veniences and comforts. They are equipped with roof-gardens, auditoriums, gymnasiums, lunch and dining rooms. There is provision for manual and technical training and the domestic sciences. In the Northern States, at least, public education has, for the most part, been of a relatively high order. Other Examples of Efficiency. The EJayground, too, is an American idea. It had its birth in this country and here it has developed . most rapidly. TSTo other country has utilized it as 5 an educational and social force as have we] Nor has 54 THE MODERN CITY any other country made as generous provision for parks as have the cities of America. The metropoli- tan park system of Boston is probably the most tensive of any in the world, while the parks of New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Cleve- land, and a dozen ot ies are comparable to those of lesser European capitals. Their building has awakened the enthusiasm of cities and compe- tent experts have generally been employed. When we consider that the schools, fire, library, and park departments involve approximately one half of the city's expenditure, it is evident that American city is not all bad. And in some of its activities it is in advance of the world. Taxation. Most important of all is the fact that the American collects its revenues more justly than do any of t h i (it ies of Europe. For we collect the bulk of our taxes from real estate and largely from land values. Property is assessed at its capital or selling va upon which a tax rate is imposed, varying from 1 to 3 per cent., depending upon the ratio of assessed to actual value. Our cities collect their revenues from property rather than from tenants or consumers, as do many of tho cities of Europe. And in so far as y tax land values they collect thoir revenues from the unearned increment of land, which is a so value traceable to the city's growth. That this is correct basis of municipal taxation is coming to be recognized in other countries, for Germany has recently substituted in principle the American THE AMERICAN CITY 55 method of assessing land, while more than five hun- dred communities in Great Britain have repeatedly petitioned Parliament for the right to levy their local rates and taxes upon land values, as is done in this country. 1 In none of these departments have we attained perfection, it is true. There is not that refinement of honesty and efficiency which obtains in Germany and England. JWe sadly need the expert in munici- pal affairs as well as permanence in the administra- tive staff, "taiere is still too much politics, too great consideraSon of partisanship in appointments. In this as well as in the character of our employees the city reflects general political conditions as well as the extreme individualism of American life. New Standards. The last ten years have seen great improvement in all our cities. The criminal indictments and dis- closures, the scrutiny of public affairs, the growth of the reform movement have greatly reduced the evils so common a few years ago. The character of offi- cials is also improving, as is the efficiency and hon esty of municipal workT] All over the country new standards are being established, while recent charter changes have simplified machinery and made it easier to elect and retain competent men in office. ^Bureaus of municipal research have been estab- lished in many cities. From 1906 to 1912 the citi- yj 1 For a comparison of revenue from real estate and other sources in the leading cities of the world, see chapter XXII, "The City Budget." 56 THE MODERN CITY zens of New York raised $500,000 to enable the Bureau of Municipal Research of that city to place the city's^business on an efficiency_basis. Similar agencies have been organized in Philadelphia, Chi- cago, Cincinnati, Hoboken, Cleveland, Milwaukee, and elsewhere. These bureaus have had three main objects: First, the prevention of waste and the increase in the efficiency of employees. Second, the study of the best means for doing public work, including studies of the city's health, recreation, police, and other departments. Third, the promotion of new activities for the to undertake. +* Under the stimulus of these and other investiga- tions, accounting systems have been standardized, methods of preparing the budget have been worked out, while units of cost have been established for various activities. It is claimed that the substitu- tion of these methods in New York City has raised the standard of efficiency from possibly 40 per cent . to 65 per cent., leaving a large margin as yet unj fected. Waste continues in many cities in the supply departments, because of the failure to establish a purchasing bureau, while civil service rules mak possible for many incompetent men to remain in office, due to the difficulty of removal. This still further increases the wastefulness of the city. 1 Hut the most important advances have come through an 1 For an exhaustive itudy of the progrefl of municipal efficiency, aee TH* New City Government, by Henry Bruere. THE AMERICAN CITY 57 awakened public sentiment and in cities animated by a democratic ideal like Cleveland, Toledo, Los Angeles, and many other cities of the West. It has come through an insistence on a different kind of city rather than on a mere improvement in the details of administration. Some of these changes will be described in later chapters. Comparison with Other Countries. Criticisms of the American city are often based upon a comparison with the cities of Europe, espe- cially those of Germany and England, in which countries municipal administration has reached a high degree of perfection. But several things must be borne in mind in such a comparison. In the first place, the European city is old while the Ajnerican city is a new thing. Cities like Berlin, Dresden, Munich, Diisseldorf, Cologne are, or were, all capi- tal cities. Other cities were rich trading centres. Frankfort, Nuremberg, Hamburg, Bremen, Brus- sels, and Antwerp were free towns with a long mu- nicipal history. All of these cities were beautiful before the industrial city was born. They had tra- ditions of orderliness and symmetry. There was a background of affection and veneration on the part of the people. The German city, too, has always engaged in many activities. It is a great landowner. It retained possession of its water-fronts. The rail- ways are owned by the state and have not disfigured the city. They are built with regard to its beauty and its needs. Because of these conditions, indus- tries are located on the outskirts. In addition, pop- 58 THE MODERN CITY ulation is homogeneous. The suffrage is limited. There is a tradition of service to the state and a desire for official position. Municipal office com- mands the best talent the community offers. Cities in the United States, on the other hand, are a product of the mill, the factory, and the railroad. There are no old centres or historical associations to be protected. We had no traditions of beauty, no standards of workmanship to be followed, and no experience to draw upon. Everything had to be with little preparation for its doing. All these conditions should be borne in mind in any parison of the cities of America with those of the continent of Europe. A New Element in City Government. In addition the American city is training great masses of people in the art of self-government. And this is one of the ends of government. With us t suffrage is a personal right. It is extended to all men and in some States to all women as well. It is not a property or a tax-paying privilege as it is in Germany and England. Universal suffrage with an untrained foreign-born population still further c< plicates our problem, although it is not the cause of our failures, as many people assume. We are building our democracy on men and are developing our cities on a human rather than a prop- erty basis. This has been a temporary burdri u It has probably delayed effi But it involves j self-government and a sense of responsibility on the j part of the voters. And the achievement of this in THE AMERICAN CITY 59 itself is even more to be desired than efficiency. For once municipal democracy is trained and or- ganized it will realize itself, probably on a higher plane than in any of the cities of Europe. Wherein Our Cities Fail. _If we analyze the city, department by department, / [we find that efficiency and honesty are to be found ll * where it is to the interest of business to insist upon \ efficiency or where no special interests find it profit- If able to use the administration for special privileges] fj Business demands efficient fire protection and se- cures it. The parks, playgrounds, schools, and li- braries rarely come in conflict with property or privileged interests, and in consequence they, too, are usually administered by men of honesty and ability. These departments have no privileges to grant or immunities to bestow. Private Business and the City. >y/ JftjLs_jyhere the city deals with business interests U lbhatj)ur cojispicuouajaflures arejfound. It is here, too, that corruption is most prevalent. The council j / regulates and controls the public service corporation; it grants franchises; it is the business representative of the city. Q?or this reason it is to the interest of business to control the council as well as the depart- mental chiefs that enforce its ordersfjThe police, too, are often corrupt, and this, in turn, is largely traceable to an antecedent cause in the State laws which seek to regulate the liquor traffic and the excise question, with the strict enforcement of which laws a large part, possibly a majority, of the citizens 60 THE MODERN CITY are not in sympathy. The health and building de- partments are also in conflict with interests which resent being regulated. The tenement-house laws in New York, as well as their enforcement, have been bitterly fought by owners. Attempts to make build- ing ordinances more stringent are met by the oppo- sition of the same interests. Dealers in milk, meat, and food supplies oppose pure-food acts or the at- tempt to regulate weights and measures. In addi- tion, cities rarely have the right to build, repair, or clean their streets by direct labor. The work must be done by contract. This introduces the con- tractor into politics, who seeks to control the coun- cil and the director of public works because they award and supervise his contracts. It is in those departments that the city has most ally failed. And the cause is to be found in con- ditions which breed such failure. And these con- ditions are traceable back to the powerlessness of city and the many limitations placed upon it by the constitution and laws of the State. Similar obstacles are to be found in the chart the machinery of nomination and election, in the long ballot, the confusion of State and local el < - tions, which make it difficult to secure responsible and responsive servants. Not only is the eity badly < (Clipped to perform the powers entrusted to it, but the machinery of politics is adjusted to the ascend- ancy of the same interests that resent the control of the city. It is probable that any people would have failed had they been compelled to work under sin h THE AMERICAN CITY 61 limitations as have been imposed on our cities limitations which do not exist in the countries of Europe, where far greater freedom is allowed to the cities and much simpler charters are provided. The Political Philosophy of America. Back of these conditions and ultimately explain- ing them is the political philosophy of America, a philosophy that made no provision for great urban aggregations of people, for a highly complex life, for the control of powerful, impersonal corporations such as have come into being in recent years. From the very beginning we have been fearful of govern- mental interference of any kind. We accepted the political ideas which developed in England dur- ing the first half of the nineteenth century, of the Manchester, or laissez-faire, school, of which Adam Smith, Ricardo, and John Stuart Mill were the lead- ing exponents. This philosophy said, in substance: / "The government should interfere with the indi- Q vidual as little as possible. Each man is the best judge of his own interests, and if each person is per- mitted to pursue his own business in his own way then the community interest, which is merely the aggregate of all individual interests, will be best promoted. Government is likely to be stupid, while government ownership is inefficient and unwar- ranted. The best possible society, the members of this school said, is a society in which practically all business and industry is left to individual enter- prise, unhampered by the State." l 1 For an excellent analysis of this philosophy, see The New Democ- racy, by Walter E. Weyl, chapter IV. 62 THE MODERN CITY These principles fell in with the habits and in- stincts of a pioneer people, and, acting upon them, our fathers adopted State constitutions which limited in great detail the powers of the legislature, while the legislature, in turn, enacted laws which limited the powers of the city. These constitutions and laws were adopted when we were a rural people. They fitted into primitive conditions very well. But when the city appeared, with machine industry, new forms of transportation, huge aggregations of capital, un- dreamed of by the makers of the constitutions, a conscious city programme was impossible. For the city was powerless to control its own lif e or its own development. It was helpless under the legal bonds which enslaved it. The Ascendancy of Private Rights. As a consequence of its weakness, business inter- ests became more powerful than the city. They usurped its powers and activities. That which had been a legitimate liberty in the country became license in the hirge town, a license which the could not control. Municipal charters gave the city little power to engage in business undertakings. It could not regulate property. \_And by reason of their p< merlessness and self-distrust, t .s gave away ^r valuable franchises for water, gas, street-railway, and electric-lighting servicesj JThey permitted real- -a.estate owners to lay out their property as they de- tT sired.'-y Great tenements sprang up with inadequate air and light. The railways appropriated valuable water-fronts. Factories were built without any lim- THE AMERICAN CITY 63 itations on their height and with inadequate pro- vision for safety. The city had little power to regu- > late these interests, jts ability to protect the health and lives of the community was also inadequate. And when the city did acquire the needed authority the evils were frequently beyond repair. Even to-day the community enjoys far less power than does the private corporation, much less power than does the individual. It is still, for the most part, helpless before the large municipal problems which confront it. Costly as has been the waste and dis- honesty of our cities, it does not compare with the loss involved as a consequence of these institutional limitations. Institutional Causes of Our Failures. This negative, individualistic philosophy lies back of the constitutions and laws of the nation, the States, and the cities. It has moulded our thought and created a public opinion that sanctioned the ascend- ancy of private rights and the subordination of pub- licjrights_.__As it affected the city it found expression in legal limitations of various kinds of which the following are the most serious: 1. Lack of municipal freedom or home rule in the conduct of local affairs. 2. Unworkable city charters with many checks and balances and limitations on the power of officials. 3. Private ownership of the public service cor- porations which use the streets. 4. The ascendancy of private property in the planning and building of the city. 64 THE MODERN CITY 5. The regulation of the excise and saloon prob- lem by State laws rather than by city ordinances. It is to these conditions that the personal, ethical, and political conditions, which are generally as- sumed to be responsible for our failures, are for the most part traceable. Democracy has not been given a chance. It has been compelled to work against too many obstacles. That co-operation re- ferred to in an earlier chapter, 1 which is of the very essence of the city, has been so far inhibited that it has not been permitted to develop. We have en- deavored to build the city on individual lines and have failed. It could not have been otherwise. The extent to which our cities have suffered from these legal and institutional limitations will be de- scribed in the following chapters. Summary. The American city does not wholly justify the bad repute in which it is held. Many municipal func- tions, such as education, fire protection, public libra- ries, and recreation, are administered as efficiently as in any cities in the world. And the improvement in all departments in recent years has been phe- 1 nomenal. RJraft and corruption are being rapidly ; eliminate^ while new standards of efficiency are lx ing cstal>lishe :i aspire to municipal office because of the opportu- nity offered them for service, while business men bow to the will of the community as they do to the will of the empire. They recognize its sovereignty. As a result of these conditions there is a fine local patriotism, a city pride, like that which animated the cities of Greece, of mediaeval Italy and ( many. The German city is almost a stat< this is a condition precedent to any highly developed city life. Summary. Municipal home rule is being rapidly extended to th< Amrriran city. It is being endowed with the ri^ht to manage its own affairs in its own way and to determine for itself the form of government it will havr. Under home rule the city is being in- trusted with all thoso functions which are exclush local and which do not affect the State or the nation. It is being accorded local self-government in its local affairs. MUNICIPAL HOME RULE 85 The German city is the freest city in the modern world, and the wonderful achievements of the cities of that country indicate the possibility of the city when it is free to develop itself as its needs require. The German city can do anything necessary for the welfare of its citizens. The municipal code enumer- ates only the things the city cannot do, while in America the charters enumerate specifically the things the city can do. And there are few legislative limitations on the German city. There is no such thing as ripper legislation or constant interference by the legislature with the city's life. Qt can own hy property and carry on businesses. It can speculate * in land, build houses for working people, or loan its credit to a private corporation. It has also power to regulate property without interference by the courts. [By means of this freedom the German city has become the most wonderful city in the modern world. CHAPTER VIII THE CITY CHARTER WHEN large numbers of people act collectively they should be able to express their will as easily as possible. The machinery for this purpose should be simple and free from confusion. There should be few obstacles between the voter and the object of his desire. In order to insure responsibility those officials who determine policies should be elected, but they should be as few as possible, while their duties should be definitely fixed and easily ascer- tained. Finally, the issues about which elections turn should be free from confusion; they should be easily understood and be so identified with candidates that a definite result may be expected as a result of an election. The private corporation is organized along these lines. There is an annual meeting of the stockhold- ers, held in accordance with the regulations of the company, which are brief and easily understood, i Stockholders elect a certain number of directors, who in turn choose the president, treasurer, sec- retary, and in many instances a small executive com- mittee to manage the corporation under general orders from the directors and in harmony with charter and by-laws of the company. The pov> S6 THE CITY CHARTER 87 of the president and manager are ample; there are few checks and balances and few obstacles between the official and the end he desires to achieve. The development of American business is in large part traceable to these conditions. False Political Philosophy. This same simplicity should obtain in the trans- action of public business. But the reverse is true. The spirit underlying our political machinery is distrust. Fear of officials on the one hand and the people on the other has inspired our constitutions and laws from the beginning. This distrust led to the system of checks and balances between the legislative, executive, and judicial departments as well as to the distribution of responsibility among a large number of officials. It led to the long ballot as well as to the indirect methods of nomination through the caucus and convention and an un- willingness to adopt the pure Australian ^ballot. The city charter was a reflection of the same dis- trust. In place of simplicity we find confusion. Where there should be responsibility there is irre- sponsibility. Instead of local control of local mat- ters we find State interference at every turn. In the performance of his duties the voter is con- fronted with one obstacle after another which palsies effort and discourages interest. All of these obstacles are devised to check democracy on the assumption that the people cannot be trusted. As a consequence the machinery of the city is unwork- able. 88 THE MODERN CITY This is the second institutional evil of our cities. It is another explanation of our failures. It would have been difficult for any people to have secured efficient government under the charters which pre- vailed up to a few years ago. Comparison with Europe. This indirection and confusion is very different from what we find in Germany and England, where municipal administration has reached its highest de- velopment. In these countries the charter is simple; it is easily understood by all. There is but one offi- cial to be elected the councilman from the ward who in turn meets with his fellow councillors and se- lects the mayor, clerk, treasurer, auditor, and all other officials whom we in this country select at polls. In England the machinery of nomination is equally simple. There are no caucuses or com tions; no intermediary between the individual and his agent, whom any ten citizens place in nomina- tion by petition. Dishonesty or inefficiency are difficult when the representative is known by his constituents and is under constant scrutiny for his acts. The Evolution of the City Charter. Up to about 1840 the American city was admin- istered under a two-chambered council, with mayor chosen by the council or elected by the people. The actual administrative work was per- formed through council committees, much as in England at the present day. This system worked tolerably well in small communities where the activi- THE CITY CHARTER 89 ties of the city were limited to a few simple functions of a routine sort. But it broke down in the larger cities under the increasing burdens of administration. Urban population grew quite rapidly from 1840 to 1860. The first disciplined police force was pro- vided for in New York in 1845, while a paid fire department was started the same year. Municipal water plants were constructed in Washington, Chi- cago, and Baltimore between 1845 and 1855, while public parks began to be planned in the larger cities. Streets were better paved, poor relief became a municipal function, while private corporations began to apply for franchises for the supplying of water, gas, and transportation. The Board Plan. Under increasing burdens and the growth of pop- ulation municipal administration through council committees broke down, and from 1860 to 1880 de- tached departments or boards were created to which was intrusted the performance of certain functions. The police, fire, water, and park departments were frequently taken away from the council and in- trusted to boards sometimes appointed by the gov- ernor, sometimes by the mayor. The Ohio law of 1852 provided for nearly twenty officials and com- missions. In 1858 the legislature of New York pro- vided for a State park commission for New York and Brooklyn and adjoining communities. In 1860 Maryland created a State police commission for Baltimore, and the following year Illinois trans- ferred the control of its police to a State board. In 90 THE MODERN CITY 1865 the fire and health departments as well as the licensing of the liquor traffic were placed under State boards in New York. In 1870 the legislature of Pennsylvania created a commission to construct the city hall in Philadelphia. The New York char- t'-r of 1873 provided for a large number of boards and individuals who were independent of both the mayor and the city council. Terms of appointment and tenure were interlocked in such a way that no individual mayor could appoint all the members. Sometimes the members were appointed by the gov- ernor, sometimes by the mayor, sometimes they were elected by the people. Boston is the only large city at the present time in which a number of municipal departments are under State control. But Boston lies in the centre of a number of smaller municipalities which form a continuous metropolitan area. The park, water, and sewage systems were constructed and are still oper- ated by metropolitan boards, while the police, fire, and civil service departments are in the hands of commissioners appointed by the governor. In many instances the boards or commissions en- joyed almost complete control of their departments; they not only directed their administration but de- termined the policy without reference to the < itself. In some instances the boards could borrow money without the sanction of the council and levy taxes the same as an independent corporation. The board system carried irresponsibility to its limits. There was constant conflict between do- THE CITY CHARTER 91 partments. It was difficult to locate responsibility and when it was located even more difficult to correct it, for the boards were not elected and the terms of members expired in different years. The board sys- tem was gradually superseded by the so-called fed- eral or mayor plan, which will be described later. At the present time there are no large cities in the coun- try, with the exception of Boston, in which the State appoints and controls purely local officials. And outside of a few instances the board plan has been abandoned. The City a Pawn of Politics and Business. The generation which followed the Civil War was the darkest period of our municipal history. The cities were sacrificed to national politics. In the Northern States local issues were subordinated to the preservation of the protective tariff. Partisan- ship ran high and corruption was general. The police were necessary to make possible the commis- sion of ballot frauds, while the spoils of office were invaluable to the machine. By means of ripper leg- islation the party in control of the State controlled the offices of the city. When the Democratic party was in power it legislated in the interests of the Democratic party; and when the Republican party was in power it legislated for its exclusive ad- vantage. Local questions were of secondary im- portance and public opinion acquiesced in the sacri- fice of the city to national questions with but little organized protest. This sacrifice of the city to national questions and especially to the protective 92 THE MODERN CITY tariff was the beginning of the degradation of our cities which characterized the last twenty years of the century. All kinds of interests took advantage of these con- ditions. There was a carnival of franchise grants to public service corporations, especially to the street- railway companies, which secured perpetual or long- time franchises. Sometimes they acquired them from the State legislature, as was the case in Ohio, where fifty-year grants were made of the streets of Cincinnati, but more frequently they issued from the city councils. The Broadway franchise of New York, the attempted Yerkes grants in Chicago, and the exploitation of Philadelphia and a dozen other cities were examples of a condition that was uni- versal. Other interests were also active. There was a merger of politics and business, of the underworld and vice, that began with the city and extended to Washington. The city was a pawn of national and State politics to be used by the party or interests in po\v These conditions prevailed very generally up to the end of the century. There was a bipartisan organization within the city which was an integral part of the bipartisan machine of the State. The average citizen, who wanted nothing but honest government , was at a hopeless disadvantage. There were no direct primaries. In making nominations the citizen had first to find honest delegates and then hold them responsible to the will of their sup- porters. City elections were held at the same time THE CITY CHARTER 93 as those of the State and the nation, all the nom- inees being on the same blanket ballot. During these years popular government in city, State, and nation reached its lowest ebb. -&& The Nominal and the Real Government. t^lm The boss was a natural product of this confusion. He alone was able to control the caucus, the conven- tion, the multiplicity of offices, and make the ma- chinery work. He gave out jobs to his friends, who in turn delivered votes at the caucus and election. In this way a hierarchy of spoilsmen was established running from the precinct, through the ward, up to the city as a whole. With a voting army at his back the boss was able to dictate a slate; he was in a position to trade legislation for money or influence, to relieve property from taxation or grant franchises to his friends. He disposed of contracts for paving and street cleaning, for building sewers, collecting garbage, erecting schools and police and fire stations. He could decide the kind of paving to be used and the prices to be paid. He allowed encroachments upon the streets and granted immunities to his friends and supporters in the saloon, gambling, and vice business. This, in turn, created a corruption fund to be used in elections. In a city like New York the tribute from these sources amounted to millions of dollars a year. "The System." Out of this a new system evolved. Business priv- ilege became dominant. The boss graduated from his vulgar position and became an ally of the big 94 THE MODERN CITY business corporations, especially those enjoying fran- ,-cJhises from the city with which he was affiliated. Politics became the most profitable kind of business, and the business men who had received privileges from the boss became greater than their benefac- tor. For they owned or controlled the banks and "the press, they were ascendant in State and federal politics. Finally, business interests superseded the boss, who became their agent, as was the case in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and in almost all the States which contained large cities. As a result of these conditions there came to exist a real government on the one hand and a nominal government on the other. The nominal officials were voted for by the people but were really selected by the boss and by special interests which supported boss. The real government was invisible; it stood hdii i id the nominal officials elected by the people. These conditions were the product of bad char- ters on the one hand and our laissez-faire philoso- phy on the other. Each reacted on the other. It was difficult to secure either responsive or respon- sible government under the charters which ob- tained, while privileged interests made use of these charters to prevent any reforms which imper- illrd their power. And back of the charter and the public service corporations was an attitude of mind which distrusted any increase in the powers of the government and approved of the checks and balances which were the characteristic features of city charters up to the close of the nineteenth cen- THE CITY CHARTER 95 tury. When one studies the charters of the Ameri- can city which preceded the reforms of the past fifteen years the wonder is not that our cities were so badly governed but that they were governed so well. For municipal charters violated almost every principle of responsible or representative govern- ment and scarcely pretended to be democratic. Summary. Municipal, State, and national politics in America have been organized on the basis of distrust. This is the animating motive of our federal and State con- stitutions as well as the charters of our cities. As a consequence of this fear of the people the machinery of nomination and election has been very confusing. There are a large number of officials to be elected. In consequence the voter is confronted with many obstacles in the carrying out of his will. The same confusion prevails in the administration of the city. Independent legislative and executive agencies se- lected by different constituencies have blocked ef- ficiency and impaired initiative. This condition prevailed up to the end of the nine- teenth century. It made the city an easy prey to political parties on the one hand and business in- terests on the other. The parties sacrificed the cities to their own advantage and ultimately became allied with business interests seeking franchise grants and other privileges which the parties in power were able to grant through their control of the city. This combination of party organization and business inter- ests brought about the almost complete degradation of the American city during the generation which followed the Civil War. Through it the boss was elevated into power. He created a political hier- 96 THE MODERN CITY archy which despoiled the city for the benefit of Pspecial interests. Finally, big business privileges I superseded the boss and became dominant. They, I in turn, became the real government. These conditions, in the last analysis, were the product of the laissez-faire philosophy which has moulded our politics for over a century. The dis- trust of officials on the one hand and the people on the other led to the denial of home rule, to unwork- able city charters, and the ascendancy of private interests which turned these political conditions to their own private profit. CHAPTER IX RECENT CHARTER CHANGES THE conditions described in the preceding chapter are changing very rapidly. The invisible govern- ment is passing and the actual is being merged with the nominal. Progress along these lines has been phenomenal, and to-day, in a large number of cities, the transition is nearly complete. Private inter- ests are still active. They own or influence the press. They employ the leading members of the bar. And in many cities they are still in alliance with the underworld. But their power, too, is pass- ing. They are no longer ascendant in municipal poli- tics as they were a few years ago. Municipal Progress. The municipal advance of the past ten years has been largely brought about by charter changes of which the following are the most important: (1) The substitution of the simple, direct pri- mary, with nominations by petition, for the caucus and convention and the abandonment of party tickets and emblems in the election; (2) The abolition of separate boards and commis- sions and the two-chambered council and the con- centration of legislative power in a small single chamber sometimes elected by wards, sometimes at large; 97 98 THE MODERN CITY (3) The short ballot; and (4) The federal, commission, and manager form of administration. All of these changes make for directness. They substitute simplicity for complexity and establish a direct line of responsibility between the people and their agents. PThis is the essence of democracy?^ Three general types of charters have been evolved, which may be described as the mayor or federal plan, the commission plan, and the manager plan. The mayor plan has been generally adopted by the larger municipalities, the commission and manager plans by cities of less than a hundred thousand in- habitants. The mayor plan prevails in the East; the commission and manager plans in the West. The first concentrates power in the executive de- partment, the others in a group or a manager respon- sible to the group. The Federal or Mayor Plan. Under the federal plan the legislative department is reduced to a single chamber elected by wards. All administrative authority is taken from the coun- cil or ite committees, or independent boards, and is lodged in the mayor, who becomes the respon- sible administrative head of the city. He appoints and removes at will all departmental heads, who become his aids. The council is reduced in size and becomes a legislative body pure and simple Under some charters the mayor and heads of the departments are given a seat in the council with the right to speak but not to vote. The mayor has RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 99 a veto on all ordinances; in some cities he may veto appropriations in whole or in part, and in many in- stances he introduces the budget, which is prepared by the departments rather than by the council. As worked out in many cities, the mayor has become the virtual government while the council is little more than a registering or protesting body. Chicago is an exception, in which city the council is still an active agency in administration and contains many men of influence in the community. The federal plan is a great advance over the board plan or the council plan which it superseded. The substitution of a single chamber for a two-chambered / body reduces log-rolling, secrecy, and trading in leg-. n fc islation. Concentration of power in the hands of the mayor simplifies administration still further and ^maEelTit possible to locate responsibility. At the same time able men are attracted to city politics by the opportunity to achieve a career or to carry out a policy. Departments cannot now shift respon- sibility for their acts as they could under the old system. The achievements of Cleveland, Toledo, Detroit, Baltimore, and New York are largely trace- able to the improved machinery of the federal plan, which is now the rule in the larger cities. This was the first great forward step in the administration of the American city. The Cleveland, Ohio, Charter. The charter of Cleveland, Ohio, adopted under a home-rule provision of the constitution in July, 1913, is in many ways the most advanced charter 100 THE MODKIiN ( ITV of the mayor type yet adopted. Cleveland is a city of 700,000 people, with a large foreign population. For fifteen years, during ten of which Tom L. John- son was mayor, its administration has been on a high plane of honesty and efficiency. People have been educated on public questions as in no city in America, and the charter adopted was the outcome of long study and seasoned convictions. The charter was prepared by a special commis- sion after six months' study of the subject. The commission was composed of men of experience and intelligence, interested only in securing the best pos- sible form of municipal government. The essential features of the charter are the following: (a) The mayor is elected by the people directly for a two-year term. His salary is fixed by the council. He is the responsible administrative head of the city. (6) artments are provided for, the directors of which arc appointed and may be removed by the mayor. These departments are law, public service, public \\clfaiv, public safety, finance, and public utilities. Tli- duties of the directors of each depart- ment are closely defined, so that responsibility is easily located. (c) In addition to the above departments, pro- vision is made for a city planning commission, a bureau of information and publicity, a civil service commission, and other unsalaried advisory boards. (d) The council consists of twenty-six members, fleeted from wards for a term of two years. The RECENT CHARTS!!. CHANGES 101 mayor and heads of departments have seats in the council chamber, with the right to take part in dis- cussions but without the right to vote. Only two officials are to be elected by the voter, the mayor and the councilman from the ward. This reduces the ballot to the shortest possible compass. The merit system is applied to all city employees. The charter provides that no exclusive grants to public service corporations shall be permitted; that all ordinances making grants or renewals shall reserve to the city the right of purchase and the power of regulation. The franchise department is charged with the enforcement of all city ordinances and regulations over utility corporations. All council proceedings are to be printed in the City Record, a municipal publication, rather than in the local papers. The Record is to contain such other information as the council provides. Popular control of officials and legislation is pro- vided in a variety of ways. (a) Party primaries are eliminated, candidates being nominated by petition only. (6) There are no party designations on any ballot. (c) The preferential system of voting provides that the elector shall express his first, second, and other choices of nominees. The object of preferen- tial voting is to secure majority rather than minor- ity rule. (d) The recall is added, under which elective offi- cials are subject to recall on the filing of a petition signed by 15,000 electors in the case of officials 102 THE MODERN CITY elected at large and of 600 electors in the case of officials elected by wards. (e) Through the initiative the people reserve the right to propose ordinances by filing a petition, signed by 5,000 electors, asking that a certain ordi- nance be passed. If the proposed measure is not passed by the council as presented to it, 5,000 addi- tional electors, or approximately 10 per cent, of the voters in all, can compel its submission to a vote of the people. If a majority of those voting on the measure vote in favor of it, it becomes a city ordi- nance. On petition of 10 per cent, of the voters any ordinance passed by the council must be submitted to the people for tlu-ir approval. The following is a diagram of the Cleveland charter : THE PEOPLE RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 103 The Greater New York Charter. The charter of New York, adopted in 1901, is a compromise between the commission plan on the one hand and the federal plan on the other. The board of aldermen consists of seventy-three members, elected by districts for a two-year term. The presi- dents of each of the five boroughs are members of the board ex officio. Most of the powers of the alder- men have been taken from that body and lodged with the board of estimate and apportionment, which is both an executive and legislative commission. The most substantial legislative powers remaining with the aldermen are those relating to police, fire, dock, park, and building departments. The budget is prepared by the board of estimate and apportion- ment; but the board of aldermen can reduce or eliminate any items in the budget but cannot in- crease them. The aldermen enjoy many other pow- ers, but they are for the most part of a routine nature. The president of the board of aldermen is the vice-mayor. The board of estimate and apportionment con- sists of the mayor, the president of the board of aldermen, the comptroller, and the presidents of the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, Rich- mond, and Queens. In it are centred most of the legislative powers of the greater city. An attempt is made to adjust the voting strength of officials in this body to the population which they represent. The mayor, vice-mayor, and comptroller have three votes each; the presidents of the boroughs of Manhattan 104 THE MODERN" CITY and Brooklyn have two votes each; and the presi- dents of the other boroughs have one vote each. The total number of votes represented in the board of estimate and apportionment is sixteen. Each of the borough presidents is an administrative chief charged with the management of certain activities of the borough in which he is elected. The mayor, vice-mayor, and comptroller are elected from the city at large, while the borough presidents are elected in their respective boroughs. The mayor has large power. He appoints and can remove at will the directors of all depart- ments, such as police, fire, charities, street-cleaning, docks and ferries, as well as a number of oilier officials. He also appoints the board of education, which consists of forty-six members, distributed among the various boroughs. Under this charter the administration of New York has been greatly improved. The circumlocu- tion and indirection of the old methods have passed away, and through the concentration of responsibil- ity in the mayor and the board of estimate and ap- portionment a higher degree of efficiency has been attained than in any previous period in the history of the city. The Commission Plan. The commission plan, which has been adopted by nearly three hundred cities and towns, with an ag- j;ate population of nearly 8,000,000 people, is a wide departure from traditional forms of municipal government. It denies the necessity of distinct RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 105 legislative and executive departments; it abandons checks and balances of all kinds and creates a small executive committee to run the city. The plan bears no resemblance to the German plan, to the English council, or to any American system that preceded it. The only analogy is the commission of three men appointed by the President to admin- ister the District of Columbia. Following the flood in Galveston, the city found it necessary to repair and rebuild the destroyed dis- tricts with the least possible delay. To meet the emergency, five commissioners were elected at large. The commission performed its work so effectively that it attracted immediate attention, and nearly every city in Texas of any size adopted the new form. In 1906, a group of citizens in Des Moines, Iowa, draughted a permissive law for that State which, after a bitter contest, was adopted by the people at a referendum election. Since that time the commis- sion idea has spread all over the country. Thus far it has been limited to cities under 200,000 inhabitants and for the most part to cities of from 5,000 to 100,000. The original Galveston plan was opposed by many because it centred too great power in a small group elected at large and not responsible to local ward constituents. The Des Moines plan met this objec- tion by the addition of three new provisions, to wit : (1) the recall, (2) the initiative, and (3) the refer- endum. 106 THE MODERN CITY The Short Ballot. The commission usually numbers five members, that being the number in most of the Texas, Iowa, and Dakota cities. Three is the next most popular number. In Kansas this is the number for cities of less than 15,000 and in Iowa for cities between 7,000 and 25,000 population. The original Wiscon- sin law made the number of commissioners three for all cities which accepted the plan. Fort Worth, Texas, has six commissioners, and several cities four, while individual commissions of seven and nine members have been provided for. At one stroke the long ballot disappeared, for only such officials are elected as control the city's policy. The multitude of relatively unimportant officials who slip through under the straight party ballot and confuse the voter become appointees of the commission and are subject to removal by it. Wards are abolished as election units, all the mem- bers of the commission being elected from the city at large. Thus the talent of the city, wherever it may be found, can be called upon just as in England, where members of the town council and of Parlia- ment need not reside in the wards or the districts which they represent. The reduction in the number of officials adds dignity to the position and brings out a higher type of mm. The boss, the ward ma- chine, and the saloon, which are able to control individual wards, are weakened in their power by the direct appeal to the whole community. When elected, too, the commissioner has no local obliga- RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 107 tions to pay, no protection to offer to local interests which have supported him. Log-rolling and trading in legislation is reduced, as is the struggle to secure local appropriations or improvements, which is char- acteristic of councilmanic bodies. The commission represents the whole city and is able to adjust ap- propriations and expenditures with the interests of the city before it. The reduction in the size of the commission also makes it possible to pay adequate salaries to men who will devote their whole time to city work. Most of the laws contain no provision as to the amount of time which shall be given to city work, although a number require whole-time service, while others pro- vide for part time. Term of Office. The terms of office differ in different States. In Texas and Iowa the term is two years. In some cities in North Dakota, South Carolina, and West Virginia it is four years, while in South Dakota it is five years. In Berkeley, Cal., the mayor and auditor are elected for two years, while every second year two councilmen and two school directors are elected for a four-year term. Most of the laws provide for the election of all commissioners at the same time, although there are many variations to this rule. Those who advocate simultaneous election insist that it is difficult for the community to organize for reform when terms expire at different times, while advocates of the other system say that this evil is safeguarded by the 108 THE MODERN CITY power of the people to recall an official at any time, and that continuity of policy is of sufficient value to justify some sacrifices for it. The Powers of the Commission. The commission plan abandons all distinctions be- tween legislative and executive powers. The Iowa law provides that the commission shall possess "All executive, legislative and judicial powers" now had, possessed, and exercised \>y the mayor, city council, solicitor, assessor, treasurer, auditor, and ot: ecutive and administrative officers, by the board of public works, park commissioners, the board of po- lice and fire commissioners. Similar provisions are found in the Kansas and other laws. The commis- sion makes the laws and then enforces them. It levies taxes, provides for schools, hospitals, libraries, and markets; it enacts building regulations, grants franchises, and acquires such utilities as it may de- cide to purchase. Unity as well as harmony in ad- ministration is thus secured. Each member of the board is responsible for a department, subject to supervision by the other members. This secures wisdom in counsel and efficiency in action. The commission appoints and removes at will officials usually elected, such as treasurer, attorn and tax officials, as well as all subordinate offi< and employees. It can create new offices, fix salaries, and prescribe duties. Administration is very fl il'le, as it should be. It is not dissimilar from the private corporation. In most of the Texas cities the mayor nominates RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 109 subordinates, subject to confirmation by the rest of the board. In other cities each commissioner ap- points his own employees, subject to the board's approval. All of the finances of the city fall under the control of the commission. It makes up the annual budget, although in some cities the mayor has power to veto separate items. The commission borrows money, issues bonds, and determines how the indebtedness of the city shall be paid. The Position of the Mayor. The mayor is a member of the commission and presides at its sessions with a right to vote on all questions. He is the chief executive of the city and has general supervision over its administration, in addition to the control of his own department. In many cities he has been deprived of the veto power and is merely a member of a governing council. The other commissioners are assigned to departments, either by the electors at the polls or by the commis- sion itself. 