=The State Committee= is the party organization in control of the

party in the State. It is composed of one man from each of the one

hundred and fifty Assembly Districts in the State, who are elected by

the enrolled members of the party in each district. The chairman is

elected by the committee to serve for two years.

Party members are all those who at the last registration, or last

general election, enrolled in the party.

State platforms count for little. They usually “point with pride” to

things the party has done, and denounce the acts of the opposing

party. Most voters pay little attention to them.

=The County Committee= consists of one man from every election

district in the county; the _City Committee_, one from each ward

or election district in the city. (New York County has its own

organization, different from the others.) The chairman of each of

these committees is elected at the party primaries. He is usually an

experienced politician, and each committee is the party authority

locally.

=The Election District=: The election district captain, or county

committeeman, is the man who comes in direct personal touch with the

voter. His business is to deliver the vote of his election district

to his party. He must know every voter in his district, find out how

each one is going to vote, and keep track of new voters, especially

the first voter who has yet to choose his party. He is an inspector

at elections; he selects poll clerks and watchers, and handles the

money sent by his party to his district. The Assembly District

leader or County Chairman distributes the patronage and the election

district captain may recommend men to him. The more offices that can

be filled, and the greater the number of “the faithful” who can

be provided for, the stronger the party at the next election. The

one quality necessary for the election district captain is complete

loyalty to his chairman and party.

If ordinary party members pay no attention to the organization

locally it is bound to fall into the hands of those who make their

living out of politics.

=Party Funds= are contributed by members of the party, subscriptions

from interested men, from party candidates and interests which expect

to be benefited if a certain party comes into power.

It is a crime to levy on the salary of any public official for

campaign expenses, but such contributions are often still expected.

If a party elects its candidate, he has many officials to appoint,

and these offices are often unfortunately regarded as rewards for

party loyalty and work. The civil service was created to take offices

away from party control and prevent the “spoils system.”

=The Use and Abuse of Party=: The political party has a very

definite place in popular government. In the conduct of a campaign

organization is indispensable. The danger lies in the difficulty

of sufficiently safeguarding the interests of the public from the

spoilsmen of either party. It is through the party that citizens

must work for political measures, but it is also through the party

machine that anti-social forces are able to successfully carry out

their plans.

There is tremendous power for a party in its control of the

government of a city or a State. A multitude of offices have to

be filled, franchises to be granted, valuable contracts let, and

there are a thousand opportunities for public plunder and private

enrichment. The party in power nationally, has untold possibilities

in the control of the fabulous resources of the country. In order

that a party may come into power in the National government, it is

necessary for it to be in control in the State, and to control the

State it tries to hold minor political divisions. To gain control

locally it partitions out the offices where they will do the most

good; it gains support from every quarter through any means; it seeks

to have men in positions of authority who can be so controlled that

they will subordinate everything to the party welfare.

The average voter not infrequently supports his party at all

elections, without regard for the merits of the candidates. He is

often a Republican or a Democrat, without any clear idea of the

different principles of the two parties. Or he may have become a

Republican or a Democrat because he agreed with the party in regard

to some National question. So he follows it blindly in State and city

elections, which have nothing to do with National questions. It is

seldom that important issues of party principles are involved in a

local election; but the tradition of party support is strong and the

temptation to hold party allegiance even at the expense of the public

is almost irresistible.

=The Independent Voter=: Undoubtedly the number of independent voters

is growing. Whenever for any reason a group of non-partisan voters

abstain from party allegiance, are alert to the sincerity of party

promises, and are watchful of the qualifications of candidates, both

parties begin to clean house and put up as candidates the best men

available, in order to bid for the independent vote. Such a body

of non-partisan voters may be the decisive factor in an election,

especially if the two parties are about evenly divided.

The independent voter is not popular with the machine politician. The

larger the number of non-partisan voters the more difficult it is for

him to perform his duties, and to control and deliver the vote.

In city and village elections, party issues have no place, and there

is a growing feeling that qualification for office should be the only

consideration.

It all comes back to the voting citizen. Politics and political

parties are what the people make them.

IX

HOW CANDIDATES ARE NOMINATED

While any man’s name can be put in nomination for any office, he has

little chance of being elected in most elections without being the

candidate of a political party. For a long time parties were allowed

to nominate candidates as they chose, and party bosses dictated

nominations without regard for the wishes of the rest of the party

or for the interests of the public. For some time past the State has

regulated the methods of nominations.

Candidates for all offices are nominated in one of three ways: (1) At

a party convention; (2) by direct primaries; (3) by petition.

=Candidates for President and Vice-President= are nominated at

National conventions, which are the most spectacular events of our

political life. Delegates to the National convention are elected

at special party primaries held the first Tuesday in April of the

presidential year. Every State is allowed double as many delegates

as it has Senators and Representatives in Congress. The four men

corresponding to the representation of the State in the Senate are

delegates-at-large; the others are district delegates. The National

convention is, therefore, composed of about one thousand delegates,

and its meetings draw other thousands of spectators. There are few

auditoriums in the country big enough to house the convention. There

are usually several candidates, each one of whom is the choice of a

group of men in the party. The name of each candidate is presented to

the convention by a carefully selected orator, under circumstances

planned to arouse enthusiasm, and, if possible, to stampede the

convention.

A majority vote is sufficient to nominate the candidate in the

Republican convention, but the Democratic party requires a two-thirds

vote. Sometimes not one of the candidates presented is able to secure

a majority. Days may be consumed in discussion and bargaining, and in

the end an unexpected candidate, a “dark horse,” may be nominated.

The members of the National Committee who are to serve during the

next four years are elected in the convention, one member from each

State.

=How Candidates for Office in New York State Are Nominated=: The

direct primary is the method now used in New York State by which

candidates for all offices except those in towns and villages are

nominated, and the conduct of these “official primaries,” as they

are called to distinguish them from the unofficial primaries of the

party, is carefully prescribed by State law. A primary election is

held thirty days before the general election, and is conducted on the

same plan and in the same general way as the election. Candidates of

each party for all the elected offices are nominated by the enrolled

party members. At the same time leaders for the district of each

political party are elected. The ballots for each party are printed

by the State and differ in color. The candidates whose names are

printed on the primary ballot are designated by party committees, and

other persons may have their names added by petition.

=Who May Vote at the Official Primaries—Enrolment of Voters=:

Only those who have enrolled themselves as members of the party

are permitted to vote at the official primaries. At the time of

the registration of voters in the cities, or at the last general

election in the country, voters are given a party enrolment blank to

fill out. These enrolments are placed in sealed envelopes and opened

a week after the regular election, when enrolment lists of each party

are made out. Such enrolment is not compulsory, but unless a voter

enrolls he is not able to take part in the nomination of candidates.

By enrolling he does not pledge himself to vote the party ticket at

the election (except in the case of the Socialist party); but he is

allowed to vote at the primary for candidates of the party in which

he enrolls.

=Objections to Direct Primaries= are made that few voters take the

trouble to vote at them, and that the choice of candidates is very

limited and is still controlled by party leaders. They are also very

expensive for a candidate, especially if he is not backed by these

leaders. To stand any chance of nomination a candidate has to canvass

the voters and make himself known to them. A poor man cannot afford

to enter a contest in a direct primary unless funds are supplied him

or unless he expects to recoup himself later at the public expense.

Also, as that candidate wins the primary election who receives the

largest number of votes, the successful candidate may be one who

has had the votes of only a small proportion of the party which is

expected to support him later at the polls.

So far in New York State the primaries, even in city elections, are

largely party affairs. The suggestion has been advanced that city

primaries should be strictly non-partisan, and that party emblems

should be eliminated from the primary ballots.

