USA > Pennsylvania > Philadelphia County > Philadelphia > Municipal government history and politics, Vol. V > Part 23
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1 A text-book on "The Economics of Industry" by Alfred and Mary Marshall "was undertaken at the request of a meeting of Cambridge Uni- versity-Extension lecturers" and was published by Macmillan, 1885.
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man, usually an enterprising tutor, of the Toynbee school, who is abreast with the times and in sympathy with his fellow men. He goes to Manchester for a small fee and his expen- ses. Not only are interesting lecture-courses given to appre- ciative audiences, but class-courses and examinations have been instituted. Public readings are also given. Excellent concerts are afforded. Choice literature is distributed in in- expensive editions. The managers insist upon having the best, whether in reading, music, or lectures. Second rate performances are ruled out and professional bores are not tolerated. The most encouraging thing about this experiment is that it promotes organized self-help and partly pays for itself. Similar experiments have been undertaken in other parts of England. An interesting description of "The Ex- tension of University Teaching" not only by Oxford but by Cambridge, Owens College, the Victoria University, etc., may be found in The American (Philadelphia), April 30, 1887. The writer, John Leyland, says the scheme is under contem- plation by the universities of Scotland and has already been . adopted by the University of Sydney, Australia. A pam- phlet on the University-Extension Movement, by Richard G. Moulton, M. A., Cambridge, with an introduction by Profes- sor Stuart, M. P., has been published by Bemrose and Sons, 23 Old Bailey, London, Price 3d. The pamphlet contains all the business-details connected with this novel system of carrying higher education from university centres to the peo- ple at large. Professor Stuart says "It embodies the experi- ence of the Cambridge University-Extension Movement, in connection with which six hundred courses of lectures and classes have been held during the last ten years, with a total of sixty thousand pupils of nearly all classes of society, and in most districts of England." The system aims at popular audiences, in which a nucleus of earnest students, men and women, is always found. Arrangements are made by local committees. The University simply supplies lecturers. It should be remembered by all passive admirers of this interest-
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ing educational experiment that it has its business-side. It is a question of local demand and central supply. Education, like all true charity, should be so directed as to yield, if pos- sible, some economic return. Moral returns, the promotion of intelligence and individual energy, go without saying. Any system of educational philanthrophy which gives everything and exacts nothing is in danger of becoming prodigal waste. It is not to be expected that the higher education can ever be made to pay in dollars and cents, but it should not be demanded by the people as a free gift. Even common schools are supported by taxing the community which they profit. In England it has been found by experience that fully one-half of the expense of University-extension lectures can be met by the sale of tickets ; the balance is obtained by subscription and private philanthropy. In a large sense, the outlay pays; it results in the moral, social, and intellectual elevation of great towns and manufacturing districts. The small fees paid by workingmen for their own improvement are an investment of untold value, yielding returns not only in useful knowledge but in character and manly independence which are beyond price.
AMUSEMENTS FOR THE PEOPLE.
Charity often takes other forms than the giving of food and raiment. Popular amusements of an elevating kind, such as public readings, lectures, concerts, free days in museums and galleries of art, the use of circulating libraries, book and magazine clubs, recreation grounds, open air sports, entertain- ments in summer, good music, winter gardens, are eminently worthy of charitable and organized effort. One of the most suggestive and valuable books in this line is Washington Gladden's Applied Christianity (see also his article in The Century, January, 1885, on Christianity and Popular Amuse- ments). The gospel of green grass and fresh air needs to be presented now and then to the working people. Most sensible
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are the words of Octavia Hill in her charming essay on Open Spaces (see her book on Our Common Land). She advocates " the provision of small open spaces, planted and made pretty, quite near the homes of the people, which might be used by them in common as sitting-rooms in summer." She says "There are two great wants in the life of the poor in our large towns, which ought to be realised more than they are- the want of space, and the want of beauty." These wants are even more conspicuous in some of our American cities than in Old England, where, in proportion to the population, vastly more open space is preserved in public squares than with us.