1 Parallel to Private Corporations. The commission plan has the simplicity of private business. Just as the corporation elects a board of directors, which in turn selects an executive commit- tee, so the city elects a committee of citizens to man- age its affairs. The commission meets in the open and citizens appear before it and present their re- 1 For a discussion of the merits and demerits of election for specific office and election at random, see article by Lewis J. Johnson, Na- tional Municipal Review, October, 1913. 110 THE MODERN CITY quests in a way that is direct and effective. There can be no evasion, no shifting of responsibility. The eye of the voter is on his representatives all the time. This creates a feeling of control on the one hand and of responsibility on the other. The commission plan may not and probably will not be the final form which city administration will adopt, but it is performing a great service by accustoming the people to a belief in the city and the possibility of honest politics. And it was necessary to secure this respect before we could enter on an enlarged programme of city service. We had to trust our officials before we would give them more power. Democracy. In place of the checks and balances between the legislative, executive, and judicial departments, the commission plan provides for new checks in the (a) recall; (6) initiative; (c) referendum; and (d) non-partisan primaries and elections. Not all of these checks are found in all of the States, but they generally prevail. There is no provision for non- partisan primaries in most of the Texas cities, or for a merit system. Some cities do not have the initia- tive, but almost all have the referendum. Through the recall the voters maintain permanent control over officials. The Des Moines charter pro- vides that the recall can be brought into use against any elective official by the filing of a petition signed by 25 per cent, of the voters. When filed, the coun- cil is required to call an election at which the official recalled may be a candidate. The percentage of RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 111 petitioners required differs in different cities, but provision for its use is to be found in almost all the charters outside of the Southern States. The recall has been but rarely used. It has been tried in Seat- tle, Los Angeles, and a number of other towns, as a protest against some flagrant conditions. Its mere existence is a powerful restraining influence upon the official. The Initiative and Referendum. Neither the initiative or referendum has been widely used by the cities. In some States all fran- chise grants must be referred to the electors, while, generally speaking, any ordinance must be submitted to the voters when a petition signed by a certain per cent, of the electors is presented to the council demanding that this be done. The initiative is a means for directly proposing some new measure for the amendment of the charter or for the undertaking of some new activity like the purchase of a water plant. The initiative has been effectively used in Denver and San Francisco to change the charter, the latter city having decided to own and operate a street-railway through its use, while Los Angeles enlarged the powers of the city so as to permit it to engage in almost every kind of municipal activity, including the ownership of street-railways, electric light and power plants, docks, harbors, telephone, and other services. Electoral Provisions. Radical departures have also been made in the method of nominating and electing officials. The 112 Till- MODERN CITY caucus and convention is abolished in all of them, while the direct primary is simplified as much as possible. Party emblems and columns have been generally abolished, the names of candidates being placed on the ballot with no reference to party affiliations. Candidates are nominated by petition, the primary and election being in effect two separate elections without reference to partisan considera- tions. The Grand Junction, Col., plan provides for the preferential ballot, which has been later copied and modified in some details. Opposite the names of each candidate are three columns, in which the voter can register his first choice, second choice, and other choices for candidate. A vote against any candidate places him one vote behind all other can- didates voted for. In order to vote for a candidate, a cross is made in the appropriate column opposite the name. The elector votes for his first choice in the first column, for his second choice in the second column, and for any other choice in the third column. Election judges report to the city clerk the total number of votes cast, the number of first, second, and third choice votes which each person receives, no vote being counted for any candidate by the same voter more than once. If any candidate receives more than half of all the votes cast for first choice, then he is declared elected without further formality. 1 1 no candidate receives such a majority, the candi- date receiving the lowest number of first-choice votes is dropped and the first and second choices of RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 113 each candidate are added together, and if any* one of them receives a majority, then he is elected. If no one has a majority, then the next lowest candi- date is dropped, and thus the process is continued until some candidate receives a majority. Under this method majority rather than plural- ity elections are insured. It enables the elector to support minority candidates without throwing away his vote and makes machine control practically im- possible and insures the ultimate majority will of the community. Results of the Commission Form of Government. "There seems to be scarcely a dissenting voice to the conclusion that cities adopting the commission plan find it a vast improvement over the government which it superseded," is the testimony of Henry Brure, city chamberlain of New York and formerly director of the bureau of municipal research of that city, after an exhaustive study of ten commission cities. Continuing, Mr. Bruere says: "First-hand observation of commission-governed cities confirms the claim that it at least leads to of- ficial effort to give better service and on the whole to more exacting demands on government by the public. Unquestionably too, whether because of the impetus of change or because in the new scheme there is a greater capacity for getting things done, commission cities have experienced a period of official activity immediately following the adoption of the new plan. "The commission plan starts with the assumption that the natural impulse of officials will be to sat- 114 THE MODERN CITY isfy the requirements of their employers. It gives them full rein during good behaviour in the man- agement of the city's business affairs. It provides practically an honor system of organization by plac- ing office holders on their mettle, with sole re- sponsibility to their constituents. It has up to date exhibited none of the evils which 'checks and balances' were assumed to prevent." l The City Manager Plan. The city manager form is a modification of the commission idea. It was adopted in August, 1913, by Dayton, Ohio, the first municipality of any size to try this plan. 1 Under it power is vested in a non- partisan commission of five, elected at large, and subject to recall on petition of 25 per cent, of th<> voters. The commission has only legislative pow- ers. It chooses the city manager (subject also to recall), who is the administrative head of the govt ment. He appoints the departmental heads and th'-ir deputies and fixes their salaries and is person- ally responsible for the entire administration of city. His relation to the commission is very much like that of the superintendent of schools to the 1 The New Oily GOWK****, by Henry Bnitro, p. 72. In an article in the Municipal /Me* for July, 1012, p. 372, by Mr. Ernest 8. Bradford, is a study of the financial achievement* of commissKMi cities in the wiping out of floating indebtedness, lifing within their incomes, and the reduction in operating expenses. Citi, too, have adopted constnictive policies. They have promoted ripal undertaking engaged in municipal ownership, developed city planning and other comprehensive activities. See National Municipal fimns, October, 1913. L. D. Upson. Prior to this adoption, Sumter, 8. C., a city of 8,000 people, had adopted the manager plan, while in 1910, Lockport, N. Y., had RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 115 school board or the manager of a business corpora- tion to the directors. The powers and duties of the manager under the Dayton charter comprise the following: (1) Supervision of departmental administration. (2) The execution of laws and ordinances. (3) Recommendation of legislative measures. (4) Appointment of officers and employees, sub- ject to the provisions of the civil service sections. (5) Preparation of reports. (6) Preparation of the budget. The mayor of the city is distinct from the man- ager. He is one of the members of the commission, and becomes mayor by virtue of having received the largest number of votes at an election in which three commissioners are chosen. His function is merely to perform duties incumbent upon him by State law and to serve as the ceremonial head of the city. The departmental organization of the city is pro- vided by charter, with a reservation, however, which permits the commission to create additional depart- ments or discontinue or distribute functions. The appointment of a city-plan board is recommended, and of such other citizen advisory boards as the man- ager may deem expedient. Emphasis is laid in the charter upon administrative methods as a means of securing efficient government. Provision is also made for accounting and budgetary procedure, for the granting of franchises, for public improvements and a purchasing department. The administration 116 THE MODERN CITY of the city is treated as a business, for which business methods and expert supervision are i. essary. 1 o u runiu*y The municipal progress of the past twenty years has been largely identified with charter changes. It has been devoted to improving the machinery of administration and the freeing of the city from tin* many obstacles which surrounded the voter on the one hand and the official on the other. All of these changes have been in the direction of simplicity and responsibility. And democracy has been the pre- vailing note. The city was the first of our governmental agei to definitely abandon the traditions of American politics and reject the system of checks and balances and divided responsibility which has prevailed for over a century. And the newer and more advanced city charters are almost free from these limitations, which first found expression in the federal Con- stitution. These changes have involved simple methods of nomination and election, the short ballot, and the abandonment of party emblems. Greater directneBB has been secured in the relation of the voter to the city, while similar changes have been made in the machinery of administration. The legislative body has become a single body and has been reduced in size, while many of its powers have been lodged with the mayor or the commission. We are now in a position to select our officials with the least possible 1 Up to the end of 1913 twelve cities had adopted the manager plan, Dayton and Springfield, Ohio, being the largert. The other cities were in North Carolina, Oregon, Michigan, Ten*, Minne- sota, and Arizona. RECENT CHARTER CHANGES 117 confusion and to hold them to accountability after they have been elected. Three forms of city charters have been evolved in this process: one in which the mayor is the respon- sible official, with a group of appointed directors to assist him; another in which power is lodged in a small elective commission; and a third in which the policy-making authority rests with an elected council while the administrative power is placed in the hands of a manager selected by duly elected representa- tives of the community. Great improvement has everywhere followed these changes. A better class of men has been elected to office; there have been greater economy and efficiency in administration and a rapidly developing pro- gramme of municipal service which was difficult in many cases impossible under the systems which formerly prevailed. As a consequence the boss is passing away, as is the machine system which sup- ported the boss. Corruption and bribery are also passing, while an alert public opinion now finds it possible to express itself through the simplified methods of nomination and election. The initiative, referendum, and recall have carried democracy still further and made the city the most democratic in- strument in America and in many ways the most democratic agency in the world. This was the first great step toward the redemption of the city. It was of necessity the first step in reform. CHAPTER X MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION IN GERMANY THE European city 1 has never suffered from the evils described in the previous chapters. It has never been sacrificed to partisan advantage or to ripper legislation. The municipal code is uniform as to all cities within the state, and changes are made with great caution and consideration. In th<> more important countries the code has remained essentially unchanged for a century. The present municipal laws of Prussia are based on the reforms of Baron von Stein in 1806, the code of France on the Napoleonic reforms of 1800, and the laws of Great Britain on the Municipal Corporations Art in 1835. Subsequent laws have enlarged munic- ipal powers and adjusted them to new industrial conditions, but the form of government in all these countries has remained substantially the same from the birth of the modern city at the end of the eigh- teenth century. European Municipal Forms. The large council prevails everywhere. The mayor is elected by the council rather than by the people and is either a titular official, who presides 1 For a more exhaustive study of the government of European cities see Municipal Government in Continental Europe and Munici- pal Government in Great Britain, by Dr. Albert Shaw; The Govern- ment of European Cities, by Dr. W. B. Munro; and European Citie* at Work and The British City, by the author. 118 GERMAN MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 119 over the council, as in Great Britain, or a highly trained expert, as in Germany. Members of the council are chosen by wards or districts, the election at large being unknown. Nowhere do we find any- thing approaching the commission form of govern- ment or the federal plan, with a powerful mayor to whom are intrusted the appointment of subordinates and the direction of city policies. The nearest ap- proach to this is in Germany. The council gener- ally commands the services of capable and honor- able men from the business or professional classes, who gladly respond to the opportunity of public serv- ice. Nowhere do they receive any salary. And in all countries the council is an active agency in ad- ministration. As the councillor is the only person elected by the people, the short ballot prevails, while city elections as well as their policies and pro- grammes are divorced from national politics. All over Europe, too, the salaried officials enjoy permanent tenure and are selected because of their training and fitness. The merit system everywhere prevails in the selection of employees. In practice there is no recognition of the American idea of checks and balances and division of power and responsi- bility. There is rarely any suggestion of dishonesty or graft, as we understand the term, while in most of the countries the administration is fairly comparable to that of the most efficient private corporations. The German City The Burgomaster. The burgomaster is the central feature in the Ger- man system, as is the mayor in America. He pre- 120 THE MODERN < ITY sides over the magistrat, or administrative depart- ment, and has a seat in the council. He promotes city policies, oversees all departments, and may sus- pend and punish officials who have been remiss in their duties. He has, however, no veto power. He is directly responsible to the state for police ad- ministration. He neither prepares the budget nor introduces it. These functions are performed by members of the magistrat. Some cities have two burgomasters, in which case the senior one is called the over-burgomaster, or first burgomaster. The salaries paid burgomasters are relatively high. Berlin and Frankfort pay their over-burgomaster $9,000 a year, while Leipsic, Cologne, and Magde- burg pay $6,250 a year. In addition, the burgo- master receives a number of substantial perquisites which may amount to from one third to one half the salary. When he retires from office he is en- titled to a pension of from one half to three fourths of his salary, depending upon the length of his service. The office of burgomaster is one of the most allur- ing positions in Germany. The poet carries with it distinct ion, social position, and dignity. The city engages in a multitude of undertakings, has a large budget, and if the mayor is a man of vision, as he generally is, he has it in his power to employ all his knowledge and energy in the development of the city. Some Distinguished Municipal Officials. Municipal office in Germany is permanent. The burgomaster is elected for from six to twelve years in the first instance, with the expectation that he GERMAN MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 121 will be re-elected on the expiration of his term. And this is the usual practice. The burgomaster of Halle was mayor of that city for a quarter of a century. Doctor Martin Kirschner, until recently the chief burgomaster of Berlin, was first a judge, but in 1873 he entered municipal lif e as a town-councillor in Breslau. Later he became the legal adviser of the city and in 1893 was called from Breslau to become one of the burgomasters of Berlin. Six years later he was elected to the office of chief burgomaster, which office he held until shortly before his death. Doctor Adickes, until recently the chief burgomaster of Frankfort-on-the-Main, and probably the most distinguished municipal official in Germany, began his official career after the Franco-Prussian War as burgomaster of Dortmund, where he remained for four years. In 1877 he was called to Altona and in 1883 became its chief burgomaster. In 1891 the city of Frankfort elected him to be its burgomaster, which office he held up to 1913. In 1898 the city of Dusseldorf called Doctor Wil- helm Marx to be its burgomaster. He held the of- fice for twelve years and was succeeded by Doctor Oehler, who was called to Dusseldorf from Crefeld. The burgomaster need not live in the city to which he is called, and in practice men move from one city to another, much as do managers of private business, professors, or ministers in this country. There is no politics, in our understanding of the term, in the choice of the burgomaster or higher officials, although a socialist would not be chosen under the system 122 THE MODERN CITY which prevails, and if he were the choice would probably be vetoed by the King. Men prepare themselves for municipal office as they do for law, medicine, or any other calling. They take special courses in the universities or tech- nical schools. On graduation they enter the civil service or compete for a subordinate municipal p tion. Administrative offices are also recruited from the city council, the law, or the state civil service. Men rise from one position to another as they dem- onstrate their abilities. Quite frequently they are called from one city to another. The goal of am- bition is to become the burgomaster of a progressive city like Frankfort, Diisseldorf, Munich, or Dresden, and this can only be attained by distinguished suc- cess in some line of municipal activity. The Magistral, or Administrative Council. Associated with the burgomaster in the actual administration of the city are a number of directors, who form the Magistral, or Stadtrat. They, too, are elected by the council, under conditions similar to those described for the burgomaster. Approximately one half of the members are salaried; the other half are not. The latter are men of training and expe- rience, experts in general in city administration. Each of the paid members is selected for a par- ticular line of service. The Kammerer occupies the position of city auditor; the Syndikus is the head of the legal department; the Schulrat, of education; and the Baurat, of public works. Other specialists are assigned to charity administration, the relief of the GERMAN MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 123 poor, and the management of the public utility cor- porations. The salaries paid members of the mag- istrat are relatively high. In Berlin they range from $2,500 to $3,000 a year, and in other large cities from $1,200 to $3,000. Members of the magistrat are chosen for long terms, sometimes for life; and in addition to their salaries they receive generous pensions on retirement. The number of paid members of the magistrat is determined by the council. And a large number are provided for. Berlin, with a population of 2,099,000, has seventeen paid and as many more unpaid mem- bers of the magistrat. Magdeburg, with a popula- tion of 240,663, has twelve paid and fifteen unpaid officials; Breslau, with a population of 510,939, has fourteen paid and fifteen unpaid ones. The German city has from two to three times as many salaried directors of the first rank in its administrative de- partments as has the American city. In addition, it has as many more unsalaried ones. The un- salaried members are frequently chosen from the council, much as are the aldermen in Great Britain. They are generally men of comparative leisure or wealth, of high esteem in the community, and their positions are practically permanent. The burgo- master and members of the magistrat sit with the council but do not vote on measures. Powers of the Magistrat. The burgomaster and magistrat occupy a place in the German city somewhat analogous to that of the mayor and department heads under the federal plan 124 THE MODERN CITY in America. They dominate the administration and are its policy-making body. They initiate much of the legislation, frequently at the request of the coun- cil. All ordinances must have the approval of the magistrat, much as legislation in this country must pass both houses of Congress. Rarely is there seri- ous conflict between the two bodies, but when it does arise and cannot be adjusted it is referred to the central authorities, whose decision is final. The magistrat is the exclusive executive branch of the city. It has control of all of the business enter- prises in which the city is engaged; it builds and cleans the streets and controls the schools, parks, and housing. It also performs a number of func- tions for the state. And in the performance of its activities the members enjoy much freedom. No money can be paid out of the treasury without tl approval, although the power to levy taxes or make appropriations is lodged with the council. Members of the magistrat rather than the mayor appoint sub- ordinate officials, which appointments must be < firmed by the council. The magistrat meets as a separate body in much of its work, its meetings being held in secret. Efficiency of the German City. The German city is one of the most efficient cor- porations in the world. There is no waste, no ex- travagance, rarely any suggestion of graft or < ruption. 1 Both the magistrat and the council con- 1 The nearest approach to irregularity is the ascendant influence of property-owners in the council, who frequently prevent city-widen- GERMAN MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 125 tain men trained for almost any problem which may arise, whose hopes, ambitions, and social aspirations are satisfied with the opportunities which city admin- istration offers. There is no spoils system in the selection of employees nor is there any rotation in office. Tenure is during good behavior. This is part of the traditions of the country, for in Germany men choose their callings early in life and do not change them as they do in this country. In addi- tion, the universities and technical schools train men for public office, while every tradition leads men to aspire to state service as the highest calling to which they can attain. All classes, too, have a sense of the dignity of the city. There is a recognition of its permanence and the necessity for building with a big vision of the future. It is this rather than the character of officials that most distinguishes the cities of the Old World from our own. The City Council, or Stadtverordnete. Members of the town council are elected by wards, as in the United States and Great Britain. They are chosen for six years, and one third of the mem- bers retire every two years. None of the members are elected at large. The council is a large body, much larger than in the United States. In Berlin it numbers 144 members; in Mannheim and Carls- ruhe, 96; in Dresden, 78; in Leipsic, 72; and in Munich, 62. The size of the council is fixed by law ing plans, the extension of transit, and other needed improvements, for the purpose of keeping up rents and values within the city. This is a not uncommon complaint. 126 THE MODERN CITY and depends upon the population of the town. In Prussia there is a minimum of twelve councilmen in the smaller communities. The council attracts men of a high order of ability from the business and professional classes, who deem it an honor to be elected to that body. Univer- sity professors and teachers are frequently chosen. Members of the council receive no salaries, and there is no chance for pecuniary emolument of any kind. Service, too, is obligatory, for a man can be fined if he refuses to accept an election. The council usually meets once a week except dur- ing the summer months. There is much committee work, and members take a spirited interest in the dis- cussions and promotion of municipal policies. Much of the work of the council is prepared for it by the magistrat, but, despite this fact, the work of the councillor is very exacting. The Suffrage. Qualifications for the suffrage differ in the various German states. Proportional representation pre- vails in Bavaria, members of the council being chosen according to the respective voting strength of the various parties. In Prussia, on the other hand, the suffrage is adjusted to a property or tax- paying basis. Members of the council are chosen under the three-class system of voting, which per- mits the large taxpayers to elect a majority and usu- ally two thirds of the council. The voting power of the individual is fixed by the amount of his income tax, which is determined in the following manner: GERMAN MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 127 Income taxpayers are divided into three classes, each one of which elects one third of the council. The classification is arranged as follows: Beginning with the highest single taxpayer, men are checked off in order until one third of the total taxes is ascertained. The taxpayers in this group constitute the first class and elect one third of the council. Then those whose aggregate taxes comprise another third of the total are checked off and constitute the second class and elect a second third of the council. The great mass of electors, whose aggregate income taxes comprise the final third of the total, make up the third class and elect the remaining third of the council. This is the substance of the Prussian law. It is designed to exclude the socialists and working classes from control of the cities. Class Rule. As a result of this arrangement an insignificant number of persons elect one third of the council, while a very small minority elects two thirds of it. The first class of electors rarely comprises more than 3 per cent, of the total number of voters, while the first and second classes combined include from 10 to 20 per cent, of the total. In Essen, where the Fred- erick Krupp steel works are located, there were in 1900 only three electors in the first class, with 401 in the second. These three men elected one third of the council, while 404 out of a vote of nearly 20,000 elected two thirds of its membership. In Berlin in 1903 there were 1,857 electors in the first class and 29,711 in the second. Altogether 31,568 128 THE MODERN CITY electors out of a total of 349,105 chose two thirds of the council. An examination of the election re- turns in Berlin shows that for every elector of the first class there are 21 of the second and 214 of the third. The city council contained 144 members and one third of these, or 48, was apportioned to each class. As a result, 34 electors, on an average, se- lected a member of the council in the first class, while 721 electors selected a member in the third class. 1 Other Limitations on the Suffrage. There are many other limitations on the suffrage in Prussia in the interest of the property-owning class. The right to vote is confined to male cit i; of twenty-four years of age who have paid municipal taxes, who own a dwelling-house, or have a trad- profession which yields an income. Some private corporations are allowed to vote. The ballot is open rather than secret, which makes it even more diffi- cult for the working classes to express their will. The propertied classes derive an additional advan- tage from the fact that one half of the members of the council must be owners of real estate. In Munich, the capital of Bavaria, where propor- tional representation prevails, one must livo in the city for two years, have an income of $300, and have paid $37.50 for admission to the rights of suffrage. Hamburg, Frankfort, and some other cities have local qualifications on the right to vote. There are no primaries, caucuses, or conventions in the making of nominations. Nor are there any 1 Government of European Cttict, by Doctor W. B. Munro, p. 131. GERMAN MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 129 printed ballots. Any qualified person can be voted for, although in practice candidates are selected be- forehand by the parties and are well known as such. Prior to the election partisan meetings are held, but in so far as the ballot is concerned the voter is left unaided in the making of his choice. Each candi- date must receive a clear majority of the votes cast, and if this is not obtained on the first balloting a second one is held, to which only the two candidates who receive the largest number of votes are eligible. Lack of Democracy in German Cities. It is against these property limitations on the suf- frage that the socialists and radicals are protesting. It is this that chains Prussia, as well as her cities, to reaction. For, while nearly every large city in the empire sends socialist members to the Imperial Reichstag, for which practically universal suffrage prevails, none of the cities are as yet controlled by socialists, and in Prussia such control is impossible. The city is really governed by business men, and in so far as special interests influence administration it is the land-owning classes. They protect their in- terests in a variety of ways by restricting the exten- sion of transportation facilities, by preventing town widening, and other proposals which tend to de- preciate real-estate values. This is the most serious criticism that can be made on the honesty and effi- ciency of the German city. State Supervision. We have seen in a previous chapter that the Ger- man city enjoys large freedom from the state in the 130 THE MODERN CITY administration of its local affairs. There are, how- ever, certain limitations on its powers, limitations, however, which make for its advantage. The approval of the King must be secured to the election of a burgomaster or member of the magis- trat, but this approval is usually given as a matter of course. The state also supervises the police ad- ministration and in some cities the police are under the direction of state officials. Cities are required to maintain a minimum standard of education, but beyond this minimum they are permitted to exp ment in the greatest variety of ways. If the income tax exceeds a certain rate the central authorities have a right to interfere. The issuance of bonds for new undertakings is also subject to approval, but in practice the department of the interior aids and en- courages cities to experiment and engage in new activities which are for the welfare of the com- munity. Housing experiments are encouraged, while authorities are urged to acquire and develop land. The same policy is adopted in the working out of transportation and in the acquisition and develop- ment of docks and harbors. State supervision in Germany is for the purpose of encouraging the < rather than repressing it. Standards are estab- lished and new ideas are promoted. The state has a solicitous interest in progressive administration and aids the cities in many ways. In addition, the suj vision is administrative rather than legislative, and by reason of this fact the regulations of the state are flexible and easily adjusted to local needs and re- quirements. GERMAN MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 131 Summary. The German city is governed by experts. This and its many socialistic activities is what most dis- tinguishes the German city from the other cities of the world. The administrative officers are per- manent; they enjoy a high social position, receive generous salaries, and are trained to the profession of city administration. Members of the council are also men of ability and experience selected from the business and professional classes. By reason of these conditions, as well as the uni- versal desire for public service, the German city is highly efficient. It is also progressive, even social- istic, in its activities. This is in spite of the fact that it is governed by the business classes, who, through the three-class system of voting, control the city council, which in turn selects the burgo- master and members of the magistrat. A large part of the taxes is collected from incomes, which leads to economy in expenditure, while the freedom of the city to project great undertakings and borrow such money as is needed for them has enabled the Ger- man city to project and plan itself in a big-visioned way. While the German city is not subject to legislative interference as it is in America and Great Britain, it is subject to supervision by the interior depart- ment, which oversees the police, approves of all loans and new undertakings, supervises education, and insists upon a high standard of efficiency in all departments. Unlike this country, the state is an agency for the promotion of municipal activities and the encouragement of cities in new undertakings. CHAPTER XI MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION IN GREAT BRITAIN THE cities, or boroughs, as they are called in Great Britain, are organized under the Municipal Corpo- rations Act of 1835, which swept away the privileged corporations that had existed for several centuries. Cities are still governed under this act and its sub- sequent amendments. All of the powers and authority of the city are lodged in a large council elected by wards. The mayor is chosen by the council from its member- j ship. The town clerk, who in many ways is the most important official of the city, is selected in J the same way. Local education is administered by v a council committee. This is the framework of the British city. It is the form of administration for all local authorities. Cities are divided into wards, with three members J from each, one of whom is elected every year. Im- mediately following the election the council selects^ the mayor, who serves for the ensuing year. It also appoints the committees. Most of the boroughs are divided into sixteen wards, which and 48 members*' to the council, although in some cities the couiu il is a much larger body. The London county coun< 132 BRITISH MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 133 which governs the metropolitan area of London, contains 118 members. In Manchester the council contains 103 members; in Liverpool, 134; and in Glasgow, 75. Women are eligible for membership,^ and in recent years a number have been selected. Non-residents, too, may be elected if they own property within the municipality or pay certain rents and live within fifteen miles of the borough. Coun- cilmen need not live in the wards which they repre- sent, and many members are elected who live in the suburbs but do business in the city. This enables the community to draw on talent wherever it may be found. It also introduces an element of perma- nency into administration. Aldermen. In addition to the councilmen, a number of alder- men, usually sixteen, are chosen by the council upon / its organization, either from its own members or from distinguished citizens outside. The number of / aldermen is usually one third of the council. Alder- men are chosen for six years, and one third of the v number retires every two years. Defeated candi- dates for the council are not infrequently elected as aldermen. Re-elections are the rule, and it is com- mon to find men in the council who have served in one capacity or another for a quarter of a century. The aldermen are merely councilmen raised to a \/ higher degree. They sit and vote with the council- men on all questions, the only distinction between them being the method of election and the greater dignity which attaches to the aldermanic office. The 134 THE MODERN CITY aldermen usually hold the important chairmanships by virtue of long service and sit as magistrates in the police courts. Nominations and Elections. Any qualified man or woman can be nominated for the council by the filing of a petition signed by two proposers and eight seconders. There are no con- ventions, caucuses, or primaries. The municipal election is held in November, sep- arate from parliamentary elections. The ballot is short and contains only the names of one or more candidates from the ward. There are no party des- * ignations, for the party is not recognized by law in municipal elections. Names are printed in alpha- betical order and after each name is a blank in which the voter indicates his choice. We would expect such a system to produce a large number of candidates. But the reverse is tr Quite frequently a ward will have no contest for years. When a councillor has been satisfactory or the party is overwhelmingly strong, the incumbent is left undisturbed in his seat. It has happened in some city elections that all the candidates for the council have been returned without contest, while in the election of 1899 less than one half the seats in 103 boroughs were opposed. In 13 boroughs there was not a single councilmanic contest. Partisan voting is the rule, and candidates are se- lected by the local committee of the Conservative, v Liberal, or Labor parties. The issues upon which elections turn are substantially the same as thoee BRITISH MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 135 which divide candidates for Parliament. Conserva- tive candidates usually represent the landed inter- ests; Liberal candidates represent the business and commercial classes; while Labor candidates are put forward by socialist or labor groups. Politics plays a part in the organization of the council, in the se- lection of aldermen and clerk, and in determining the policies to be pursued. Simplicity of Administration. The simplicity of the city charter is one explana- tion of the success of the British city. There is but one official to be elected, which makes it easy for the voter to make a choice. In addition there is the most direct responsibility between the official and his constituents, while the organization of the council itself makes it easy to locate the praise or the blame. There is no conflict between the legislative and the executive departments, for there is but one depart- ment, the council. Its procedure, too, is very sim- ple and the transactions are reported at great length in the daily newspapers. Municipal campaigns are often hotly contested, especially where industrial and social questions are involved, as they have been in recent years in the London county council. While the machinery encourages independence, vot- ers adhere to their parties quite as tenaciously as they do in the United States. In fact, there is less independent voting than there is in this country. The Committee System. The actual administrative work of the council is performed by committees, each of which is a council 136 THE MODERN CITY in miniature. The ranking member of the committee of the dominant party is usually the chairman, and if he is a man of power he exercises great influence. The mayor is ex-officio member of all committees, although he rarely takes part in their deliberations. In the larger cities there are from twelve to twenty standing committees, each of which may be divided into sub-committees to which are assigned special branches of the work. The committees are made up by the council, on its organization, after each annual election. Or- dinarily the personnel of the committee remains but little changed from year to year. The committee employs the director and staff of the department u 1 1 ler its control ; it fixes the wages and salaries of its employees and prepares and spends its budget. All of its actions, however, are referred, from time to time, to the council for approval, and at the end of the year a voluminous report is made of the com- mit tee's work. To be chairman of an important committee is a substantial honor. This is particularly true of coin- in it tees which control the street-railways, gas and electric lighting undertakings, which offer opportu- nities for men of large constructive ability. To be a member of one of these committees is like being on the board of directors of a large railroad corpora- tion and it is sought after for the same reason. While the committee is in form but a subdivision of the council, in actual practice it acts with great freedom in its designated field. For the activities of the city BRITISH MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 137 have become so numerous that each committee has become a council in miniature. The Permanent Expert. Great Britain has not developed municipal ad- ministration into a science as have the cities of Ger- many. Neither the mayor, the aldermen, nor the councilmen are experts, as are the members of the magistrat, and none of them receive a salary. The permanent expert assistance is, however, secured through the city clerk and the managers of the vari- * ous departments, who are trained men, frequently chosen by competition from other cities or advanced from one post to another, much as are the managers of a private corporation. They are paid good salaries and enjoy a good local position. The managers are responsible to the committee which supervises them and ultimately to the council. They, with the sub- ordinate employees, enjoy permanent tenure and are * rarely changed for political reasons. The Mayor. The mayor is chairman of the council and is often selected by reason of distinguished service in the council. The office is a titular rather than an execu- \/ tive one, for the mayor has no veto power, he makes v no appointments, and is not held responsible for the ^ success or failure of administration. The British system does not encourage a strong executive as does the German or American system, and in consequence there have been few distinguished mayors in Great Britain, almost the only exception being Mr. Joseph Chamberlain, who was mayor of Birmingham from 1873 to 1876. 