=Nomination by a Convention= is a method still used in some States,

and until it was superseded by the direct primary it used to be

the manner of nominating candidates in New York. An official party

convention is made up of delegates elected by members of the party

from the different parts of the State. Names of possible candidates

are presented to the members in open convention, who express their

choice by ballot.

=Objections to the Convention System= are based on the fact that the

regular party convention is usually controlled by a few leaders who

decide beforehand every detail of the business of the convention and

make up the slate. They may trade with another group and concede part

of the ticket to them in return for certain concessions which they

may obtain for themselves. The delegates are often there simply to

follow orders and to nominate the men agreed upon by the party bosses.

The “slate” is the list of candidates for the various offices to be

filled. Nominations for these positions are usually influenced not

so much by the qualifications of the men proposed for office, as by

the ability of the proposed candidates to get out the vote and to add

strength to the ticket, also by geographical considerations, that

each part of the State or district may be represented on the ticket.

Unofficial State conventions are still held by the leading parties

in New York. Their principal business is to frame a platform. This

convention also appoints the central committee.

=The Primary Is Important to Every Voter= because it is there that

policies are determined and party leaders elected, as well as

candidates nominated for offices. Unless the members of the party

take the trouble to vote at the primary, the choice of candidates is

left to the few leaders who make a business of politics. This leaves

the field clear for “the boss” to put up candidates whom he can

control after election.

The vote at the primary election is always small. The proportion of

voters who vote for the nomination of candidates is often as low as

18 or 20 per cent. of the vote cast at the election. The reason for

this is not difficult to understand. The primary election comes at a

time when little public interest has yet been aroused in the coming

election. By election-time the voters have been circularized and

canvassed and the newspapers have devoted much space to the subject.

Also much more effort is made by the party to get out the vote at

election-time than at the primary. Party leaders can count on the

faithful coming to the primary election without urging, and they are

the ones who often choose the candidates.

=Nomination by Petition=: Most candidates on the ballot are nominated

by a party, but a man may also be nominated by a petition of

independent voters. The petition must contain the title of the office

to be filled, the name and address of the candidate, and be signed by

a certain number of voters.

X

ELECTIONS

Laws concerning the holding of elections have grown much more

stringent in the last few years. Every detail of the casting of a

ballot is now prescribed by law and every precaution taken to insure

honesty of elections. The precautions apply more to cities than to

rural communities, with the result that more corruption may sometimes

be found to-day in country elections than in those in cities.

=Registration of Voters=: In large places or densely populated

districts it is impossible for the election officials to know every

voter, therefore the law requires that in cities and villages of over

five thousand inhabitants every voter shall appear every year before

the board of registration and have his name put on the registration

list. He is required to answer certain questions as to his age, his

exact residence, his business, and where his last vote was cast, and

to sign his own name for purposes of identification and to prevent

fraud.

In smaller places and in rural districts, the signature is not

required, and after a man’s name is once registered it remains on

the book as long as the voter remains in the district. In practice

it remains on the book until some one takes it off; and the names

of men who have died or moved away are frequently found in a rural

registration book.

=Time of Elections=: The general elections take place in the fall,

on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. National

elections for President and Vice-President take place every four

years, in the year that ends with the figure four or its multiple.

Elections for representatives to Congress and State elections are

held the same day every two years, in the even-numbered years. City

elections are held the same day in the odd-numbered years. City

elections are held separate from State elections in order to keep

National and State issues from intruding in the election of municipal

officers. Local elections usually take place the same day, with the

exception of the spring village election and town meeting.

=The Election District=: For convenience every county or city is

divided into election districts, each with one polling-place. The

average number of voters to an election district in New York State is

from two hundred and fifty to four hundred. When a district grows to

five hundred voters it is usually divided. In Chicago, since women

were given the vote, an election district contains from five to six

hundred voters. It has been found that the women vote at the hours

when men are busy, and that the same election officials can handle

many more votes than is customary in New York.

=Election Officers=: Boards of elections, appointed by the county

board of supervisors, are in general charge of the elections in the

county, and there is a State Superintendent of Elections appointed

by the Governor. At each polling-place on Election Day there is an

election board consisting of four election inspectors, two ballot

clerks, and two poll clerks. The law provides that election boards

and boards of registration shall consist of equal representatives

from the two political parties that cast the highest number of

votes at the last election. This does not apply to town and village

elections. Each party also is allowed two watchers. A railing shuts

in the voting-booths and tables, and no one but the election board

and the official watchers is allowed under the law to be inside this

railing.

The polls are open from six o’clock in the morning until five o’clock

in the afternoon. Before voting begins the ballot-boxes are opened

and inspected to see that they are empty. The official watchers

have a right to see everything that is done. Electioneering is

forbidden within one hundred feet of the polls. The voting-booths are

constructed so as to insure privacy while the voter is marking his

ballot, and the ballot is folded so that no one but the voter himself

knows how he has voted.

=The Election=: When the voter appears to cast his ballot, he gives

his name and address, and the registration book is consulted to see

that he is registered, the number of the ballot given to him is

called out by the ballot clerk, and his name and the number of his

ballot are entered in the poll-book.

Official ballots are provided for every polling-place, twice as many

as there are registered voters in the district.

All the candidates for one office are grouped together on the ballot,

each name with a blank square beside it. To vote for a candidate the

voter must make a cross with a lead-pencil (not ink) inside of the

box beside the name of the candidate: [Illustration: X in box]. If

the cross extends beyond the box, or if the word “yes” is written,

if the ballot is erased or in any way defaced, it will be thrown out

at the count as void. If a voter spoils a ballot he should ask for

another one. An illiterate person is allowed assistance in marking

his ballot.

When the voter comes out of the booth, where he has marked his ballot

in secret and folded it so it cannot be read, he gives the ballot

to an election official, who announces the name of the voter and

the number of his ballot, tears off the stub, and drops the ballot

unopened into the box. A person’s vote may be challenged by an

inspector or watcher, or at the written request of any voter. If,

under oath, he is questioned and swears that he is eligible, his vote

is recorded, but is marked challenged.

=The Count=: At five o’clock the polls are closed and the ballots

are counted. They must not be handled by any one but the election

officials, although the watchers may see every ballot and watch the

count. The count for each office to be filled is made separately,

and if there are many candidates it may take many hours to complete

the count and know the result. Official tally sheets are provided.

The result is filed with the County Clerk. The board of supervisors

meet as a board of canvassers to canvass the result, and the returns

are sent to the State board of canvassers.

=The Australian Ballot= is the only one used in New York State

elections. It has on one ballot the names of all candidates of all

parties for all the offices to be voted for. The names are grouped

by offices, and the first name in each group is the candidate of

the party that cast the largest vote at the last election. The only

ballots shown before Election Day are sample ballots printed on pink

paper, while the ballots used at the election are white. They are all

numbered, and every one must be accounted for.

Until recently the ballot was printed with a column for each party,

so that the easiest thing the voter could do was to put a cross

within a circle at the head of the column, and thus vote for every

candidate of that party—what is called a “straight ticket.” The

ballot used at present requires a separate cross for every separate

candidate, and so encourages independence and intelligence on the

part of the voter. There are blank places so the voter may write in

any name he wishes for any office.

=Short Ballot=: It is evident from the brief outline of the structure

of government contained in the earlier chapters, that there are a

great many officers to be elected. It is impossible for even the most

intelligent and most interested voter to know the merits of as many

candidates as often appear on one ballot. In some elections ballots

are used which can be measured only in feet, and sometimes even in

yards. To remedy this evil there is a strong movement toward a _short

ballot_. This would mean cutting down the number of elective offices.