It is, however, deserving of note that in certain manufactur- ing districts of this country, employers have shown a humane regard for the health, comfort, and recreation of their employ- ees. South Manchester, Connecticut, has been made a Para- dise of labor by the Cheney Brothers, although upon the paternal plan, resembling the experiment at Pullman, Illinois. At South Manchester there are model tenement houses, with gardens attached, for the cultivation of flowers and vegeta- bles. The town has gas, water, concrete walks, and plenty of . green grass. Games, lectures, amateur theatricals, etc., are encouraged by the proprietors. In Harper's Magazine for November, 1872, there is an illustrated article by Edward Howland on the Industrial Experiment at South Manchester. Dr. Richard T. Ely, in Harper's Magazine for February, 1885, has given a less favorable view of Pullman.1 At Ashton,
1 An earlier industrial experiment than Pullman or South Manchester was that at Saltaire, a model manufacturing town, founded in 1853 by Sir Titus Salt upon the river Aire in Yorkshire, England. This town has a social club or literary institute, with a cheerful library, class rooms, a gymnasium, billiard room, and a large hall for lectures, readings, concerts, etc. Fees for membership are very low so that the privileges of the insti- tute are brought within the reach of all. One half of the board of governors of this social club are appointed by the capitalists and the other half are elected by the operatives. A beautiful park of fourteen acres was laid out
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Rhode Island, the Lonsdale Company, which owns various mills along the Blackstone river, purchased some time ago recreation grounds opposite their mills for the encouragement of open-air games among their workingmen.
The Rev. Robert Murray, Jr., writing of this experiment to Mr. W. E. Foster, of Providence, says : "The Lonsdale Company has always pursued a liberal and thoughtful policy towards their employees, and it seemed to them that it would be an excellent thing for them to have such grounds, to which they could resort on the Saturday half holidays, and on the long summer evenings." Mr. Murray says that, when the grounds were first opened, addresses were made by the super- intendent, by a Catholic priest and by an Episcopal clergyman. " These grounds consist, I should say, of forty or fifty acres. They are on a sort of plateau that rises eighty or one hundred feet above the Blackstone river. They are fringed by a young growth of trees, which in a few years will be large enough to furnish a grateful shade. The approach to them along the river banks and through quite a stretch of woodland is very pleasant. They are duly appreciated by the operatives, and they resort to them every pleasant Saturday afternoon to witness or take part in games of cricket, base ball, or foot ball; and they have occasional picnics on the ground, at which they remain on moonlit nights till ten o'clock or later. I think they answer an excellent purpose and have met a great need
along the bank of the river Aire in 1871. The river-site is convenient for boating and for bathing-places. Saltaire has its factory-schools, its churches. infirmaries, and other model institutions. Although the town was created by the mill-owners, the purchase of land-lots and the erection of cottages by operatives is encouraged. "Sir Titus has taught the English capitalist to what noble duties it is possible to devote himself, and the English laborer that the barrier between the sympathies of the master that overlooks and the man that works may be broken down, in a yet wiser age, in other ways than by hostile combination." See Harper's Magazine, May, 1872,- "Saltaire and its Founder." This popular and useful magazine has rendered good service to American and English readers by its attention to industrial experiments and social questions.
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here. Time which otherwise might be wasted at the rum- shops, or spent in listless inactivity at home, is here improved to purposes of health and recreation. Those whose constant work is in noisy mills enjoy, I know, the green fields and the woods greatly ; and hence they resort to these grounds when- ever they can. I heartily approved of the scheme when it was first talked of, and thus far I know of no other than good results from it."
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A less idyllic but more generally characteristic picture of the amusements afforded by the best New England manufac- turing towns is seen in the following extracts from a letter to the writer of this pamphlet by Mr. F. J. Kingsbury, of Waterbury, Connecticut : "In Waterbury we have, near by us, woods and fields which the public are free to traverse and large tracts of open land where Irish boys play ball and build bonfires and steal wood and corn and set the woods on fire, and enjoy themselves much. We have a rural cemetery of thirty acres or so neatly laid out, where people can go and walk if they will behave themselves tolerably well, but picnics are not allowed. We have a ball ground (admittance twenty- five cents) well patronized, also a Y. M. C. A. ground for ball and other games. A public square of three or four acres and a band-stand with electric lights, but no seats. We have a toboggan slide and several beer gardens, all for workingmen who will pay for them. With perhaps some slight variations, the above may be taken as a description of any of the larger towns in the state. In my youth the workingmen and boys had debating clubs in the winter time. I think these are not wholly unknown among workingmen even now ; but debat- ing and discussion of questions, abstract or concrete, is much less the fashion now, whether with the workingman or the college student, than it was a generation ago.