138 THE MODERN CITY The position of mayor, or provost, as the mayor is called in Scotland, is a social position. He is the representative of the city on all public occasions. It is his duty to entertain guests, preside at public functions, arbitrate labor disputes, and be the dig- nified representative of the city on all occasions. II. < real powers are not unlike those of the British King. He is a justice of the peace and sits as magistrate in the disposition of petty cases. In spite of the lack of power, the office of mayor is the goal to which businessmen and councilmen aspire. In the larger cities a successful mayor is usually knighted as a recognition of his services. This of itself is sufficient return to justify years of service and a heavy personal sacrifice. For the mayor re- es no salary. And in the larger cities he must be a man of wealth in order to accept the position, for his social expenses are very heavy. Some of larger cities, like London, Liverpool, and Dublin, pro- vide a mansion-house for the mayor, while others maintain a coach and pair for his use. Some cities make special appropriations for his expenses. Dub- lin appropriates $8,000 a year for this purpose, Bris- tol, $5,000, and Edinburgh, $5,000. But no matter what the appropriation may be, it is rarely sufficient to meet the expenses incident to the maintenance of tli-' office, which sometimes entails a burden of from $20,000 to $50,000 a year. The Town Clerk. The most distinguished permanent position in the city is that of the town clerk, who receives a generous BRITISH MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 139 salary and holds office usually for life. The office requires a high order of ability, for the clerk must be a lawyer and be trained for the post. The clerk of Glasgow receives $10,000 a year. Some years ago, when a vacancy occurred, the council of that city advertised for candidates just as the German city advertises for members of the magistrat. The council looks to the clerk for advice upon all kinds of questions. He is the secretary of all com- mittees and the custodian of the city records. He prepares the reports for the central authorities, is the parliamentary agent of the municipality in the promotion of legislation, and performs such other duties as the council may provide. In the larger towns he has a number of assistants trained like him- self. He is the nearest approach to the burgomaster or the American mayor to be found in the British city. Municipal Employees. There are no municipal civil service laws in Great Britain as there are with us, but, despite this fact, tenure of office is on a permanent basis. Public opinion would not tolerate the use of public office for partisan or personal ends. It was feared by some that the extension of mu- nicipal trading, with the thousands of employees which it added to the pay-roll, would weaken the traditions of public office. But this has not been the case. Rather it is claimed that municipal trading has strengthened the merit system by reason of the importance of the city's activities in the eyes of the 140 THE MODERN CITY voters. Nor has the increase in the number of em- ployees been followed by their activity in politics. The city pays a higher standard of wages than do private employers; it treats its employees better, so that public office is highly prized. When differences arise they are usually adjusted by arbitration. Personnel of the Administration. TTie town council draws its membership largely from shopkeeping tradesmen, with a sprinkling of professional men and working-class representatives. And the cities usuaDy reflect their poiiit of view. The aristocracy does not mix in city politics, for its inter- ests are in the country. The British city is honestly administered) altnoujcn tnere nave pecn occasional g-lif MrL V nB .in nit , fjf Aim rw^iin^il n n in*/> msuuicQB wnere njfjuijcas 01 me wpuiif.ii were iiim 1 - ested in city contracts; but these have been very rare, and where the fact has been disclosed councQmen have resigned or have been retired from office at the next election. Generally speaking, there is no graft, no machine, no spoils system. The very simpli of the organisation precludes this, as does the audit by the central authority and the scrutiny of the press and citiiens. The British city is also efficient Its outlook is less generous than that of the American city and less scientific than that of Germany. Extreme economy is the prevailing note in administration and the com- munity is very resentful of any activity which in- creases the burden of taxation. This is traceable to the method of collecting local revenues from ten- ants rather than from property, at Great Britain BRITISH MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 141 still has the mediaeval system of local taxation by which all local rates or taxes are assessed against the occupier rather than the owner. And as aU local revenues come from this single source, any new undertakings or non-profitable activities are jealously watched by the community. Membership in the council carries considerable local distinction, which attracts capable and compe- tent men- For the traditions of public service in Great Britain affect all classes. The work of a councillor is very exacting. There are many com- mittee meetings to be attended and inspections to be made. And if the councilman is a magistrate he sits in the local courts. If he is chairman of a committee his duties are greatly increased. The Suffrage. Municipal suffrage is a tax or ratepayer's privilege, and it is limited to those who own property or pay a certain minimum sum in rent and have lived in the community the requisite time. There are a number of other limitations which restrict it still further. In Great Britain local taxes are paid by the tenant rather than by the owner. They are computed on the rent actually paid rather than on the selling value of the property. In consequence, as almost every- body is a tenant, the voter thinks in tarns of the taxes he pays. This is an underlying explanation of the British city. It more than anything else in- fluences men's minds when they go to the polls. People talk "rates" in the British city as nowhere else in Europe. Taxes form an absorbing topic of 142 THE MODERN CITY conversation. Every project, every expenditure, every activity is discussed from the point of view of its effect on the local rates, and men are fre- quently defeated for the council because of their advocacy of some measure involving an increase in the burden of taxes, who in Germany or America would be approved for their public spirit. In con- sequence, officials are slow to approve of needed measures for the health or comfort of the commu- nity because of their fear of the ratepayers. By reason of this fear, too, the British city is far less generous than either the German or the American city in its expenditure for schools, libraries, and playgrounds. For the local rates are very heavy and are consciously felt by the voter. The Powers of the British City. The powers of the British city, and the things it may do and the way it may do them, are specifically enumerated by Parliament much as in the United States. For the British city has none of the large freedom of the German city. Powers are sometimes conferred by general, sometimes by special acts. The city cannot frame its own charter or amend it, for, as has been stated, all charters are alike. Nor can it determine what undertakings it will carry on or what activities it will assume. In many re- spects it has less freedom than have the cities of America. If a city desires to acquire a water plant, it must go to Parliament for approval of its plan. If it decides to take over a street-railway, gas, or electric-lighting plant, it promotes a special bill BRITISH MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 143 for this purpose which is first investigated by the local government board and by a committee of Parliament, and then, if the reports are favorable, an act is passed for this purpose. The city can only acquire a market or a slaughter-house, raze a slum, build model tenements, or plan suburban territory with the approval of the central authorities. It can- not change its tram lines from horse to electric traction; it cannot alter the lighting power of gas; it cannot condemn property for public uses; it can- not perform any one of a hundred activities on its own initiative as can the German and in many in- stances the American city. For the British city en- joys only those powers that are specifically granted to it, while the German city enjoys all powers that are not specifically denied to it. The British city is in chains to Parliament much as are our own. Central Administrative Control. In addition to this parliamentary control the local government board, which is a cabinet port- folio, supervises many of the city's acts. The board has control of poor-law administration and health. It audits the accounts of local authorities in England and Wales by deputies who go from city to city and see whether any irregularity has oc- curred. Under the Town Planning Act of 1909 the board passes on all proposals for the develop- ment of suburban areas and the promotion of health and sanitary arrangements. There are no constitutional or statutory debt limits on the cities as in America, and the city can 144 THE MODERN CITY borrow to any amount that the central authorities permit. But it cannot borrow a penny without this assent. And it has to secure a special act or order for this purpose. Orders sanctioning the loans prescribe the rate of interest to be paid, the sinking- fund requirements, and other details relating to the loans. Nor do cities grant franchises to public serv- ice corporations such grants are made by Par- liament after investigation of local conditions and after the community itself has had an opportunity to be heard. Generally speaking, the city is pre- ferred to a private corporation if it is willing to undertake the project. The most serious of all these limitations upon the British city is the state control of the system of local taxation. For the city has none of the latitude of the German city; it cannot experiment, cannot try out new forms or methods of raising local rev- enues. It is compelled to collect its rates by a uniform system of assessing them against the tenant, as has been done since the eighteenth century. And no matter what the value of property may be, if it has no tenant from whom the rents can be col- lected, it is free from taxation. Suburban land used for market-gardening is taxed on the rental received from the market-garden, while unimproved land in the heart of a city worth millions of dollars is prac- tically free from taxation. If business property is occupied by a residence, it is taxed on the rental received from the house. This throws all the local taxes onto the producing classes; it discourages im- BRITISH MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 145 provements and encourages land speculation. This is the heaviest burden upon the British city. More than five hundred corporations have organ- ized to protest against this injustice. Year after year they have petitioned Parliament to permit them to assess land values at their selling value, as is done in the United States. But the landowning interests in Parliament are so powerful that they have refused to permit this change to be made. The American, German, and English Systems Compared. In all European countries there is but one official to be elected by the people, and that is the town- councillor, and he is chosen from the ward. All others are either appointed or selected by the coun- cil. The ballot contains not more than two or three names representing the different parties which make the nominations. National and municipal elections are usually held on different days, so that the munic- ipality is not sacrificed to some issue of overshadow- ing national importance. In England the method of nomination is as simple as the election. Candi- dates are placed before the voters by a petition signed by two proposers and eight seconders. This is the only formality required. All other city officials are chosen by the council and are responsible to it. There is no confusion between the executive and legislative departments and no independent boards or commissions to con- fuse the voter. The simplicity of the charter is one explanation of the efficiency of the European city. In recent years municipalities have greatly ex- 146 THE MODERN CITY tended their activities. They own the public sen-- ice corporations which use the streets, while docks, markets, slaughter-houses, and other activities are generally under municipal control. By reason of its importance the city attracts men of commanding talent to the administration. In addition there is no conflict of interest within the community such as prevails in most American cities. Men are free to enter the council, for their patriotism is not con- fused with their private interests. This and the commanding importance of the city explain the attitude of mind of the citizen and the psychology of the voter. This is the background of the Euro- pean city, especially those of Germany and Great Britain. Summary. The governing agency of the British city is the town council. Members of the council are the only officials elected by the people. The mayor is chosen by the council for one year and the town clerk and othrr officials are selected in the same way. Mem- bers of the council are elected by wards rather than at large. This is the framework of the British city. It is very simple. Local elections are held in different years from those of the nation, and in consequence municipal questions are not confused with those of the state. Nominations are equally simple. There are no caucuses or conventions, nominations being made by petition. The administrative work of the city is performed by committees, which take the place of the directors of departments in this country and the members of BRITISH MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION 147 the magistral in Germany. The chairman of each committee is in a sense an expert by reason of his long service. The only analogy to the German ex- pert is the town clerk and the salaried heads of the various departments, who are trained men, ad- vanced from post to post or called from city to city by reason of their recognized efficiency. The mayor is a titular rather than an executive official. He holds office for one year, receives no salary, has no offices or appointments to bestow, and is little more than the city's chief dignitary, to represent it on all public occasions. Tenure of office among the subordinate employees is permanent, although there are no civil-service laws in the cities. The town council is recruited from tradesmen and shopkeepers and the city reflects their point of view. The suffrage is a taxpayers' privilege and is extended to women as well as men. Local rates are collected from tenants, and by reason of this fact the city is economical, even parsimonious, in its outlay. It is not as generous as the American city or as big- visioned in its outlook and activities as the German city. This is largely due to the system of taxation, which falls very heavily upon the poorer classes and leads to the closest scrutiny of municipal expendi- tures. The British city has little of the freedom of the German city. Its powers are covered by general and special acts and are specifically enumerated by Parliament. The city can only do the things it is authorized to do. New powers are granted by Par- liament upon application of the town council. Even the right to issue bonds to acquire a street-railway or other public service corporation, to raze a slum or carry on any new activity, must be first indorsed 148 THE MODERN CITY by the city council and then approved by Parlia- ment before it can be entered upon. As in Germany, cities are also subject to administrative control by parliamentary bodies, which audit accounts, super- vise the administration of health and the Town Plan- ning Act, and in many other ways oversee the actual administration of local officials. CHAPTER XII THE CITY AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION IN the preceding chapters we have discussed the city from the point of view of forms rather than of functions; we have analyzed the machinery with which the city is endowed for the doing of its work and have seen that the legal limitations which sur- round it are such as make efficiency difficult, if not impossible. We have found that many of the fail- ures of the city are traceable to legal and institu- tional evils created by our constitutions and laws. Another explanation of our failure is to be found in the policy adopted toward those corporations which use the streets for the supply of water, gas, electricity, telephone, and transportation services, a policy which is more largely responsible for the corruption of our cities than any other single cause. These corporations have stood in the way of reform and have prevented needed changes in municipal charters. Back of the surface explanations of the city is to be found another institutional evil, which has been generally overlooked by students and re- formers in their study of the city. Municipal Franchises. Cities quite generally own the water supply but intrust the other municipal services to private operation. The grant is usually made by the 149 150 THE MODERN CITY council but sometimes by the State legislature. The grant or franchise is in the nature of a contract, and provides for the period of its enjoyment, the service to be rendered, the prices that may be charged, and many other conditions, all of which affect the earnings of the company. It is this that distinguishes the public service corporation from other business, for it can only operate with the per- mission of the city and its capitalization and profits depend upon the liberality of the grant. A generation ago, when the policy of private owner- ship was entered upon, these grants had but little value. The art was in its experimental stage and the cities were for the most part small. As the towns grew in population the franchises became valuable. The transfer from horse to electric trao- he increase in the size of cars, the improve- ment in the arts, and the economies in opera still further increased the earnings of the companies. For the street-railway, gas, electric-light, water, and telephone industries are industries of increasing /[returns that is, their profits increase more rap- dly than do the operating expenses. In addition, they are natural monopolies and are not subject to the regulating power of competition. There is no place for two gas or electric lighting plants in the same town, and, while many cities tried competition, in the end the companies consolidated or reached a working agreement as to territory, so that after a few years' warfare competition came to an end and the companies passed under a single management. THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION 151 Advent of Corporations into Politics. About 1890 the value of these grants began to be appreciated. Securities were issued far in ex- cess of the value of the property. The value of these securities depended upon the terms of the contract with the community. The terms also de- termined the dividends which could be paid. This led the corporations into politics. They wanted to be free to charge what they would for the serv- ice rendered, to avoid competition, regulation, and municipal ownership. They struggled to evade tax- ation, to be free to open and repair the streets at will. A hundred influences drove them into pol- itics for the strengthening of their privileges. Early in the nineteenth century, too, the United States Supreme Court established the doctrine, in the Dartmouth College Case, that a grant from a city was in the nature of a contract, which could only be altered with the consent of both parties. The courts held that permission from the city to use the streets was not a license that could be re- voked or altered at pleasure; it was a legal and binding contract. In addition, under that pro- vision of the Constitution which provides that pri- vate property shall not be taken without due proc- ess of law, cities have been restrained by the courts from reducing rates and charges or from ascertaining at what rates these services could be rendered. Fortified by constitutions, laws, and judicial de- cisions, the public service corporations have suc- ceeded in establishing an almost complete monopoly, 152 THE MODERN CITY which monopoly depends for its continuance upon a control of the politics of the city and the State as well as the courts which interpret these laws. The Value of Franchises. The value of public service franchises is colossaL In most cities of over 10,000 people it exceeds the city's debt. Mr. John Moody, the editor of Moody 1 8 Manual, has stated that the value of the franchises of the public service corporations in New York ex- ceeds $750,000,000. In Toledo, according to May . r Brand Whitlock, the street-railway company "had about $5,000,000 of actual investment, while it had a capitalization in stocks and bonds of nearly $30,- 000,000, and the difference of $25,000,000 was the community value, which the magnates had been Citing for their own benefit." 1 Some years ago the physical property of the seven Chicago traction companies was appraised at $44,932,011, while the market value of the securities issued upon the prop- rrty was $120,235,539. Two thirds of the securities were based upon the grant from the city. The street-railway company in Cleveland claimed that its franchise was worth $20,000,000, while in many cities of 500,000 population stocks and bonds have been issued against the franchises alone of from $50,- 000,000 to $75,000,000. A Corrupting Influence in Politics. In order to pay interest on these inflated secu- rities the corporations must be free from regulation or competition; they must preserve a monopoly of service. And this is only possible through pol- 'Forty yanqf /<, Brand Whitlock, p. 337. THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION 153 itics. Councilman and city officials are bribed; sometimes openly, more often they are given con- tracts or some indirect payment. The corpora- tions identify themselves with the party organiza- tions. They contribute to campaign funds. In order to secure votes at elections they enter into partnership with the saloon and with vice, as has been shown by the disclosures in a score of cities. They control or influence the press, sometimes through ownership, more often through advertisers, for the securities of these corporations are owned by the influential men in the community. They are also identified with the banks and through the banks with the entire business community. For the banks control credit, and through credit they influence the business men and advertisers. When the election of an honest and independent administration may impair the value of these priv- ileges, the banking, professional, and business in- terests are united with the public service corpora- tions in an effort to protect the grants. On the one side is the wealth and talent of the city, inter- ested in the maintenance of improper privileges. On the other hand is unorganized democracy, badly equipped with political machinery for a contest and limited in a score of ways by the State, by the con- stitution and the courts, in its efforts to secure re- dress. The " Invisible Government." In most of our cities the public service corpora- tion is the "invisible government" behind the boss 154 THE MODERN CITY and the political parties. Identified with it are the steam-railways, which desire water-front terminals, sidings, and switches. They, too, fear regulation; they, too, desire privileges. Together they are united into a sympathetic organization which ramifies into every class. In order the easier to control the city, these interests enter State politics, for the State controls the city's charter and the powers which it enjoys. Together they oppose charter changes, home rule, the initiative, referendum, and recall, for all of these agencies of democracy endanger their power. The courts interpret grants; they pass upon the powers of the city. There are innumerable per- sonal-injury suits, so the courts are involved in the system. Any understanding of municipal con- ditions during the past twenty years is impossible without an appreciation of the extent of the control of our politics by these interests. This, up to very recently, was a universal condi- tion. There is, so far as I know, no exception in any city of any size. It has been found in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toledo, Cincinnati, Colum- bus, Detroit, Milwaukee, Chicago, Denver, San Francisco, and in almost every city where an at- tempt has been made to regulate the public service corporation, to control its rates and charges, or to convict prominent citizens of bribery or corruption. 1 For graphic stories of the contests of several cities with the public service corporations, see the personal, experience of Tom L. John- son in My Story, of Brand Whitlock in Forty Y eon of It, of Ben B. Lindsay in The Beast. See also Lincoln Steffeos, Tk* Skamt of the Otic* and The Struggle for Sctf-Govcrnment. THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION 155 An Ohio Example. Few States have been as ruthlessly sacrificed by these interests as has Ohio. In 1901 Mr. Tom L. Johnson was elected mayor of Cleveland. The franchises of the street-railway companies were about to expire. For years the companies had been seeking renewals which Mr. Johnson would only approve on a three-cent-fare basis. A competing street-railway company offered to build a line or buy out the existing companies and carry passen- gers at this rate. It also agreed to take over the lines of the old company when the franchises ex- pired. Grants were made to the new company, which laid several miles of track. Then further operations were suspended by an order of the su- preme court, which declared the charter of Cleve- land to be unconstitutional because it involved a classification of cities. At that time Cleveland had a nearly model char- ter. It had been draughted by public-spirited citi- zens and approved by the legislature. The courts had previously sustained the classification of cities ac- cording to population and the adoption of charters adjusted to the needs of the cities in each class. This decision had remained unchallenged for years. Under this charter the mayor of Cleveland enjoyed large powers. He appointed all the executive of- ficials, who formed a city cabinet. The charter of Cleveland was attacked in the courts, as was the charter of Toledo, where Samuel Jones, familiarly known as Golden Rule Jones, was also making 156 THE MODERN CITY trouble for the public service corporations. To the surprise of the State, the supreme court reversed its previous holdings and declared the charters of Cleveland and Toledo to be unconstitutional. It enjoined the officials of Cleveland from further con- sidering any street-railway legislation and restrained the city from exercising its proper municipal func- tions. A similar order was directed against Toledo. Both the Republican and the Democratic parties in Ohio were under the control of the men who owned or represented the street-railway properties of Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Toledo. They nominated governors and State officials and controlled the legislature. A special session of the assembly was called to enact a uniform municipal code for all cities to meet the decision of the su- preme court. A law was prepared by attorneys of the public service corporations which was adopted by the legislature in the face of the protest of the State. It destroyed the charters of over sixty cities and provided a municipal code which created an almost unworkable machinery and added millions of dollars to the cost of city administration. The nrw charter went back to the "board systri Under it the powers of the mayor were taken from him and distributed among a large number of officials to be elected by the people. The governor was authorized to remove mayors on charges, while a large council was created designed to make effec- tivr organization impossible. It was assumed that the people could not work THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION 157 such an instrument; that they could not nominate councilmen, administrative officials, a law director and mayor who would work together. Each was expected to be a check upon the other. By these means it was expected that the Cleve- land and Toledo movements would be destroyed. In this it failed. It did, however, cripple and in- crease the cost of administration of all the cities of the State. San Francisco. ^fl Prior to the earthquake in San Francisco the city was under the dominion of a boss, and the mayor and supervisors had traded in all sorts of privileges. Crime and vice had been given protection. It was alleged that $200,000 had been paid for a valuable trolley franchise. Disclosures led to an organized movement for the prosecution of the offenders. Criminal proceedings were started. They were in- trusted to Francis J. Heney, who had previously broken up the Oregon land frauds and who was a fearless prosecutor. Mr. Heney described the polit- ical conditions which he found in San Francisco as follows: "In the Pacific Coast city all corruption flowed from two sources. On the right hand we had the public service corporations corporations that wanted something from the public for nothing and on the left hand we had disorderly houses and dives. And strangely enough, although the so- called best citizens were at the head of the corpora- tions, these two sinister influences were joined in an 158 THE MODERN CITY unholy wedlock, the purpose of the union being a I prolific issue of ill-gotten, dishonest profit. The political boss was only an echo of the real boss, the business man who wished to exploit the people^ "The reason is not far to seek," he says. J^The ' best brains in this country are not active in the work ., of solving social problems. They are dedicated to Y Mammon^ and often they strike at the very founda- tion of popular government by methods that would not bear the light." The disclosures led to the indictment of many politicians as well as the president of the street-rail- way company, who was charged with giving a bribe of $200,000. The trial of the street-railway president was long drawn out; it was bitterly contested, and finally the jury disagreed. The extent to which this single corporation, created by the community and enriched by it, ramified into all classes and be- came the all-absorbing issue in the city, has been dramatically described by Mrs. Elizabeth Gerber- ding, who organized a group of women to support the prosecution: "Since the first years of the century a corrupt Mayor, a corrupt Board of Supervisors, creatures of the supremely corrupt boas, Abraham Reuf, had controlled th< city. Th"y had traded in franchises, licenses, permits, and special privileges as perhaps a political ring never traded before. More, they had organized crime and vice, given it protection, entered into partnership with it. The climax came when they accepted a bribe of $200,000 for a 'free* trolley franchise worth millions of dollars to the THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION 159 city had the city sold it fairly. A group of reform- ers, led first by the San Francisco Bulletin and then by Francis J. Heney, had exposed this condition of affairs, had indicted the little bosses and bribe takers to the universal applause of the commu- nity and had reached out for the big bribe givers to the universal horror of the 'upper classes/ "What can I do? I asked myself. And the sit- uation, as it grew in intensity, found me an answer. The second Reuf trial was drawing to a close. The guilty and desperate 'men higher up/ who were his partners in crime, began a systematic campaign against right thinking. It worked. Men of good private honor vigorously upheld dishonor. Not by discussing the issues at stake from the first it seemed impossible to get one such discussion but by wilful evasion of them. It seemed to me that people could not think straight. Perhaps the most wonderful thing which we encountered on this expe- dition into strange lands was that the most intelli- gent part of the community insisted on ignoring the basic principles. Side issues, prejudices^ petty ha- treds, dislikes, family affiliations, and,supremely, hiTsrnps iflt.prp.st.fi nprm tfrese public opinion swung. ~" Perhaps because I noticed them more, or perhaps because women are naturally intense partizans, it seemed to me that we met the most violent oppo- sition from our own sex. Heney ? It mattered not that he had broken up the Oregon land frauds, that, when the prosecution was attacking only the little grafters, society had petted him. Now he was a 'persecutor/ Rudolph Spreckels? It mattered not that he had been irreproachable until he gave a hundred thousand dollars to support the prosecu- tion. Now, he was 'out for revenge/ James D. Phelan? It mattered not that he, three-times 160 THE MODERN CITY mayor of San Francisco, had rightly been considered by society the cleanest, most efficient executive who ever ruled us. Now, he was the 'kid-glove boss/ the 'purchaser of newspapers.' 'It's just a fight between two millionaires, Mr. Spreckels wants to get Mr. Calhoun's railways away from him/ said one elderly woman. " For an expression of hatred as near to a curse as her gentle breeding would permit, she used to shake her fist at Mr. Spreckels's house whenever she passed it and cry, 'Oh, that dreadful man!' The thing was tearing society apart; as long as this genera- tion lasts, we shall feel it in San Francisco in new so- cial alignments. It was in this period that a man who was not taking sides gave a large ball. Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Spreckels attended. They were treated so shabbily, so outrageously, that the host, for a rebuke, seated them at his right and left at supper. I grew hardened to 'cuts' on the street; in t imc I adopted the plan of 'seeing' no one. It was the easiest way. We have each our little private vanities and sensitive points; and I shall always remember with amusement the thing which hurt me most. At one stage of the fight, I wrote letters of appeal to four women who are acknowledged leaders in society leaders not in frivolities alone, but in the linn* outlook on life. Avoiding person- alities, I asked their help in overcoming the fake ethics prevailing in tlio city and in establishing a worthy code of morals. With one exception, these were acquaintances at whose homes I had been entertained. Not one replied to my letter. Cu- riously, laughing as I did at 'cuts/ I was hurt when I thought that a letter of mine had gone unanswered. "Others suffered more materially. Mr. Oliver, THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION 161 foreman of the famous Oliver grand jury which brought some of the indictments, was so injured in his business of real estate that he had to leave San Francisco. He was the son of a pioneer merchant, which means something in San Francisco, and his standing had been irreproachable. A grocer on that same jury, who voted according to his con- science, lost a thousand dollars' worth of trade a month. On the Sunday following the attempt to assassinate Heney, Dr. David Evans, pastor of Grace Episcopal Church, offered prayer for his recovery. Heney was lying then at the point of death. The pews murmured audibly; many women rose from their knees and left the church. 'I am on earth for a brief time; I must be true to myself; I could not go through all eternity despising my own soul/ said Dr. Evans when we praised him. But, a short time thereafter, Grace Church became Grace Cathedral, rich, endowed, and somehow Dr. Evans was lost in the reorganization. He has now a small church at Palo Alto. The next prosecutor who becomes a martyr to justice may die or recover without the prayers of Grace Cathedral. "They had subsidized or influenced most of the daily newspapers; had subsidized all save one or two of the weeklies which are so common and so pernicious in San Francisco. These were pouring forth their poisoned statements and twisted truths. As the trial went on, the attorneys for the people found the courtroom packed with paid thugs, whose duty it was to laugh at every serious point made by the prosecution and to seem impressed by ev- ery argument of the defense all this to influence the jury. The prosecution needed support in the courtroom. There was a League of Justice in San Francisco, whose purpose it was to uphold Heney 162 THE MODERN CITY and the people. But these were clerks and profes- sional and small business men ; they had no time to sit through session after session of the trial. So women, representing the only decent leisure class, formed an auxiliary and prepared to encourage justice by our presence a little thing perhaps, but more important than any one can appreciate who did not live through that strange episode in our civic history. We knew, as well as we know now, that it would mean ostracism, slander, vilification, unpleasant newspaper notoriety, financial injury, broken friendships. But we organized nevertheless only a handful at first and took up the one piece of work which we could do. "Then were we made to realize what a terrible offense against humanity we had committed when we chose justice in preference to financial power and social position. From the moment that the Calhoun trial began, that which we call 'society/ for want of a better name, made the prosecution a bitter per- sonal affair. The 'better portion' of the com- munity flouted Heney, slandered the prominent i who stood by him, and ostracized us, his sup- porters. "That is what we learned during those five months in court. \\'e filled in the unconnected joints in ilf system, and matched it with our women's home morals we had learned no other code. It is like tip- house that Jack built. Jack is the 'boss. 1 He sells the privileges of the people to the corporations. The corporations float their bonds through the banks and the banks get their money from Wall Street. And the stick of Wall Street beats the banks and the banks beat the department stores, and the department stores (their stick is called ad- vertising) beat the newspapers and the newspapers THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION 163 tell half the news. And corporation, bank, store, newspaper are run by men who have learned home morals at the knees of women like us ' knitters of the graft prosecution' and then gone out into the world to practise 'business morals/ I am a woman, bewildered by it all, and I can not yet see those business morals though men have tried to explain them to me." 1 Other Cities. The same conflict has arisen in Philadelphia, Columbus, Detroit, Chicago, Denver, in a score of cities where an attempt has been made to regulate the public service corporation. It cannot be other- wise. We have offered such colossal opportunities for easy wealth by a contract with city officials that almost any means are adopted to secure it. Once acquired, those who own are interested in the pres- ervation of their privileges. They are the most influential class in the community. They cannot enter city politics even if they desired to do so, for they are distrusted by the public. Their purse is at war with their patriotism. The professional men are also excluded, for they are employed by the privileged interests, while the press is influenced or owned by the same classes. This is the invisible background of municipal politics; it is the policy of private ownership of a public function that divides our cities into classes and makes it well-nigh impossible for the people to unite on any programme of city improvement. 1 The Delineator, vol. LXXVI, October, 1910. 164 THE MODERN CITY Summary. The public sen-ice corporations for the supply of water, gas, electricity, and transportation are largely responsible for the corruption of our cities. Unlike Germany and England, American cities have gen- erally left these services in private hands, under franchises granted by the council. These grants are of great value, in the larger cities running into tens of millions, possibly hundreds of millions, of dollars. The grants are by their nature exclusive and, because of the difficulties in the way of effective control, thdr value has greatly increased in recent years. In order to retain this monopoly, as well as rates and charges, these corporations are lured into pol- itics; they seek to control parties, to elect mayors, councilmen, and tax officials, and, in addition, to control the press and the agencies of public opinion. An inevitable conflict is created by these conditions, a conflict which aligns the rich and powerful mem- bers of the community on the one hand and unor- ganized democracy on the other. This has been the experience of almost every American city that has attempted to regulate the public service corporation, to introduce competition, or to bring about municipal ownership. Not con- tent with the preservation of existing privileges, these corporations have thwarted efforts to sim; charters, to secure home rule, and to enlarge the power of the people in the control of their local affairs. In onlrr to do this tln-y have nitrrvil State politics for the further protection of their privileges and have sought the control of the judiciary as well. CHAPTER XIII MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN AMERICA MUNICIPAL ownership is the alternative to private operation under a grant from the city. As we use the term it is confined to the street-railways, gas, electric-light, water, and telephone services. These enterprises are recognized as natural monopolies; they have certain features in common which dis- tinguish them from most other businesses. Mr. Tom L. Johnson, for ten years Mayor of Cleveland, and prior to his election one of the largest street-railway operators in America, analyzes these, features as follows. He says: "There exists, I believe, a safe rule to apply as a first test to an enterprise in order to determine whether it is a fit subject for municipal ownership. It may be stated as follows: "No enterprise should be considered a subject for municipal ownership unless it (1) rests upon a public grant or franchise, bestowing a special priv- ilege; (2) is of such a nature that competition can- not enter with benefit to the people at large; (3) requires a very large expenditure of capital for a plant and equipment; and (4) contemplates a per- formance of its functions for a long period of time." Dangers of Political Corruption. A danger frequently urged against municipal ownership is that of corruption and an increase in 165 166 THE MODERN CITY the power of the political machine. Doctor John R. Commons, of the University of Wisconsin, who was a member of the special commission of the National Civic Federation to study public owner- ship, says on this point: "Private corporations are compelled to get their franchises and all privileges of doing business and all terms and conditions of service from the mu- nicipal authorities. And in carrying out their con- tract with the municipality they are dealing < tinually with municipal officials. Consequently it is absurd to assume that private ownership is non- political. It is just as much a political question to get and keep honest and business-like officials who will drive good bargains with private corporations on behalf of the public arid then see that the bar- gains are lived up to, as it is to get similar officials ^to operate a municipal plant. We do not escape 'politics by resort to private ownership we only get a different kind of practical politics." Mr. Robert G. Monroe, former commissioner of water-supply, gas, and electricity, under the Low administration of New York, says: "Neither has New York's municipal water sup- ply proved a political menace. Surely today it is neither a pregnant source of official corruption nor a potent adjunct to any political machine. Under the civil service laws municipal employees are prac- tically less subject to political control than employees of the average public service corporation, which is constantly compelled to make and give places to political workers." MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN AMERICA 167 As a matter of fact, the most serious criticism of private operation is the political activity of the public service corporations. Not only is this the chief cause of corruption in the city, but the employees of the private corporations are quite as active in city politics as are those of the municipality itself. Capitalization. An investigation of public ownership by the National Civic Federation showed the extent of overcapitalization by private companies as com- pared with municipal plants. The outstanding se- curities of the private electric-lighting companies in 1902 amounted to $271.51 per kilowatt-hour unit, while the capitalization of the 815 municipal plants was only $111.89 per kilowatt-hour unit. Much of this excess capitalization in the private plants is fictitious, it is monopoly or franchise value. It is a capitalization of the exclusive grant given to the company by the community. And as the city grows the earning power of the company responds to its growth. This, in turn, permits still further increase in capitalization and dividends. Under municipal ownership, on the other hand, growth in population, with the consequent increase in earning power, permits a reduction in rates or improvements in the service. The social value is returned to the community itself. Similar comparisons of private and public water plants would disclose the same overcapitalization of the former as would a study of gas and street- railway companies. 168 THE MODERN CITY Municipal Water Works. The water-supply has been generally municipal- ized in the United States. An investigation by the federal government in 1905 showed that 113 of the 154 cities of over 30,000 inhabitants owned or operated their plants, while in 1912 of a total of $839,205,681 invested by cities in business under- takings $475,544,000 was invested in water-works. Nearly all the large cities, with the exception of Indianapolis, New Haven, Omaha, Denver, and San Francisco, own their water-supply, and within the last few years Omaha, Denver, and San Fran- cisco have decided to either take over the existing companies or construct their own plants. There is no tendency to return to private operation in any of the cities; in fact, the propriety of public owner- ship in this field is rarely disputed. Municipal water plants generally charge lower rates than do the private plants; they are more permanently constructed, offer better fire and do- mestic service, while the health of the cities owning their plants is generally better than where the pri- vate plants obtain. Mr. Robert G. Monroe says of the rates and charges of the New York water-supply: "Had the water supply been in private hands, financed upon parallel lines and similar business methods to those pursued by the private lighting monopoly, the citizens of New York would be pay- ing between eighteen and twenty million dollars ft year for water, instead of between five and five and MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN AMERICA 169 a half million, the annual cost under public owner- ship." One of the most ambitious water-supplies of any city is that of Los Angeles, Cal., which city is con- structing a 240-mile aqueduct to bring the supply to the city, at a cost of $24,500,000. The mains skirt 130 miles of the Mojave Desert and will irri- gate 135,000 acres of dry land. Practically all of the work has been done by the city itself, by the direct employment of labor under the direction of competent engineers. The water power will be used to develop an electric-power plant estimated to produce 120,000 horse-power, to be delivered at the city limits for domestic and business uses. This is also to be operated by the city. The under- taking was approved by a referendum vote of the citizens in 1905. Electric Lighting. Municipal ownership has developed rapidly in the field of electric lighting. In 1885 but 9.5 per cent, of the electric plants were under municipal con- trol, while in 1906 24.4 per cent, were publicly owned. In 1902 there were 815 municipally owned electric- lighting stations and ten years later there were 1,562. In the former year the income was $6,965,105, and in the latter $23,218,989, or an increase of 233.4 per cent. During the same period the horse-power generated increased by 249 per cent. The total number of private consumers of the public plants grew in the same time by 347.4 per cent. Among the large cities maintaining plants are 170 THE MODERN CITY Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Memphis, Allegheny, Grand Rapids, Seattle, and Pasadena. Cleveland has recently authorized $2,000,000 in bonds for the erection of an electric-lighting plant in connection with its water station. Prior to the erection of the public plant in Detroit a private company offered a ten-year contract for street lighting at $12'J per arc light. The Detroit commission gives the cost of municipal operation, including taxes, interest, and depreciation, at $55.28 per lamp. In addition to water and electric-lighting plants the cities of New York, Baltimore, Boston, Philar delphia, and several of the Pacific coast cities have constructed municipal docks. New York City has invested immense sums in its subways and main- tains ferries connecting the boroughs. Some of the smaller towns maintain theatres. .Gas plants are owned by a number of cities, while public garbage plants are maintained by a few. Cleveland, Toledo, and Detroit have been prevented from entering on the ownership of the street-railways by restrictions in their charters and the limitations on their borrow- ing powers. In each of these cities municipal owner- ship will probably be undertaken at no distant date. A number of western Canadian cities own their street-railway systems, and the next few years will undoubtedly see a rapid increase in this field of municipal activity. San Francisco Street Railways. San Francisco is the only American city that has ventured into the field of municipal ownership of MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN AMERICA 171 its street-railway system. In 1913 it opened the Geaiy Street line, with over seven and one half miles of double track. The same year $3,500,000 was voted for extensions. When the present con- struction work is completed the city will be in pos- session of a total of about nineteen miles of track. The first year's operation was necessarily experi- mental, but it showed a net income, over and above operating expenses, of $153,000. From this was de- ducted the interest on the debt and taxes, while $80,000 was set aside for depreciation and acci- dents. Describing the first year's experience of op- eration, a writer in the National Municipal Review says: "The municipal service has not had any notice- able effect in eliminating the strap hangers. It re- mains true of public as of private roads that the standing passengers pay the profits. The employees, however, are polite and accommodating, and there is an evident effort in the management of the road to suit the public convenience. The men appear well content, receiving a wage of three dollars a day for eight hours of work. The rate paid on the private road is from twenty-five to thirty cents an hour, depending on length of service. The men are selected by civil service examinations and hold dur- ing good behavior. They may, however, be dis- missed without trial. Altogether, the people of San Francisco are well pleased, thus far, with their ex- periment in municipal ownership of street railroads. It has not proved the gold mine that some of its overenthusiastic promoters promised. But it has improved service, bettered the condition of the 172 THE MODERN CITY working force, paid its way, and given promise of securing the extensions that could not be secured under the regulations imposed on private owner- ship." 1 Regulation. Private ownership under regulation is frequently urged as a means of securing the advantages of municipal operation without the attendant evils, such regulation to be either by the city or by the State public service commissionfi. Experience has shown, however, that it is the attempt to regulate that lures the corporation into politics, and the more complete the regulation the greater the effort to control either the city or the commission. In addition, orders when made are not obeyed. They are objected to at hearings and when finally entered are resisted in the courts on the ground of con- fiscation or unreasonableness. The courts are filled with cases of this kind, many of them carried to the Supreme Court of the United States, and, even if the ruling is finally upheld, years of delay are se- cured during which time the prevailing rates and charges are maintained. Moreover, regulation can deal only with a limited number of questions, and, most important of all, it cannot experiment. And it is through the freedom to experiment that econ- omies and efficiency are brought about. The conflict of motive between private operation interested in profits and public operation interested in service cannot be harmonized by regulation any National Municipal Review, July, 1914, by E. A. Waloott. MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN AMERICA 173 more than by competition. This is the experience of European cities where private operation under exacting regulation was exhausted before the policy of ownership was entered upon. Cleveland Experience. The city of Cleveland has had prolonged ex- perience in the effort to regulate private ownership of the street-railways. For nine years the effort was made to reduce street-railway fares from five to three cents. Ordinances were passed by the council which were immediately carried to the courts, where they were delayed for years. In all, over fifty injunction suits were filed against the city and a score of elections held before a compro- mise was reached under which the company ac- cepted a valuation of the property upon which divi- dends of 6 per cent, only were to be allowed. Rates of fare were fixed first at three cents, with the right to increase them if this did not produce sufficient income. The settlement was finally reached in 1910, and during the intervening years the fare has remained at the initial rate agreed upon, three cents, although an additional charge of one cent for a transfer was made for a short period. As a result of the reduction in fare, car riders have been saved $2,500,000 a year. Similar reductions in fares have been made in Toledo and Detroit, in which cities the community has refused to renew the franchise on any terms, preferring to wait for municipal ownership rather than accept any terms which the company has offered. 