The tendency of government to-day is to concentrate the

responsibility on one man or a few men, to let them make

appointments, and to hold them accountable for results.

=Corrupt Practices Act=: The cost of campaigns and elections to the

political parties and to many candidates is great. While there are

many legitimate expenses connected with an election, the uncontrolled

use of large funds leads to grave corruption and has brought about

careful regulation by the State of money used at election-time.

Contributions from corporations are prohibited.

A public statement of campaign funds must be made by every candidate

and every organization taking part in a campaign, of all money

received for campaign purposes and how it has been expended. This

statement must be filed with the Secretary of State within twenty

days after the election, and be open to public inspection. Even these

precautions, while more severe than those found in most States,

have not succeeded in putting an end to the corrupt use of money in

elections.

It has been proposed recently that an addition to the Corrupt

Practices Act should be made to require all candidates and campaign

managers to file, five days _before_ election, instead of twenty days

_after_, a list of receipts and expenditures, so that voters might

know before the election the sources of political contributions and

the use to which the money is put.

A second proposal has been made in regard to the personnel of

the election officers, that instead of these boards being party

appointees they should be appointed from the civil service lists.

It is argued that with civil service appointees handling the count

of ballots there would be less likelihood of mistakes or deliberate

fraud.

Oregon has adopted the plan of having a pamphlet printed by the State

for both the primaries and the elections, in which is set forth the

claims of candidates of all parties, and both sides of all public

questions to be voted on. This pamphlet is sent at public expense to

every voter in that State.

=Voting-machines= are expensive, but they do away with the necessity

for voting-booths, and require fewer election officials. Perhaps

that is one reason they have not been more popular. They register

the number of votes cast for each candidate, and the result of the

election is known as soon as the polls are closed, and does not have

to await the long, tedious, and often incorrect count by hand.

=The Use of School-houses= and other public buildings for

registration- and polling-places is growing more common. It not only

saves the large rent usually charged for the use of other buildings

for polling-places, but it also gives more room and more convenient

surroundings than are afforded by the kind of place often rented for

use on Election Day. Unless provision is made by a city charter or

some special permission school-houses may be used in this way only by

a vote of the people of the district.

=The Cost of Elections= in proportion to other expenses of

government is small. In the budget for New York City it figures

less than 1 per cent. of the total budget. At the same time it

could undoubtedly be lowered by economy. High rent is paid for

polling-places, double the number of ballots necessary and liberal

supplies are given to each district. It was found in Chicago, when

women became voters, that the cost of elections was increased very

little. The supplies furnished, and the same number of election

officials, were found to be able to care for a large increase in the

number of voters.

XI

TAXATION

It is evident that to carry on the necessary business of a city,

a county, the State, or the nation requires money. Also, since

everybody shares in the benefits of government, every one should help

pay the bill.

One of the most difficult problems of government is to devise a

system of taxation that cannot be evaded, that will raise sufficient

money for expenses, and that will treat every one with equal justice.

Taxation may be divided into two general classes, direct and

indirect. _Direct taxes_ are those imposed directly upon property

or persons; such as taxes imposed upon land, personal property, or

income. The term _indirect tax_ is applied to taxes upon activities

such as carrying on some business or upon buying, selling,

manufacturing, or importing certain articles.

A direct tax, as a rule, cannot be evaded or shifted to some other

person. Indirect taxes can be evaded by abstaining from the activity

that is taxed. They can usually also be shifted to others, and are

generally paid by the consumer, or user of the article that is taxed.

In general, direct taxes are levied by the State and municipal

governments, while the National government derives its revenue (with

the exception of the income tax) mainly from indirect taxes.

Taxes for local purposes are levied largely on houses and land, on

what is called _real property_. _Personal property_, which is movable

property, such as mortgages, live stock, furniture, etc., is also

subject to taxation, but it is assessed only upon the balance of its

value in excess of the indebtedness of the person taxed. It is a more

difficult tax to collect than the tax on real property, and is evaded

to such a large extent that many economists believe that it should be

abolished, and some tax substituted more possible to impose equally

and to collect.

Village and school taxes are usually collected independently by

village and school officials.[A] Town, county, State, and city taxes

are assessed and collected at the same time.

=Tax Districts=: The State is divided into tax districts which have

usually the boundaries of the township or city, and there are three

tax assessors in each tax district elected by the people in the town,

and usually appointed in the city.

=How Taxes Are Assessed=: The State Legislature decides the amount

needed for carrying on the government of the State. The largest

part of these expenses are met by special indirect State taxes.

The remainder of the amount to be raised is apportioned among the

counties according to the value of taxable property in each (see

State Board of Equalization).

The county board of supervisors decides how much is needed for county

affairs. The town meetings, or the town boards and the voters through

voting on propositions submitted by the town boards, decide how much

money is needed for the business of the towns. This sum is added to

the total amount of taxes necessary for the county government, and

to the county’s share of taxes for the State government, and the

combined sum is the amount that must be levied on the property in

that county. The amount needed to carry on the government of a city

in the county is reported to the county board of supervisors and to

this sum is added in the same way the proportion of county and State

taxes which the city must pay.

Assessing the amount each taxpayer shall pay is the duty of the

assessors. They make up an _Assessment roll_ which must contain the

name of every person in the district who owns property, and the

assessed value of his property. The way the assessors do this work

varies largely. The policy governing assessments in rural districts

is to place as low a valuation on property as possible, in order

that the total assessed valuation for the county shall be kept down,

so that the apportionment given to the county for State taxes shall

be low, and the larger burden of taxation shall fall on the cities.

When the assessment roll is completed the assessors notify the public

that it is open for inspection, and a time and place are fixed for

a hearing, when any one who thinks he has been unfairly treated may

complain. If such a person is not satisfied with the decision of the

local assessors he may appear before the County Board of Equalization

with his complaint.

=The County Board of Equalization= is the county board of

supervisors. They have power to equalize the assessed value of the

real property in any tax district in the county. They apportion the

amount of State and county tax due from each town or city, add the

town or city tax, then ascertain the amount each person shall pay

according to the assessed valuation of his property. This sum is

noted on the assessment roll opposite each person’s name and the roll

then becomes the tax roll of the district.

_A practical example_: Suppose X owns a house and lot which the

assessors value at $5,000. The county board of equalization finds

that the city where X lives must raise $100,000 in taxes; $90,000

is required for the city government; $9,000 is the sum the city is

required to contribute to the expenses of the county, and $1,000 is

the share the city has to pay toward the government of the State. The

value of taxable property in the city is $5,000,000. Every dollar of

assessed property in the city must therefore pay two cents in taxes,

and X’s taxes will be $100, of which $90 will go to the city, $9 to

the county, and $1 to the State. A mortgage on the property does not

decrease the amount to be paid.

=Collecting Taxes=:[3] If a person fails to pay his real-estate

taxes the county treasurer is authorized to sell his property for the

unpaid taxes. The property may be redeemed by the former owner on

payment of back taxes with interest due and the cost and expenses of

the tax sale.

Public buildings, religious and charitable institutions, are usually

free from taxation; they are for the benefit of the entire community.

=State Taxes=: The ordinary expenses of the State government are met

by revenues derived from special indirect State taxes, so that for

years there was no direct State tax. State revenues are provided

through taxes on stock transfers, mortgage taxes, inheritance taxes,

excise, franchise, and corporation taxes. One-half the amount derived

from the excise tax goes to the State and one-half to the community

from which it comes.