" I should say that the greater portion of the amusements of the working people is furnished now by various organi- zations, such as masons, odd fellows, young men's Christian associations, fire companies, military organizations, and others
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of a less general character. Many of the churches, too, seem to be turned into pleasure-seeking clubs. Under these asso- ciations, excursions are made, picnics organized, games played, dramatic exhibitions, lectures, and concerts exploited. The grounds for these, so far as they can be carried on in the open air, are largely furnished by railroad companies, who have grounds for the purpose neatly laid out and well cared for, somewhere on the line of the track, in the vicinity of every large town, furnished with boats, swings, bowling alleys, tennis-courts, etc., which they allow parties free use of under certain restrictions, getting their remuneration from the trans- portation which results in carrying parties to and fro. Many of these organizations are encouraged and assisted by the public, by contributions and in other ways, with a view, more or less clearly defined, of furnishing healthy diversion to the working people. I know of no case, however, where these have been encouraged systematically with this avowed object in view.
" In Western Connecticut, the laborers are largely owners of their own homes. The care and adornment of these fur- nishes a desirable occupation and recreation to the owners. We have in this town whole streets of houses with neat court- yards, with flowers both out and inside, and all the surround- ings not only pleasant and cheerful but elegant. This is to my mind a very important factor in the well-being of our laboring class.
"It is always dangerous to the moral stamina of a people to do too much for them. The impulse must come from inside, from the people themselves, to be successful ; then they can be helped and encouraged ; but, to get any good results that will be permanent, the people themselves must wield. the laboring oar."
These sensible words by Mr. Kingsbury contain a whole- some corrective to extreme forms of social charity which would do all and exact nothing. Mr. Kingsbury points out, more- over, the healthy growth now actually apparent amid the envi-
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ronment of New England workingmen, and also the evils and abuses with which all local reformers are compelled to struggle.
SUMMER GARDENS.
Philanthropists and city fathers have very one-sided ideas concerning the requirements of public parks. What men, women, and children need, in our large towns, is not simply a magnificent rural estate, a vast domain, several miles from where they live, costing time and money to visit ; they want also summer-gardens near home, bits of open ground and green grass here and there throughout the vast Sahara of brick houses, paved streets, and sidewalks. Every great city needs air-holes. There ought to be a general law requiring a certain per cent. of all land laid out for building purposes in towns to be kept open, like thoroughfares for the public. Most American cities have unconsciously or wilfully drifted away from the wholesome example of old English municipal life, with its town commons and numerous open spaces. New York is one of the first to attempt to recover its lost ground. Mayor Hewitt has taken the lead in securing breathing spaces for the densely-populated districts of the great metropolis. An act has recently passed the New York legislature to pro- vide for the location, acquisition, construction, and improve- ment of additional parks in the city of New York and this act was signed by Governor Hill May 14, 1887, the same day as that on which the People's Palace was opened in London. The board of street opening and improvement have power to condemn property and open as many parks below 155th Street as they may think best. It is a colossal power to grant to a, municipal board but the public health requires it.
Upon the subject of the sanitary, physical, and educational advantages of Interior Open Spaces in Large Cities there was a valuable paper read before the American Public Health Association, in 1882, and now published, by Timothy Newell, M. D., of Providence, R. I., author of a pamphlet of the Parks
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of the leading cities of this country and their advantages, with special consideration of the Parks of Providence. On the Justifying Value of a Public Park, there is a good paper by Frederick Law Olmsted, a specialist in such matters, published in the Journal of American Social Science, No. 12. The Nineteenth Century for May, 1887, has an article on Breathing Spaces for Cities. Brabazon's Social Arrows contains one or two good articles entitled a "Plea for Public Playgrounds." The Social Statistics of American Cities, tenth census, contain a full account of the parks and pleasure-grounds, as well as the means of popular amusements in our large towns.