174 THE MODERN CITY Ethical Gains from Ownership. The most important gains from municipal owner- ship are not financial but political and ethical. Through ownership the city will be freed from the conflict of interest which now divorces much of its talent from the public service. This conflict remains even under regulation; it becomes most acute when regulation is most efficient. Partisanship is kept alive to be used against an administration which interferes with these interests, while the press is subsidized and the agencies of public opinion con- trolled to maintain the invisible powers referred to in the preceding chapter. And this conflict can only be terminated when the cause of it is removed and the city itself is possessed of the privileges in whose preservation the wealth and power of tin* city is interested. Then the talent of the city will be free to want good government. Men will th<>n be in a position to aspire to public office and promote the city's well-being. In addition the city will become such an important agency, the activities which it owns will be of such transcendent interest, that men of power will desire place not only in administrative positions but in the council as well. Further than this, a city which serves its citizens in many ways, which touches their lives daily and hourly, will awaken interest on the part of all classes. There will be an economic and social nexus between the voter and the city which will supply the strongest possible motive for good gov- ernment. MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN AMERICA 175 Summary. Municipal ownership in America is almost limited to water and electric-lighting plants, although a number of cities own their gas-plants. Advocates of municipal ownership claim that the capitalization of the municipal plants is lower than that of private plants and that the construction work is generally more permanent; that the rates and charges of the public plants are lower than those of the private plants and that the water service is better. Nor has municipal ownership led to the creation of a po- litical machine among municipal employees; rather, ownership has taken these services out of politics. Nor has regulation succeeded in eliminating the evils of private ownership. In many cases it has intensified them. For it is the fear of regulation in some form or other that has lured the public service corporation into politics and led to the corruption described in the previous chapter. The most important gains from municipal owner- ship are in the field of politics. Through it the city is freed from a conflict of interest, and all classes of the community are enabled to devote themselves to the city's welfare and the non-partisan promotion of its interests. CHAPTER XIV MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE MUNICIPAL ownership is the established official policy of nearly all British as well as of many German cities. In Great Britain the movement is confined to street-railways, gas, water, and electric- lighting enterprises, the telephone properties being owned and operated by the national government. In Germany municipal ownership has no set limits. It includes not only the natural monopolies but abattoirs, markets, docks, mortgage banks, savings- banks, pawnshops, restaurants, wine handling, and occasionally insurance and baking. Many cities in Italy and Austria own and operate the public- utility plants, while in France and Belgium the movement is just in its beginning. Of the fifty largest cities in Great Britain and Germany the following have entered on the policy of municipal ownership: 1 IN GBBAT BBITAIN OWN THEIB Own IN GBBMANT 39 Water supply 48 21 . .Gas supply 50 44 Electricity SUDD!V 42 42 Tramways 23 49 Baths 48 44 Markets 60 23 ..Slaughter-houses.. 43 1 Elaborate reports of the financial operations of British cities wfll be found in the Municipal Year Book, published annually (London), and of German cities in the Kommunalf* Jahrbuch (Berlin). See also Municipal Life and Government in Germany, by W. H. DftWBoa. 170 MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 177 Street-RailwaysEarly Policy. The cities of Great Britain experimented with private ownership of street-railways prior to the adoption of the policy of municipal ownership. Under the Tramway Act of 1870, which was the general act under which grants were made, cities were permitted to lay the tracks but could not operate the roads. Franchises were limited to twenty-one years, with the provision that the city could take over the property at the expiration of the grant upon the payment of the structural value. Under this act nearly all of the large cities entered into contracts with private companies which oper- ated the system upon tracks laid by the city, the equipment being for the most part for horse traction. The Beginning of Municipal Ownership. The success of electric traction in America and Germany in the early nineties led to requests on the part of the companies for permission to electrify their lines, while the cities themselves were desirous of better service. Coincident with this movement there were numerous controversies over wages, hours of labor, and conditions of employment, while the cities, awakened to an appreciation of the profit- ableness of the industry, took action looking toward the municipalization of the undertakings whose fran- chises were approaching expiration. In Glasgow (present population 1,150,000) the controversy between the company and the men had been prolonged and bitter. The community sympathized with the demands of the employees, 178 THE MODERN CITY who were alleged to be overworked and underpaid. The company, however, declined to arbitrate the question of wages or hours of labor, and the irrita- tion over this question stimulated the demand for ownership. The question was agitated for several yean, and in 1VM the council decided to retake the tracks which it had laid under its statutory powers. But the company refused to sell its equipment, so the city had to purchase equipment elsewhere. As a consequence of this action the company ultimately lost its total equipment investment. With the advent of municipal operation fares were reduced 33 per cent, below those previously prevailing, while the length of the hauls was in- creased. The condition of the employees was also improved. Free uniforms were added, as well as five days' holiday each year. The Growth of the Movement The success of Glasgow stimulated the move- ment for numiripal operation in other cities, for the discontent with private operation was general Controversy with employees was a common causa of trouble. But probably the main operating mo- tive was the desire of the city to control its trans- portation system and derive such revenue as was possible out of ownership. For local taxes in Great Britain are very heavy. And the business men and citizens saw in municipal ownership a means for relieving the rates. In addition, cities were con- sidering the installation of electric-lighting plants, MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 179 and it was seen that power stations could, with economy, be constructed which could be used for lighting as well as for the operation of the street- railway plants. And this has quite commonly been done. A uniform load is possible by this arrange- ment, the day load being used for the operation of the tramways and power and the night load for the lighting of the city. Tramway Construction and Service. The street-railways in Great Britain are con- structed with much more permanence than they are in America. This is true of private as well as public undertakings. The girder groove rail is uni- versally used. Tracks are heavily ballasted, while the overhead work is very substantial. Many of the towns have erected splendid shops in which they both build and repair their cars. In conse- quence of the high standard of construction the capital outlay has been very heavy. In 1906 the cost of the Glasgow system was $93,305 per mile of single track and in Liverpool $90,536. The Lon- don County Council reports a cost of $106,033 per mile. It is believed that the construction cost in the British cities exceeds that of the average Amer- ican city (outside of New York, Philadelphia, Bos- ton, Chicago, and Washington) by approximately 50 per cent. Aside from the large investment in capital ac- count, there are many provisions for the comfort and convenience of the people. For the street-rail- way is under constant supervision; it touches 180 THE MODERN CITY every citizen daily. It is more difficult to disguise bad service in street-railway operation than in any other public utility. Accidents are of rare occur- rence. They have been reduced to a minimum. The same solicitude is manifested in the care of the cars. They are kept fresh with paint and are washed daily. In Glasgow and many other cities all advertisements have been excluded. Employees are courteous and seem animated by a sense of service to the community, and because of the surveillance of the public they are of neces- sity considerate to the riders. Council committees are on the alert to better conditions and to adopt new devices. There is keen rivalry between dif- ferent cities, each of which takes peculiar pridr its enterprises, the equipment and the service ren- 1, as well as the annual balance-sheet. The zone system of fares is universal in Great Britain as it was under private management. In a sense travel is metered, just as is gas, water, and electricity. Upon each zone a fare of from one to two cents is collected, depending upon the length of the ride. There seems to be no protest what< against this system, which leads to a very great stimulus of short-haul riders. Motives of Operation. Four motives animate the councils in the opera- tion of the street-railway system. They are: first, the best possible service at the minimum cost; second, the relief of the taxpayers by more or less substantial contributions to the city budget; third, MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 181 the widening of the boundaries of the city and the improvement of housing conditions by opening up the countryside; and, fourth, the improvement in the condition of the employees. There is constant pressure to reduce the fares and extend the zones; but the prevailing tendency of councils is to utilize the surplus earnings for the reduction of the debt and the repayment of the loans. Despite this fact, rates of fare are lower than under private management and very much lower than they are in the United States. For instance, in Glasgow there is a one-cent fare for short distances of about half a mile, and in 1912 43.98 per cent, of the passengers paid but a one-cent fare. The num- ber paying 2 cents formed 37.85 per cent, of the total number, while the percentage paying 3 cents was 7.38. In that year over 80 per cent, of all the passengers paid 2 cents or less. The one-cent fare encourages traffic in the centre of the city and is a great convenience. It stim- ulates travel when traffic is light. The average fare paid by all passengers in Glas- gow in 1912 was 1.72 cents; in Manchester (popula- tion 950,000), 2.32 cents; in Liverpool (population 816,000), 2.24 cents; and in Sheffield (population 455,800), 1.8 cents. The average fare paid on all of the 136 tramways operated by local authorities in 1910 was 2.1 cents, as opposed to an average of 2.48 cents paid on the 138 private companies. In 1911 the total receipts in Glasgow were $4,748,740. At the prevailing 182 THE MODERN CITY 5-cent fare charged in America the passengers would have paid $11,898,365. Financial Operations. The total capital investment of the 136 local authorities operating street-railways, which included nearly every large city in the United Kingdom, was, in 1910, $220,541,250. The gross receipts for the year amounted to $47,437,170, against which were charged operating expenses of $29,436,216, leaving a net revenue of $18,000,955. The percentage of net earnings to capital invested was 8H per cent. The publicly owned lines were operated at a lower ratio of cost than the private companies, despite the higher wages paid, the shorter hours, and bet- ter conditions of employment. Working expense of the local authorities to the gross income was 62.05 per cent, as against 62.52 per cent, for the private companies. At the same time, while the cities earned 8)4 per cent, on their investment, the pri- vate companies earned but 4^ per cent. The public undertakings are under strict par- liamentary supervision. They are required by law to amortize their debt by annual contributions to the sinking-fund. In 1910 $5,893,875 of the gross earnings of all public plants was used for this pur- posi*. In an. th- municipal plant- pay lavs the same as the private companies, so that public and private operation is on a parity in all com- parisons of earnings. Aside from four small communities showing a deficit, which in 1910 amounted in the MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 183 to but $15,000, most of the companies made very substantial contributions to taxation. The tram- ways of Manchester contributed $364,987 to the re- lief of taxes; of Leeds, $275,000; of Birmingham, $160,000; of Liverpool, $135,000; of Nottingham and of Bradford, $100,000. In Glasgow the net profits, which amounted to $265,000, are paid into a special fund, known as the Common Good. In 1910 the total contributions of the public tramways to the relief of taxation were $2,200,565. In addition, there was a gain to the public of $7,- 989,434 in the difference between the average fares charged by the publicly owned tramways and the average fares of the private companies. There is no question about the financial success of public operation. The indebtedness of the cities is being rapidly amortized. In addition to the regular amortization charge provided by law, cities make very substantial contributions to depreciation and reserve. For instance, Glasgow in 1910 repaid its debt to the extent of $448,470 and added $1,102,- 895 to the depreciation and reserve. The sum con- tributed to depreciation and reserve, in addition to debt repayment, by Manchester was $375,000; by Liverpool, $427,555; and by Sheffield, $106,980. These statistics are authoritative. Municipal au- thorities are required to keep their accounts accord- ing to standards fixed by the local government board. Annual returns are required to be made to the board of trade, while the reports are pub- lished each year and are subject to scrutiny. The 184 THE MODERN CITY books of the municipality are also audited by the central authorities, in order to make sure that all requirements as to debt repayment, depreciation, and reserve are properly provided for. 1 Service. Overcrowding is specifically prohibited, and rarely is it necessary to stand. In Liverpool 68 per c additional cars are added during the rush hours. In Leeds the service is increased by 30 per cent, in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. In some cities standing is prohibited. Many cities, too, reduce their fares for working men in the morning and evening. In Manchester the 3 and 4 cent fares are reduced to 2 cents, the 5 and 6 cent fares to 3 cents, and the 7 and 8 cent fares to 4 cents. In Leeds four-mile tickets are sold for 2 cents. The purpose of these rules is to encourage working men to live in the country and to still fur- ther adjust the tramway service to the needs of the .ing classes. As indicative of the experiments made by British cities is the instance of Bradford, which carries on a municipal express and delivery service all < the city. This service is not unlike that of the par- cel post. Stamps are sold, which are affixed to parcels in the centre of the city. They are then loaded on the street-cars to be delivered to the various sub-stations for distribution throughout the 1 Further details of rarious cities may be secured from Tkt Mu- nicipal Ytr Book, London, which gives complete statistics of all the local authorities in Great Britain. MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 185 city. At the terminals of each route a uniformed agent collects and delivers the parcels. Rates of charges are as follows: for packages up to 7 pounds, 4 cents; from 7 to 14 pounds, 6 cents; from 14 to 28 pounds, 8 cents; and from 28 to 56 pounds, 10 cents. The entire investment in the parcels-de- livery system is but $17,033, which includes the cost of five motor vans. The total cost of this service in 1910 was $31,284, and the receipts were $39,757. During the year 675,719 packages were carried, at great economy to the merchants and citizens. Many of the shopkeepers have been en- abled to dispense with their delivery service, while the congestion of the streets is greatly reduced, as is the unnecessary waste involved in countless de- livery wagons traversing the same routes. Other Gains from Municipal Ownership. There is little sentiment for a return to private operation from any class. The financial gains are too obvious. The service is undeniably better on the public tramways than on the private ones, while rates of fare are lower and the condition of the em- ployees is better. Membership on the tramways council committee is sought after as a high honor because of the opportunities for service involved. Cities, too, are eager to introduce new devices and new comforts, and representatives are constantly studying the service of other countries. There has been a steady improvement in cars, a constant ef- fort to better the service and consider the well- being of the community. 186 THE MODERN CITY The double-decker type of car is universal and is very popular. The upper deck is so arranged that it can be closed in winter. Smoking is permitted on the upper deck, which is used by all classes for pleasure riding. The double deck also increases the seating capacit In addition, there has been no serious trouble between the city and its employees such as pre- vailed under private operation. The city adjusts differences through the council committee or by arbitration. But controversies of this kind have been very rare, owing to the fact that the city pays a higher rate of wage than prevails in other indus- tries; it supplies the men with free uniforms; it al- lows, generally, a week's holiday on full pay, and otherwise concerns itself for the well-being of its employees. As a consequence of this a fine esprit de corps has arisen among the employees. They seem to take great pride in their jobs and are ear- nestly tealous in their effort to serve the com- munity. The Electricity Supply. Electric-lighting plants are very generally owned by the British cities. The introduction of eleo- :ty was delayed in Great Britain until after it had obtained a foothold in America, and cities refused to grant franchises to private companies until the success of electric lighting was assured. The introduction of electricity was generally c< cident with the municipaliiation of the tramways. The statistics of the Municipal Year Book indicate MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 187 that the rates and charges of municipal companies are considerably lower than those of the private companies. The Gas Supply. The gas has not been so generally municipalized as either the street-railway or the electricity supply. Gas was introduced many years ago by private companies which were given long-term, indeter- minate grants, so that when the city comes to ac- quire them it has to pay a substantial sum for the franchise. This, along with the idea that elec- tricity would eventually supplant gas, has checked the municipalization of the supply. The returns of local authorities and private com- panies for the year 1911 show that 298 plants are owned by municipal authorities and 511 by private companies. The public authorities supply 2,666,146 consumers and the private companies 3,751,703. The local authorities earn 9% per cent, upon the capital invested and the private companies 5^ per cent., showing that the cities are good business managers. The net revenues of the public com- panies were $14,636,535, which was used to pay in- terest upon the investment, for the reduction of the debt and the relief of the taxpayers. Charges for Gas. The price of gas is much lower hi Great Britain than it is in the United States. The returns for 1911 show that the average charge for gas per 1,000 cubic feet by the municipalities was 60 cents, as opposed to 66 cents by the private companies. In Binning- 188 THE MODERN CITY ham rates are from 42 to 56 cents per 1,000 feet; in Bradford, Burnley, Halifax, and Rochedale, 50 cents; in Manchester, from 58 to 60 cents; and in Oldham, 46 cents. Through ownership the cities are able to exper- iment in a variety of ways. They light the streets very generously. It is a common saying in Great Britain that a lamp-post is as good as a police- man. Tenement districts, slums, and alleyways are lighted as a preventive of vice and crime. Cities also encourage the use of gas by providing cooking- stoves at a low rental or at cost. Among the very poor penny-in-the-slot meters are installed by which th" consumer can buy two cents' worth of gas by tin* insertion of a coin in the meter. The municipal gas plants earn large sums for the repayment of loans and the reduction of taxes. The total contributions to the relief of city taxes amount to more than $2,000,000 a year. German Municipal Socialism. German cities engage in a great variety of activ- ities of social betterment. This is due to several causes. In the first place, the laissez-faire philos- ophy of Great Britain and America has never made much headway in Germany. On the contrary, the idea of state and municipal ownership is accepted by all classes as a perfectly natural thing. Both the nation and the cities have owned many things from early times. The steam-railways, telegraph, and plume services are owned and operated by individual states. The states and cities are also MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 189 great land owners. Some of the states own mines and operate them at a profit. A large part of the revenues of Prussia is derived from profit-making enterprises. In the second place, the military organization of Germany leads to constant interference with the lives of the citizens, which interference has been greatly extended in recent years as a means of pro- tecting the health, lives, and efficiency of the people. Finally, the cities are free to do anything necessary for the welfare of the people. They have home rule and can own and operate, regulate and control individual property with almost as much freedom as the state itself. This is the background of the German city upon which a social programme has been reared that has made it the model of the modern world. To this must be added the fact that the city is governed by experts trained in the universities and technical schools. It has at its command the trained men of the empire in finance, education, sanitation, housing, taxation, and administration, as well as the co-operation of the interior department, the universities, and the technical schools. The Ger- man city is more adequately equipped with expert assistants than is any private corporation. German cities adopted ownership after a thorough test of private operation. Franchises for street- railways were originally granted for from twenty- five to forty years, but the service was not satis- factory and the equipment was not kept up to a 190 THE MODERN CITY high standard of efficiency. In addition, the hous- ing problem was very acute and means had to be found to remove the population from the old con- gested quarters of the city. This could only be done through adequate transportation facilities, and the companies were unwilling to extend their lines out into the non-profitable suburbs. Further than this, German cities have worked out comprehensive planning projects in which transportation is an integral part. It was necessary to control the means of transit in order to project industries out into the surrounding country, to provide homes, and to co-ordinate all of the planning projects of the community. The zone system of street-railway fares prevails in Germany as in Great Britain, the average rate of fare being 2H cents, which includes the right of transfer. Many devices have been adopted for improving the service. One finds maps within the cars on which are indicators showing the car's des- tination. Attractive waiting-rooms are erected to accommodate the passengers in inclement weather. Rates are frequently reduced mornings and evenings for working men, and also for children. Cities also own the water, gas, and elect r supplies, which, like the street-railways, are operated with the aim of rendering the greatest amount of service to the community at the minimum cost. Docks and Harbors. Cities also own their water-fronts and develop thrm with splendidly equipped harbors. The docks MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 191 are connected with the state-owned railroads; they are designed by experts and are consciously used to promote the industrial development of towns and the commerce of the empire. Immense sums have been spent on municipal docks, those along the Rhine and the North Sea being probably the most, perfectly appointed harbors in the world. Diissel- dorf, a city of 356,000 people, has erected a great harbor along the Rhine at a cost of $4,500,000. The building of this dock increased the city traffic by 300 per cent, in ten years' time. Frankfort-on-the- Main, a city of only 414,000 people, two thirds of the size of Cleveland, has set aside $18,000,000 for the dredging of the river, the building of a great inland harbor, and the development of a new indus- trial section. In anticipation of the harbor the city purchased 1,180 acres of agricultural land, which it planned as a complete industrial section, with provision for rail and water transportation, with sites for all sorts of factories, and with a park and playground for the working people. In addi- tion it laid out a suburb close by the new industrial section for working men's dwellings, some of which have been erected by the city and some by private enterprise. By this means Frankfort expects to become a great inland industrial centre, inasmuch as it can offer the best of factory sites at a low price to capital. This is one of the ways German cities promote their growth. And Frankfort expects to pay for the entire expenditure out of the increased value of the land by selling and leasing the land to 192 THE MODERN CITY industries at prices which will ultimately relieve the city of indebtedness. Other activities of the German city will be de- scribed in a subsequent chapter: "The City as a Social Agency." Summary. Municipal ownership of the public service cor- porations is the established policy of the cities of Great Britain and Germany and to some extent of those of Italy, Switzerland, and Austria-Hungary. ' 1 1 has made only a beginning in France and Belgium. Almost all of the cities of Great Britain own the street-railway, electric-lighting and water supplies, while a large number own the gas supply. The great majority of the German cities own their gas and water supply and a large number the electric and tramway services. Public ownership was promoted by the same causes in both countries. Officials saw in these services an opportunity to make money and thus reduce the rates and taxes. In addition, the corpora- tions rendered unsatisfactory service and wcrv un- willing to meet the growing needs of the communi This was especially true of the street-railway com- panies, whose public ownership and control was an integral part of the housing and town-planning policy of the more progressive cities. From a financial point of view municipal owner- ship is a proved success in both countries although the services are rendered at low cost. Street-rail- way fares average about one half what they are in the United States, while the price of gas is from one half to two thirds that charged in this country. Cities have shown initiative in the introduction of new devices and the improvement of the MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP IN EUROPE 193 This is particularly true in the street-railways, which are permanently built and equipped with comfortable and beautiful cars. Reduced working men's fares are provided by many cities in the morning and evening, as well as to aid in the distribution of population out into the countryside. In none of the countries that have municipalized these activities is there any sentiment for a return to private operation. CHAPTER XV CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA THE American city has been inadequately planned. With the exception of Washington, there has been no realization of the permanence of the city, of the importance of streets and open spaces, of building regulations, transportation, water-fronts, and the physical foundations which underlie the city's life. The Importance of Streets. New allotments and their intersecting streets have generally been planned by land speculators in- terested only in the sale of their property. They should have been laid out by the city as part of a comprehensive plan. This, in many cases, is an ir- reparable injury, for streets control the city as does nothing else. They make or mar its appearance. They determine its comfort and convenience. They form its circulatory system. Proper street planning is the first essential to a city plan. I the irregular, crooked streets of Boston that lend pictureaqueness to that city. Washington is dignified and commanding because of the carefully studied combination of streets and avenues, with a large number of parks and open spaces. New York is saved from the commonplace by Broadway, which cute diagonally across Manhattan Island and ex* CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA 195 pands at intervals into Union, Madison, and Long- acre Squares. The historic streets of Europe the Strand, Fleet and Regent Streets in London, the boulevards in Paris, the Ringstrassen in Vienna and Cologne, Unter den Linden in Berlin, the embank- ments in Budapest are suggestive of the extent to which the city is dependent upon its streets. They are the commanding features of its life. Street Planning. William Perm was in a sense responsible for the street arrangement of the American city. In laying out Philadelphia he adopted what is known as the gridiron plan, that is, a series of rectangular streets, equal distances apart, with no radial thoroughfares. This arrangement satisfies landowners, who get the maximum use of their land, but it has little else to commend it. It is not adjusted to circulation or to business, while traffic has to zigzag across the city at great loss of time. Nor does it offer any centres or commanding sites for buildings; there are no fine vistas, only a series of uniform streets. This type of street plan has been copied by almost all of our cities with the exception of those of the East. Cities are now finding it necessary to cut new streets through the business districts to relieve the congestion of this rectangular plan. Chicago is discussing the opening of radial boulevards through the existing street plan, while Boston has spent millions to open up new streets in the old part of the city. Philadelphia is planning a wide parkway 196 THE MODERN CITY from the city hall to Fairmount Park, and Baltimore is projecting a boulevard from the outskirts to the centre of the city. All of these costs would 1: been saved had the city been intelligently planned in the beginning, as was Washington, whose streets were laid out by an expert engineer before a single house was erected. Cleveland, Buffalo, and Mil- waukee, and a few Western cities, were saved from tli" worst features of the gridiron plan by radial thoroughfares, like the ribs of a fan, which run out from the city centre. New York Plan. It is said that New York was planned in 1807 by laying a mason's hand sieve across the map of the island, Broadway being left undisturbed. It was assumed that lines of traffic would always be from river to river rather than north and south. East and west streets hcrefore placed close to- gether, being only 200 feet apart, while the n< and south avenues are from 700 to 900 feet apart. As th< city grew the lines of traffic changed, and to-day New York suffers from inadequate north and south avenues. The traffic necessities are al- ready so great that immense sums are being spent to relieve the mistakes of the early plans. It has become necessary to open up the lower end Seventh Avenue in order to secure another entrance to the down-town districts, while plans have been suggested for a new avenue to be cut, at tremen- dous cost, from the Pennsylvania Station to the Grand Central Station, as well as a north and south CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA 197 avenue between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. In ad- dition, by reason of the rectangular street arrange- ment, there is scarcely a commanding site for a public building on the island. Speaking of the result of the work of the New York Planning Commission of 1807, Mr. Frederick L. Olmsted said: "Ever since, if a building site is wanted, there is, of intention, no better place in one of these blocks than in another. There is no place in New York where a stately building can be looked up to from base to turret, none where it can even be seen full in the face and all at once taken in by the eye; none where it can be viewed in advan- tageous perspective. Such distinctive advantage of position as Rome gives Saint Peter's, London Saint Paul's, New York, under her system, gives to nothing." l The Plumbing of the City. Transportation, gas, water, and electric light and power are as necessary to the modern city as is the plumbing of a house or the elevators of an office building. J Transit controls the distribution of pop- ulation. It decrees whether people shall live in tenements, as in New York and Chicago, or in suburbs, like those of Boston and Philadelphia. Transit, too, establishes the area and circumference of the city. It profoundly influences the health and well-being of the community. It has a direct connection with vice and crime. When we study the pathology of the city we will see that its dis- 1 Town Planning, Past, Present and Possible, H. Inigo Triggs, p. 97, 198 THE MODERN CITY 'eases are intimately connected with our failure to properly provide for transit, for municipal diseases are largely due to the inadequacy of this service. Water, gas, and electricity are the other vital organs of the community, and they, like the street- railways, have generally been left in private hands. And private individuals decide for us not only the prices we shall pay for these services but the com- forts and conveniences dependent upon them. The License of Builders. Private builders have also been permitted to do as they wished with their property. There has been litt Id control of the amount of land that might be built upon, of the height of buildings, of the style of tenements, of the materials used in construction. There is no uniform sky-line. Terrible catastrophes, likr the Triangle fire in New York, have resulted from our failure to control this side of the city's building. Nor is there any attempt to determine tli' uses to which property can be put. A man can build a factory where he wills. He can erect an apartment-house on a street dedicated to de- tached homes or even build a noisy garage or open a saloon or livery-stable in the residence dist: The city has been unwilling or unable to control these abuses. "All street architecture," says H. Inigo Triggs, "is social architecture and ought surely to conform to those rules of convention by which all society is werned. It should not be possible for any one )lder to erect some vulgar monstrosity as an CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA 199 advertisement, when by such building he entirely destroys the artistic harmony of the street. There is an ever growing need for a cultured and wide censorship, as liberal as possible, that will prevent the erection of the hideous and purposeless build- ings that so often disgrace our streets." l In Paris prizes are given to architects who design the best street fagade during the year. The city also makes awards for the best designs for buildings. It remits a part of the street tax to the owners of approved structures. Water-Fronts and Railway Terminals. American cities have also neglected to retain pos- session of their water-fronts. New York has ex- pended hundreds of millions in the repurchase of its harbor front in order to protect its ocean traffic, while Boston, Philadelphia, and Baltimore have only recently begun to plan for municipal harbors. But, with the exception of a few cities, scarcely a harbor on the Atlantic seaboard has been protected against private exploitation, while from Duluth to Buffalo, on the Great Lakes, the water-frontage is owned almost exclusively by railroads and private interests, which will have to be expropriated by the community if adequate harbor facilities are to be provided for the water traffic of this great inland sea. Nor have we utilized our water-fronts for recrea- tion or beauty. Boston has its Charles River Basin ; New York, Riverside Park; Chicago and Cleveland have preserved a portion of the lake front; but, 1 Town Planning, Past, Present and Possible, p. 256. 200 THE MODERN CITY generally speaking, the ocean, lake, and river front- age is in the hands of business when it should be the centre of the life of the city as it is in European countries, where the water-fronta have been retained in public hands. We have also neglected to make provision for transportation facilities and railway terminals. With tin exception of New York, Washington, Boston, and two or three other cities, railway approaches are almost universally bad. Stations are inade- quate; there are no great union freight terminals; no attempt to unite water and rail traffic. Nor have our cities provided for the proper locat of public buildings. There have been no great c ires, like those of Europe, about which pul>li< buildings are grouped. All these agencies are closely related to th of the community, and their control and correlat under a definite plan is involved in the art of planning. The Beginning of the Planning Movement Hi* World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 marks the beginning of city planning in America. People it with the inquiry: " Why cannot cities be built likr :i world's fair; why should we not employ archi- tects and artists in th. ir designing; why should we not live in cities as beautiful as this fugitive play , that will disappear at the end of the sum- r?" And the men who designed the fair also became interested in thr grouping of public build- ings, in the control of streets and open spaces, in CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA 201 the idea of building cities with a vision of the fu- ture. Then it was discovered that America possessed in its capital one of the most completely planned cities in the world. Washington was designed over a century ago. It might have grown as other Amer- ican cities have grown had it not been for the imag- ination of the first President, who called to his aid a French military engineer, Peter Charles L'Enfant, who had been with him during the Revolutionary War. L'Enfant visited the capitals of Europe; he studied their streets and open spaces, the location of public buildings, and on his return he laid out Washington as a capital city for a population of 700,000 people. The Washington Plan. The Capitol was located on a commanding hill and was connected with the White House by Penn- sylvania Avenue. Between the Capitol and the White House grounds a parkway 2,000 feet in width was set aside as the site of future public buildings. This broad mall between the executive and legisla- tive departments of the government was dedicated to departmental buildings, a number of which have already been erected. When completed the mall will be one of the most splendid parkways in the world, flanked on either side by great buildings, and with a view of the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, and the expanse of the Po- tomac River in the distance. The plans reserved the banks of the river for public uses, upon which 202 THE MODERN CITY parks and an inland water basin have been laid out . Scattered about the city are open spaces and circles which have been developed into small parks. A very large area of land was dedicated to streets and to parkage in front of the houses. The street system which L'Enfant designed was unique. Under it congestion is impossible. He took the rectangular gridiron plan of Philadelphia and laid across it broad diagonal avenues opening into important civic centres. At the intersection of streets and avenues open spaces were left for gardens and statuary. Civic centres were estab- lished about the Capitol, the White House, and elsewhere, which distribute the life of the city to many centres. In this respect Washington is like Paris, London, and Berlin. The designs of L'Enfant were followed for nearly a century with but slight alterations. In 1903 a Senate committee was appointed to study the future development of the city and decide upon t!i" sites of future public buildings. The commis- sion was composed of leading experts, who visited Europe and on their return reported that the future plans of the city should follow those of L' Enfant; that future public buildings should be located upon the mall, and that but little improvement could be made upon the original design. Recent Progress in City Planning. The last ten years have witnessed a wide-spread interest in town planning. Over one hundred cities have entered upon planning projects. They CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA 203 include New York, Chicago, Boston, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Milwaukee, Co- lumbus, Albany, Rochester, Springfield (Mass.), Denver, Seattle, Kansas City, Detroit, Saint Louis, Hartford, Los Angeles, San Diego, Providence, Saint Paul, Minneapolis, and half a hundred other cities of from 25,000 inhabitants upward. Many of these cities have appointed experts or commis- sions to prepare plans. Hundreds of millions of dollars are involved in these undertakings, which in many instances have met with the enthusiastic approval of the people. A national town planning conference has been organized, which has held six annual meetings, while the cities of Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York have held very creditable exhibits of town planning in connection with conferences. There is evidence that the municipal movement in America is on the threshold of a transition, and it is not impossible that the next few years will see the de- velopment of a nation-wide movement for the im- provement and beautification of our towns. The Chicago Plan. City planning involves either the re-planning of old parts of the city or the development of new areas in an orderly way. The first is very costly; the second involves little other outlay than the prepa- ration of the plans. Chicago has under consideration a colossal pro- gramme of city building. It is fairly comparable to the work of Napoleon III in Paris. The total 204 THE MODERN CITY cost of the plans, which will require years in their completion, runs into hundreds of millions. The project was started by the Commercial Club, which intrusted the plans to Mr. Daniel H. Burnham, an architect of international reputation, and Edward H. Bennett. The plans treat the city as a unit and provide for generations of growth. Michigan A nue, along the lake front, forms the basis, while at the intersection of South Halsted and West Con- gress Streets a civic centre is designed like the Place de la Concorde in Paris, to be surrounded by mon- umental structures dominated by a municipal build- ing whose dome rises high ab<>\ ything else. Out from the civic centre broad radial avenues are to be cut through the rectangular street system to tin* suburbs. Opening out into Lake Michigan a circular harbor is designed from which there is to be a commanding view of the public buildings, while for twenty miles along the lake front a parkway is to be built by dumping the city's refuse within piles driven some distance from the shore. The park- way will be separated from the mainland by la- goons, to be used for boating, rowing, and pleasure craft. Circumferential boulevards are planned in two series which open at intervals into small parks and playgrounds, while far out in the country great woods are to be acquired, like those possessed by the German and Swiss cities. The Chicago plan also includes provision for transit, both steam and elec- tric, including the building of terminals for water CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA 205 and railway transportation. It also includes the development of docks and harbors. The whole plan covers a radius of sixty miles and includes pro- vision for the growth of the city for many genera- tions to come. Chicago is the only American city to undertake a plan in the big, comprehensive way so common in Germany. Grouping Public Buildings. Rulers in every age have taken pride in the adorn- ment of their cities with palaces, cathedrals, and public monuments. And planning in America is for the most part confined to the grouping of pub- lic buildings. Cleveland, a city of 700,000 people, has entered on a civic-centre project whose cost is estimated at over $24,000,000. A large tract of land was purchased, running from the retail bus- iness centre to the lake shore. This land was cov- ered by cheap buildings and was relatively inex- pensive. A commission of outside architects was employed to plan the location of a union railway- station, county court-house, city hall, public library, and other public structures. The railway-station is to be the city's portal and will open into a broad mall 600 feet wide, running to the centre of the city. From one end a vista of the station is ob- tained, while from the other the federal building and library appear. The county court-house is located on one side of the station site, the city hall on the other. Public and semi-public buildings are to flank the mall, which is to be adorned with gar- dens, fountains, and statuary on either side. Be- 206 THE MODERN CITY hind the union station is a lake-front park, to be devoted to recreation. Denver has approved designs for a civic centre in the heart of the city, about which several public buildings are to be grouped, while Seattle, Rochester, Saint Louis, Hartford, Springfield (Mass.), and many other cities are planning similar groups as centres of the city's life. City planning in this country has been generally confused with the city beautiful or limited to parks and boulevards. There has been little thought of tli" social side of the subject, of