Every stock company incorporated under any law of the State must pay

a tax upon the amount of its capital stock and upon any subsequent

increase. The earnings of corporations doing business in the State

are also taxed.

=An Inheritance Tax= is a tax imposed on the transfer of property at

death by will, or by operation of law in case of intestacy. The rate

of this tax varies according to the value of the property or share of

the recipient and his kinship to decedent. A higher rate is levied on

a large bequest or share than on a small one, and a larger percentage

is levied when the bequest or share goes to distant kin or to a

stranger than when it goes to a close relative.

The direct property tax is now used to pay off the interest and

gradually the principal of the State debt.

The estimated resources and revenues, not including the direct tax,

for the State for 1918 are:

Cash balance, July 1st $11,084,423

Stenographers’ tax 431,607

Excise tax 5,750,000

Corporation tax 20,000,000

Incorporation tax 1,400,000

Inheritance tax 14,000,000

Stock transfer tax 6,100,000

Investment tax 2,500,000

Mortgage tax 1,180,000

Motor Vehicle tax 2,375,000

Canal maintenance receipts 150,000

Other revenues 4,554,150

———————————

Total $69,525,180

=The Board of Equalization= meets in Albany once a year to examine

the reports from the different counties of the value of their taxable

property, and to equalize the amount of their taxation. The State tax

commissioners, who must personally visit the counties and examine the

local rolls, and the land office commissioners form this board.

=Federal Taxes=: The United States government even before the war

required an enormous amount of money with which to conduct its

business. In the past its chief sources of revenue have been custom

duties and internal-revenue taxes.

=Custom Duties= are taxes levied on the importation of articles

into the United States from foreign countries. The tariff, which

fixes the rates of the impost taxes, has been a constant subject

for dispute between the major political parties. Whether the tariff

should be imposed “for revenue only,” or whether it should be “a

protective tariff” to protect American industries and American labor

from the cheap labor of other countries, has been the chief point of

difference between Republicans and Democrats at National elections.

Impost taxes are indirect taxes which eventually come out of the

pockets of the people in increased prices of the articles imported,

and incidentally they raise the prices of similar articles of

domestic manufacture.

=Internal Revenue= or =Excise Taxes= are taxes imposed on business

or on the manufacture and sale of articles in the United States.

The most important taxes of this character are those on the

manufacture and sale of liquor and tobacco. The manufacture and sale

of cosmetics, perfumes, oleomargarine, and playing-cards are also

subject to internal-revenue taxes. In many cases these taxes are paid

by the sale of stamps to the manufacturer, who has to affix them to

the article before it is sold. As with many other kinds of taxation,

the public, the ultimate consumer, pays this tax.

=The Income Tax= is a tax on the income of a person. Many who do not

own land or other tangible property enjoy an income. As a farmer has

to pay a tax on his farm, so a lawyer who has a lucrative practice,

but does not own land or stocks, and the man who has an income from

investments, are all required to pay their share of government

expenses.

The income-tax law of 1916 taxes all incomes of married couples in

excess of $4,000, and all incomes of unmarried persons in excess of

$3,000. To provide further war revenue, an additional tax was imposed

in 1917 on the income of every unmarried person in excess of $1,000

a year, and of every married couple in excess of $2,000 a year.

The rate of these taxes increases with the size of the income. The

combined income taxes may amount to as much as 67 per cent. in case

of the largest incomes.

=Public Debt; Bonds=: If the government needs more money than it

wishes to raise by taxation, it can borrow it by issuing bonds. A

bond is a promise to pay a certain definite sum of money at a certain

time with a fixed rate of interest. United States government bonds

are the safest investment in the world. The State and municipalities

may also issue bonds, although the amount a city may borrow may be

limited by the value of its assessed property. The interest on bonds

and the payment of the principal must be met by taxation.

Bonds should not be issued to pay for the running expenses of

government, because that is putting on future generations the unjust

burden of paying for something for which they receive no return.

Their legitimate use is to meet the cost of some improvement which

will continue to benefit those who go on paying for it.

When bonds are issued provision should be made for the redemption of

their principal. This is done in New York State by raising annually

by direct taxation a fixed sum to be invested and kept as a separate

fund called a “sinking fund,” to be used only for this purpose. A

sinking fund for the payment of the interest and for the redemption

of the debt of the State is required by the State constitution.

=The Budget=: Before undertaking an enterprise a wise man considers

how much it is going to cost, and where the money is coming from. A

budget is a summary of the estimated expenses for the following year

of the different departments of the government. It is a business-like

method of determining the amount of money which should be raised by a

State or municipality to meet its necessary expenses. The budget for

New York State is made by the Legislature from an estimate furnished

by each of the administrative departments of the State. It includes

in detail the amount of salaries, traveling expenses, and maintenance

of each department.

The making of a budget for a city is of the greatest importance to

the taxpayers. Public hearings are held on it, when taxpayers may

be heard for or against the use of the money in the designated way,

and when they may ask for additional appropriations for some city

activity. Public servants in this, as in every other department of

service, work best under supervision. The taxpayer owes it to himself

to maintain adequate representation at these hearings. It is on the

basis of the budget as finally adopted that taxes are adjusted for

the following year. (See Chapter IV on Greater New York.)

The National government has not yet adopted the budget plan, and the

President has not the power to veto any item of an appropriation bill

unless he vetoes the entire measure.

This is a limitation which is greatly deplored, as it prevents

him from cutting out any provision in the bill which he may

think unwarranted or extravagant, or which has come out of the

“pork-barrel.” This is a term applied to appropriations given by

Congress to certain local communities for some Federal building or

for the development of some local resource which is not of advantage

to the National government, and which is given not because there is

any need for it, but because the representative from that district

in Congress wants to make himself popular with his constituents by

getting for them some public plunder.

=Every Dollar That Is Spent in Any Department of Government Comes

Out of the Pockets of the People=: It is not easy for the public to

realize this. The Congressman who gets an extra appropriation for a

post-office or other public building that is not needed, in order

to please his home people, may get more votes, but he is adding to

the public burden. In return for a vote for his post-office he may

have to give his vote to a fellow-Congressman for an unnecessary

expenditure in another State. The chain so formed is practically

endless, and its inevitable effect is to raise the cost of government

unwarrantably. Every such expenditure, every unnecessary public

salary, every dishonest public official, every tax-dodger, every

incompetent piece of public work, adds to the burden of taxation

which the people have to pay.

FOOTNOTES:

[3] In some counties local arrangements make it difficult for absent

owners of property to know when and where taxes are due. Every

tax-collector should be obliged to follow the usage of any good

business house and mail a bill for taxes.

XII

PUBLIC HIGHWAYS

Road-making has been a function of government since the early ages.

The old Roman roads still exist as evidence of the labor and care

that were put into them.

Ease of communication, which permits people to journey from home and

see what the rest of the world is doing, is a great factor in binding

people together, and tends to promote progress.

Good roads are important to every citizen, not only because of the

increased use of the automobile, but because they are a vital part of

the business life of the country. The farmer needs them to move his

crops to market. Without them he may be unable to sell his produce at

the time it is most needed and when he could get the best prices for

it. The merchant needs them to receive supplies and make deliveries;

the manufacturer needs them for the moving of his raw material; the

city-dweller needs them so that food may come into city markets.

Public highways are the connecting arteries between city and country.

New York State has recognized the need of good roads, and has

spent an immense amount of money to secure them. Some years ago a

bond issue of $50,000,000 was authorized in the belief that such a

large sum of money would put the roads in a condition to meet all

requirements for many years.

In 1907 the Legislature approved contracts for 8,300 miles of county

highways, believing that the money available would be sufficient.