JEVONS ON AMUSEMENTS.
A very suggestive essay upon the subject of Amusements for the People is that by W. Stanley Jevons, first published in the Contemporary Review for October, 1878, and since made the initial chapter of his book on Methods of Social Reform (1883). Professor Jevons points out the degradation into which the sports and fairs of " Merrie England " have fallen. He draws a striking contrast between the brutality of popular amusements in his own country and the elevating healthful recreations of the Continent. He recognizes, however, the good which the Crystal Palace has done in England and says it is " the most admirable institution in the country. . . . It has proved, once for all, that with noble surroundings, with beau- tiful objects of attraction, and with abundance of good music, the largest masses of people may recreate themselves, even in the neighborhood of London, with propriety and freedom from moral harm." He quotes authority for the statement that " not one person in a million among the visitors to the Crystal Palace is charged with drunken and disorderly conduct," and says "this is worth a volume in itself." Mr. Jevons unhesi- tatingly asserts that the deliberate cultivation of public amuse- ment is the principal means toward a higher civilization. He advocates especially the cultivation of music and restful 3
ยท
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open-air concerts, where people sit tranquilly and enjoy the highest of the arts. Mr. Jevons agrees with Aristotle (Poli- tics, book viii.) that music is the best means of recreation. The great superiority of the Danish common people in Copen- hagen to the English in London, as regards good breeding and general culture, Mr. Jevons attributes not alone to popular education but to the Tivoli Gardens and the Thorwaldsen Museum. The history and degeneration of open-air places of amusement in England is suggested by Jevons upon the au- thority of Knight's Pictorial History, Morley's Bartholomew Fair, and Stowe's Survey of London.
In another essay, the Use and Abuse of Museums, now first published in the posthumous volume above mentioned, Professor Jevons criticises the present arrangement and ad- ministration of museums. "There seems to be a prevalent idea that if the populace can only be got to walk about a great building filled with tall glass-cases, full of beautiful objects, especially when illuminated by the electric light, they will become civilized." Mr. Jevons thinks the multiplicity of objects is too distracting and advocates a greater unity of effect by better classification and local distribution. For example, he would endeavor to differentiate and bring out clearly and sharply the characteristics of Greek life and art, without con- fusing and jostling it with Assyrian or Egyptian art. He would concentrate attention upon particular things, as upon the Pompeian House at the Crystal Palace, where the beholder has a perfect picture of Roman life and manners. Mr. Jevons thinks the great charm and wonderful influence of the Thor- waldsen Museum at Copenhagen are due to the unity of im- pression made by the works of one great artist upon the popular mind. Thus would Mr. Jevons have all museum collections grouped and sharply distinguished by effective contrasts. He would introduce the museum-idea into our public schools, but would not exhibit too much at a time. He would have things kept in a cupboard or under opaque glass and brought out, a few at a time, like illustrative dia-
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grams, to serve a particular purpose of instruction. There is great sense in all this and at the same time great encouragement to small exhibitions and small collectors. It is safe to say that, in every community, the public can be really more profited by having their attention directed to a few good pic- tures or a few choice things worth seeing in sequence and by a well-arranged succession of special exhibitions, artistic or industrial, than by bewildering the mind with a chaos of im- pressions, like that produced by one day in the British or South Kensington Museum. Mr. Jevons intimates that the attentive study of a steam-mill grinding coffee in a shop- window will do a boy more good than a run through the galleries of England's greatest collections of art and nature. He says "The whole British Museum will not teach a youth as much as he will learn by collecting a few fossils or a few minerals, in situ if possible, and taking them home to examine and read about.
BESANT ON AMUSEMENTS.