planning the < for people, for industry, for transit, for terminals, housing, and the development of suburbs. We have not made provision for factory districts or the segre- gation of industry. Little has been done for the planning of water-fronts and practically nothing for the control of railways and terminals. There has been litth* thought of the health of the workers, while play and recreation have been treated as a detached thing. City planning in America has been almost wholly confined to the spectacular. it not yet the science of city building that it is in Germany. Beginning of Control. A committee appointed by the board of estimate and apportionment of New York recently recom- mended very radical legislation for the correction of these conditions. It urged that all buildings be limited in height to not more than twice the width of the street, with permission, however, for towers CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA 207 and set-backs of one foot for each two feet hi stories above that limit. Special regulations for height, bulk, and open spaces are also suggested as to each separate building district to be established. In planning these districts limitations are to be fixed with regard to the present and probable uses of the territory and are designed with the idea of insuring safety from fire and the promotion of health, ade- quate light, air, and open spaces. The committee also recommended that the power be given to the city to designate certain districts for industry and others for residences, with power to regulate each district for the purpose of insuring permanence of values therein. Los Angeles, Cal., has gone further than any other American city in the regulation of land and buildings. The city is divided into industrial and residential sections, with the aim of segregating in- dustry and residences within each of them. All manufacturing is forbidden in the residential dis- tricts, although inoffensive business may be carried on therein. The State of Wisconsin has passed an act permitting the cities to set aside exclusive resi- dential districts, as have Minnesota and Illinois. The legality of these laws has been tested in but few cases, but the Los Angeles ordinance, the most radical of any, has been sustained by the courts of California. The Helplessness of the American City. One reason for this failure of the American city is to be found in its helplessness. For the powers 208 THE MODERN CITY of the city are very limited. It cannot control the ^ public sen-ice corporations or compel the land speculator to plat his land as the city decrees. Officials are compelled to sit idly by while old abuses are repeated, which will have to be corrected in the future at great cost to the community. Only within limits can the city control the height of buildings or limit the amount of land that may be covered by them. We cannot protect the com- munity from noise or dirt or compel factories to locate in the suburbs. The location of houses, their height and distance from the street, the fixing of a sky-lin<', all essential to proper city planning, are beyond our control. Nor have we any power over I ways; we cannot compel them to provide proper stations. We see great cities like Cleveland and HufTalo powerless to secure decent stations or ade- quate terminal facilities. City planning is further impossible by statutory limitations on y borrowing powers. The tax rate is limited, as is the amount of indebtedness. Cities are unable to carry through needed improve* ments because of these limitations on their financial powers. In addition, public opinion, which the law re- flects, is very solicitous of the rights of prop* We have not yet developed a community sense and have little realization of the necessity of public control. Officials, too, have little experience, while we have not appreciated the necessity for the >ort in municipal affairs. At the same time our CITY PLANNING IN AMERICA 209 cities have no traditions of beauty, there is little local affection. All of these factors contribute to the backwardness of the city-planning movement in this country. Summary. City planning has been neglected in America, and in many ways this is our most costly failure. We have neglected to anticipate the city's growth and make provision for its needs. The individualism of American life expresses itself in our cities more prominently than hi any other place; it expresses itself in street planning, in building regulations, in the failure to limit the height of buildings and the area to be covered by them. We have also failed to retain our water-fronts, to anticipate transporta- tion and terminal needs and make provision for in- dustry. All of these needs are part of proper city planning. These failures are largely traceable to our laissez- faire philosophy, a philosophy that gave too great sanction to private property and too little power to the community. There was no far-seeing vision of the future, no appreciation of the city as a perma- nent thing, and no vision of the city as an agency of social welfare. Within the past ten years the town-planning move- ment has received a great impetus and gives promise of being the most hopeful municipal movement in the country. During these years civic centres, parks and boulevard svptems, the laying out of suburban territory, and Jthe regulation of property \1 in'the interest of the community have made substan- | tial progress, in the accomplishment of which scores | of cities have employed trained experts in the carry- B 210 THE MODERN CITY ing out of their plans. Just as home rule is the first essential to a free city, so comprehensive town planning is the most important task in the pro- gramme of city reclamation. CHAPTER XVI CITY PLANNING IN EUROPE THE motive of city planning in the past has been the beautification of a capital city or the aggrandize- ment of a monarch. Pericles built the Acropolis and adorned the city with temples and amphithea- tres as emblems of the city's greatness. Rome was rebuilt by the Augustan emperors in the early centuries of the Christian era, when forums, tem- ples, aqueducts, theatres, and public gardens were laid out on an enduring scale. Athens and Rome. "The Athenian of the time of Pericles pursued his work in the midst of the most admirable buildings, disposed in that large, monumental manner which is of the highest quality of architecture. Hippoda- mus of Miletos had laid out the Peiraeus in orderly squares and liberal spaces. Far away on the Acrop- olis gleamed the marble of the Propylsea and the Parthenon, and between them the bronze figure of Athene Promachos seemed to quiver in the splendid light that played around the city of the violet crown. It is a significant fact that while the other towns of Greece were content with narrow streets and squalid buildings, the fine intelligence of the Athenian expressed itself in the ordered beauty of his city. "The Roman laid out his cities on a broad com- prehensive scheme with ample thoroughfares and 211 212 THE MODKKX CITY public spaces, and no difficulties of engineering or considerations of cost induced him to deviate a hair's breadth from his monumental plan. He adorned his public spaces with the finest statuary and lined the walls of his courts with rare and beau- tiful marbles. He had moreover the habit of grouping his fine buildings in such relation to each other that their effect was enhanced instead of being stultified. Even when the fact is discounted that he had slave labor and the resources of known world at his back, the courage of his expo: ture on public works and the adornment of his < makes our own municipal efforts seem little \am than contemptible." The towns of the Middle Ages were built for pro- tection and shelter. Everything was subordinate to this end. The houses were cloeely crowded within the walls; the open spaces were outside the < Tiir idea of laying out a town on a deliberate plan was not yet thought of, and when new communities were founns<>, the city h:irl. .. stn-ota were designed in this way. They were broken off in dead ends for more easy defence, to keep down the dust in summer and the cold winds of the winter. There was no paving in those days and fuel was difficult to obtain, so the streets were designed to minimize these conditions as much as possible. The street plans of some of the more recent subur- ban developments are designed along these lines. They aim to reproduce in the modern town the CITY PLANNING IN EUROPE 221 charm and picturesqueness of the sixteenth-century city. The planning of the streets and the laying out of new allotments is done by the city rather than by the owner. Pavements, sewers, water and other service pipes are also installed by the city and the construction is very permanent. Before a new territory is opened up to building it is carefully studied to ascertain its natural advantages and the particular use to which it should be put. And when a decision is reached the streets are planned accordingly. This is sometimes done by the city engineer, often by experts called in for the purpose, sometimes after competition. The Zone System. The city also determines the use to which property shall be put. This is not done arbitrarily but in accordance with the natural advantages of the land. This is known as the zone system. If the land is located by the railroad station or in prox- imity to the harbor, it is naturally suited for indus- trial purposes and is planned accordingly. Where possible the factory zone is located on that side of the city away from the prevailing winds, which protects the city from smoke and dirt. All new in- dustries are required to locate in this territory. The worker should be able to live near his work, so land hi the neighborhood is laid off for work- ing men's houses. Here the streets are not very wide, for the traffic is not heavy and should be discouraged. Small parks or play spaces are pro- 222 THE MODERN CITY vided to afford recreation for the children and the family. Other sections are laid out for expen- villas or high-class apartment-houses, and here the streets are planned on a more spacious scale. All this makes for permanence. The owner is assured that his property wfll be protected from alien use and will not be depreciated by factories, warehouses, or other objectionable buildings, can build with the expectation of protection by the community itself. The Control of Buildings. Similar restrictions are placed upon the builder. Ordinances zoning the city provide for the kind of structures that may be erected in each zone as wrll as their general architectural effect. The maximum height of all buildings is fixed. Rarely are they permitted to be higher than the width of the street. The amount of land that may be covered is also determined in advance as well as the distance of the house front from the street line. In the zone dedicated to detached houses a certain distance must be left between the houses. This still further insures harmony and beauty; it gives permanent character to each district. The city of Ulm, for instance, divides the buiM- ing area in one zone as follows: 17 per cent, is first dedicated to streets; 50 per cent, is then reserved for front gardens and 13 per cent, for rear ones. Only 20 per cent, of the land may be covered by buildings. In Frankfort there are three districts. In the business district 75 per cent, of the land may CITY PLANNING IN EUROPE 223 be covered by structures, but the buildings must not exceed five stories or be more than 65 feet in height. In the next outer zone houses may be four stories high provided they are not higher than the width of the street. In the third zone two stories is the limit, while factories are not allowed in the residence districts. In Cologne 25 per cent, of the land must be left free in the business section, 35 per cent, in the next outer zone, while in the subur- ban districts only 50 per cent, of the land may be built upon. 1 Under these regulations similarity of use and architectural harmony is insured in each district, while the street presents a uniform sky-line. By setting the houses back an equal distance from the street a certain uniformity in frontage is also in- sured. Beauty is still further secured by frequent gardens, by flower boxes along the house fronts, by the planting of trees and ornamental shrubs. Harbor and Water Fronts. European cities prize their water-fronts and rarely permit them to fall into private hands. This is as true of the small streams and inland lakes as it is of the rivers and seacoast cities. Dresden, upon the river Elbe, is one of the most beautiful cities of Europe because of its river-front development. The river terrace is known as the Balcony of Europe. Budapest, said by many to be the most splendid 1 A commission has recently reported in favor of districting the city of New York, of limiting the height of buildings, and the fixing of other limitations on the uses permitted in the various districts. 224 THE MODERN CITY city in Europe, was planned by the Hungarian people in a patriotic determination to rival Vienna. The Danube River is retained within high embank- ments terraced down to the water. On the 1< level are landing-stages for steamers. Higher up are wagon roads for traffic, while on the top of the embankment are promenade-ways and parks which form the favorite resort of the people. Both sides of the river are flanked with splendid public buiKl- ings and palaces, while the river itself is spanned with beautiful bridges. The river Seine, in Paris, has been beautified by successive governments, as is the Thames in London. The river Rhine, from its mouth to its source, is protected in the same way by the cities. Private interests are not permi* to encroach upon it, the harbors and docks being everywhere owned by the city. Unlike the wa' fronte of the American cities, the rivers and canal ways in Germany are the centres of all sorts of life of the people. Even where intensively used by commerce they are so planned as to be accessible to the public for other purposes. Hamburg converted a swamp in the centre of the city into a series of lakes known as the Alster. The parks about it were laid out for restaurants and places of refreshment. The lake is surrounded by beautiful residences, and during the summer months is covered with all kinds of pleasure craft and is used by the entire population for recreation. In Dusaeldorf, Bremen, Nuremberg, and elsewhere the old moats which surround the towns have been CITY PLANNING IN EUROPE 225 preserved and beautified. The canals running through Berlin are bordered with shade trees and promenades, and the busy traffic in no way inter- feres with the beauty of the city. Harbors are built by the cities as an aid to com- merce. They are linked up with the railroad sys- tem so as to reduce transportation costs to a min- imum. Upon the embankment hydraulic and elec- trical equipment is installed for the handling of water and rail freight. The neighboring district is laid off as a site for factories, with spurs from the railroads running to each, so as to offer the best transportation facilities to a large number of fac- tories. Diisseldorf increased its water commerce 300 per cent, by the building of a harbor on the Rhine. Cologne, Mannheim, Mainz, and other cities have been converted into great manufacturing centres by the intelligent development of their water facilities. Frankfort, a city of 414,000, is spending $18,000,000 on a harbor undertaking, which involves deepening the river Main for seven miles and the excavation of a great harbor basin out of the land. City planning in Germany includes the unifica- tion of the steam railroads, waterways, and har- bors so that they all become an integral part of the city. In place of the conflict between railroads and waterways so prevalent in America, instead of con- troversy as to stations, terminals, and rights of way, the means of transit are subordinated to the city and made to take their place in the social or- ganism much as does the circulatory system of the 226 THE MODERN CITY human body. They are agents of city building and are intelligently used for that purpose. Land Ownership. From the earliest times German towns have owned common lands and forests round about the village, which were used for pasturage, for forest ry, for agriculture, and the gathering of fuel. This land has been generally retained. It is stated 1 German writer that no less than fifteen hundred towns and villages in Germany still own and 1 owned right down from the Middle Ages so murh common land that their inhabitants pay nei; rates nor taxes. Cities are constantly increasing their landed pos- sessions. Cologne has recently increased its L holdings by 1,269 per cent. Between 1890 and 1902 Chemnitz added 605 per cent.; Munich, 334 cent., Dresden, 290 per cent; Mannheim, 254 per cent, to their previous possessions. The govt inmt encourages the cities in this policy, and the interior department recently issued orders to ad- mini^ trative officials to use their influence to induce the towns to buy as much land as they could obtain. (>s are also land speculators. DQsseldorf has provided a special fund of $3,750,000 with which to buy and sell real estate the same as a private spec- ulator. The purpose of the investment, according to the city's own statement, is "to restrain the un- natural augmentation of the price of land." Through its landholdings the city competes with private spec- ulators. It retains the unearned increment from the CITY PLANNING IN EUROPE 227 growth of the city and also keeps down the price of building sites for the people. Inasmuch as the cities often own the street-rail- ways, they know in which direction the city is to grow, for the city itself decides as to street-railway extensions. With this knowledge it buys land in advance of the extensions and reaps a return in the increased value which the street-railway creates. In addition, the ownership of land enables the city to plan for its development in a generous way. It can provide open spaces for parks and play- grounds; it can locate schools and public buildings and can protect new regions from slums and tene- ments. Landownership is part of the city-planning and housing policy of German cities. Frankfort owns 16,650 acres, or 48.9 per cent, of its area. Its total holdings amount to 16,650 acres. Mannheim owns 35.4 per cent, of the land which it covers and Vienna 32,062 acres. The following table indicates the extent of land- ownership by some of the other German cities: TOTAL AREA OF ClTT TOTAL AMOUNT OP LAND OWNED BT ClTT PROPORTION OF TOTAL CITY AREA WITHIN ClTT WITHOUT CITY ACRES ACRES PER CENT. PER CENT. Berlin 1 15,689.54 21,290.24 14,095.25 19,345.45 9,677.25 2,338.60 10,470.37 39,151.28 13,597.02 8,406.84 11,866.98 6,674.90 1,633.33 4,480.79 9.2 23.7 32.3 33.2 37.7 4.2 3.05 240.8 37.8 27.4 281.1 20.4 65.1 42.9 Munich Leipsic Strassburg Hanover Sch6neberg . Spandau iMuch of the land owned by Berlin is outside of the city limits. 228 THE MODERN CITY How the German City Anticipates Its Needs. The German city also anticipates its needs by acquiring land in advance of its growth. Sites are bought for schoolhouses and other public structures, for parks and playgrounds, out in the suburbs. One of the competitive plans of Munich provided for eighteen little centres in the outlying districts about which public buildings, churches, and schools were to be located. Existing villages were to be left undisturbed and new centres were to be built about them. Dusseldorf owns a controlling interest in the capital stock of a suburban street-railway which is also a land-speculation company. By this means the city reaps a return on its investment, just as does any private corporation, and at the same time secures th" co-operation of private business men in carrying on its enterprise. The Meaning of City Planning. City planning is a recognition of the unity as weO as the permanence of the city. It involves a sub- nation of the individual to the common good. It enlarges the powers of the city to include the things mm own as well as the men themselves, and widens the Mea of sovereignty so as to protect the community from him who abuses the right of prop- as it now protects the community from him who abuses his personal freedom. i big way city planning involves a new vision of the city. It means a city built by experts; by experts in architecture, in landscape gardening, in engineering and housing; by students of health, CITY PLANNING IN EUROPE 229 sanitation, transportation, water, gas, and elec- tricity supply; by a new type of officials who vis- ualize the complex life of a million people as the architect visualizes an individual home. City plan- ning involves new terms, a wider outlook of urban life in all its relationships. City planning also recognizes the permanence of the city. It recognizes that the city need not be an evil but has tremendous possibilities for good if it is but organized as an instrumentality with this end in view. Through proper planning the cost of living can be controlled, as can housing, rents, and comfort. City planning is far more than the city beautiful. This is but incidental. The real mo- tive is community living. Summary. City planning has made phenomenal progress in Europe, especially in Germany, France, and Great Britain. As a modern art it had its beginnings in Germany, in which country it has been developed into a well-recognized municipal profession. Ger- man cities are built as a unit, from centre to circum- ference. Officials, citizens, and owners unite in the realization of the fact that the city should be planned with as much care as a private building and with every provision for the future. Regulations are adopted by the town council for the laying out of suburban territory, so as to prevent the reappear- ance of the evils of the past, to limit the land that can be built upon, the kind of houses that can be constructed, as well as the uses to which the prop- erty may be put. Similar provision is made for commerce and industry, while the railways and 230 THE MODERN CITY waterways are definitely co-ordinated into the city plan. Following the example of Germany, France and England have adopted town-planning acts by means of which the new urban development* in these coun- tries are under the control of public authorities, to insure the orderly and symmetrical development of the cities. CHAPTER XVII POLICE, FIRE, AND HEALTH PROTECTION THE guarding of a city includes protecting the life, health, and property of the people. This pro- tection is afforded by the police department, which includes various courts and correctional institutions, the fire department, and the department of health and sanitation. It is easy to trace the connection between the city and the need of protection. Crime is largely urban, as is vice. Infectious diseases, the neces- sity for pure water and milk, the disposal of sewage and garbage, and the inspection of food inhere in the conditions of city life. Sanitation is a modern science which has come into being to solve the problems created by urban environments. In the words of Doctor Edward Lederle, former health commissioner of New York: "Each advance in sanitary science goes to strengthen the position that the problems of preventable disease and misery are largely social problems and must be met and solved by collective action on the part of the com- munity." And where the close living of people becomes con- gestion the problem is more insistent. Crowded tenements and unwholesome factories breed dis- 231 232 THE MODERN CITY ease, and such tenements and factories are products of the modern city. The need of fire protection arises in the same way. While the isolated building may be left to its own risks, isolation is not possible in the city. And where population is crowded the danger becomes a constant menace. The existence of thousands of tenement buildings in New York, "housing nearly 3,000,000 people . . . most of them built v. wooden stairs, wooden halls and wooden floors, and thousands built entirely of wood/' partially explains the rapid development of the fire service of our great cities. Social Origin of Vice and Crime. The economic and industrial conditions in ritirs a!*) t.'n.i t. produce rid an-l crime, Thm- i> a traceable relation between unemployment and va- grancy. Crime increases during periods of indus- trial depression. The human wreckage of the < is largely the result of industrial change, of loss of work, bad times, sickness, and the attendant evils of poverty. From those thrown out of work the tramp, vagabond, prostitute, and petty criminal emerge. And the system of arrests and indis- criminate punishment still further enlarges the criminal < lass. Juvenile crime is largely the prod- uct of bad home and street environment Mr. Ernest K. Coulter, formerly clerk of the children's court of New York County, says: "The children often come to f 1 that they are not wanted in their so-called homes, and they are really forced to POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 233 the street. The most skilful pickpockets in New York City are children. The ranks of these young thieves are constantly being recruited from the districts where there is the greatest congestion. " The same is true of the fathers and the older chil- dren. They, too, are driven from the home to the street. The city has created these burdens, it has sur- rounded the individual with dangers. For this reason protection is a social obligation and public opinion is coming to recognize that the motives of police and correctional administration should not be retributive or punitive but humane and curative. Organization of the Police Department. The selection of patrolmen and firemen in the larger cities is made according to civil service rules, although up to a generation ago the selection of patrolmen, especially, was in the hands of the head of the department or the mayor and was on a spoils basis. The application of civil service rules to the police department began in 1883 with the passage of the New York law. Under the present rules the candidate must be a citizen and must be indorsed by four persons of good character not saloon-keepers; he must submit to a physical ex- amination to determine whether he is of sound body and proper physique and to a mental examination which involves some knowledge of the geography and government of the city and a test of arithmetic and memory. He must have a minimum height of five feet eight inches. 234 THE MODERN CITY In some smaller cities where civil service rules are not in effect certain qualifications are made a prerequisite for appointment, as in Fort Worth, where the applicant must be able to read and wr must have been a resident of the city and State for two years; must never have been convicted of a crime; must be between twenty-five and forty-five years of age, at least five feet ten inches in height, and weigh not less than 160 pounds. In addition the candidate must be of good health, steady habits, and moral character. The unit of police administration is generally the precinct, in charge of a captain. Although there are inspectors over him and detectives working with him, the captain is mainly responsible for the main- tenance of order in his district and for the execution of policies formulated by the head of the depart- ment. Under the captain are several platoons of rolmen, each in charge of an officer called a roundsman, who conducts the platoon to its poet and inspects its sen-ice. The roundsman has him* self generally risen from the rank of patrolman by merit. Administrative Control. ( hit f of police is usually appointed and re- movable by the mayor and is, in the United States, cither a layman or a professional. The appoint- ment of a lay chief is urged by some on the ground that under a professional chief a narrow code of disciplinary ethics is apt to pervade the force, in- volving a lack of sympathy with or disregard of the POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 235 rights of citizens; and this has usually been true. The objection to the choosing of a layman for this post is that such a choice often brings in profes- sional politicians, who use the department as a source of revenue, and, even if this is not the case, the lay head is too ignorant of the nature of crim- inals and the duties of the police to be effective, while his term is too short to allow him to acquire the necessary knowledge. In regard to this shortness of term and the dis- ability which it inflicts upon the head of the depart- ment, General Theodore Bingham, former police commissioner of New York City, says: "As the policeman is in office for life, he very logically looked past both the mayor and me and made his allegiance and took his orders from the only permanent influence concerned the politician. I could not at that time even choose the leading officers of the department when I wanted to carry out my orders. I was in command of a body of men who by the logic of their position were forced to take their final orders from some one else." This leads to the problem of whether the power of appointment and removal should be lodged in the mayor or in a commission, both of which forms of administration have been tried. The board form was at first chosen, beginning with the estab- lishment of New York City's modern police force in 1857. Its advantages were believed to consist in the provision for representatives of both parties on the board, who would serve as checks upon each 236 THE MODERN CITY other to prevent corruption. But abuses developed which indicated that instead of withholding each other the two parties combined to divide the pos- sible spoils, while in case of complaints responsi- bility was shifted As a consequence the board system has generally been abandoned in favor of the more highly centralized form of a single com- missioner appointed by the mayor, in whom, what- ever the possibilities of political influence, respon- sibility is directly concentrated. And concentration of responsibility is generally reoogniied as the first essential to efficient administration. Fire and Health Departments. The administration of the fire department is usually in the hands of a layman appointed by the mayor, and under him, as actual executive, is an expert chief. The fire, like the police, department is organized on a semi-military basis, with brigades and officers. The board form of administration, generally found to be less efficient in the police department, is, on the other hand, commonly used for the health de- partment. This is due to the broad powers and scope of this department, which is inevitably closely correlated with the public schools, with factory inspection, tenement-house and police administra- tion. New York City attempts to represent this correlation of responsibilities and executive powers by creating a board with wide legislative functions, empowered to enact ordinances "for the secur of life and health in the city not inconsistent with POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 237 the Constitution or laws of the state," and con- sisting of the commissioner of health, who is the responsible executive officer, the police commis- sioner, and the health officer of the port. Suggested Police Reforms. Various reforms for the improvement of the po- lice have been suggested. When the complaint is directed at the failure to apprehend criminals the plea is made that the force is too small. There is no definite standard of the number of patrolmen needed in proportion to population, and it is claimed that we have relatively fewer policemen in this country than in Europe. And the reform usually urged by an administration under the necessity of shifting the responsibility for increased crime is an increase in the numbers of the force. Another suggested reform is more generous pro- vision for "shoo flies," or plain-clothes detectives, to work by the side of patrolmen, inspectors, and captains, without their knowledge, and report on their performance of duty. Mr. McAdoo, of New York, says of this proposal : "The work of the spy is detestable, and the class of men who are willing to degrade themselves by performing these duties is such that but little credence can be placed upon their testimony. It injures the morale of the force when favored pa- trolmen are sent out in citizen's clothing to spy upon other policemen of the force. It is doubtful whether it is good policy to allow superior officers to spy upon the force. It is undoubtedly bad policy to encourage citizens to spy upon them." 238 THE MODERN CITY Another suggestion is the establishment of stricter State supervision. The instability of our police administration as compared with the stability of European state appointed or supervised police forces is cited, and the claim is made that a strong, unified, and responsible police force can only be secured by thorough State organization and con- trol. Such State control, however, seems to be distasteful to American cities, although the police force in the metropolitan district of Boston is in the hands of a commiaaioaer appointed by the governor. Institutional Evils Which Demoralize the Police. There are others who insist that the evils of police administration, the corruption and the blackmail, cannot be corrected either by an increase in the number of patrolmen, by spy or "shoo-fly" super- <>n, or by State control. These reforms are directed at the symptoms rather than at the disease itself a disease which inheres in the obligation on the part of the police to enforce laws enacted by the State directed against the saloon, gambling, and the social evil. It is these laws, aimed at the control of morals, that < r \ where demoralise the police, not only in this country but to a lesser tent abroad. And this is the crux of the police problem. These laws generally prohibit and make a penal offence of gambling and prostitution; they prohibit the sale of liquor in a saloon on Sunday and provide for many other regulations directed against such evils. In the first place these laws POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 239 are not enacted by the city but by the State; they are uniform as to all cities, irrespective of their size or population, and are usually out of harmony with the public opinion and conditions which they aim to correct. Many things, too, are specified as crimes or misdemeanors which urban populations do not regard as such; in fact, a large part of our city popu- lation looks upon offences against the excise laws as so purely personal to the individual that the law has no right to intervene except to suppress such acts as become a nuisance to the good order of the community. The City and the Saloon. Of the population of New York 80 per cent, is either foreign-born or of foreign extraction. Tens of thousands of visitors come to the city each day. A large percentage of the foreign-born look upon the restaurant and the saloon as no more essentially evil than any other private business and the laws which attempt to close them on Sunday as an intru- sion into their personal rights. Millions of working men, too, have no place of rest or recreation, no other opportunity for social contact with their fellows, for club or labor-union meetings, than the saloon. And all of these classes protest against the attempt to treat the saloon as a criminal or a quasi-criminal institution. In addition, the laws directed against gambling and prostitution are in many instances difficult of enforcement or not adjusted to easy ad- ministration. The police problem is a product of these con- THE MODERN CITY ditions. Officers are tempted to permit evasions of a State law which thoy are sworn to enforce and in whose wisdom or justice a large part of the commu- nity does not believe. There is every reason for tolerance; little reason for rigid enforcement of the law. Violation of the law thus becomes a special illegal privilege in which the patrolman and the boss are able to barter with protected vice. That these privileges are very valuable is evidenced by the re- cent testimony in New York that $2,000,000 a year is paid by protected interests for privileges which the police have no legal right to grant. Police Corruption. Corruption is paid in large and small amounts- direct ly in cash to the patrolmen, captains, and inspectors for the privilege of being lei alone, and indinvtly through political influence. According to McAdoo, of New York, gambling was permitted in that city because the leaden of parties wanted to use the pool-rooms for party advantage. When a gambler wanted to open a place he went to the leader of the district and obtained his consent by permitting the boss to employ a number of em- ployees in the pool-room at $5 a day. This was only one of many forms of graft fostered by the State laws against these evils. The Excise Question and Politics. The corruption started by the saloon, by gam- bling and the social evil, runs and ramifies in many other directions. It not only demoralizes the police force but identifies the underworld with POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 241 many other crimes of a more serious nature. In addition, municipal reform is confused by the injection of these questions into politics. Mayors are elected not because they are efficient admin- istrators but because of their attitude on the Sun- day-closing question, on whether they believe in a liberal enforcement of the laws. These conditions bring the saloon into politics; the fear of legisla- tion draws them to the legislature; the saloon- keepers of the city are organized for aggression or protection and identify themselves with any party, group, or organization which will offer protection against further legislation. Mr. Brand Whitlock, for eight years Mayor of Toledo, says of these conditions: "The insistent confusion of vice with crime has not only had the effect of fostering both but is the cause of the corruption of the police. Their proper function is to protect life and property and this the police of American cities perform as well as police- men anywhere. But when by a trick of the sec- tarian mind, the term crime is made to include all the follies and weaknesses and vices of humanity, when there is added the duty of enforcing statutes against a multitude of acts, some of which only puritanical severity classes as crimes, others of which are regarded by the human beings in the com- munity with indifference, tolerance or sympathy, while still others are inherent in mysterious and imperative instincts which balk all efforts at general control, the task becomes wholly impossible and beyond human ability. "The police know it and everybody knows it. 242 THE MODERN CITY And it is difficult to induce men to take much in- terest in punishing acts their own consciences do not condemn." * Difficulties of Reform. The maintenance of a truly efficient and honest police force will remain a very difficult problem until the department is free from contact with these evils, which freedom can be best secured by transferring the control of the saloon evil, of gambling, and of other social problems from the State to the itself. And were the city free to control them by administrative acts, as the health of the com- munity is now protected, were it able to adjust its ordinances or official decrees to conditions as they arise, then it would be possible to work out by experiment solutions which would harmonise pre- vailing opinion with the laws and at the same time enable public opinion to hold the mayor and council to responsibility for the morals of the city, which is not now possible when many of the laws have no such support or are impossible of enforcement. This would not involve an open town. Pi: opinion has reached a point that would not tolerate that. It would, however, lead to the enactment of such orders as would free the police from constant temptation and would enable the city to solve the problem in an intelligent way. The necessity for such a change is being recog- nized by the many proposals for the creation of special moral squads, whose sole duty is the enforce- Ymn * A, Brmod Whitlock, p. MS. POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 243 ment of laws and ordinances which deal with these evils, a solution, however, which does not meet the difficulty involved in the lack of adjustment of State laws to local public opinion. Police and Other Courts. Police courts are an integral part of police admin- istration. Their jurisdiction is limited to misde- meanors and petty offences which generally involve no criminal act. The mass of the inhabitants of a city know no other justice than that meted out by these courts. Two methods of selecting police magistrates have been tried: popular election, which has resulted in grave political abuses and the elec- tion of men under the control of the political boss, and appointment by the mayor. The establishment of special courts for certain classes of offenders is a recent and valuable devel- opment in police magistracy. Among these special courts are night courts for men and women, domestic courts for the settlement of family troubles, and juvenile courts. Juvenile courts have been estab- lished in most of the larger cities. The maximum age of offenders who may be brought before the juvenile court is about sixteen years, though it dif- fers slightly in different cities, as do the offences which may be tried. In New York crimes of all kinds except capital offences may be tried in these courts; in Saint Paul all violations of State laws and city ordinances. The magistrates of children's courts are enjoined to consider the accused child "as not on trial for the commission of a crime but 244 THE MODERN CITY as a child in need of the care and protection of the state." In New York the magistrate may suspend the trial at any time for further facts or to make collateral inquiries, or stop the proceedings entirely and treat the child according to the law for children not having proper guardianship. He may place the child under probation for varying lengths of time and under the charge of a probation officer. Special magistrates for the hearing of children's cases have not always been provided for by law, although experience shows that special qualifica- .s and training are necessary for the discharge of this work. The New York law provides that justices of the court of special sessions shall from tin:.