The following year it approved contracts for 3,600 miles of State

highways and another bond issue of $50,000,000 was found necessary.

Not only had the cost of labor and material greatly increased, but in

addition the use of motor-trucks and motor-buses was beginning to put

a strain on roads and road-beds which had not been anticipated.

Old roads began to go to pieces rapidly and needed constant repair

and often replacing. Even the new roads, where the road-beds were

of stone only six inches deep, soon spread and disintegrated under

trucks weighing from one to fifteen tons. This use of motor-trucks

is increasing, and is necessary for the traffic requirements of the

State, but highways are being subject to a strain hitherto unknown,

and this strain will increase in both quantity and severity.

How to meet the requirements and maintain and repair roads built for

light traffic which are giving way under the new demands, and how

to build new roads strong enough to stand up under the strain, are

problems the State finds it difficult to meet. New road-beds are now

required of stone from nine to twelve inches deep.

Some roads are built by the State, some by the county, and some by

the town. In many cases the cost of the work is divided between

county and town, or between county and State. The State may help a

town build a road, but it can only contribute the same amount or less

than the town appropriates.

All material that is used in road-building must be tested in the

laboratories maintained by the State Highway Department, and constant

experiments are being made to test materials and specifications to

find out what will stand the hardest wear.

All roads must be built and repaired under the direction of the State

Highway Commissioner, but whether these instructions are carried

out often depends on local officials. The public believes that there

has been no part of government in New York State more honeycombed

with fraud than the one of road-building and maintaining; that

specifications have been skimped or ignored, different materials have

been substituted from those prescribed, cheaper construction of every

kind passed by inspectors, and that the result has been that many

roads of the State have cost vast sums of money for which the State

is in debt and have not lasted even a few years.

In 1916 the State had a total of 4,027 miles of macadam roads and

5,836 miles of gravel town roads, and more than half of all the

improved roads in the State had been constructed within five years.

There were 728 patrolmen employed looking after repairs.

The entire cost of bridges is met by the towns with occasional aid

from the county. If a State road goes through a village, the same

amount is allowed as for the rest of the construction, and if the

village wants another kind of a paving or a wider road it must

pay the difference in cost. The State Highway Department gives as

averages of cost: for macadam roads $10,000 a mile; first-class

concrete, $15,000 a mile; and brick paving, $25,000 a mile.

The State highway law provides that all construction must be done by

contract. Prison labor is not employed on State and county roads as

in some States, but it has been used on roads built by towns.

In spite of the huge appropriations, the State roads are far from

complete as planned. Nearly $750,000 will be available in 1918 from

the National government as part of New York State’s share in the

Federal appropriation for roads.

“Working out” a road tax was never a method which contributed to good

roads. The earth roads on which the taxpayer puts his unskilled labor

are usually impassable many months of the year.

=City Streets=: The local government decides where a road or street

is needed, and with the consent of a sufficient proportion of the

property-owners may purchase or condemn the necessary property. If

the owner is not satisfied with the payment offered, appraisers must

be appointed to decide the amount that should be paid.

City streets must be maintained by the city government. If a person

is injured by the failure of the government to keep sidewalks

in repair he has a right to sue the government for damages. The

municipal government, on the other hand, may require property-owners

to keep their sidewalks in good condition.

=Street-cleaning=: Since many thousands of children have no

playground but the street, the condition in which city streets are

kept is of great importance to their health and general welfare.

Disease germs are heavy and are most numerous near the ground. If

playgrounds could be arranged on the roofs of high buildings the

children would be the gainers from the pure air. Unfortunately, the

streets in which they play are not usually the ones which are cleaned

most frequently by the street-cleaning department. Old and young are

disorderly—newspapers, cigarette-butts, and fruit-skins are thrown

down anywhere. Streets littered with papers, with dust-laden pieces

blowing back and forth, increase the dangers from disease.

Carelessness on the part of the public in throwing things into the

streets adds many thousands of dollars to the cost of street-cleaning

departments. Every time that a person throws a paper or any object

into the street eventually some one else must be paid to pick it up.

Most municipalities have ordinances against littering the streets,

but they are often dead letters.

The cleanliness and good order of city streets pay in dollars and

cents, in public comfort and convenience, and in a lowered death-rate.

=Parks=: With the congestion of population that is not confined to

New York City or any one part of the State, parks large and small

have become a necessity not only for pleasure and beauty, but for

the health of the community. In the country people can be out of

doors as much as they please, but when families are obliged to live

close together, “breathing-places” are of actual physical benefit,

especially if they can be green with grass and trees. Communities

often awaken to the need of parks too late, after all available

places are occupied, when in order to provide the necessary oasis

property has to be condemned and often enormous sums of money paid

for it.

=City Planning=: Most of our cities have grown up haphazard without

any definite plan of development. As new industries have come in

they have brought in large numbers of employees, who have had to be

provided with living-places, and a new section of the city has been

started. Or a real-estate boom, fostered by some private enterprise,

will develop another quarter without consideration for the welfare

of the incoming population. As land values advance, in order to

squeeze all the profit possible out of this increase, high crowded

buildings spring up, planned to house as many people as possible in a

restricted area. New York City and many other places are continuing

to create new tenement districts in outlying quarters of the city

where land is still plentiful.

It is not easy to change congested areas built up in the past, but it

is a wrong to coming generations to continue to allow considerations

of health and decency to be ignored in the future growth of cities.

Haphazard growth has cost the public dearly in actual money values.

Unrestricted crowded living conditions have cost still more dearly

in the moral and physical vitality of the people who have had to put

up with them. These mistakes of the past cannot be remedied, but

cities and villages are still growing, and the wise community is

now developing a plan in advance for its future growth, which will

safeguard public health and welfare, and the convenience as well as

the beauty of the city.

=The Value of Beauty=: Streets and roads do not need to be bare and

ugly. Some attention paid to appearance costs very little and is a

distinct benefit to the public. Weeds are usually cut down along the

roadside, but so, too often, are the trees. When one thinks of the

many years it takes for a tree to attain a fine growth, one wonders

at the carelessness with which they are sacrificed. A well-shaded

road bordered by trees, or a shaded city street, testifies to the

intelligence and thrift of the people responsible for them. Such care

is apt to be repaid by increased property values.

XIII

COURTS

In the United States there are two classes of courts—State courts

and United States or Federal courts. The State courts of each State

derive their jurisdiction and powers from the constitution and laws

of the State. The United States courts derive their jurisdiction and

powers from the Constitution and laws of the United States.

The functions of the courts are to hear and decide criminal and civil

cases.

=Criminal Cases= are prosecutions or proceedings by the State or

Federal government to enforce the laws made for the preservation

of peace, law, and order in the community, by the imposition of

fines, or imprisonment, or the punishment of death, in case of their

violation.

=Civil Cases= are suits or proceedings brought for the enforcement

or protection of personal or property rights; as, for example, suits

to recover compensation or damages for personal injuries, or the

destruction of property, or for breaches of contract, or to recover

property wrongfully taken, or to restrain by injunction threatened

wrongful acts for which a suit for money damages would not be an

adequate remedy.

At the trial of a criminal or civil case, the judge supervises and

directs the proceedings, and decides any question of law which may

arise. Questions of fact, arising in criminal cases, and in most

civil cases, are decided by a jury of twelve qualified citizens drawn

from a panel or list; but in certain classes of civil cases the judge

decides questions of fact as well as questions of law.

Civil as well as criminal cases must be commenced and carried on in

a manner prescribed by law or by rules of the courts. In New York

the laws of procedure are commonly believed to be unnecessarily

complicated and technical. Innumerable controversies have arisen as

to their meaning and effect. They have been amended and supplemented

by many statutes, and there is a strong movement among lawyers

to secure the adoption of a simpler and more workable system of

procedure.