Walter Besant, the English novelist, is the author of an excellent article on the Amusements of the People, in the Con- temporary Review for March, 1884. He shows that, within a century, England has outgrown the ruder amusements of bull- and bear-baiting, dog-fights, cock-fights, rat-fights, prize- fights, " open air floggings for the joy of the people," etc. The workingmen of our time have learned to read; but the facilities for reading are still wofully inadequate, e. g., "one free library for every half-million " of people in London. The present amusements of working people are theatres, music halls, public houses, Sunday excursions, and the parks. The great mass of men have no accomplishments and no healthful games. They are not taught to enjoy life. "The Bethnal Green Museum does no more to educate the people than the British Museum." Mr. Besant pictures a People's Palace, where there shall be class-rooms for all kinds of study ; con- cert-rooms; conversation-rooms; a gymnasium ; a library ; and
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a winter garden. The practical arts as well as literature and science should be taught. By the ladder of learning men should mount unto higher things, " as has ever been the goodly and godly custom in this realm of England."
Mr. Besant pays a warm tribute to the work of Mr. Charles Leland in Philadelphia who has quietly instituted an academy of the minor arts, for teaching "shop-girls, work-girls, factory-girls, boys and young men of all classes together," certain useful and ornamental arts. "What has been done in Philadelphia amounts, in fact, to this ; that one man who loves his brother man is bringing purpose, bright- ness, and hope into thousands of lives previously made dismal by hard and monotonous work." The same kind of work is in progress in the Maryland Institute of Baltimore, although among people of a higher class. In the Contemporary Review for February, 1887, Mr. Besant has described in greater detail the People's Palace which is now a reality in London. The subject of Amusements for the Poor in this country was treated some years ago in a magazine article published in the Old and New (now discontinued) Vol. X, p. 258. The Recrea- tion of the People is the subject of a paper in the Journal of American Social Science, No. 12, by George B. Bartlett.
THE HOUSING OF LABOR.
The establishment of more healthful conditions of home- life for the laboring class is another problem worthy of careful study and organized philanthropy. George Peabody, of Bal- timore and London, set the world a lasting example in the institution of improved tenement-houses for the poor of Lon- don. The Homes of the London Poor have been described by Octavia Hill, who has "thrown much light on the problem of preventing pauperism by improving the homes of the poor." The Housing of the London Poor is treated also in the Con- temporary Review for February, 1884. There is considerable literature upon the general subject. Mr. R. R. Bowker is
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the author of a valuable article on Workingmen's Homes, which appeared in Harper's Monthly Magazine, for April, 1884. In Scribner's Magazine for February, 1876, is an article by Charles Barnard on A Hundred Thousand Homes, " descriptive of the small houses of Philadelphia and the system by which poor people became their owners." A Build- ing System for great Cities is described in the Penn Monthly for April, 1877, by Hon. Lorin Blodget. The Tenement House System of New York, with facts and statistics, is the subject of a pamphlet report by H. E. Pellew, New York, 1879. Improved Dwellings for the Laboring Classes is the title of papers by Alfred T. White, who treats his theme from a business point of view. In 1885, a royal commission pub- lished its first report on the Housing of the Working Classes in England and Wales. "How the Poor live," by G. R. Sims, presents a sad picture of the condition of London's poor. It is estimated that there are forty thousand families in that city occupying each not more than a single room. A quarter of a million of English people living like pigs in a sty ! Pro- fessor Huxley declares that the condition of society in these " slums" is worse than that of West African savages. A writer in the Contemporary Review for February, 1884, on the Housing of the London Poor, says : "Family life with one room to a family-a sole chamber in which to be born, to eat, to drink, to sleep, to work, to live, to be ill, to die, and to be laid out in after death, is not the ideal dwelling either of the sanitary or of the social reformer." The most distressing moral picture of domestic communism in these slums is given in a tract called The Bitter Cry of Outcast London. This one tract has done much to awaken charitable England to the horrors of the London situation. Lazarus at the Gate, by Francis Peek, author of Social Wreckage, is a stirring appeal for legislation which shall reach landlords who allow such horrors as now prevail in their tenement-houses (see Contem- porary Review for January, 1884).
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