- 1<> time be assigned by the chief justice for hear- ing and disposal of children's cases. The Police Policy of Cleveland. Thr city .f rirvrhmd, Ohio, has worked out the most comprehensive police policy of any American city, a policy which has freed the police from corruption and bribery, has materially reduced vice and crime, and humanized the correctional institu- tion. \shirh deal with all non-criminal offenders. The policy begins with the golden-rule or com- mon-sense policy of police administration introduced by Fred Kohlcr, for many yeare chief of police. Under this policy the number of arrests have been reduced to about one fourth the number made prior to the change. Chief Kohler said: "The police force is organized for the prove: of crime, fur the capturing of criminals, and the aid POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 245 and convenience of the public; not for the purpose of causing the weak, the thoughtless, and the un- wise and their innocent relatives to suffer and be disgraced. ' "The Golden Rule or Common Sense Policy, in a few words, is one that aims to arrest persons only when they should be arrested." \ Under this policy arrests for drunkenness and other petty offences were discontinued, and the number of arrests reduced from 31,736 in 1906 and 30,418 in 1907, when the old custom of making indiscriminate arrests was followed, to 10,085 in 1908, 6,018 in 1909, 7,185 in 1910, 9,516 in 1911, and finally to 7,774 in 1912. One police court with all its attache's has been done away with during this time. The "Golden-Rule" Policy. Chief Kohler's idea is that we make criminals by indiscriminate arrests, by making men, women, and children familiar with vice and crime in police stations, and thus impair their self-respect. "The police have been instrumental in making criminals/ 7 says Kohler. "We have discouraged men. We have driven young men and weak men to the haunts and association of habitual and expert criminals, who have taught them the ideals and the practices of crime. We have nourished, we have not pre- vented crime." Cleveland has followed the golden-rule policy of non-arrests for petty offences for seven years. The instructions given to the police captains and 246 THE MODERN CITY lieutenants of the city on Christmas Day, 1907, when the new policy was inaugurated, were to stop arresting first offenders for misdemeanors. The police were to warn them and to tell them the law. If there was a disturbance on the streets or a neigh- borhood row, the police were to learn the cause and, if the trouble was trivial, send the men about thrir business. When they found a man drunk they were to send him home, and to take him hon he was too intoxicated to get there himself. Under this policy it ceased to be a matter of credit to a policeman to make a great many arrests; what h< Ips his record is the right kind of arrests, on com- petent evidence, and where conviction can be se- cured. The patrolman is given large discretion in the performance of his duties; be coses to be a prosecutor and may become the friend of the sup- posed offender. Corruption of the police has not followed the new policy. "Blackmail only exists," says KohltT, "when the law says one thing and the police permit its evasion. The way to put an end to blackmail on the part of the police is for the chief openly to take the community into his confidence." The Control of Vice. Vice, prostitution, and the saloon have been controlled by a similar policy of administrative as opposed to court action. Orders were issued by the mayor which the police were instructed to enforce. These orders were aimed at the artificial tempta- tions and allurements which vice throws about itself. POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 247 Stalls in saloons were prohibited, as was the sale of liquor in brothels. No music was permitted in saloons except by special authority, which was refused if those in the neighborhood protested. Gambling places were forcibly entered and the para- phernalia destroyed on the spot. And where en- trance could not be secured a patrolman was sta- tioned in front of the place to take the name of every person who entered. The same procedure was adopted in the case of other objectionable places which refused to abide by the regulations laid down by the mayor. But few arrests were made, for it was found that these offenders expected periodic fines and treated them as one of the expenses of the business. But under the executive orders the business was de- prived of many of its allurements or was destroyed altogether. It was not claimed that vice or drink- ing was stopped. There is still the vice found in every large city, but it seems to be generally agreed that there is less of it in Cleveland than in other large cities. New Ideals of Correctional Administration. Cleveland's ideas of correctional administration do not stop with a humanized police administration. The city concerns itself with arrested offenders, and has a farm of 2,000 acres where drunkards, vagabonds, and petty offenders of various kinds are sent to be given a new chance. Of this exper- imental farm Doctor Harris R. Cooley, former director of charities and correction, said in 1908: 248 THE MODERN CITY "We have no guards; we have no stockade; there is no one about the place who carries so much as a stick or a revolver. We trust these men, and be- cause we trust them they respect the trust. . . . We used to lock these men up in the workhouse in the city. We put them at pulling brushes, a labo- rious and confining work. The men were weak enough when they came to us. They were dissi- pated, unstrung, and for various reasons unabl< resist temptation. We kept them in the workhouse until they had worked out their sentence, and then turned them out in the street again. Of course, they drifted into the nearest saloon. Where else could they go? Confinement had weakened th< ir will power and destroyed their physical health, so that their whole nature crave&a stimulant. Often they were back to us within twenty-four hours. That was inevitable. They were leas fit for work than when they came to us, and tln-v were hardened by the treatment which the city had meted out to th'-m. stead of punishing these men by exacting tasks for \vh: are unMiii-d. we now put them this beautiful farm. They live out of doors. Tl are working at something for which they are fitted. \\ e have work here for a generation to com* have a splendid quarry frm which we can Imild miles of roads and the foundations of our build- ings. The prisoner goes back to life again, able to meet the temptations which the city offers. And a very large percentage of these men never c back. But better even than that, we restore their respect and confidence in themselves." And Cleveland has gone still further and followed the discharged prisoner in an effort to find work POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 249 and a place for him again in the world. In its department of charities and correction the city created a "Brotherhood of Prisoners/' the purpose of which, according to its own report, is find opportunities for employment and fur- nish to released prisoners a comfortable home until they are able to pay their own way. \ . . Under normal conditions of employment, the Brotherhood men themselves nearly pay its current expenses. They form a valuable employment bureau. They are on the lookout for jobs for other members. In seventeen months, during more prosperous times, these men, who by some are regarded as worthless, paid into the Home, for board and other expenses, more than ten thousand five hundred dollars which they earned by honest work in the shops and fac- tories of Cleveland." Vice Prevention. All this is part of a larger policy of prevention which characterizes Cleveland's attitude toward the <#oor and unfortunate, a policy which grew up under the inspiration of Tom L. Johnson, Harris R. Cooley, and the present mayor, Newton D. Baker. Wholesome opportunities for recreation for chil- dren as well as adults is recognized as better economy and better humanity than the arrest of offenders. So there are public baths, gymnasiums, band con- certs, carnivals, school contests, organized recrea- tion of various sorts in the parks; there are bathing beaches and open spaces without "Keep off the grass" signs. A juvenile court watches over the children and sends them, if they need protection, 250 THE MODERN CITY to "Boyville," a farm colony for children where there are opportunities for work and play and which carries no suggestion of a prison. It is probable that Cleveland has worked out the most comprehensive programme of human salvage, of vice prevention, and of humane administration of any city in America if not in the world. It is based on the assumption that the majority of of- fences in a great city are the product of bad environ- ment and of poverty; that vice and crime are social rather than personal in origin; that society owes an obligation not only to the young but to the old, and that this obligation is inadequately by punishment. The same policy was pursued by Golden Rule Jones and Brand Whitlock, the inde- pendent mayors of Toledo, not as a matter of pediency but of social justice. Summary. Tin* protection of the community through the police, fire, and health departments has developed rapidly in recent years. These problems are recog- nized as social; they spring from the close living of :>le, the nature of industry, the contagion of vice, dime, and disease. The American fire department is r 1 > recent years the health service has undergone great improvement. The police department has always been one of the most troublesome agencies of the American city. Recently public opinion has come to recognize that the evUs of the police administra- tion are largely institutional; they cannot be cor- rected by mere changes in administrative forms. POLICE, FIRE, HEALTH PROTECTION 251 They can only be corrected by such reforms in our laws as will protect the police from constant temp- tation and corruption by interests seeking illegal privileges which the police are in a position to grant. These privileges are for the most part related to the saloon, gambling, and the social evil, which are regu- lated by State laws, toward which public opinion is either defiant or unsympathetic. This is particularly true of the State laws regulating the saloon, which are not approved by the large foreign-born popula- tion of our cities, accustomed in their native land to a liberal Sunday and the sale of intoxicating liquors. Recent years have seen great progress in the de- velopment of probation and other correctional courts. The juvenile court is an American institution, as are the night courts and domestic courts of New York City. Cleveland has carried the policy of humane police administration further than any city in the world through a policy of diminishing the number of arrests of first and petty offenders, for the purpose of reducing needless contact with police courts and jails to a minimum. In addition, new ideals of cor- rectional administration through a great city farm for petty offenders, a brotherhood of prisoners, and a children's farm colony have been developed. \ CHAPTER XVIII THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY ccessitate Nor only does the growth of the city IK protection, it involves many new functions and activities not needed in the small town or country district. Under rural and village conditions life is organized upon individual rather than co-opera- lines, and each home is complete in itself. Tli'- <-ity changes this. Sewers become necessary. The individual well is condemned because of the danger of disease. Police, fire, and health depart- ments are added, as are many other agencies for cleanliness and health of the community. These are the elementary services of every Their necessity is recognized by all. And the activities of the average American city end with the performance of these, in a sense, negative functions. Aside from the remunerative business undertak- ings and the planning of the city referred to in carl here is a great, unoccupied f of social activity which has been widely developed on the continent of Europe but which remains almost untouched in this country. It relates to the < housekeeping, a phrase very common in Germany a few years ago, to proper community living, to economies and services, to protection from industrial conditions, to provision for the unemployed and Hi THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 253 those in distress. These activities are for the most part commercially unproductive, but their per- formance increases the efficiency as well as the wealth and happiness of the community beyond measure. It is in this field that we may expect the most rapid immediate development of the American city, for here there are few privileged or propertied interests to protest, here are countless voluntary agencies urging action. About these demands, too, public opinion is more fully developed than the ownership of the public service corporations, which involve heavy financial expenditures and conflict with powerful vested interests. Markets and Food Supply. The market has been a municipal function from earliest times. The agora of Greece and the mar- ket-places of European cities were the centres of the towns. Here the whole community came to trade. The old market-places of Munich, Berlin, Frank- fort, and Brussels still remain the centres of the business and frequently of the social out-of-door life of the community. Fifty years ago public markets were common in America, but during the intervening years they have either been neglected or have been permitted to pass into private hands. Not more than half of the cities of 100,000 inhabitants maintain markets, while of the cities of from 25,000 to 100,000 less than one third own them. The majority of these are merely centres where stalls are rented to farmers 254 THE MODERN CITY and gardeners. The low cost of living in Baltimore is generally ascribed to the public markets, of which there are eleven located in different sections, to which the housewives come to make their daily purchases. The city of New Orleans has four such markets. Through these the marketmen buy di: from the producer and sell direct to the consumer. Some Recent Market Projects. It was discovered that the municipal market of Dubuque reduced the cost of living in that city far below what it was in any other city in the Middle West, and, inspired by this example, Des Moines opened city hall square and the near-by streets, to which the farmers were invited to come to sell their produce. The city required the display of cards showing whether the sellers are gardeners or huck- sters. It is claimed that the cost of produce to city buyers has been reduced by the opening of the market by approximately 50 per cent., while the fanners receive nearly 50 per cent, more than they were formerly paid by the commission men. 1 Cl< land, Ohio, recently opened a public dock as a fish market, to which the fishermen were invited to come and sell direct to the consumer. Retailers, marl men, aiul individuals were thus enabled to buy directly from fishermen instead of through the middlemen, and this resulted in a reduction in the price of fish of from 50 to 75 per cent. The recently erected West Side Market of Cleve- I 8ee "The Municipal Nfarket Situation," by D. E. Mowry, National Municipal Review for July, 1912, p. 410. THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 255 land is one of the most completely equipped markets in America. In addition to facilities for a retail market, provision is made for an ice and cold-storage plant in which individual farmers, retailers, and marketmen can store their produce for subsequent sale. By this means it is hoped that the control of prices by private cold-storage plants will be broken. Cleveland has also acquired a two-thou- sand-acre farm upon which inmates of the workhouse and other institutions of the city are employed, from which it is planned to supply the institutions of the city with hay, milk, butter, eggs, and other needed supplies. Moved by the appalling death-rate among chil- dren, due in part to the high cost of milk, a group of public-spirited citizens in New York organized a milk committee, which maintained stations through- out the city at which pure milk was sold at a low price. The effect on the death-rate was so obvious that in 1911 the city provided for fifty-two milk stations under the control of the health department. The exposure of adulterated food has led to quite general inspection of the food supplies of cities as well as of weights and measures. New York super- vises more than 25,000 retail and wholesale estab- lishments, including bakeries, groceries, butcher shops, and confectionery establishments, as well as slaughter-houses and cold-storage plants. A recent enforcement of the law led to the destruction of thousands of measures and scales used by dealers who gave short weight. 256 THE MODERN CITY City Forestry Departments. Many cities have established forestry depart- ments. Cleveland has maintained such a bureau for years, for the planting, inspection, and car trees and for the beautification of the city. The forestry commission of Newark, N. J., has "< elusive and absolute control and power to plant, set out and care for shade trees in any of the public highways." Trees are planted in the streets by order of the commission and the cost is paid by special assessments on the abutting real estate. Individuals may only plant and trim their trees with the approval of the commission. The com- mission says: "Adequate municipal control secures for the rt planting, pruning, mulching, spraying, < When these have been left to private initiative tl have either been entirely neglected or the operat -.pertly performed. The treatment of trees is an expert profession; private initiative as a rule ignores that vital fact; intelligent municipal control accepts the fact and acts upon it." The cities of Boston, Springfield! and Fitchburg, Mass., have city foresters, while in Texas the deputy state commissioner visits cities and urges their co- operation with the State forestry department. Health Inspection. In no department of administration has greater advance been made than in sanitation and the care of the health of the community. Particular em- phasis has been laid upon the supervision of schools THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 257 and school children. Of 27 cities of over 200 ; 000 inhabitants, 17 have medical inspection under the board of health, and 10 under the board of educa- tion. The object of this inspection is to prevent school children from contracting contagious dis- eases, to guard their eyesight and teeth and improve their physical well-being. Studies are made as to fatigue and physical exercises. Children are exam- ined when they enter school by doctors employed by the board of health or the board of education. Where contagious diseases are discovered, children are excluded and are only permitted to return to school after the danger is over. In case of non- contagious diseases the parents are notified to see that the proper care is administered. School nurses are employed by many cities, whose function it is to follow up the discoveries of teachers or physicians and to instruct the parents and pupils in home hygiene. Minor cases are treated in the schools; proper clothing, food, and cleanliness are suggested. Parents are advised as to the free medical and dental dispensaries and as to the location of free children's hospitals. Eye and ear tests are maintained by many schools. By this means the home is brought in close touch with health and sanitary administra- tion. Through these agencies the community aims to protect the oncoming generation from eye strain, diseases of the nose and throat, defective hearing, bad teeth, poor nutrition, nervous disorders, ortho- pedic and skin diseases. Records are kept of indi- 258 THE MODERN CITY vidual children and of follow-up activities of the nurse and school physicians. The Community Doctor. "The community doctor" has taken his place along with the police and firemen. His function is preventive. Doctor Goler, the health commissioner of Roch- ester, says: "It remains for us to construct a plan for the prevention of disease in children and for the care of children who meet with the accident of sickness. We have had a plan for filling our hospitals and clinics with material; here is a scheme for emptying our dispensary waiting rooms and keeping our hos- pital beds for emergency patients. It is a scheme by which the school is to become the center around which all health activities revolve. The babies are to grow up into health with the teacher nuree who takes them to school. If parents are poor. tin -in get milk and advice from the milk stat in the school; if their t-,-th need attention, let them go to the school dentist in the school; if they i a doctor for health, let them have advice from the school doctor. From earliest infancy until it enters school the nurse will watch the child grow into healt h : will instruct th<> mother in its personal hygiene, and teach the mother how to avoid the accident " This policy of preventive medicine includes the presence of a school physician, a dentist, and nuns in each school, as well as a laboratory of hygiene. Physical training and hygiene are to be made an important part of school work, with apparatus for THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 259 bathing, exercise, and gymnastics. The visiting nurse is the connecting link between the school and the home. She comes in contact with unsanitary housing or factory conditions and reports them to the public authorities. A trained psychologist in the schools would study backward, deficient, and defective children. Dental hygiene has made great progress in re- cent years. Rochester opened a free dental dis- pensary in 1910 with forty local dentists alternating in attendance. Within two months the work be- came so important that a single dentist was secured to give his entire time to it. A series of lectures on oral hygiene were provided by the board of educa- tion. As a result of the interest aroused a second dispensary was opened. The relation of defective teeth to backward school work has been noted in various cities. In New York the statement has been made by Doctor Luther H. Gulick that decayed teeth retard a child's work by six months. In 1911 Philadelphia opened a free dental dispensary for poor children and ar- ranged for the inspection of the teeth of 50,000 school children by a voluntary corps of local den- tists. The Changing Point of View. This is by no means a complete enumeration of the social activities of the American city, although the achievements are as yet very meagre. Our cities are now in the intermediate stage of "cleaning up." It is a stage between that which preceded it, 260 THE MODERN CITY which was negative and extremely individualistic, and that which is to follow, which will undoubtedly be constructive, physical, and semi-socialistic. Pub- lic gambling, horse-racing, pool-selling, and betting have been pretty completely driven from our cities, as have the low dance halls and other centres of vice so common a few years ago. A few cities have opened municipal lodging-houses. Wisconsin, Ohio, and New York have made provision for employment agencies. There is a nation-wide movement against vice and the white-slave traffic. Public hospitals are being erected and the dependent classes are being more humanely cared for. War is b< waged on contagious disease, on inadequate wa supplies and impure milk, while the public concern for the health of the community has materially re- duced the death-rate. Despite this progress the American city is still far less advanced than the European city in its social activities. We have done very little to solve the problem of labor or to provide for vicissitudes of industrial employment. There is but scant provision for leisure by public authorities, and recreation is for the most part still in private hands. Municipal co-operation is as yet in the repressive rather than the constructive stage, and we must look to Germany for examples of what can be done in this larger field of municipal activity. 1 1 For a more extended study of the general subject, tee Municipal Government in Continental Europe, by Doctor Albert Shaw, and Bwopm Cite* at Work, by the author. THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 261 The German City Slaughter-Houses. The slaughter-house is a public rather than a pri- vate institution in almost all of the countries of Europe with the exception of Great Britain. Of the 50 largest towns of Germany, 43 own their abattoirs and require that all meat sold in the city shall be slaughtered in them. In most of the countries of South America, in Egypt, even in the Far East, the private slaughter-house has been superseded by publicly owned abattoirs. The slaughtering of cattle under public super- vision is required as a sanitary measure for the pur- pose of protecting the community from diseases prevalent in cattle. It also protects the community from monopoly and reduces the cost of living. It is assumed that the food supply of a people is too important to be left in private hands. Through public slaughtering the meat can be thoroughly in- spected by trained veterinarians, while the killing is done in the most humane way possible. By the elimination of all the middlemen there remains only the butcher between the farmer and the housewife. Slaughtering in Germany is covered by an im- perial law and a code of rules which went into effect in 1903. The slaughter-houses erected by the cities are models of cleanliness and of architecture. Many of them are spacious and beautiful. They are usually of brick or cement and are located by the railways and waterways. Close by is a cattle mar- ket to which the cattle are brought by the farmers and to which the butchers go to make their pur- 262 THE MODERN CITY chases. The charges of the slaughter-houses are fixed at a point which will pay operating expenses only and interest on the investment. The abattoir of the city of Dresden population 500,000 was erected in 1910 at a cost of $4,260,000. It covers 90 acres of land and includes 68 buildings. It is built of cement, with roadways between, so arranged as to be easily cleaned by flushing-machines. The most fastidious woman could visit the abattoir, and visitors are encouraged to come as a means of insuring cleanliness. The gates through which one enters are like those of a public park. There is a spacious hotel, with a restaurant and post-office attached. The slaughter-houses of Berlin cost approximately $5,000,000. They took the place of 1,000 private slaughter-houses formerly scattered over the city. The Public Market. The consumer is still further protected by the public market, which is universal in Europe and has been for centuries. In addition to spacious covered markets, street markets are maintained which are used in the early mornings. In Vienna there are 7 enclosed market buildings and 40 open-air places. Antwerp has 19 open squares and places and 2 covered markets. Paris has one of the most extensive and well-administered market systems in Europe. The central market, or Halles Centrales, is a whole- sale market located in the centre of the city. To it the produce is brought by railroads, by boats, and by vans, where it is classified and inspected and THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 263 then sold by auction or by bargain and sale to retailers and consumers. Scattered throughout the city are 33 retail markets which are supplied through the central market or by direct communication with the farmers. Berlin has 14 city markets in substan- tial buildings, which are so located as to receive and distribute the incoming farm produce to the city. Markets are used not only for the sale of food, but for many household necessities. Ordinances and regulations prevent monopoly or misleading or fraudulent statements. A high standard of cleanliness is maintained, while the fees are fixed according to the business and the location of the stalls. The Parcel Post. The cost of living in Germany is still further con- trolled by the parcel post, which is operated in connection with the state-owned railways. Through it the farmer is brought into close touch with the consumer. Almost anything can be mailed and at a very low cost. The hausfrau receives her fresh vegetables, poultry, butter, and flowers along with the morning mail. They come fresh to her table from a country village perhaps a hundred miles away. Farmers come to the city three or four times a year to solicit individual customers. This makes monopoly in food products impossible. There is no waste in handling by half a dozen agents, for the producer and consumer meet directly as though they were bartering at the city markets. It has been stated that our annual waste in the 264 THE MODERN CITY unnecessary handling of fruit, vegetables, poult ry, and other produce approximates $1,000,000,000. This is largely due to inadequate provision for transportation, to private markets, cold-storage plants, and other intermediaries which interpose between the producer and the consumer and which depress the price of farm produce on the one hand and increase the price to the consumer on the other. Much of this waste is saved in Germany through the public ownership of the railways and the express business, the parcel post, the public as opposed to the private slaughter-house, and the use of these agencies and the public markets for the elimination of all unnecessary waste in han- dling. Protecting the Worker. The German city recognizes the helplessness of the working classes under modem industrial con- ditions, and has worked out a moat comprehensive programme for their protection. Some years ago the minister of the interior, speaking in the Reichstag, outlined the policy of Germany in social legislation. He said: Germany has experienced a vast industrial expansion equalled by no other country in the world during the same time, it is chiefly due to the efficiency of its workers. But this efficiency must in vitably have suffered had we not secured to our working classes by the social legislation of recent years a tolerable standard of living, and had we not as far as was possible guaranteed their physical health." THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 265 Social and industrial insurance is provided by the state and is compulsory against accident, sick- ness, invalidity, and old age. The income collected by all of these forms of insurance amounted in 1909 to $214,856,650, of which the employers contributed $98,312,000 and the employees $81,414,000. The disbursements for the year amounted to $167,592,- 770. Insurance against sickness has existed since 1884, and is provided for industrial workers whose wages are below $500 a year. The insurance amounts to about half the daily wages of the insured. Sick benefits continue for not more than twenty-six weeks, and the administration of the funds is placed in the hands of the working people and the employers. Employers are bound to provide insurance against accident, while the worker is given a pension during his old age. Preventive Medicine. Growing out of the insurance legislation, a nation- wide programme of preventive medicine has been de- veloped. The accumulated insurance reserves, which run into the millions, are used to erect hospitals, sanatoriums, and convalescent homes. The hos- pitals in Germany are almost all public instead of private. In 1897 there were only 3,334 wage- earners cared for in institutions of this sort, while twelve years later the number had grown to 42,232. In twelve years 272,000 patients had been treated. As a consequence the death-rate from tuberculosis fell from 23.08 per 10,000 during the four years 266 THE MODERN' CITY from 1895 to 1899 to 18.45 per 10,000 during the period from 1905 to 1909. Germany leads the world in the protection of the health and lives of its people. Speaking of this policy a report in the Bulletin of the United States Bureau of Labor for 1912 says: 1 "The marvellous results achieved in the German Empire through the intelligent co-ordination of public and private agencies enlisted in the effort to reduce the mortality from tuberculosis to a min- imum entitles the German experiment, as the first and most successful of its kind, to the admirat hr entire civilized world. \\Vth-r what has been done has paid for itself in a strict financial sense is wholly secondary to the social results which have been achieved, and which have unquestionably conferred an infinite amount of good upon the German people engaged in German industry in successful competition with the economically more advantageously situated wage-earners of many oth< r lands. From the social, economic and medical points of view the treatment and care of tuberculous wage-earners in Germany is a subject well deserving of intrlli-.'nt and sympathetic study as a distr contribution to th i ivilization of the present time," The Workless Worker. Employment agencies and lodging-houses in the United States are for the most part in private hands. In Germany they are public, or under public control. There are upward of four hundred labor exchanges in Germany, which each year find places for approximately a million men and women in all kinds of employments. These exchanges are 1 Can of Tubcrcubu* Wagt Banun to Om ***$. THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 267 universally used by employers and employees. They are designed to minimize the waste involved in unemployment. When the labor market is con- gested in one place, the exchange distributes labor to some other section where it is needed. An at- tempt is being made to utilize these agencies to satisfy the demand for men upon the farms during the harvest season. The labor exchange of Berlin occupies a large four- story building in the heart of the city. On the first floor is a great hall which seats 1,400 people, while other halls accommodate skilled artisans and women workers. The building contains a buffet, where food is sold at a trifling sum. There are tailors and cobblers employed by the exchange, who make re- pairs at an insignificant charge. There are shower- baths, and free dispensaries, and medical inspection bureaus. Cities also maintain municipal lodging-houses. These, too, protect the wandering worker. There are nearly five hundred such lodging-houses in Ger- many, which contain 20,000 beds. They lodge over 2,000,000 persons a year, of whom the majority are paying guests. For the sum of twelve cents the worker obtains lodging and breakfast, or if he has no money he can work four hours for them. In connection with the lodging-houses there are branches of the municipal savings-bank, while the labor exchanges are operated in close connection with them. As compared with this policy, the State Excise Commissioner of New York says that during the 268 THE MODERN CITY winter of 1914 there were between 60,000 and 100,000 homeless men and women who found shelter on winter nights either in the rear rooms of saloons or in lodging-houses where liquor is sold. "The agents of the department." the report says, "found that in the rear rooms of certain saloons large numbers of homeless men slept all night in chairs or on the floor. The department then sent its agents to twenty or thirty places in that district and notified th- proprietors to close promptly at one o'clock in th< morning. It is safe to say that none of homeless evicted from their shelter found oth< r places to sleep that night. The city has but one municipal lodging-house with accommodations for 768 persons, while one hundred times that number were shelterless. Unemployment To some extent cities provide distress or emergency work during hard times. Many men are out of work during the winter while constant changes in machine industry dislodge many others who can- not immediately find employment. The city rccog- ni/.es this fact and provides outdoor work for those temporarily in distress, while contractors are fre- < juently required to employ local men so as to relieve expenditures for charity. The theory of such laws, according to the American consul in Zurich, Swit- zerland, is as follows: "The indigent unemployed are dealt with as an economic (juestion. The Swiss act upon the theory that the man who is unemployed is, if left to him- THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 269 self, prone to become unemployable; and that for a community to allow anyone of its members ca- pable of work to remain unemployed is public waste, for the reason that as soon as he becomes a subject of charity he is a tax upon the community, which has to support not only the individual but also those dependent upon him." Pawn-shops have been a public institution in Ger- many for centuries. They are administered by the city on a business basis, the rate of interest being from 1 to 2 per cent, a month. Many small trades- men use the pawn-shop as a bank of discount. Municipal savings-banks have also existed from early times. The rate of interest paid is usually 3 per cent., the funds being invested for the most part in public securities. Branch offices are scattered all over the city to encourage their use as widely as pos- sible. Inasmuch as the banks are administered by the city at practically no expense, the depositors receive the full return realized from their money. Labor Courts. Cities realize that the workers are at a disadvan- tage in legal controversies with their employers and have established special courts for the settlement of disputes of an industrial nature. In these courts the employment of lawyers is discouraged; the fees are very small and the decisions are speedy. A large percentage of the cases are disposed of with- out litigation. The court is made up of employers and employees rather than of trained lawyers, and each class elects its own representative. 270 THE MODERN CITY Cities supply many other services for the poor. There are floating bath-pavilions upon the water- fronts, while all-the-year-round bath-houses are dis- tributed throughout the city. Munich has a great central municipal bath-house, which provides Turk- ish and Russian baths and contains an immense swimming-pool. Pure milk is sold to the poor at cost. There are farm schools out in the country for anaemic and subnormal children as well as con- valescent homes to which persons are sent after hospital treatment. Cities loan money to working men desirous of building homes. They buy and land for the purpose of controlling private land speculation and making home ownership easy. Poor Relief. Relief work in Germany is administered by the city directly rather than by private charities. In- door institutional relief is discouraged and is con- fined to the sick, the infirm, and the homeless. The German city has adopted the so-called Elberfeld system, by which the poor are cared for in the home rather than in the public institution. The idea underlying this is to preserve the family life and the economic independence of the persons assisted. f is administered by a large number of volun- tary workers who are assigned to different sections of the city, acting under the direction of a com- mittee of the town council and one of the paid officials of the city. Cities maintain public physicians who give gra- tuitous service to needy persons, as well as munio- THE CITY AS A SOCIAL AGENCY 271 ipal nursing establishments for convalescent inva- lids. The health of children is carefully watched. On entering school the child is examined by the school physician, to ascertain its physical condition. The parents are advised as to food and other precau- tions to be taken in the care of the child. If the child is sick or anaemic it is frequently sent to schools in the country for recuperation. School buildings are equipped with gymnasiums and are surrounded with playgrounds provided with all kinds of ap- paratus. Poor children often receive a hot break- fast in winter. All of these activities of the German city are part of a conscious imperial programme of human efficiency. The aim is to conserve the health, the strength, and the working capacity of all classes. This is defended on military as well as industrial grounds. The nation appreciates that to rear chil- dren to manhood and then permit them to be weak- ened by disease, bad housing, or to be out of work, is an economic loss which the community should aim to prevent. Summary. The individualism of the American city has re- tarded the development of social activities necessary to a well-ordered municipal life. Only within recent years have we begun to develop markets for the re- duction of the cost of living, the intensive supervision of the health of the people, the protection of the public against false weights and measures, the sup- ply of pure food and milk, and other measures of a 272 THE MODERN CITY similar sort. It is probable that these activities will develop rapidly within the next few years. The German city has carried activities of this sort further than any cities in the world. Almost all cities own their abattoirs, in which all meat sold within the city must be slaughtered. Markets are universally owned and have been for centuries, addition, the German city has developed many agencies of a preventive sort for the protection of the workers. Among these are pawn-shops and savings- banks, the loaning of money for the building of homes, employment agencies and lodging-houses, as well as emergency work in hard times. In addition, t!i" state provides insurance against sickness, dis- ease, accident, and old age, while poor relief is ad- ministered by the community rather than through private agencies as a necessary part of a weU-ord< city administration. All of these activities have been promoted by Germany aa part of a conscious programme of human efficiency. No cities in the Id have given as much thought and considers ? to the protection of its people as have the cities of Germany. CHAPTER XIX THE HOUSING PROBLEM THERE is no housing problem in the small town. Each family occupies an individual house or cottage, usually with a garden about it. There are no ten- ements, no slums, no congestion. There are usually enough houses; rents are reasonable and the tenant knows his landlord personally. Conditions are not very different in the city of 25,000 to 50,000 inhabitants. 1 There is still the individual home. The tenement has not appeared and no official thought is given to the subject of building regulations, congestion, or the housing of the people. When the community reaches a quarter or a half million people, however, a housing problem appears. Two, three, and four families are found living in the same house, or in several houses built upon a lot where previously there was but one; conditions are unsanitary; there is a high infantile death-rate. Tuberculosis is prevalent or some epidemic of dis- ease breaks out, which awakens the community to the situation. Surveys in a dozen cities like Cleve- 1 Housing conditions in the mill towns of New England and the coal-mining towns of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia, and else- where are, however, in their own way almost as bad as in the large cities. 273 274 THE MODERN CITY land, Washington, and Buffalo disclosed conditions which in their way were quite as bad as those of New York or Chicago. The Tenement and the Slum. When the city reaches metropolitan proportions the tenement appears. The individual house is torn down and three, four, five, and six story ements are erected. The garden is gone, while every inch of available space is built upon. Only the smallest possible area has been left for light and air. Tenement-houses in New York occupy from 70 to 90 per cent, of the lot area. Twenty families are crowded upon a spot where a generation before there was but one. Whole families live in two or three room tenements, into many rooms of v, ' th" sun never enters. Frequently boarders are added to eke out the rent. The plumbing is bad. The bathroom is a luxury enjoyed by but few. 1 washing, ironing, cooking, eating, sleeping, the rear- ing of children and care of the sick one or two rooms suffice for it all. i -lor these conditions there can be no privacy and little family life. Millions have become cliff- dwellers, ready to move on a moment's notice; quite frnjurntly a eviction fr th<' non- payment of rent. 1 Almost everybody is a tenant, for home-ownership is out of the question. 1 The 1 The erictkxM in New York City for the Doo-payment of noli are estimated at 5,000 a month or 60,000 a year. See Chapter IV, p. 40. THE HOUSING PROBLEM 275 landlord is sometimes a corporation, almost always an unattainable, unknown person. An agent col- lects the rents, which constantly tend to rise. This means smaller rooms, diminishing comfort, vanish- ing family life. In an incredibly short time great sections of the city are close packed with people, many of them in rooms far less sanitary than the barns or outhouses of the small towns. Mr. Robert W. de Forest, the first tenement com- missioner under the Tenement House Law of New York, describes conditions in that city ten years ago as follows: 1 "Tenement conditions in many instances have been found to be so bad as to be indescribable in print: vile privies and privy sinks; foul cellars full of rubbish, in many cases garbage and decompos- ing fecal matter; dilapidated and dangerous stairs, plumbing pipes containing large holes emitting sewer gas throughout the houses; rooms so dark that one cannot see the people in them; cellars occupied as sleeping places; dangerous bakeries without proper protection in case of fire; pigs, goats, horses, and other animals kept in cellars; dangerous old fire traps without fire escapes; disease-breeding rags and junk stored in tenement houses; halls kept dark at night, endangering the lives and safety of the occupants; buildings without adequate water sup- ply the list might be added to almost indefinitely. The cleansing of the Augean stables was a small task compared to the cleansing of New York's 1 First report, July, 1903. The conditions described have been greatly improved in the last ten years, and the description no longer applies to New York. 276 THE MODERN CITY 82,000 tenement houses, occupied by nearly 3,000,- 000 of people, representing every nationality and every degree in the social scale." The Causes of the Housing Problem. If we follow this transition from the town to the city we find that the housing problem is due to high land values on the one hand and inadequate trans- portation facilities on the other. These create the housing problem. High land values are due to the demand for land. This in turn involves the inten- sive use of land by the owner in order to secure a commercial return mi tin- investment This means high buildings, high rente, and congestion. In every large city; too, transportation lags behind the need for it. When the town is small men walk to their work. Then comes the bus or the horse- car. The horee-car is followed by the electric trol- ley, which in turn is followed by the elevated, subway, and the intcrurban train. But in each instance adequate transportation followed, it did not precede the growth of p"pulati.n. The explanation is simple. A short haul is more profitable than a long haul. In consequence, transportation < panics extend their lines only as they are forced to do so. It is to their interest to restrain populat within as narrow limits as possible. It is to interest of y on the other hand to distribute population as widely as possible. Despite these obvious facts cities have rarely prevented congestion by extending transportation in advance of popula- i. In consequence, all cities, both in America THE HOUSING PROBLEM 277 and in Europe, are congested. Tenants have to take such houses as were offered, because working men have to live near their work. Housing reformers are just beginning to appreciate these facts. They are coming to see that the hous- ing problem is a land and transportation problem and can only be solved as such. Four Policies of Housing Reform. Four general policies are being pursued as to housing. They are: 1. A laissez-faire reliance on private capital and the law of supply and demand to provide a sufficient number of houses to satisfy the needs of the com- munity. 2. The enactment of laws for the regulation of private builders materials, plumbing and sanita- tion, the area to be covered by structures, the cubic air space per occupant, etc. 3. The discouragement of land speculation on the one hand and the encouragement of building on the other by the reduction or removal of taxes on houses and improvements and the increase in the taxes on land; and 4. The building of model homes, tenements, and garden suburbs by the city itself or by co-operative associations aided by public loans. This policy has been most widely developed in Great Britain and Germany, in competition with private builders. The Policies Considered. I. Laissez Faire.The housing problem is really caused by the first policy of unregulated house-build- 278 THE MODERN CITY ing and laissez-faire reliance on private initiative. Private capital produces sufficient houses in the smaller towns, where the population is more or less stationary, but it fails to do so wherever increasing population makes it more profitable to speculate in land rather than to build, and through specula- tion and the withholding of land from use to o\ crowd tenements on congested areas. This po 1 has failed wholly in the larger cities. 1 1 . Regulation by Building and Tenement Laws. This laissez-faire policy of reliance on competit has been Amorally f<>ll<\vr:..! each other and dnin.i: their cooking on the premises. Such tenements may only cover a certain of the lot area; rooms must have a minimum .- and in the living rooms there must be windows of a certain area. The dark room is prohibited for liv- ing purposes. The law provides as to the plumbing, water supply, water-closets, cleanliness, stairways, basements, and courts. "In every tenement house, wherever erected, there shall be in each apart n a proper sink with running water . . . there shall be a separate water-closet in a separate compart n of each apartment, provided that where there are THE HOUSING PROBLEM 279 apartments of but one or two rooms there shall be at least one water-closet for every three rooms." New Law Tenements. The tenements erected under this law are a great improvement on the old ones. Between 80 and 90 per cent, of the new tenements contain private baths for each family. The common water-tap in the back yard or for a whole floor has disappeared, as has the common sink. There has been a conse- quent improvement in health and sanitation. As a protection against fire the law contains pro- visions as to materials, the structure of halls and stairways, the erection of fire-escapes, and the storage of combustible materials. New tenements exceeding six stories above the curb are required to be fire-proof, while smaller tenements must have fire-proof stairs and halls. Over $750,000,000 has been expended in ten years' time in Greater New York in the erection of such tenements. They contain 312,000 apartments and house a million and a half people in homes with outside light and air in every room, with running water in each apartment, and with private toilets. Over 80 per cent, of the apartments have set-in bath- tubs. All, too, are protected by fire-escapes and many of them by fire-proof stairs. "This type of house," says Mr. Lawrence Veiller, "has given eminent satisfaction in New York. It is practically the main type that has been built since the passage of the Tenement House Act in 1901. During the period of eight years, in the borough of 280 THE MODERN CITY Manhattan alone, 4,506 new tenement-houses have been built, providing accommodations for 116,789 families, or approximately over half a million people. There has not, however, in all this time been a single instance of a bad fire in one of these houses; nor has there been any loss of life from fire in one of these buildings, nor any fire in which any consid- erable financial damage has resulted." The law further requires that the tenement -houses must be kept clean of dirt, filth, or garbage, the owner being required to cleanse all the rooms, pas- sageways, storerooms, etc., to the satisfaction of the department of health; he must provide suitable con- veniences or receptacles for ashes, rubbish, garbage, and other material. The administration of the law is reposed in the hands of the tenement commissioner, who emj>l a large number of subordinates who inspect and n port upon violations of the law, much as does the Health Department. The Success and Failure of Regulation. Regulation is primarily a health and sanitary programme. It has improved the type of tenement, has made it sanitary, healthy, and more nearly fire- proof, but it does not reduce congestion or lower rents. Nor does it increase the number of houses. Rather the reverse is true. Improved plumbing, better sanitation, more light and air increase the cost of construction, which in turn increases rente and creates further congestion. Under the most drastic laws and the most honest regulation families THE HOUSING PROBLEM 281 still live in one or two room tenements. They must take in boarders to make up the rent; they must continue to perform all the domestic functions in the narrow quarters of the tenement room. These economic conditions cannot be met by regulation. For regulation does not increase the supply of houses. It rather diminishes them by increasing the cost of construction. Nor do such laws protect the tenement-dweller from such evils as prostitution, which is easily re- cruited among children who have known no privacy; whose eyes are familiar with the finery of the women who are distinguished from their neighbors because of their comparative luxury and freedom from long hours of toil in the shop or the factory. A few years ago it was hoped that private philan- thropy at 6 per cent, might solve the problem by the erection of model tenements. But the inade- quacy of such a remedy is indicated by the experience of New York. Writing in 1910, Mr. Lawrence Veiller says that "during the past forty years model tenements accommodating about 18,000 persons have been built by philanthropists in New York, while real-estate speculators had built houses, many of them of a very objectionable type, for 1,267,550 persons." The Crux of the Housing Problem. Neither private capital nor philanthropy can be relied upon to provide a sufficient number of houses in a growing city. The reason for this is that, gen- erally speaking, there is more money to be made 282 THE MODERN CITY in holding land for speculation than there is in building houses. In growing cities land values in- crease at 4 or 5 per cent, per annum. This is the experience of European and American cities. There is less risk, hazard, and trouble involved in keeping land out of use than in the building and management of tenements. In consequence men speculate rather than build. The economic motives operative in other businesses do not apply with the same force in the building of houses t because of the identity of the hous- ing problem with the land. We now recognize that there can be no competition among gas, water, street-railways, and other natural monopolies. The traditional laws of com{ do not operate in this field. The same is true, al- though to a less degree, of house-building, for tli<> laws of demand and supply are not adequate in house-building to either erect a sufficient number of houses or to keep down rente to a reasonable figure. e reason for this is the identity of housing with land and the speculative gains or hope of gains to be made from holding land out of use. For this reason new remedies must be sought in the solution of problem. III. Lower Taxation on Houses as an Encourage* mcnt to Building. The taxation of land values and the exemption of houses and improvements is b* proposed in a number of States as a solution of the housing problem. This reform attacks the problem as a land rather than a house problem. It relies on competition if competition can be made to work THE HOUSING PROBJ and claims that the heavier taxation of land will reverse the economic motives which now lead men to speculate rather than build. It will increase the supply of houses and by this means lower rents and compel owners to compete for tenants and by the same force bring about needed improvements and betterments. The congestion committee of New York recom- mended the reduction in the taxes on houses and improvements to one half the tax on land values as a first step in this programme, and in support of its proposal the committee reported that there were 184,000 vacant parcels of land in Greater New York which would house one half the population in com- fort if built upon. Much of this land is held for speculation when it should be used for house-build- ing. Through an increase in the land tax, the com- mittee urged, the withholding of land from use would be discouraged, while building would be en- couraged by the reduction in the taxes on houses and improvements. Taxation Exemption to Encourage Building. In support of this recommendation Mr. Raymond V. Ingersoll, its chairman, stated: "One of the main purposes of this proposal is to encourage the more rapid building up of the many suburban communities within the city limits. In all such sections improvements are usually worth at least twice the value of the land upon which they are located, and to lighten the tax upon improve- ments would be a great aid to development. The 284 THE MODERN CITY present policy, on the other hand, of taxing land and buildings at an equal rate, is a distinct encourage- ment to the holding of land out of use for a specula- tive rise in value. It is often more profitable for landowners to wait for an increased value to be created by the growth of population and by the efforts of neighboring owners who do build, than to bring upon themselves the severe penalties which we now impose upon all building enterprise." Continuing, he says: "A high tax rate on buildings tends to chock the building supply. High taxation of lands has no such effect. In fact land held out of use is brought more quickly into the active market. "Taxes on buildings are reflected in rente. A policy of heavier improvement taxes means fewer buildings and higher rents. That is, improvement taxes are paid by tenants. Land taxes must be paid by the owner; they cannot be shifted. "Building values are produced and increased by the industry and enterprise of the individual owner. Land values arise almost wholly from the growth of the community and from its pressing need of places in which to live and work. New York land val go up over $700 for every additional person on the census rolls. "Buildings tend to deteriorate from year to year; land tends to grow more valuable. "Increase in the actual, tangible, useful wealth within the city is checked by a tax that discourages building. A tax on land does not have this effect. "Expenditures of public revenues especially upon permanent improvements cause a direct in- crease in land values. Building values are not ben- efited in the same way.'