In New York State the courts are of the following classes: _Justices

of the Peace, or Justices’ Courts_, try petty criminal cases

involving small thefts, drunkenness, disorderly conduct, and breach

of the peace, and certain ordinary civil suits involving sums of not

over $200. A person accused of serious crime before a justice of the

peace may be held to await action of a grand jury.

In New York City, and in various other cities of the State, the

functions of the justices’ courts are performed by courts called

_Municipal Courts_, _City Courts_, _Magistrates_ or _Police Courts_,

the latter having jurisdiction only over petty criminal cases. The

powers and duties, as well as the names of these lower courts, vary

in the different cities.

It is most important that honest, sympathetic men should preside over

these lower courts, for in them are tried the small offenses which

may be due to ignorance of law, and a large number of people come in

contact with government in no other way.

Most arrests are for minor offenses such as drunkenness, disorderly

conduct, etc. They are tried here, and many of them bring first

offenders into court, where the treatment received by the person

accused may determine whether he will become a habitual offender

or whether he will be set straight. Many foreigners come into these

courts, and receive in them their first impression of justice as

administered in this country. Oftentimes the offense is committed

through ignorance or stupidity. A kind word or a helping hand may

make all the difference between a future good citizen or a crook. In

these courts, as in the justices courts of the town or village, there

is great need of a careful choice of magistrates.

=County Courts=: In every county except New York there is a county

court presided over by the elected county judge. In these county

courts may be tried civil suits in which the sum involved is not over

$2,000 and all crimes except those punishable by death. They also

hear appeals from the justices’ courts. The county courts in Queens,

Bronx, Richmond, Kings, Ulster, and Albany counties may try cases

involving the death penalty.

=Surrogates’ Courts=: In each county there is a surrogate court,

held by a judge called “the Surrogate,” who is elected by the voters

of the county for a term of six years (except in the county of New

York). In this court wills are probated, the estates of persons

deceased are settled, and guardians for minors and executors or

administrators for estates of decedents are appointed. It is evident

that a county surrogate should be a man of strictest probity as well

as good business sense.

=Court of Claims=: Any one who has a claim against the State may take

it to the Court of Claims, which consists of three judges appointed

by the governor with the approval of the Senate. Appeals from its

decisions may be taken to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

=The Supreme Court=: Above the county courts are the Supreme Courts,

which, however, are not really supreme, as their decisions are

subject to review, and may be reversed upon appeal by the Appellate

Division or the Court of Appeals. The Supreme Courts may try any

civil or criminal cases, including prosecutions for murder. There are

more than one hundred Supreme Court justices in the State, elected by

the voters of the various districts, and the entire State is divided

into nine judicial districts, in which certain of these Supreme Court

justices sit. In every county, at a certain time, a Supreme Court

justice holds a _trial court_, where both civil and criminal cases

are heard before a trial jury. He also holds a _special term_, where

he hears and decides motions and civil cases in which no jury trial

is required.

=Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court=: As judges are human

and may make mistakes, the law provides a right of appeal from the

court in which a case is tried. The whole State is divided into four

judicial departments, in each of which there is an Appellate Division

of the Supreme Court. From the Supreme Court justices the governor

chooses the justices for the Appellate Divisions. These Appellate

Divisions hear appeals from decisions of the county courts and of

the Supreme Courts, and they may sit wherever the public interest

demands. They do not try cases originally, but only hear appeals.

=The Court of Appeals= is composed of a chief judge and nine

associate judges, but only seven judges sit at one time. This court

is the State court of last resort, and it may reverse a decision of

an Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. In most cases no appeal

lies to the Court of Appeals from a decision of a question of fact

by a lower court, but only questions of law can be reviewed; but in

criminal cases where the sentence is death the entire case may be

reviewed.

=Courts of Record= are those courts that have an official seal and

keep an official record of all proceedings. The Surrogate’s Court,

the County Court, the Supreme Court and its appellate divisions,

and the Court of Appeals are courts of record. Justices’ Courts and

Magistrates’ Courts are not courts of record.

=Federal Courts=: The jurisdiction of the United States or Federal

courts extends to all cases in law and equity arising under the

Constitution and laws of the United States, to all cases affecting

ambassadors and other public ministers and consuls, to admiralty

and maritime cases, and to controversies between States or between

citizens of different States. Federal courts are organized in a

similar way to State courts.

=The United States District Courts= hear, in the first instance,

all classes of cases over which the United States courts have

jurisdiction, except the cases mentioned below. The entire country is

divided into ninety judicial districts, and each State has at least

one district.

=The United States Court of Claims=, which is located in Washington,

has jurisdiction over claims against the United States government.

=The Circuit Court of Appeals= is an appellate court by which

decisions of the United States district courts may be reviewed.

=The United States Supreme Court= is the highest tribunal in the

land. In cases affecting ambassadors and consuls, and those to which

the State is a party, the Supreme Court has original jurisdiction.

Other cases can come before it only upon an appeal, or writ of error,

to review a decision of a lower United States court or a decision of

the highest State court involving a question of Federal law. There is

a chief justice and eight associate justices of the Supreme Court,

who are appointed for life. To be a justice of the Supreme Court of

the United States is considered one of the highest honors in the land.

The judges of all the Federal courts are appointed by the President

with the consent of the Senate.

=Constitutionality of the Law=: One important power which the courts

have is to interpret the meaning of the Constitution and laws,

but they have no power to do so except so far as necessary to the

disposal of cases before them.

The constitution of the State is its fundamental law, as that of

the United States (together with the laws made by Congress under it

and treaties made by the United States) is the supreme law of the

entire United States. A question may arise as to the precise meaning

and scope of a constitutional provision. In this case the court

may interpret its meaning, and may declare void a law because in

violation of the constitution.

=An Injunction= is an order or decree issued by a court, restraining

some person or persons or corporation from performing certain acts,

on the ground that such acts would cause an injury or loss, for which

a suit to recover money damages would not furnish adequate redress.

A temporary injunction, or restraining order, may be issued upon

affidavits, in advance of the final trial of a case, when it may

either be dissolved or be made permanent. An injunction may also

command the performance of some act. In such cases it is called

a mandatory injunction. If an injunction is violated, the person

disobeying can be arrested and sent to jail or fined “for contempt of

court” without trial by jury. Many efforts have been made to limit

this power of the courts. In Oklahoma, the law provides for jury

trial in case of contempt of court for violation of an injunction.

Judges are elected for a longer term of years than are other public

officials. County judges have a six-year term. Supreme Court justices

and judges of the Court of Appeals are elected for a term of fourteen

years. The reason for the longer term of service is that the

increased experience is supposed to make a judge more valuable to the

State; also, on account of the long term, he is supposed to be less

affected by political considerations.

Whether _judges_ should be _appointed or elected_ has been a matter

of considerable controversy. It is argued that if they are appointed,

the appointment may be a reward for political service instead of

because of fitness for the position. On the other hand, if judges

are elected, it is objected that they must take part in political

contests, and are apt to give decisions more with regard to popular

favor than to actual justice. Many persons think that in practice

better judges are obtained by appointment than by popular election.

State judges are usually elected, but the Federal judges are

appointed.

The election of proper men for the position of judge is one of the

most important duties of an electorate. Whether the process of the

law insures justice and increases public security depends often more

on the judge than on the letter of the law. Decisions involving the

happiness, rights, and lives of countless people go through the

courts of the State. These decisions should not be in the hands of

men to whom the office has been given as a reward for party service,

or who have been put in the position by prejudiced interests. A wise,

intelligent, public-spirited judge has enormous opportunity to add to

the sum of public welfare.