* THE HOUSING PROBLEM 285 The committee quoted Mr. William E. Harmon, president of one of the largest real-estate corpora- tions in the city, in support of this measure. Mr. Harmon stated before the committee: "Probably the best way to solve the problem of congestion would be to double the tax on vacant land, thus reducing the tax on improvements. If you increase the tax on land you force construction to meet the carrying charges." Discouragement from Taxes on Improvements. A business men's committee for the promotion of this measure says in regard to taxes in New York City: "The essentials to every city's development and progress are cheap land, low rents and low taxes, but New York City is handicapped by dear land, high rents and high taxes. The English Board of Trade recently found that the minimum rent for a three-room apartment in New York City is 9 per cent, higher than in Pittsburgh, and over one-fifth higher than in Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago. The tax rate on buildings in New York is higher than in most of the cities with which it competes. Build- ings in New York are taxed at the same rate as land. This encourages the owners of vacant land to hold it out of use, because the annual increase in land values is more than double the tax rate on land. It discourages the construction of buildings, most of which when constructed are assessed for at least twice as much as the land upon which they stand. Buildings therefore usually pay at least twice as much taxes as their sites. Buildings, however, depreciate at least 2 per cent, a year, or slightly 286 THE MODERN CITY more than the total amount of taxes they pay. The present system of taxing buildings naturally keeps the supply of buildings below the demand that is, it keeps up rents and this increases the cost of doing business in New York City and increases the cost of living here. "Had the proposed system of taxation been in operation in 1911, buildings in New York City would have paid about $18,000,000 less taxes, and land about $18,000,000 more taxes than each class of real estate actually did pay. "The increased taxes paid by land would repre- sent less than one-fifth of the net increase in land values of the city from 1910 to 1911, while if build- ings depreciated only 2 per cent., the total deprecia- tion in the one year was over $52,000,000." l Example from Canada. The cities of western Canada, notably Vancouver, have abolished taxes on improvement values en- tirely. In Vancouver the value of the house per- mits issued increased by 100 per cent, the year fol- lowing the exemption of houses and improvements. A special commission created by the Minnesota legislature investigated the result of Canadian perience and reported in 1912. Speaking of Van- couver the commission said: "The result, it is claimed, was magical. There was an immediate leap forward in local prosperity, huge buildings at once began to rise up \\\ shacks had stood, and the city grew in population 1 " To Promote New York's Prosperity," published by The Buai- ness Men's Committee on Halving the Tax-Rate on Buildings in New York City. THE HOUSING PROBLEM 287 by leaps and bounds. Ten years ago it had a popu- lation of less than 27,000; to-day it exceeds 150,000. In 1901 the assessed value of land was less than $23,000,000; to-day it exceeds $100,000,000. That the marvellous growth of the city is entirely due to its taxing system is not claimed, but that it has stimulated and aided such growth is generally ad- mitted. ... It is but fair to add that a large ma- jority of the people of Vancouver seem to be strong advocates and supporters of the principle of exempt- ing buildings and improvements from taxation/' The policy of taxing land more heavily than improvements has been followed in Australia; it is the policy of many housing reformers and municipal officials in Germany and is being urged in a number of American States. The proposal is discussed as a financial measure in a later chapter, " New Sources of Revenue." Summary. The housing problem is the most insistent of all municipal problems. It exists in all countries with a rapidly increasing urban population, as in America, England, and Germany. Probably the worst hous- \/ ing conditions are those of England and Germany. America has done much to so regulate building construction as to improve the health of the com- munity. But regulation has not reduced congestion or reduced rents, and public opinion is coming to appreciate that the housing problem is a land prob- lem on the one hand and a transportation problem on the other and that it can only be corrected as such. A number of cities and States are agitating for the removal of all taxes on houses and the in- 288 THE MODERN CITY crease in the tax on land, for the purpose of encour- aging house-building and the prevention of land speculation. Advocates of this reform urge that the land speculator rather than the house-builder is responsible for the housing problem and that through increased land taxation the tendency to speculate will be checked and the motive for build- ing will be stimulated. Canadian cities have de- veloped this policy to the extent of exempting im- provements from taxation, with the result that those cities that have adopted this policy have increased rapidly in population. CHAPTER XX MUNICIPAL HOUSING IN EUROPE IN the previous chapter proposals to relieve the housing problem by regulation on the one hand and taxation on the other have been considered. Re- liance on private builders and the law of demand and supply is the American policy. In Europe, and especially in Germany and England, public opinion is coming to realize that private capital has not and will not build enough houses to supply the demand. This has been officially recognized by a number of cities in official statements. To meet this condition municipal and State authorities are building houses hi competition with private owners, or loans are being made from public funds at low rates of interest to co-operative associations for this purpose. Land Speculation and Congestion. City population, it is stated, grows faster than do the houses for its accommodation. This permits anything to be rented. This, too, keeps up rents at a monopoly price. It maintains urban land values at a high figure, which, in turn, require high rents in order to pay interest on the capitalization. Low rents and better houses, it is claimed, can only be secured by the building of more houses and the opening of the countryside to building. These ends, in turn, can only be secured by improved 289 290 THE MODERN CITY methods of transit, by the taxation of vacant Ian a higher rate than improvements, or by the building of houses or tenements by public authorities which will compete with the private builders. The pur- pose of all these measures is to secure more houses and to encourage improvements and competition in house-building. By far the most substantial contribution yet made to the housing problem is that of the garden city of Great Britain. The Garden City. For more than a generation the housing problem has been recognized as the most serious municipal problem in Great Britain. Four fifths of the people under urban surroundings, of whom a large per- centage dwell in inadequate, unsanitary tenements. In the attempt to solve the problem, one remedy after another has been tried. Many laws have been enacted to regulate landlords. Private philan- thropy has also erected many model tenements, while a number of cities have razed slum areas and engaged in ambitious housing projects. Within the past few years, however, hope has been enkindled by garden-city or garden-suburb movement, which has awakened the enthusiasm of officials and reforn not only i n c. reat Britain but on the continent as well. Letchworth. The movement began with a book written by Ebenezer Howard, entitled The Garden City of To- Morrow, which appeared in 1898. In 1903 a co- operative corporation was organized to carry out MUNICIPAL HOUSING IN EUROPE 291 the idea. A site was selected at Letchworth, thirty- four miles to the northwest of London and fifty minutes' ride from the city by train, where 4,000 acres of farming land were purchased at $200 an acre. The corporation differs from other private corporations in that it limits its dividends to 5 per cent. In consequence there is no incentive to crowd people, to increase rents, or to erect bad houses. The articles of incorporation provide that all earnings in excess of 5 per cent, are to be ex- pended for the benefit of the community, on the building of schools, clubs, playgrounds, the reduc- tion of taxes, etc. In other words, as the land grows in value the increased value is to be enjoyed by all the members of the community rather than by the owners. The elimination of speculative profits was the first principle of the garden-city enterprise. The second was the building of the new community as a unit much as suburbs are planned in Germany. A large area was laid out at one time by an expert city planner so that it could be done economically and with provision for all the needs of the people. For the same reason a large number of houses are erected at the same time and in harmony with an artistic community scheme, thus permitting the employment of good architects and the reduction of the building costs. The City a Unit. Regulations were adopted by the co-operative corporation which compelled the factories to build 292 THE MODERN CITY along the railway tracks and at some distance from the residence section. The gas, water, and d ity supply was installed when the streets were being built and is under the control of the corpora- tion. Charges are made as low as possible and the use of coal is minimized. The garden city treats these services much as the private buiM-r treats the elevator, pipes, wiring, and plumbing of his house. They are the vital organs of the com- munity. Manufacturing concerns are attracted to Letch- worth by cheap land, which is leased to them on easy terms. They are encouraged to erect one- story buildings, with ample light for their em- I>l<>yf 1 1 1* Russell Sage Foundation, by Clarence A. Perry, n virus the "Social Center Features in New 1 mentary School Architect un . " A study of the plans of a score of cities shows that boards of educa- i are consciously adjusting the public school to a variety of uses which in no way impair the bml 1- ing for educational purposes. Auditoriums are ig added, often fitted with movable seats, so that the room may be used for dancing, dramatics, music, and receptions. Those in the newer build- ings often have stages, and in some pipe-organs arc installed. Roof-gardens are common accessories in th< larger cities; baths have been provided and gymnasiums are made serviceable to adults as well as children. Inside playrooms are frequently in- cluded, and even ward schools are equipped with THE PROBLEM OF LEISURE 313 regular gymnasiums. A school in Beverly, Mass., is equipped with a bowling-alley, and a Milwaukee school has pool-tables. Schools furnished with gymnasiums usually contain shower-baths in the adjoining dressing-rooms, while many of the new schools possess swimming pools. Many of the schools contain branch libraries, which are open in the evening. The rooms to be used by the com- munity are usually on the ground floor or in the basement, so as to interfere as little as possible with the uses of the school for instruction. New Uses of the Schools. Manual-training and domestic-science rooms are included in many schools, equipped with benches, tools, and opportunity for manual-training work. The school kitchens are used for evening training in domestic science and make possible the holding of dinners and other functions. Many of the newer buildings are provided with lunch rooms. Prob- ably the most perfectly developed type of school buildings are those of Gary, Ind. Medical and dental school inspection, which is now carried on in most up-to-date school systems, has led to provision for special rooms for this work. Dispensaries are placed in many of the newer build- ings, as well as rest rooms and laboratories. In Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Worcester (Mass.), and Chicago, rooms are set aside for polling-places, and in some cities political meetings are held in the auditoriums. Of the school centre as an adjunct to the public 314 THE MODERN CITY library, Doctor Charles E. McLenegan, the public li- brarian of Milwaukee, Wis., says: "Another great advantage of this branch in the schoolhouse is that it gives every home an almost ideal means of communication with the library and that is one of the unsolved problems in a large library how the home may communicate with the library." It has been suggested that an employment agency be part of the extended activities of the school. Doctor John R. Commons, of the University of Wb- consin, says the schoolhouse should contain public employment bureaus which will take the place of the private agencies. "The schoolhouse/' he says, "is the natural place for labor exchanges such as exist in Germany and Great Britain. Here man* less jobs and jobless men will meet: here the prob- lem of demand and supply will be stud The School as a Musical, Dramatic, and Art Centre. The school is also being developed as a music The old-fashioned singing-school was an outgrowth of the demand for community music, for folk singing, for which the modern social centre again makes provision. Choral singing has been successfully developed in many cities. In New York the People's Music League of the People's Institute uses the public schools for giving concerts, tin* organization of choral and orchestral societies, and the extension of musical training. Over one hundred concerts were given in 1914 and a half- THE PROBLEM OF LEISURE 315 dozen volunteer orchestras were organized. These concerts are given with professional and amateur talent. Some years ago the educational theatre was organized on the East Side of New York. A dra- matic group was formed among the boys, girls, and wage-earners of the neighborhood, who gave selected plays. Classes were organized in dramatics and story-telling. After witnessing one of the plays, President Eliot, of Harvard, said: "Here is this tremendous power over children and over fathers and mothers that ought to be out- lined for their good. It is true that the dramatic instinct is very general and it can be used to put into the hearts and minds of children and adults all sorts of noble and influential thoughts; and that is the use that ought to be made of it. Think what it is for any child of ten or sixteen to learn by heart a great play of Shakespeare or some other noble artist. .1 have seen it among the children of my own family." The Educational Dramatic League, another or- ganization in New York, uses the school auditoriums for the presentation of selected plays by school children and wage-earners. Nearly forty instruct- ors train neighborhood groups in dramatic expres- sion, and in the spring of the year competitions of selected plays are given by these groups. During the year 1914 over 1,200 persons were organized in these groups. The corridors of the Washington Irving High 316 THE MODERN CITY School, New York, were planned for the holding of art and other exhibitions, and during the year 1914 several creditable exhibitions were given. The city of Richmond, Ind., uses its schoolhouses as art centres and thus saves the expense of separate buildings, while the pictures are placed where they will most benefit the community. Half a d< other Indiana cities have joined with Richmond to form an art circuit, in all of which cities the school buildings are used to house the exhibitions. The Problem of Leisure. .Juvenile recreation is only a part of the feisure- timc problem; for the hours of leisure are the form- ative hours of life. This is as true of adult* a is of children. Civilization, in fact, depends largely on the way the people use their leisure. We sea this in ancient Greece, which produced an art, drama, literature, and philosophy that has riched subsequent centuries. The culture of Greece was a product of the wise use of leisure time. The people met in the streets, temples, and amphi- theatres, and distinction in the arts became the con- trolling ambition of the communi' many also officially recognizes the leisure life of the people. Cities build splendid opera-houses and theatres which are subsidized and maintained at public expense. E\ r\ lar^e city has an art gallery and museum upon which great sums are ended. There are concert halls in which a municipal orchestra gives symphony concerts at an insignificant cost, while during the summer months THE PROBLEM OF LEISURE 317 military bands attract old and young to the parks and open spaces, where they listen to the best of music in an orderly way. In consequence of this public provision for leisure the whole nation is being trained in the drama, in art, in music. Its leisure life is consciously moulded by the com- munity. The Commercialization of Leisure. Under the individualistic tendencies of America leisure has been left to commerce. And commerce exploits it in the saloon, the private dance hall, the motion-picture show, the pool-room, and the theatre. Only an insignificant percentage of the population of a great city is reached by the public agencies, while at least 95 per cent, frequent the commer- cialized agencies. In New York there are 11,500 saloons, 800 dance halls, and 600 motion-picture shows, in which it has been estimated that the peo- ple spend $100,000,000 a year. The commercialized agencies are not interested in culture; they are interested in profits. They have no concern for the people's life; they push their allurements; they connect them with the most profitable forms of vice in order to still further increase their profits. The results are obvious. Investigations have shown that juvenile crime is largely traceable to the influences which surround children during their play hours. Men and women in the tenement have no other place to go than the saloon and the motion- picture show, and they, too, reflect the way they use their leisure hours. Girls frequent the commercial 318 THE MODERN CITY dance hall, and vice is recruited from this source. The recent Chicago vice commission says: iere are approximately 275 public dance halls in Chicago which are rented periodically to so-called pleasure clubs and societies or are conducted by in- dividuals. . . . Many of these halls are frequented by minors, both boys and girls, and in some in- stances they are surrounded by great temptations and dangers. Practically no effort is made by the managers to observe the laws regarding the sale of liquor to minors. Nor is the provision of the ordinance relating to disreputable persons observed. In nearly < \< r\ hall visited, investigators have seen professional and semi-professional prostitutes. . -ome instances they were accompanied by their cadets who were continually on the outlook new victims. 11 All of these reasons point to the necessity for a much more serious consideration of the leisure-time problem by the city and largely increased appro- priations for this purpose. A Constructive Leisure-Time Programme. Wisconsin has promoted a leisure-time programme, under the direction of the State university, on a much wider scale than any State in the Union. A university-extension department has been organ- ized with centres scattered throughout the State, in which directors and oiganiiers are located for the purpose of promoting university teaching. In- structors are sent out from the university, while selected lyceum courses and musical entertainments are also offered. Communities are encouraged to THE PROBLEM OF LEISURE 319 open the schoolhouses as branches of the university, into which the people are attracted by neighbor- hood activities as well as by the offerings of the university. Classes in mechanics, electricity, and vocational work are organized in connection with manufacturing plants, while courses are given by correspondence in which those students who pass satisfactory examinations are entitled to credit for a university degree. The motive of this work, according to the dean of the extension division, is to " carry the university to the people." Through this plan a lifelong educational pro- gramme has been developed. The university is projected into every community hi the State. The extension work is on a democratic basis, the aim of the university being to meet and co-operate with the people in their spontaneous interests. The school- house is made an educational centre, not only for the conduct of classes and the distribution of expert advice and information from the university, but for the free discussion of live questions of local and general interest. A circulating-library department is maintained, which distributes books, magazines, and clippings, while package libraries are sent out to organizations or individuals free of charge. Civilization and Leisure. The leisure-time problem is a problem of one third of life and in many ways the most important third. It means more than recuperation from work; more than freedom from vice; more than the invig- 320 THE MODERN CITY oration of the body or the preservation of health >lves opportunities for education to those denied it in youth: it involves increasing the industrial, ie, and social efficiency of men and women as weD as opportunity for change, variety, and training which machine industry has destroyed. If we would preserve and promote our civilization, the same official concern must be given to leisure that is now given to education; the same thought that is given to the work hours of the people. And just as the coming of the city, with the close living of people, made it necessary for the com- munity to provide for the supply of water as a san- itary precaution, just as it became necessary to install sewer systems, to provide polic- and health protection, so the metropolitan city, with Its -lf to make provision for leisure. In a sense such provision is as important as is elemen- tary education, for it determines the nature of the family lif , it moulds the child and the adult shapes the character and morals of the people. Even the cultural life of a nation is a mirror of its leisure-time activities. Summary* Public provision for recreation is one of America's contributions to the municipal problem. No coun- try in tli.- world has promoted playgrounds, schools, public libraries, and other agencies as intelligently THE PROBLEM OF LEISURE 321 as have we. Leisure is being recognized as a public problem, which affects not only the health but the morals and intellectual life of the people as well. In spite of what has been done, the leisure life of old and young has been left largely to commerce, which, through the saloon, the dance hall, and the motion- picture show, exploits the life of the people in its leisure time. New York City is developing a com- prehensive programme of recreational activities, with the public school as a centre, in which music, the drama, and dancing are being promoted, while the State of Wisconsin has worked out a constructive educational programme with the State university as the centre and the public schools as the local unit. Provision for leisure is coming to be recognized as just as much a necessary public function as pro- vision for fire, police, and health departments, the supply of water, or any other traditional services of the city. CHAPTER XXII THE CITY BUDGET THE income and expenditure accounts of the city are expressed in its annual budget, which is pre- pared for twelve months in advance. The income of the city is derived (1) from taxes, (2) from the sale of bonds to be retired from taxes, (3) from com- mercial undertakings, and (4) from fees. Unlike a private business, the payments are for the most part compulsory, while the expenditures are made for the whole community irrespective of the services rendered to any particular person. A man may be a large taxpayer and have no children in the schools; he may never use the hospitals or parks or be actually protected by the police and fire depart- ments. On the other hand, even if he pays no dii taxes at all, the schools are open to his children as are the parks and playgrounds, his property is pro- tected from fire and his person from violence. The services of the city are offered to all and are paid for by a uniform charge, while the charges private business are fixed on the basis of a quid pro quo. The Budget of the City. The annual budget of the city is prepared by the council, usually on recommendations from the hi 322 THE CITY BUDGET 323 of the various departments. In it the income and expenditure account for the ensuing year are set out in detail. Cities first estimate their probable expen- ditures and then provide the revenue for meeting them. In this, too, the city differs from a pri- vate corporation, whose income controls its ex- penditures and which can and does alter its budget from day to day as expediency requires. Current expenses are met by taxes, while improve- ments of a permanent character are usually paid for by the sale of bonds or stock, which are in the nature of a lien or mortgage upon all the property, both public and private, within the city, v Bonds run for from twenty-five to fifty years and bear from 3 to 4 J/ per cent, interest. Certain permanent improvements, like streets and sewers, are paid for by short-term bonds assessed against the property immediately benefited by the improvements. Some cities avoid general indebtedness and pay^for many permanent improvements out of taxation. Municipal Taxation and Assessment. The current revenue is collected by taxes on real and personal property, from mercantile taxes and license fees, the bulk of it coming from direct taxes on real estate, although in the Southern cities a con- siderable revenue comes from license taxes on busi- ness. The first step in the collection of taxes is the preparation of the assessment roll which is the valuation of all property taxable under the law. This is done by officials chosen for the purpose. In 324 THE MODERN CITY former years assessors were elected from wards or districts, but this led to favoritism, to a tendency to undervaluation and many inequalities. Assess- ing officials are now generally appointed by the mayor and are responsible to him, and instead of being designated to assess a ward or taxing district they assess the entire city as a unit. This is the better practice. By this means uniformity is se- cured and sectional discriminations avoided. In New York assessments are made by the commis- sioners of taxes and assessments, who are appointed by the mayor. And it is interesting to note that New York has probably the best system of local taxation in the world. Property is assessed each year, and the assessments on real estate are made more nearly accurate than in any city in America, the property being appraised at approximately ita full value. Boston and Cleveland have substan- tially tin* same practice. Land and improvements are valued separately, which enables the owner to judge of the correctness of the assessments. Separation of land and improvements was a great advance in tax assessments. It made it possible to adopt a uniform standard of full value, which is the baas required by most of our State constitutions. When the valuation is completed owners are notified and given an opportunity to appear before the board and be heard on the valuation imposed on their property. When finally approved the valu- ations are entered on the tax record under the name of the owner, with a description of the property. THE CITY BUDGET 325 Real and Personal Property Taxation. Personal property, including stocks, bonds, mort- gages, household furniture, machinery, and mer- chandise, is valued like real estate and is added to it in making up the assessment rolls. No city has yet been able to assess personal property at any- thing like its full value. The means of evasion are so numerous, and the tax rate upon securities is so high, that public opinion has come to justify eva- sions, while many experts urge the abandonment of the taxation of personal property because it leads to perjury on the part of taxpayers and, in so far as intangible stocks and bonds are concerned, to double taxation. A special commission in New York City in 1906 declared: "The personal property tax is a farce. It falls inequitably upon the comparatively few who are caught. The burden it imposes upon production is all out of proportion to the revenue it produces. Year after year, state and local assessing boards have denounced it as impracticable in its workings and unjust in its results. ... It is time the sit- uation was faced squarely and the tax in its present form abolished. . . . So far as the personal property tax attempts to reach intangible forms of wealth, its administration is so comical as to have become a by-word. In practice it has come to be merely a requisition by the board of assessors upon leading citizens for such donations as assessors think should be made, and is paid as assessed or reduced as the citizen agrees with the estimate of the assessor. Such a method of collecting revenue would be a 326 THE MODERN CITY serious menace to democratic institutions were it not recognized as a howling farce." The public service corporations which occupy the streets are sometimes assessed as physical prop- erty, sometimes on their franchise value. In some States a tax is assessed against their earnings in the form of a gross-receipts tax. The franchises are frequently of more value than the property itself. In New York City the franchises alone of the public service corporations for 1913 were appraised at $438,861,581. In that year the assessable real and personal property of the city was as follows: Red estate . . $8,006,647,861 Personal property... 835,421,340 Total $8,332,069,201 The total valuation of real and personal property forms the basis upon which taxes are assessed. Upon this basis a certain number of dollars are levied on each $100 of valuation. In other words, for each $100 of property owned the taxpayer pays a certain number of dollars to the city for its sup- port and maintenance. This is the chief sourc< local revenues. In addition to the taxes upon real and personal property a substantial sum is collected in the Southern cities from taxes upon business, while most of our States exact high license fees on the sale of intoxicating liquors. Saloon licenses range from $300 to $2,000 a year. The estimated receipts from saloon licenses in New York in 1913 were $4,378,233. THE CITY BUDGET 327 In addition to its ordinary revenues the extraor- dinary needs of the city are met by the sale of bonds or corporate stock. These bonds are sold, after advertisement, to the highest bidder, although some cities have retailed their bonds by popular sale over the counter. Provision is usually made for an annual sinking-fund levy, to provide for repayment of the bonds in a certain number of years. The receipts from this levy are used to buy back a portion of the bonds each year, which then cease to be an obligation of the city. Appropriations. The expenditures of the city are provided for in the annual appropriation ordinance, which also de- termines the amount of taxes to be collected. This is the city budget. It covers a period of twelve months, and once adopted it can only be changed by a two thirds or three fourths vote of the council. In this respect the city has none of the flexibility of a private business, which can change its expendi- tures from day to day as necessity requires. The appropriation ordinance is nominally pre- pared by the finance committee of the council, but in practice it is generally prepared by the mayor in consultation with the heads of the various de- partments. Recent city charters recognize this fact and lodge the preparation of the budget in the hands of the mayor or, as in New York, in the board of estimate and apportionment. Budgetary estimates are first received from each department and are then discussed by the mayor 328 THE MODERN CITY and his associates or by the finance committee of the council. As a matter of practice the council usually does little more than register the recom- mendations as they come to it. The mayor can veto the entire ordinance and in many cities any individual item of it. By this means be is abl checkmate log-rolling by council members or the pad- ding of appropriations. Recent Budgetary Improvements. Great improvement has been made in municipal accounting in recent years. Up to very recently there was no uniformity in the methods emplo\ accounts were obscure; they could not be understood by the citizens. The bureau of municipal research of New York examined the financial reports of seventy-five American cities and reported that "Sixty-eight do not show, with respect to current expenses and revenues, how much they have sp including bills not paid and revenues due but not yet received. . . . Assets are not shown by fo: eight of tli* YMn h;i.- t<> U- m:il'- f.. r tin* disposal of refuse and garbage. New means of NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 347 transit have to be provided by subways or elevated systems to relieve congestion and permit the proper expansion of the city. There are increasing demands for better fire and police protection, for fire-pre- vention bureaus and high-pressure systems. The water-fronts must be reclaimed, municipal docks and harbors must be constructed to develop the city's commerce, while new streets must frequently be opened to relieve the business congestion. All these activities are demanded by business men and taxpayers for the promotion of the city. Growth of City Expenditure. Expenditures are also increasing for recreation, for more humane consideration of the dependent and delinquent classes and more generous pro- vision for hospitals, institutions, and poor relief. Civic pride is finding a place in the budget in town- planning projects, the erection of imposing munic- ipal buildings, the laying out of boulevards and park systems, while concern for the economic well-being of the poorer classes is demanding the erection of markets, the inspection of food, the supply of milk, and provision for nurses and community doctors. Ay these and many other functions are adding new burdens to the city. They are increasing the city budget more rapidly than the growth of population. And, measured by continental cities, the movement has only begun. The budgets of our cities are responding to these demands. New York is a conspicuous example, in which city from 1903 to 1913 the valuation of all 348 THE MODERN CITY personal and real property increased by 49.23 per cent, and the population but 42 per cent., while the lc\y upon property increased 90.01 per cent. The receipts from direct taxes in 1903 amounted to $69,584,432, while in 1913 they were $128,412,956. According to the bureau of the census, the budget of 147 cities shows that " receipts from revenues increased from $420,177,674 in 1902 to $663,8 409 in 1909, or 58 per cent., while payments for expenses and interest increased in the same period 51.2 per cent.; and except for a decrease from 1908 to 1909, payments for outlays during the same period increased steadily from year to year, K payments being for th< 1 17 < ities 99.8 per cent, greater in 1909 than in 190: This increase in expenditure is only to a small extent due to waste, extravagance, or inefficiei Tli'- increase is probably more rapid in the cities that are well governed than in those that are i it is quite as rapid in Europe as in America. Cities are undertaking new activities, public opinion in- sists on a higher standard of workmanship, while improvements are on a much more permanent scale than heretofore. There is every reason to expect that expenditures in the future will increase even more rapidly than in the past. New Sources of Revenue. New sources of revenue are being sought to meek the increasing needs of the city, and three general expedients are being urged or adopted. They are: * Financial Statittic* of Citit* (1900), p. 30. NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 349 (1) Reliance on special assessments upon property benefited for many improvements heretofore paid for by direct taxes or general indebtedness. (2) Excess condemnation by means of which more land is taken than is needed for a street, parkway, or other public improvement, and the resale of the unused land at its increased value after the im- provement has been completed. (3) An increased tax on land values or the "un- earned increment." All of these expedients look to increased revenue from real estate, and especially from land. (1) Special A ssessments. Special assessments have long been relied on to pay for streets, sidewalks, and sewers. Assessments for paving and sidewalks are usually confined to the property immediately abut- ting on the street and are levied according to street frontage or the value of the property. Sewers are divided into classes. The cost of the street sewer is assessed against the property on the street benefited, the cost of the district sewer against a wider area, while the trunk sewers are charged against the city as a whole or upon districts served by them. Notes or bonds running from five to ten years are issued by the city but are charged against and paid by the property owners benefited in annual instalments. By this procedure property increased in value is made to pay for its immediate benefits. In New York small parks, street openings, and other im- provements are being paid for in part by this plan. Mr. Nelson P. Lewis, the chief engineer of the 350 THE MODERN CITY board of estimate and apportionment of New York, says of special assessments: "One principle should be invariably recognized; narn< ly. where there is local benefit there should be local assessment. There can be no improver which has been intelligently planned and executed which will not result in some local benefit, and it follows that there should always be some local assessment. No improvement, however small or however large, will be of equal benefit to the ei , and to distribute the burden of paying for it the whole city according to taxable values is unfair in that it is not placed according to benefit. The owners of property in the immediate vie: are frequently enriched at the expense of those whose holdings are entirely outside the dist directly affected. . needs no extended argument to prove the equity and wisdom of local ajtmssment wherever tli- re is local benefit. That it has been done to .- a limited extent in the past is no reason why it should not be more generally done in the futiirv. That certain property owners have heretofore been treated with such prodigal liberality is no good rea- son why others should fatten through a cont ation of an irrational and essentially unfair polk } Proposed Extension of Special It is urged that the principle of special should be extended to many other improvements such as boulevards, parks, playgrounds, the open- ing of new streets, the acquisition of land for pub- A0 Mb jtr 0* Ptomfaf. Fourth NiUood on City Planning. Barton, 1012. NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 351 lie buildings and civic centres. Land is increased in value by these improvements as well as by water, gas, electric-light, and transportation facilities; it is usually increased in value far beyond the cost of the improvements. In 1908 the City Club of New York made a study of the effect of the first subways upon city land values and found that the new means of transit had increased the value of the land opened up to use far in excess of the subway cost but that this cost had been borne by general bonds issued by the city. The club addressed a memorandum to the board of estimate and appor- tionment on "The Building of Rapid Transit Lines by Assessment upon Property Benefited." The re- port said: "For many years the city has deemed it just to assess upon abutting property the cost of opening streets and building sewers. The theory of such a tax upon property is that it receives almost the exclusive benefit from the construction of a street or sewer adjacent to it. The question naturally arises, does not a transit line, by the benefit that it confers, fall in the same class as new streets and sewers? If a street railroad or rapid transit line be extended into an undeveloped territory, is it not built pri- marily for the purpose of furnishing transit facil- ities to future residents in that section ? People will buy this property primarily because it has good transit facilities and the value placed upon it is largely based upon its accessibility. This being true and universally admitted, why should not the property thus enhanced in value by the extension to it of a transit line pay for the construction of such 352 THE MODERN CITY line, to the extent that the increased value warrants it, instead of receiving such increased value as a present from the city. ... To throw light upon the above question, the City Club has been making some painstaking investigations, extending c several months, of the rise in value of land along the present subway. . . . Between 135th Stn 155th Street, Convent Avenue and North I; the land increased in value between 1900 and 1907 about $17,825,000. Although the elevated road paralleled this district, yet owing to the topography the road was of little service, so the subway added very materially to the transit facilities of the local "The district between the Harlem and N I livers from 155th to 178th Street increased in value about $22,450,000; from 178th to Dyckman Street th< increase was about $15,925,000; from Dyckman et to the Spuyten Duyvil the increase was about $13,100,000. The aggregate rise in this land from 135th Street to Spuyten Duyvil was about $69,300,000. If an estimated normal rise of $20,- 100,000, based upon th< rise of the previous sr years, be subtracted from this, it leaves a rift about $49,200,000, apparently due to the building of the subway, which is 104 per cent, increase on the value of 1900. "The rise in land values of The Bronx is likewise very noticeable. Taking a district along the sub- way extending in width about a half mile on either side, the increase in land values was somewhat as follows: From the Harlem River to Willis and Third Avenues the rise was about $9,200,000; from the latter point to Bronx Park, about $13,500,000. The aggregate rise in land values for this dist from the Harlem River to the Bronx Park was about $44,800,000. Subtracting from this an aggre- NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 353 gate normal rise of $13,500,000, it leaves an increase of $31,300,000, due to the building of the subway. "Since this property has been so enhanced in value by the building of the subway by the city, could it not have contributed largely toward the expense of constructing the line and yet have reaped a good increase in addition to such assessment? ... It will be noted that the aggregate rise in land value in Manhattan from 135th Street to the Spuyten Duyvil, and in The Bronx, due to the building of the subway, was $80,500,000. The cost of the entire subway from the Battery to the Spuyten Duyvil and the West Farms branch to Bronx Park was but $43,000,000. The property benefited, in the dis- tricts above noted, could have paid this entire cost, and yet have had a net profit, due solely to its con- struction and operation, of over $37,500,000. Had it paid only for the portion running through its own territory, there would have remained a profit of over $67,425,000. In view of this fact, would it not be reasonable to require property benefited in outlying districts to pay for the cost of a rapid tran- sit line built to serve it?" Assessments for Parks and Boulevards. Parks and boulevards increase the value of adja- cent land in the same way. Mr. John Nolan, in a report on the park and playground system of the city of New London, Conn., shows that in Madison, Wis., the new parks not only meet all their charges but, by reason of the increased value of adjoining property, pay into the city treasury at least $10,000 a year in increased taxes. The value of the "Fens" part of the park system of Boston was about $4,300 an acre before the parks were laid out. The build- 354 THE MODERN CITY ing of the parks increased the value of the adjoin- ing property until it is now worth on an average $86,000 an acre. The report of the New York park commission (1892) says: "The amount collected (in taxes) in twenty-five years on the property of the three wards (contiguous to Central Park), over and above the ordinary in- crease in the taxable value of the real estate in the rest of the city, was $65,000,000 or about $21,000,000 more than the aggregate expense attending and following the establishment of the park up to the present year. Regarding the whole transaction in the light of a real estate speculation alone, the < has $21,000,000 in cash over and above the outlay, and has acquired in addition thereto land valued at $20,000,000." City Example. Some Western cities are paying for parks and boulevards just as Eastern cities pay for streets and sewers. Kansas City has acquired its entire park system by this method. In the early '90s the < undertook to develop a park system, but the courts decided that bonds could not be issued for the pur- pose, so that the improvement would have been out of the question had not the principle of special assessment been adopted. Five districts were es- tablished for development. The needed land waa acquired; the boulevards were laid out, and to-day I)M' city has a great park system and forty miles of parkways, at a cost of over $10,000,000, without adding anything to the general indebtedness or taxes of the cit NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 355 In the case of Benton Boulevard, the value of the land before the improvement was from $15 to $20 a front foot, while after the boulevard was com- pleted its value was from $45 to $60 a front foot. The assessed cost of the boulevard was $8.53 per front foot, which left an average advance to the owner of $26.50 per front foot. The value per front foot of Linwood Boulevard before the im- provement was $50, while the value after the boule- vard was completed was from $80 to $100 per front foot. The boulevard cost, assessed against the property improved, was $7.99 a front foot, leaving to the owner an increased value of $32. (2) Excess Condemnation. By excess condemna- tion is meant the purchase of more land than is needed for a particular improvement and the resale of the surplus after the improvement has been com- pleted at the increased value which the improvement itself created. This idea is comparatively new in America but is being provided for by laws and con- stitutional amendments. The most notable example in Europe of what is the equivalent of excess condemnation is that of the celebrated Ringstrasse in Vienna, probably the most magnificent street in the world. It is laid out upon the site of the old fortifications around the inner town, which were demolished to make room for the city's growth. A part of this area was con- verted into the Ringstrasse, a part was set aside for parks, gardens, and public buildings, and a third part was divided into lots and sold to private builders. 