XIV

THE PUNISHMENT OF CRIME

A crime is an offense against the people of the State. Also every

action that is brought before a court costs the State money and adds

to the burden of taxation borne by the people.

A free government carefully guards the rights of an accused person.

He must be told of the charges against him and be given every chance

to answer them. He is presumed by the law to be innocent until he

is proved guilty, and is not obliged to answer any questions that

may incriminate himself. He may be examined at once by a magistrate,

or, if he prefers, may be committed to jail to await a future

examination. If held for any except the most serious crime he may

be allowed his liberty by some one “giving bail”—that is, giving a

pledge of money or property to insure his appearance in court at a

certain date. If he “jumps his bail” the money is forfeited to the

State, although that does not protect him if he can be found. If the

charge of which he is accused is a serious one, it must come before a

grand jury.

=The Grand Jury= is a body of men chosen from the taxpayers of a

county to inquire into alleged crimes during a particular term of

court. The supervisors or the commissioner of jurors makes out a

list of three hundred names of men of integrity and sound judgment,

from which the names of twenty-four men are drawn by lot.[B] From

sixteen to twenty-three of these men sit in secret session, and hear

the presentment of a case, and decide by a vote of at least twelve

members whether the evidence is sufficient to warrant holding the

accused for trial.

The necessity of a case coming before the grand jury often causes

much delay in a trial, as the jury can only be called when court

is in session, and there are often long periods of time between

courts. On the other hand, the fact that the grand jury is made up

of a man’s neighbors and friends, who would be disposed to give him

fair treatment, is a safeguard to his interests. If “a true bill”

is found, the accused person comes before the court and the charge

against him is read to him. If he pleads guilty the judge imposes a

sentence. If he pleads “not guilty” the trial proceeds.

If the accused has no lawyer, the court must appoint one for him.

While a man so appointed must defend the case, the best lawyers are

not secured in this way. There has been considerable demand for the

creation of the office of public defender for accused persons. The

State employs public prosecutors, and it is argued that it should be

as much interested in proving a man’s innocence as in proving his

guilt.

=Trial by Jury= is a right guaranteed by the constitutions of both

the State and the nation. A trial jury is composed of twelve men

chosen from a list of qualified men in the county where the crime is

committed, or is being tried. After the evidence in the case has been

presented and the judge makes his charge as to the law applicable to

the case, the jury retires to a secret session, where they are kept

in confinement until they reach a unanimous verdict. In England it

requires only a majority of the jury to render a verdict.

=Jury Service= is one of the important duties of a citizen. It is not

required of certain classes of men—_viz._, clergymen, physicians,

druggists, lawyers, and newspaper-men, among others—and judges have

the power to excuse men on whom jury service would entail special

hardship. Jurors are paid a small sum by the day, and to many men

jury service means serious inconvenience and financial loss. But

to leave the settlement of cases which involve the serious welfare

of both individuals and the public, to professional jurors, the

hangers-on of a court-room, is a great wrong to the community.

=Women Jurors=[C] have not yet been permitted in New York State,

although in some Western States they have served with much success.

There are certain cases involving young girls and children where it

would seem that only women should be allowed on the jury. Cases of

murder committed by a woman might be treated with more impartial

justice if women served on such juries. Sentimental considerations

would not influence them as they do some men in such cases.

=The Police=: Much of the public welfare and safety of a city

depends on its police force. A modern police is organized on a

military basis. The men hold their positions for life or during

good behavior. Promotions are based on merit, and pensions are

paid men who have served a certain term of years. This plan has

improved conditions by taking the police out of politics to a large

degree. The policy of the head of the department is of the greatest

importance to the public. The temptations for graft and corruption

in a police department are enormous, but the assurance of a square

deal all up and down the line, strict orders to uphold the law, and

a well-defined policy against graft of every description, will do

wonders to keep a department honest and efficient.

In recent years the plan has been developed of making the police

helpful in many ways in the life of the city. The uniformed officer

has many opportunities to help and direct children, especially the

boys on the streets, to prevent violations of the city’s ordinances,

the littering of the streets, and in many ways to prevent before the

act, rather than to arrest after it has been committed.

This helpful spirit has been adopted by the police of New York City,

to the great good of the city. It is exemplified in the Christmas

trees in the station-houses for the poorer children of a neighborhood

at Christmas-time.

=Prison Reform=: Modern government is learning not to avenge

itself on a criminal, but to impose a sentence which will tend to

reform him. Instead of sentencing a person to a definite term of

imprisonment, an indeterminate sentence may be given him, the length

of which will be determined by his behavior, and by the promise he

may show of leading a better life if set free. If he is released he

may be put on probation. This means that he is required to report

at regular intervals to the court, or to a probation officer, to

show that his conduct is law-abiding. If he goes wrong again, he is

remanded to serve out his sentence.

Men and women, wherever confined, must be given employment. Idleness

is bad for even an educated person. Imposed on one who has no

resources within himself, it becomes a source of demoralization

scarcely to be measured. The old custom was to hire prisoners out to

contractors at low wages. This brought goods manufactured by prison

labor into unfair competition with honest labor.

The modern idea is to teach the prisoner a useful occupation and to

pay the wages to his family. It is not common-sense to support a man

in prison at the expense of the State, and to allow his family to

suffer from having his support taken away from them.

=Probation=: First offenders, or persons committing minor offenses,

are often put at once on probation, with the sentence suspended

during good behavior. This has proved of great value in saving many

from a criminal career. It is far less costly to the State than

keeping them in prison, and often leads to the establishment of an

honest life.[4]

=Jails and Prisons=: Every community has some kind of jail for the

detention of offenders. Those who come in contact with the law are

often the poor and the friendless who cannot get bail. Even innocent

persons may be held some time awaiting trial, or the action of the

grand jury. Young girls are often detained, sometimes as witnesses,

sometimes pending investigation of their own cases, sometimes as

runaways from home. In such a case there is no place of detention but

the local jail. These jails are often filthy and unsanitary, unfit

for human habitation. Their surroundings, and the character of the

sheriff or constable, and jail officials, must inevitably have an

effect on the prisoners, especially on the younger women. It is most

important to the community that a woman shall not be sent out from

jail a more hardened criminal because of her confinement there. It is

a wrong, the responsibility for which every woman in the neighborhood

must share, that there is no better place of detention for young

girls. Women matrons in all prisons where women are held and women

probation officers are now recognized as essential.

It is unintelligent to allow a man to leave jail penniless far

from his home and friends, to become a tramp or to be tempted to a

new offense to get money. The modern ideal of criminology is that

his stay in prison should teach a man an honest way of earning his

living; also that he should be given some supervision after he has

left the prison doors, to help him to lead an honest life.

=City Farms= for the detention of offenders are a great improvement

on indoor prisons, and the open-air occupation both saves the State

money and is beneficial to the prisoner.

=The Prevention of Crime=: If as much money and organized effort

could be put on the prevention of crime as is given to its

punishment, the need of jails and prisons would be greatly lessened.

The chief causes of crime are drunkenness, feeble-mindedness,

overcrowded living conditions, low wages, and insufficient

education and recreation. Drunkenness is now known to be a disease;

feeble-minded persons should not be allowed freedom of action; the

State may prevent congested living, it may establish a living wage,

and it has the power to provide proper vocational training and

sufficient facilities for healthful recreation. It tries to separate

the young offenders from the older ones, and the first offenders

from the hardened ones. It has not succeeded very well in preventing

inequalities before the law. The rich man has the advantage of being

able to employ the most skilful lawyers and to appeal his case to

court after court and drag it out over a number of years. When a fine

is imposed he can pay it and so sometimes escape punishment. The poor

man may have to go to jail because he cannot pay his fine and he is

often unable to fight a suit.