356 THE MODERN CITY The cost of this project, which has made Vienna one of the most beautiful cities in the world, was largely repaid through the sale of that portion of land which remained unused for public purposes. This, amounting to one fifth of the whole, was laid out for private sale. Restrictions were imposed on the kind of buildings that could be erected and the style of architecture to be followed. The total sum real- ized from the sale of the excess land was $80,000,000. European Euunptos* The London county council applied the same procedure in the opening of thoroughfares through old parts of the city. The region between High Holborn and the Strand was terribly congested; it was filled with unsanitary slums and tenements. There was great need of an arterial highway be- tween the north of London and the Victoria Embank- ment. To meet the need the Kingsway, a strer splendid propnrtiMUv. wa> cut llir..iiL'li. It 1 ft many irregular pieces of lots unsuited for building. Some were small triangles, others were long slices. They were of little value to the owners. To meet this situation the public authorities acquired not < the land necessary for the street but a considerable strip on each side of the street as well. This made it possible to rearrange the small pieces of prop into suitable building lots and to resell them after the street was completed. The new avenue made the abutting building lots very valuable, and they were subsequently leased or sold at a greatly in- creased price, with the result that the improvement NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 357 is paying for itself out of the value which the im- provement has created. Under the administration of Joseph Chamberlain the city of Birmingham, England, undertook the clearance of a blighted slum area at great expense. It razed a big tenement district and opened up new business streets, of which Corporation Street is the most commanding. Then it laid out the remaining land in building sites, which were leased but not sold to private individuals. The leases contained provisions for the reappraisal of rental values at stated intervals. Under this arrangement the city has already made a large return upon the cost of the improvement, and within a short time the debt will have been paid off by the sinking-fund accu- mulations, leaving the city free of debt on the undertaking and in possession of a very valuable area of land in its centre. German cities follow the same procedure. They purchase more land than is needed for an improve- ment and hold it for a rise in price. Frankfort-on- the-Main purchased 1,180 acres of land for a har- bor and industrial development which it laid off as a new factory and industrial centre. The land was bought at agricultural prices, and when the territory was ready for development sites were leased or sold at a price which is expected to repay the city for a large part of the investment. Excess Condemnation in America. The right of excess condemnation does not gen- erally exist in the United States. Ohio has en- 358 THE MODERN CITY dowed its cities with this right in city projects, and Cleveland has acquired considerable land in connection with boulevard improvements, to be developed and later resold for building purposes. The city of Hartford, Conn., enjoys similar pow- ers. Wisconsin cities may acquire land for aUeeis, parks, playgrounds, and similar purposes, and after the establishment and completion of the improve. ment (the city) "may convey any such real estate thus acquired and not necessary for such improve mente, with reservations concerning future use and occupation of such real estate, so as to protect such public works and improvements and their environs, and to preserve the full appearance, light, air, and usefulness of snob public works, and to promote the public health and welfare." In 1911 Massachusetts adopted a constitutional amendment which permits cities to use the power of excess fionflfti'miMtfym and to acouire land in coo -_A _ .. ;i I..KI;,* ;._.. A \ -\ * i necoon witn public improvements, wniie smnisr powers have been granted to Philadelphia b con- nection with the Fainnount Parkway, which is being built from city hall to the entrance to the park system. New York recently adopted a con- stitutional amendment permitting cities to use the %% v%ALin*v f John Cotton Dana, writing on tion in The Newark* (March, 1913), says: "Excess condemnation not only enables the to make improvements such as opening new streets NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 359 at practically no expense to the taxpayer; it also insures the success of the improvement by the proper treatment of the abutting property. In- stead of a medley of handsome residences, ram- shackle tenements and unsightly stores fronting a beautiful boulevard, there are buildings which, by their correspondence with the whole scheme, ensure its natural development and permanence. In other words, under excess condemnation the improvement is treated as a unit, not as an acci- dent. "Excess condemnation implies, therefore, the city's right to profit by its own investments in preference to its exploitation by a few individuals; permanent benefit to the entire community with injustice to none; utilization of small and irregular plats which otherwise cannot be successfully treated; the development of the improvement as a unit instead of as a series of unrelated accidents. Ex- cess condemnation is the first and essential step in city planning, and the sine qua non of its success." (3) The Taxation of Land Values. Urban land values, or the "unearned increment," are a third source of revenue to which cities are turning all over the world. In Germany urban land is subject to a tax upon the profits which accrue to the seller or the rise in value which takes place within a specified number of years. The same procedure is provided in Great Britain under the budget of 1909. This is the method which will probably be followed in Europe because of the fact that European countries do not assess land for taxation at its capital or sell- ing value as is done in the United States. MO THE MODERN CITY Canadian Experiments. The idea of taxing land, and land alone, for mu- ;>al purposes has made the moot rapid progress in western Canada, where many cities have removed all taxes from houses and improvements. The movement began with Vancouver, which city, in 1895, reduced the taxes on houses and improvements by 50 per cent. In 1906 the tax was again reduced to 25 per cent. Finally, in 1910, all taxes on boons and improvements were removed and all local taxes were placed upon land values. The result of the change was to discourage spenilitkm and stimulate building operations. Vancouver has grown with great rapidity, its prosperity being generally at- trihuted to the exemption of capital and labor from taxation. Following the example of Vancouver, other Canadian cities adopted thf land tax. Among them are Edmonton, with a population of 30,000; oria, with a population of 60,000; Westminster, 15,000; Lethbridgo, 15,000; Prince Rupert, 8,000, and Nanojino, 6,000. A special commission of the Minnesota legU** ture investigated the results of the Canadian ex- periment and reported in 1912. Speaking of the result of the land tax, the commission said: "The most striking feature in a study of tax reform in western Canada is the strong trend throughout the entire country in the direction of the single tax principle. That so far it is wherever satisfactorily wherever tried is generally even by opponents of the principle. In no district NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 361 in which the principle has been applied is there any noticeable desire to return to the old system. From present indications it is safe to predict that within the next ten or twenty years the single tax prin- ciple will be adopted by every taxing district in western Canada." Reasons for the Taxation of Land Values. Land values are social as are the ground-rents which spring from them. This is the underlying reason for their taxation. They are created by the whole community and would not exist without the community. As population increases land val- ues increase; as population diminishes land values diminish. This is particularly obvious in the city where a single building lot is frequently worth millions. But the same is true of agricultural land. It, too, increases in value by the growth of popula- tion. It is their social origin that distinguishes land values from other forms of wealth. Land values are not the product of the owner's effort. They have little relation to it. Rather they come from the action of the community itself. Improvements like streets and sewers increase the value of the land, as does the supply of water, gas, and electricity. The building of street-railways or other forms of rapid transit, as indicated in a previous paragraph, usually add more than their cost to the value of the land alone. They bring it into the market. That is the reason for special assessments against the prop- erty benefited. 362 THE MODERN CITY The growth of a city is reflected in land values as in a mirror. In the average city land values usually amount to from $600 to $1,000 per capita, or from $3,000 to $5,000 per family. Upon this value ground-rent is paid by the tenant. In other words, the tenant pays for the use of wealth which he himself has created. Land Values in New York. The taxable land values of New York 1913 amounted to $4,590,892,350, or almost exa $1,000 for every man, woman, and child in the < In oth.T cities, where real estate is assessed at it* full market value and the assessments of land and improvements are separated, it is found that the land values approximate those of New York. This orafed m iftt A .: i be taxed : r purposes, the proposal being that all other forms of taxation should be repealed and the tax be permitted to settle upon the land alone. This would mean that the ground landlord would receive less and the city would receive more of the ground-rent than at present There would be DO otherdisturbancetoexistingcoiiditioiis. Thfcbwhat has already been done in the cities of western Canada. That such a tax would be more than adequate for all local needs fa evidenced by New York, where the ground-rent alone of the city is estimated to be over $250,000,000 a year, or approximately $250 for every family. The present budget of the from all sources is less than $200,000,000, of which nearly 40 per cent is collected from land values. NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 363 The justice of taxing land values to meet the growing needs of the city is being generally recog- nized. In an article in the Century Magazine for October, 1913, Theodore Roosevelt said: "We believe that municipalities should have com- plete self government as regards all the affairs that are exclusively their own, including the important matter of taxation, and that the burden of munici- pal taxation should be so shifted as to put the weight of land taxation upon the unearned rise in value of the land itself rather than upon the improvement and buildings; the effort being to prevent the undue rise of rent." In keeping with this idea bills have been intro- duced into the New York legislature providing for reducing the tax on buildings to one half the rate on land, the reduction to be gradual and to be at the rate of 10 per cent, a year for five years. Such a measure has been adopted in Pennsylvania, limited in its operation to Pittsburgh and Scranton. By referendum vote the people of Everett, Wash., abolished the taxation of improvements altogether by the following city ordinance: "The assessment, levy and collection of taxes on real and personal property for all corporate or municipal purposes of the city of Everett, and to provide for the payment of the debts and expenses thereof, shall be uniform in respect to persons and property therein : Provided, that for the years 1912 and 1913 there shall be exempt from such taxation 25 per cent., and for the year 1915, 50 per cent., and 364 THE MODERN CITY for the year 1916, 75 per cent., and thereafter 100 per cent., of the value of all buildings, structures and improvements, and other fixtures of whatsoever kind upon land within said city. Nothing herein shall affect property in said city exempt from t ation under the laws of the State of Washington." Pueblo, Colo., adopted a similar measure at a popular election in 1913. German Experience. Germany has adopted another method of taxing land values under what is known as the Wertzu- wachssteuer, or unearned-increment tax. In 1898 Germany acquired the harbor of Kiauchau from China, and upon its acquisition it was provided that purchasers of land should pay into the city treasury a tax amounting to 33 per cent, of the increased value which came to the land by virtue of the growth of the community. The new tax was so successful that in 1904 Frankfort-on-the-Main adopted an un- earned-increment tax by which the profits of land speculators are taxed at from 1 to 25 per cent., de- pending upon the sue of the profits and the time within \\hi.-h they are realised. Following this example, community after community adopted the unearned-increment tax, until by April, 1910, German cities and towns had accepted it. Finally, in 1 iU 1, the Reichstag converted the local unean increment tax into an imperial tax and made it apply to all cities and towns within the empire. The land is periodically revalued and the owner is compelled to pay a tax of from 10 to 30 per cent NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE 365 upon the increase in value which takes place in the interim. The receipts from the tax are then divided between the empire, the state, and the city. 1 Summary. Increasing municipal expenditures have greatly increased the burden of taxation and rendered it necessary to seek new sources of revenue for meeting the city's needs. This increase is likely to continue in the future as it has in the past, and to meet this increase new revenues are being sought by special assessments upon property benefited, by excess con- demnation, and by the taxation of land values. All of these expedients look to the increased taxation of land as a source of municipal revenue. The use of special assessments is being extended as a means of paying for parks, playgrounds, and civic centres; it is being urged as a means of paying for water-mains and transportation lines. Excess condemnation, or the acquisition of more land than is needed for a public purpose, is being urged for the same reasons, and constitutional amendments have been secured in many States for this purpose. The taxation of land values is being urged in a dozen States not only as a fiscal but as a social measure. Advocates of this reform point to the rapid increase in urban land values as a reason for their higher taxation, and permissive legislation for this purpose is being urged in New York, Colorado, California, and other Western States. Advocates of the taxation of land values urge that land values are a social product and should be taken by the com- munity for its local needs. They point to the suc- cess of experiments in Canada, Australia, and Ger- 1 For a fuller discussion of the German tax, see European Cities at Work, by the author. 366 THE MODERN CITY many as justification of this new policy, in which countries various expedients have been adopted for th' i: -reased taxation of land values and the con- sequent reduction of the burdens upon improvements and other forms of currently created wealth. CHAPTER XXIV CONCLUSION FROM the preceding analysis of the city several things are manifest. In the first place, the modern city is a new thing to the world. It has no proto- type in history. The cities of ancient and mediaeval times were capitals or trading centres; they were organized on a slave or a class basis; their free pop- ulation was relatively small, while the government was in the hands of an aristocratic class. The modern city, on the other hand, is an industrial product; it came upon us unprepared for its coming. Only within the past few years have we gotten over the surprise at its growth and only recently have we begun to accept it as a permanent thing. The city is no longer an incident, it is the controlling force in modern civilization. Already it contains nearly one half of the population in America and Germany, while in Great Britain 80 per cent, of the people live under urban surroundings. The newness of the city is one explanation of our failures. In addition, our traditions were those of an agricultural people while our political institu- tions were designed for agricultural needs. They were not suited to great urban aggregations of peo- ple whose life was closely inter-related and whose 367 3GS THE MODERN CITY comfort, convenience, and safety necessitated com- munity control over the aggressions of private in- terests and the performance of many functions not possible under rural conditions. Not only was the charter inadequate to these new emergencies, but our constitutions and laws, the decisions of the courts, and the public opinion which sanctioned them were unfitted to the easy control of the problems h a highly complex industrial life involved. Three centuries of agricultural traditions had so moulded our political institutions that we were un- able to cope with the city and provide for its needs when it came upon us. The Cost of Individualism. As a consequence of these traditions individualism has been the prevailing note in our politics. It re- flected our frontier life and the lai**e*~]airt philoso- phy which we inherited from Great Britain. This philosophy was sanctioned by the university and the press, by statesmen and the universal opinion of the nation. We distrusted the State and the city and refused to intrust them with power. Individual- ism has been carried to such an extreme that the establishment of a proper balance between public and private rights has involved tremendous costs to the community as well as administrative and political confusion i State, and nation. This exaggerated individualism is reflected not only in the political machinery but in the physical side of the city as well. Because of a distrust of democracy on the one hand and officials on the CONCLUSION 369 other, the city was unable to control the private interests which became more powerful than the com- munity itself. This was especially true of the public- utility corporations, of land speculators and builders. And it is on its physical side that the city has most signally failed. It is here that our most costly failures are recorded. In this field, too, the heaviest burdens have been incurred for posterity. This is the underlying explanation of the Amer- ican city. It is not the voter, not the people, who are primarily at fault, but institutions, traditions, and public opinion which have failed to keep pace with the problems we have been called upon to face. The Changing View-Point. But our point of view is rapidly changing as is our social psychology. We are abandoning the laissez-faire distrust of the State and are acquiring a belief in democracy. The city reflects this new point of view even more markedly than does the nation. And as a first step in the establishment of a proper balance municipal charters are being adopted which abandon the traditional theory of American politics of divided responsibility and checks and balances. City charters are being rapidly democ- ratized. Already nearly four hundred cities have adopted the most democratic machinery of any municipalities in the world. The commission form of government and the federal plan adopted by our larger cities are both responsive and responsible. They are adjusted to the easy expression of the popular will and the popular control of administra- 370 THE MODERN CITY live and legislative officials. Along with this has gone simple, direct methods of nomination and elec- tion as well as the short ballot and the divorce of city from the State and national elections. This re- duced the burden on the electorate. It made it pos- sible for the voter himself to select his representatives rather than to delegate that selection to the boss and the political machine through which, by reason of the confusion, the voter has been compdled to act By reason of the initiative, referendum, and recall the city has been still further democratised. Thrall these agencies abuses of political power and corrup- tion and the exploitation of the city by privileged interests have been checked, while new ideas are be- ing promoted. Along with this the State is loosening its hold upon the city. Home rule is being granted. This movement has not extended very far as yet; only a few of our States have permitted the community to determine for itself as to its form of government And none of oar States have completely emancipated the cities as to the activities they shall undertake and the functions they shall perform. We are still fearful of ourselves and are still too solicitous of the righto of private property. In many States cities are permitted to engage in certain public-utility ac- ties and to regulate private property under the police power. But no State has freed the city as has Germany; no State has extended the sovereign right to the community to determine for itself how far it shall proceed in the processes of sorfsliistinn; CONCLUSION 371 as to how its taxes shall be collected and the extent to which it shall use its credit for the promotion of its life. In addition, the city is still under the re- straints of the constitution and the courts in its attempts to control private property in the public interest. The Necessity for Further Freedom. Without these powers of control, of public owner- ship and of financial autonomy, the city will remain helpless before the problems which confront it. It cannot build, cannot plan, cannot protect itself from the aggressions of privileged wealth. These problems cannot be corrected by the State and they cannot be corrected in the same way by all cities. Still further extension of power must be granted before our cities will be able to develop in a big, construct- ive way. Freedom is the first need of the city. Through it a new psychology, a new city patriotism, a new city sense will be created. Through freedom to experiment variety will be substituted for uniform- ity, while a new sense of affection will lead to an awakening in municipal politics and to constructive policies of city building. The City and Co-operation. The survey of the city further shows that munic- ipal well-being is in direct ratio to the increase of co-operation, whether voluntary or compulsory. It is voluntary in the division of labor, the specializa- tion of talents, and the increase in wealth, which come through these processes. It is compulsory 372 THE MODERN CITY where the services have been undertaken by the com- munity itself. Necessity led to the first steps in compulsory co-operation, necessity for protection, for health, for education, for the elementary services which have become a commonplace in every < he most backward city is socialised to a markable degree in comparison with the coui districts; it performs a multitude of services which to our forefathers were unknown. And these act ties are constantly increasing, usually with the ap- proval of the entire community. And each new advance, each new activity, adds to the corof convenience, and happiness of living. Socialization involved the building of streets and sewers, the maintenance of police and fire depart- ments, all of which reduce the dangers and burdens of urban life. They made security possible, pro- moted health as well as the freedom of the individual in every walk of life. Socialization brought schools. Education, culture, and the refinements of life begin to appear. AD of these gains were the fruit* of co-operation. They could not have existed with- out it. Other functions were sdded. The health department* have grown until they touch the life of th< (iti7.cn in countless unseen ways. Through public sanitation the city has become far more healthy than the country districts. These are the simplest forms of community co- operation. As to their propriety there is little dis- pute. We now accept these services ss the most natural thing in the world. And co-operation win CONCLUSION 373 continue to encroach into other fields. It will con- tinue to crowd out private initiative. New Ideas of Municipal Service. The city is beginning to enter the industrial field, not for the purpose of making profits but for the purpose of community service. Water-plants are generally owned by the city. This was the begin- ning of municipal business. Cities then entered the electric-lighting business. Street-railways and gas companies are still in private hands, but a number of cities are experimenting in this field as well. We are coming to realize that the public-utility services are so essentially public in their nature that they cannot with safety be left in private hands. This programme of industrial co-operation is known as municipal ownership in America, munic- ipal trading in Great Britain, and municipal social- ism in Germany, in which latter country it has been carried into many fields. And there is no means of telling where the movement will stop. It knows no set limits, no a priori confines. But as public opinion becomes more articulate, as the poverty, inconveniences, and unjust distribution of wealth be- come more apparent, the city will undoubtedly aim at their correction. Already it is recognized that vice and crime are largely social. They are trace- able to low wages, irregular employment, bad hous- ing, inadequate education. And they can only be corrected by changing the social conditions which produce these evils. And this can only be done by the further widening of the community's activities, 374 THE MODERN CITY by the further socializing of municipal activities, by continued intrusion into the field of private enter- prise. A survey of the cities of America, and particularly those of Europe, demonstrates that those cities are best governed, are most comfortable and beautiful, that have carried the process of socialization fur- thest. The German city is recognized as the most advanced in the world, not only in its administra- tion but in the comfort and general well-being of its citizens. And the German cities not only own the public service corporations, they have added many other services, such as abattoirs and markets, as a means of cutting down the cost of living and insur- ing the supply of clean and wholesome food. Sav- ings-banks and pawn-shops are maintained for the poor. The city loans its credit for the building of working-men's houses; it buys land and co-operates in the erection of model apartments. The German city, despite the fact that it is governed by business men with no sympathy for socialism, has carried co-operation further than any city in the world. The Need of City Planning. City building is the next and most important step. It is positive, constructive, and, in a sense, final. It involves planning the city as a unit, as a whole, as an architect plans a building. It involves a new vision of the city in which all property will be sub- ject to the community. It involves, too, a recogni- tion of the city as a sovereign political agency. And as we come to visualize the city as an agency CONCLUSION 375 of service we will acquire many things now in private hands. We will have to take over the water- fronts, erect docks and harbors, and acquire the means of transportation not only for the promotion of industry but for the service of the people. Other public-service utilities, like gas, water, and electric- lighting activities are part of the circulatory system of the community and should be owned and oper- ated by it. Provision will have to be made for ter- minals; in the larger cities for subways or elevated roads. Markets must be provided for the pro- tection of the consumer, while adequate provision must be made for recreation and the leisure life of the people. All of these agencies must be owned by and made a part of the city rather than remain in private hands. It will be necessary to relieve congestion, to provide parks, play-places, and sites for public buildings, the cost of which might have been saved had foresight been shown in the original plans. All this involves a new ideal of the city, a new-s/ sense of the obligations and possibilities of organized government. Solicitude for people will take the place of solicitude for property; the ideal of human welfare will be substituted for the ideal of economy. The measure of the city of to-morrow will be the service it renders to the people. And, despite the magnitude of the programme, evidences are not wanting that the American city will be equal to its task. Public opinion is coming to protest against the misery, suffering, and poverty 376 THE MODERN CITY which the coming of the city has brought in its train. And to meet these new burdens new sources of rev- enue are being sought, and they are being found in the increasing urban land values, a natural source from which additional and adequate revenues can be derived. Land values increase with the growth of population and reflect every advance of the com- munity. Public improvements add to their value as do the improvements in the public service. Land values are a social treasure awaiting taxation by the community for carrying forward a new civilization which will minimize the sacrifices which the coming of the city has entailed and socialize the wealth which is now enjoyed by the few. BIBLIOGRAPHY I. HISTORICAL: THE ANCIENT AND MEDLEVAL CITY Historical Essays : The Athenian Democracy, E. A. Freeman. The Meaning of History, Frederic Harrison. The Greek World Under Roman Sway, J. P. Mahaffy. Social Life in Greece, J. P. Mahaffy. The Age of Pericles, W. M. Lloyd. n the Roman World, T. G. Tucker. Roman Life Under the Cvsars, Emil Thomas. Roman Public Life, A. H. J. Greenidge. Roman Life and Manners Under the Early Empire, L. Fried- lander. The Renaissance in Italy, J. A. Symonds. History of the Italian Republics, J. C. de Sismondi. Venice, H. F. Brown. History of Political Economy in Europe, J. A. Blanqui. History of Germany in the Middle Ages, E. F. Henderson. The Hansa Towns, H. Zimmern. The Story of Our English Towns, P. H. Ditchfield. Town Life in the Fifteenth Century, Mrs. J. R. Green. English Municipal History, James Thompson. II. THE AMERICAN CITY GENERAL American City Government ; A Survey of Newer Tendencies, Charles A. Beard. The Government of American Cities, Horace E. Dem ing. The American City, Delos F. Wilcox. " Efficiency in City Government," Reports American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1912. Essays in Municipal Administration, John A. Fairlie. 377 378 BIBLIOGRAPHY Municipal Administration, John A. Fairlie. Forty Years of It, Brand Whitlock. Municipal Government, Frank J. Goodnow. Municipal Home Rule, Frank J. Goodnow. Municipal Problems, Frank J. Goodnow. My Story, Tom L. Johnson. The Shame of the Cities, Lincoln Steffens. Problems of City Government, Leo S. Rowe. The Government of American Cities, W. B. Munro. The City, the Hope of Democracy, Frederic C. Howe. The American City, Periodical. National Municipal Review, Periodical. Digest of City Charters, A. R. Hatton. Readings on Parties and Elections, C. L. Jones. Corruption in American Politics and Life, C. R. Brooks. Modern Cities, Pollack and Morgan. III. RECENT CHARTER CHANGES Commission Government in American Cities, American Acad- emy of Political and Social Science. Commission Government in American Cities, Ernest S. Brad- ford. Government by Commission, John J. Hamilton. The New City Government, Henry Bruere. Short Ballot Principles, Richard S. Childs. City Government by Commission, Clinton Rogers Woodruff. IV. GOVERNMENT OF EUROPEAN CITIES The Government of European Cities, W. B. Munro. Municipal Government in Continental Europe, Albert Shaw. Municipal Government in Great Britain, Albert Shaw. European Cities at Work, Frederic C. Howe. The British City, Frederic C. Howe. Kommunales Jahrbuch, Berlin. BIBLIOGRAPHY 379 Municipal Life and Government in Germany, W. H. Dawson. "The Government of a Typical Prussian City," in Annals of American Academy of Political Science, May, 1900, E. J. James. "Berlin," Heinrich Dove, in Schriften des Vereinsfur Sozial- politik. " The Three-Class System in Prussian Cities," in Municipal A/airs, vol. II. Die Entirirhlung des deutschen SCddtewcsens, Hugo Preuss. Local and Central Government, Percy M. L. Ashley. Contemporary France, G. Hanotaux. Government and Parties in Continental Europe, A. L. Lowell. Government of England, A. L. Lowell. V. THE CITY AND THE PUBLIC SERVICE CORPORATION Municipal Franchise*, Delos F. Wilcox. "The Control of Municipal Public Sen-ice Corporations," American Academy of Political and Social Sciences. The Regulation of Municipal Utilities, Clyde L. King. The City, the Hope of Democracy, Frederic C. Howe. My Story, Tom L. Johnson. Current Magazines, 1910-1914. Municipal Control of Public Utilities, O. L. Pond. VI. MUNICIPAL OWNERSHIP Municipal Ownership, Major Leonard Darwin. Selected Articles on Municipal Ownership, E. D. Bullock. The Common Sense of Municipal Trading, Bernard Shaw. The Dangers of Municipal Ownership, Robert P. Porter. Municipal Trade, Leonard Darwin. Municipal Trading in Great Britain, W. R. Smith. The City, the Hope of Democracy, Frederic C. Howe. The British City, the Beginnings of Democracy, Frederic C. Howe. 380 BIBLIOGRAPHY European Cities at Work, Frederic C. Howe. Municipal Year Book, London. Kommunales Jahrbuch, Berlin. Reports National Civic Federation. Municipal Journal, London. VII. TOWN PLANNING IN AMERICA "National Conference on City Planning," Annual Reports, 1909-1914. Introduction to City Planning, Benjamin C. Marsh. Re-Planning Small Cities, John Nolen. The Improvement of Towns and Cities, Charles Mulford Rob- inson. Modern Civic Art, Charles Mulford Robinson. City Planning, Frank Koester. Reports of Individual Cities. See selected list of works relating to city planning and allied topics, published by the New York Public Library, and check list of references on city planning, Library of Congress. VIII. TOWN PLANNING IN EUROPE Housing, Town Planning, Act of 1909, S. P. Taylor. Civic Art, Thomas H. Mawson. Town Planning Conference, London, 1910. Town Planning, Past, Present, and Possible, H. Inigo Triggs. Town Planning and Practice, Raymond Unwin. City Planning, Frank Koester. Der St'ddtebau, Berlin. IX. GUARDING THE CITY POLICE Police Administration, L. F. Fuld. "The Organization of Police Forces," National Municipal League Proceedings, 1910, L. F. Fuld. BIBLIOGRAPHY 381 Police Systems in Europe, R. B. Fosdick. " Police System of London," American Academy of Political and Social Science, November, 1904, H. M. Adler. Government of England, A. Lawrence Lowell. Great Cities in America, Delos F. Wilcox. X. HEALTH AND SANITATION Ci>ic and Health, William H. Allen. "The Public Health Movement, 1911," American Academy of Political and Social Science. American Public Health Association, Annual Reports. Public Hygiene, Thomas S. Blair, M.D. Health and Medical Inspection of School Children, Walter S. Cornell, M I> Medical Inspection of Schools, Luther H. Gulick and Leonard P. A yres. The Milk Question, M. J. Roaenau. XI. MARKETS Municipal Markets, J. W. Sullivan. Municipal Market Policy, Cyrus C. Miller. Municipal Markets and Slaughter Houses in Europe, De- partment of Commerce and Labor, Washington. XII. HOUSING The Garden City Movement up to Date, Ewart G. Culpin. Garden Cities of To-Morrow, Ebenczer Howard. The Tenement House Problem, Robert W. de Forest and Lawrence Veillrr. Model Building Code, V. \\. Fitzpatrick. The Improvement of the Dwellings and Surroundings of the People : the Example of Germany, T. C. Horsfall. International Housing Congress, Report of the Ninth, held in Vienna, 1910. " National Housing Association," Annual Reports, New York. 382 BIBLIOGRAPHY The Battle with the Slum, Jacob A. Riis. Housing Reform, Lawrence Veiller. Housing Problem in England, E. R. Dewsnup. XIII. RECREATION The Spirit of Youth and the City Streets, Jane Addams. " Public Recreation Facilities," American Academy of Political and Social Science. The Child in the Shadow, Ernest K. Coulter. The Boy and His Gang, J. Adams Puffer. Child Labor in City Streets, Edward N. Klopper. The Bitter Cry of the Children, John Spargo. Civic Theatre, Percy Mackaye. The Social Center, E. A. Ward. American Playgrounds, Edward B. Mero. Wider Use of the School Plant, Clarence A. Perry. Improvement of Towm and Cities, Charles Mulford Robinson. The Playground and Recreation Association of America, Re- ports of. Russell Sage Foundation, Reports of. Social and Recreation Centers, Clarence A. Perry. XIV. MUNICIPAL FINANCES Chapters on Municipal Administration and Accounting, Frederic A. Cleveland. Handbook of Municipal Accounting, Metz Fund, New York Bureau of Municipal Research. Introduction to Public Finance, Carl C. Plehn. Essays in Taxation, Edwin R. A. Seligman. Theory and Practice of Taxation, David A. Wells. Taxation in American States and Cities, Richard T. Ely. Public Debts, H. C. Adams. Reports of the Boston Finance Commission, Boston, 1908-1912. " Municipal Accounts and Statistics in Continental Europe/' J. A. Fairlie, in National Municipal League Proceedings, 1901. BIBLIOGRAPHY 383 XV. NEW SOURCES OF CITY REVENUE The A. B. C. of Taxation, C. B. Fillebrown. Taxation of Land Values in American Cities, the Next Step in Exterminating Poverty, Benjamin C. Marsh. Taxation of Land Values, John Orr. A Treatise on the Law of Taxation by Local and Special Assess- ments, Paul Jones. The Taxation of Land Values, Louis F. Post. Natural Taxation, Thomas G. Sherman. "The New Unearned Increment Taxes in Germany," Robert C. Brooks (Yale Review, November, 1907), and Quarterly Journal of Economics, August, 1911; also, Daily Consular and Trade Report, June 22, 1912. INDEX Addams, Jane, 305 Administration, in mediaeval town, 29; simplicity of, in Great Britain, 135 Administrative control in Great Britain, 143 Aldermen in Great Britain, 133 Aliens in American city, 42 American city, foreign-born pop- ulation of, 42; helplessness of, 206 Appropriations, how made, 327 Architecture in Greek cities, 17 Athens, 10, 12-19; population, 12; caste in, 15; slavery in, 18; plan of, 211 B Ballot, short, 106 Baths, public, in Rome, 21 Berlin, bousing in, 300 Board plan in cities, 80 Boas, the, 94 Budget, city, 322; exhibit in New York, 329 BudgrUry improvements, 828 Buildings, control of, 222 Burdens, increasing financial, of city, 346 Bureaus, of municipal research, 55; New York, 330; of econ- omy and efficiency, Milwau- kee, 329 Burgomaster, in Germany, 119; salaries paid, in Germany, 120 Business, control of cities by, 91 ; taxes in Germany, 339 Canada, taxation experiments in, 286; experience in taxing land values, 359 Capitalization, public and pri- vate plants, 167 Caste in Athens, 15 Chamberlain, Mr. Joseph, 137 Charters, American, 60; city, 86- 96; federal plan, 98; in Cleve- land, 99; New York City, 103 Checks and balance*, absence of, in Great Britain, 134 Chicago, plan of, 203; park cen- tres of , 308 Cities, Greek, 14; medieval, 24- Ci'ii^nH. r.rrrk. 11 CHbenahip in medieval times, 28 City, evolution of, 24; beginnings of, 35; population in America and Europe, 43-46; subjection of, 68-71 ; in New York State, 70; manager plan, 114 City planning, in America, 194; ranee and England, 217; meaning of, 228; need of, 374 City state, 13 Civilisation, city centre of, I; and leisure, 319 Class, rule of, in Germany, 127 Cleveland, Ohio, charter in, 99; relation to street-railway com- panies, 173; Golden Rule pol- icy in, 244; correctional ad- ministration, 247; markets, 254 Commission plan, 104 38-5 386 INDEX Committee in British city, 135 Commons, John R., 166 Community doctor, 258 Concentration of population, 45 Congestion committee of New York, 283 Co-operation, city product of, 2; and city, 371 Co-operative house ownership, 301; house building, 395 Corporations and politics, 151 Correctional administration, Cleveland, 247 Corruption in English towns, 31 ; of public service corporations, 152 Council, city, in Europe, 188; in Germany, 125 Crime, social nature of, 231 Electricity supply in Great Brit- ain, 186 Employees, municipal, in Great Britain, 139 English system of local taxa- tion, 343 Ethical gains from municipal ownership, 174 Europe, city planning in, 211; political philosophy of, 88 Excess condemnation, 357 Excise question and politics, 240 Executive officials in Germany, 122 Expenditures in cities, increase of, 348 Experts, how obtained in Great Britain, 137 Explanation of city, 48 Dance halls in Chicago, 318 Dartmouth College case, 151 Democracy, in cities, 58; in com- mission cities, 110; lack of, in German cities, 129 Dependence of city on state, 66 Division of labor, relation to civilization, 2 Docks and harbors, in Germany, 190 Drunkenness, abandonment of arrests for, 245 Efficiency, 55; examples of, in American city, 52; in New York, 56; in European cities, 57; in German city, 124; of employees in Great Britain, 140 Elections in Great Britain, 134 Electoral provisions in commis- sion cities, 111 Electric-lighting plants, capitali- zation of, 167; municipal own- ership of, 169 Failures of American city, causes of, 63 Finances of city, 322-344 Financial condition of American cities, 328 Fire departments, 52, 236 Food supply, 253 Foreign-born population of Amer- ican cities, 42 Forestry, city departments, 256 Franchises, influence on city's politics, 92; how granted in Great Britain, 144; public serv- ice corporations in America, 149; value of, 152 Frankfort-on-Main, 364 Freedom, lack of, in American cities, 72 Galveston, origin of commission plan in, 105 Garden city in Great Britain, 290; health in, 295 Garden suburb in Great Britain, 293 INDEX 387 German city, 82; supervision by state, 129; municipal admin- istration in, 118-131; munic- ipal socialism, 188; planning in, 214; protection of worker in, 266; planning of, 214; in- surance in, 265; land taxes in, 364; housing in, 291; recogni- tion of leisure life in, 316; suf- frage in, 126; street-railways in, 190; taxation in, 303, 338 Grand Junction, Colo., 112 Great Britain, garden city, 290; gas supply in, 187; mayor in, 137; municipal administra- tion in, 132-148, 336; nomina- tions in, 134; town clerk in, 138 Greek city, 12-18 Guilds in medieval towns, 27 m 294 Harbor and water-fronts, 90 Health, inspection of, 256; de- partment of, in New York City, 236; in garden city, 206 Heney, Francis J., 157 Home ownership, 40 Home rale, definition of, 76; ex- isting limitations on, 81 ; finan- cial limitations on, cities, 81 ; in Ohio, 77; in New York, 7&- 81; in Germany, 82; move- ment for, 77 Housing, 273-304; in indent Rome, 20; in Germany, 296; in Him, 299; municipal, in Germany, 299 Housing problem, causes of, 276; influence of transportation on, 276; taxation as a solution of, 282 Income tax in German cities, 338 Indebtedness, European cities, 334 Individualism, cost of, 338 Industrial revolution, 30 Initiative and referendum, 111 Insurance in Germany, 265 Insurance funds used to promote housing, 299 Invisible government, 94; in cities, 153 Johnson, Tom L., 155, 165 Juvenile delinquency, relation to playgrounds, 307 Kansas City, 354 Kohler, Fred, 244 Kropotkin, Prince, 3 ruaes-/asrv philosophy, 61 America, 368 to impossible, 6; miiN-of hoimirtK pmhlrm,27r>; relation to housing problem, 281. See taxation Landownemhip, in Germany, 226; in Great Britain, 337 Land-value taxation, reasons for, 861; New York, 362 Leisure, in modern town, 31; problem of, 316; commercial- ised in America, 317 Leisure life, Rome and Athens, 22 ; recognition of, in Germany, 316 Letchworth, garden city in Great Britain, 290 Liberty, towns, cradle of, 26 Libraries, public, 52; school as branch, 314 License taxes in Germany, 340 Limitations on city finance, 332 Los Angeles, CaL, 169, 208 388 INDEX M Magistral, 122; powers of, in Germany, 123 Manager plan of cities, 114 Markets, 254 Mayor, position of, in commis- sion cities, 109; how elected in Europe, 118; in Great Britain, 137 Mediaeval cities, 24-33 Middle Ages, towns of, 10; plan- ning of towns in, 212 Milwaukee, bureau of economy and efficiency, 329 Municipal administration in Great Britain, 132-148 Municipal government associa- tions, 70 Municipal government in Amer- ica, 165-175 Municipal ownership, ethical gains from, 147; in Europe, 176-192; of street-railways in Great Britain, 177-185; finan- cial success of, 182 Municipal socialism in Germany, 188 Municipal water-works in Amer- ica, 168 Music, school as centre for, 314 N New York, 46; efficiency in, 56; home-rule provisions of, 81; charter of, 103; street plan of, 196; health department in, 236; land values in, 362 Nominations in Great Britain, 134 Ohio, constitution of, 77; con- trol of public service corpora- tions in, 155 Parcel post in Germany, 263 Paris, planning, 213 Parks and boulevards, ments for, 353 Pawn-shops, municipal, in Ger- many, 269 Personal-property tax, 325 Planning, city, in America, 194; in France and England, 217; in Germany, 214; Paris, 213; of streets in Germany, 218; suburban, in Germany, 298; zone system in, 221 Play directors, 309 Playgrounds, 53; growth of, 306 Police, administration in Rome, 21; corruption, cause of, 240; courts, 243; department, or- ganization of, 233; methods of administrative control, 234; reforms in, 237 Political corruption, danger of, 165 Political equality, Athens, 16 Political philosophy, in America, 87; in Europe, 88 Poor relief in Germany, 270 Population, Athens, 12 Poverty, social in character, 38 Powers of cities, financial, of European cities, 334; British city, 142 Powers of Magistrat in Germany, 123 Preventive medicine in Ger- many, 265 Private corporations, organiza- tion of, 86; parallel to commis- sion plan, 109 Private property, ascendancy of, 62; license of, 198 Privilege, influence of, on city administration, 59 Progress, municipal, 97 Public buildings, grouping of, 205 INDIA 3SO Public school aa recreation cen- tre, 334 Public service corporation, and politics, 151; taxation of, 326 Real estate, values in New York, 326; taxes in Germany, 889 Recreation and leisure, 306-321 Regulation, of street-railway failure of, 172; of tenements, 278 Revenue of city, sources of, 322; increase of expenditures in I; need of, in cities. cities, 348; 347; new sources of, 348 River fronts, control of, 224 Rome, 10, 19-22; bousing in ancient, 20; leisure life in, 22; population of, 19; police and health administration in, 21 Roosevelt, Theodore, 868 8 Salaries, sue of, in Germany, 123; paid burgomaster in Ger- many, 130 on corruption. San Francisco, street-railways owned by, 170; corporations in, 157 School architecture, change* in, u Schools, 53; new uses of, 313 Short ballot, 106 Sites, early city, 9; city, 1 1 Slaughter-houses, municipal, in Germany, 263 Slavery in Athens, 18 Social-centre idea, growth of, 311 Socialisation in city, 372 Special assessments, 349 State and city, 66 State interference, effects of, 73 State supervision in Germany, 129 Street-railways, municipal owner- ship of, in San Francisco, 170; in Great Britain, 177-185; in Germany, 190 Streets, importance of, 194; plan of, 195; planning of, in Ger- many, 218 Subways, increase in land values from building, 351 Suffrage, in Germany, 126; in Great Britain, 141 Supervision by state in Germany, 129 System, the, 93 Taxation, social values of, 2; in America, 54; as a solution of bousing problem, 282; in Ger- many, 80S, 838; and asfesi ment, 323; of public service corporations, 826; European systems of, 833; in Great Britain, 886; municipal, in Great Britain, 836; English system of local, 343; of tend Tames, 859 Taxes, local, in Great Britain, 141; on improvements, aban- donment of , as a bousing pro- 285; on real estate in Tenancy, 40 Tenements, in New York, 274; regulation of, 278; new law, in New York, 279 Tenure, permanency of, in Eu- rope, 119 Terms of office, 107 Town clerk in Great Britain, 133 Town planning, beginning of, 200; progress in, 202; Wash- ington, 201; in Middle Ages, 212; in garden city, 291 Transportation in cities, 179; influence on bousing problem, 276 Twentieth-century city, 48 390 INDEX U Ulm, housing in, 299 Unemployment, provision for, in Germany, 268 Urban population, Germany, 47 Value of franchises, 152 Vice, administrative control of, in Cleveland, 246 W Water-fronts and terminals, 199 Water-works, extent of munic- ipal, in United States, 168 Wealth, unequal distribution of, 37 Women in industry, 41 Worker, protection of, in Ger- many, 264, 266 Working-men's houses in garden city, 293 Z Zone system in planning, 221 TURN 14 DAY USE URN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED CIRCULATION DEPARTMENT 202 Main Library AN PERIOD 1 HOME USE 2 3 5 6 ALL BOOKS MAY BE RECALLED AFTER 7 DAYS 1 -month loans may be renewed by calling 642-3405 lonth loans may be recharged by bringing books to Circulation [ Renewals and recharges may be made 4 days prior to due date DUE AS STAMPED BELOW Bfc cm m 1 9 7? 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