To lessen the hardships and secure equality of treatment for all

alike should be the endeavor of the State.

FOOTNOTES:

[4] The last report of the New York State Probation Commission shows

that on September 30, 1916, there were 13,433 persons on probation,

and that the number of inmates of the penal and reformatory

institutions in the State was decreasing. Probation officers had

themselves collected $139,000 for cases of non-support, and had

caused to be paid another sum of $206,000 for these cases. They had

assisted men to pay, in instalments, fines amounting to $30,000,

which meant that these men were kept out of jail and at work, and had

helped men who had stolen something or had done material damage to

some one to repay those they had injured the sum of $39,000. It is

evident that there is a saving of hard cash to the State in this work

as well as much of social value.

XV

WOMEN OFFENDERS AND THE LAW

The Constitution of the United States guarantees to a person accused

of crime a trial by an impartial jury, or by a jury of one’s peers.

The handling of cases against women offenders has little regard

for that guarantee. Discriminations against women who have come in

contact with the law are the custom.

If any one is inclined to doubt this, let him imagine the case

reversed and applied to himself. Suppose a man accused of an offense

against the law should be accused by a woman, arrested by a woman,

held in jail by a woman, tried in a court-room filled with women,

before a jury composed only of women, and sentenced by a woman judge.

Would such a man feel that he was getting impartial justice given him

by his peers?

Also in the treatment of cases involving sex, the penalty of the

law rests heavily on the woman and the man usually goes free. Sex

immorality is a crime for a woman, but the man, the partner in the

crime, is rarely touched by the law. Until recently in New York

State, even pandering, or living off the earnings of a prostitute,

was classed, as it still is in some other States, as disorderly

conduct, in the same class of offenses as selling a street-car

transfer. In some States adultery is still a misdemeanor. It did

not become a criminal offense in New York until 1907, and it is

still almost impossible to obtain a conviction unless there are

some unusually revolting circumstances. Many cases have come into

the courts of the State where women have been arrested in a raid

on a disorderly house, and where the men found with them have been

released, and the women held.

The large majority of the arrests of women are for the two offenses

of intoxication, and prostitution or street-walking. The usual

sentence for both of these offenses is commitment to the workhouse

for from eleven to sixty days. Nearly half the cases of intoxication

are of old offenders who are sentenced over and over again. Some

years ago the Legislature passed a measure making provision for a

State farm where these women could be sent for care and treatment,

and where they could have useful occupation; but it has not yet been

established.

=Prostitution=: The same sentence to the workhouse for varying

periods of from five to ninety days, or even six months, is the

common one for prostitution. It is doubtful if a sentence of

this kind has ever been of the slightest benefit to any woman so

sentenced. The usual court procedure is a mill through which this

class of unhappy beings goes, without either their reformation being

accomplished, or their danger being lessened to the community. When

it is realized also, that a considerable percentage of these women

are feeble-minded or at least sub-normal, the necessity of facilities

for examination and classification and proper segregation are

apparent.

The entire process of dealing with the problem of public prostitution

in New York City is one that is revolting from a woman’s viewpoint.

To rid the streets of street-walkers and to keep them “clean,” a

force of police in plain clothes patrols the streets. These police

are usually the new men on the force selected for their youth and

good looks. Promotion often rests on the number of arrests that they

make. A smile or a nod, and a girl may respond. If she speaks, an

arrest can and often does follow.

This kind of training for the young men of the police force is

degrading to them. Also, the fact that arrests in nine cases out

of ten are those of women of the street, does not preclude the

possibility of the arrest of a silly, ignorant, but innocent girl.

Brought into court, the presumption is that she is guilty.

There is always a first arrest for any offender against the law.

The records of the magistrates’ courts show that nearly one-third

of the women’s cases brought into court are first offenders. Called

for the first time before a judge in an open court-room, incoherent

with fright, the girl is often unable to say a word for herself. If

she is fined, or sentenced to the workhouse, or held in detention

pending investigation, and is kept in association with other women of

degraded lives, the chances of her being reclaimed are practically

gone.

The law holds an accused person innocent until proved guilty, but a

woman accused of a crime against morality has to prove that she is

innocent. Under the usual court procedure, a prostitute is outside

the protection of the law and her word has no value in the court.

=Night Courts= have been established in order that offenders arrested

at night, after the day courts have closed, may come immediately

before a magistrate, without having to spend the night in jail

awaiting trial. There are separate night courts for women in New York

City, and all arrests for prostitution or loitering are tried in

these courts.

The motive behind the establishment of the Women’s Night Court is

humanitarian, but it is there that one sees the discrimination

against women as the fundamental of the proceedings.

Women are sentenced to terms in prison for offenses far less

serious than those for which men are discharged. The discrimination

against women, and in favor of men, even extends to the cadet, who

pursues the most shameful business in the world, that of exploiting

unfortunate women. Until a few years ago the maximum penalty for such

a man was six months in the workhouse.

The law now permits a sentence of from two to twenty years, but

convictions are rare. Nearly every prostitute is exploited by some

man who takes her earnings, and on whom she relies to protect her

from the police. If these cadets and procurers could be eliminated

it would greatly diminish professional prostitution, but they are

most difficult to reach. The women they exploit will often perjure

themselves to save these men from the vengeance of the law. Also,

the fact that no conviction can be had on the testimony of the woman

unless supported by corroborative evidence, makes her afraid to

testify against one of them.

=The Penalty of Fines=: Imposing a fine as a punishment for

prostitution should be absolutely prohibited. It does not act as a

restraint, and simply means that the woman must go out on the street

to earn her fine, and it makes the State a partner to her crime. It

has been abolished in practice by some judges; but it is still the

custom in some courts in New York State, and is even imposed by some

judges in New York City. A bill to abolish fines throughout the State

was introduced in the Legislature of 1916, but failed to pass.

=Young Girls=: Girls between the ages of sixteen and eighteen are

in the most dangerous period of life. Figures show that the great

majority of girls who become prostitutes are ruined before they reach

seventeen years of age.

A girl of sixteen in New York State is too old for the Children’s

Court. She may therefore be held in jail with the hardened

street-walker and the habitual drinker. If she is without the

protection of home or family, she may be left alone, for the State

makes no provision for a guardian for her unless she has property,

when the State is required to provide one for her.

Delinquency, thefts, and misdemeanors on the part of young girls are

often the results of natural instincts gone wrong. Love of pleasure,

a desire for pretty things, and a wish to be attractive is common to

all girls. A false step, a yielding to temptation, followed by an

arrest and a trial in an open court-room, often mean an ordeal which

leaves an indelible mark on the girl’s soul, and a disgrace which it

is almost impossible for her to live down.

=Girl Victims=: The most pitiful cases are those of very young girls

brought into court as the victims of crime. It is difficult to get

conviction in these cases, as corroborative evidence is necessary.

The shock to the sensibilities of such a girl at having to tell her

story to men and having to answer questions in an open court-room can

scarcely be exaggerated. The need of women in places of authority, to

help in cases of such crimes, is great. Women probation officers are

only the first step in the right direction, but there are too few of

them, and whenever a movement is made toward economy, they are the

first to be dismissed.

=Houses of Detention=: A great need of New York City, and a need

shared by every city in the State, is a proper place of detention for

women. As delinquent children are now separated from older offenders,

so delinquent girls, first offenders and old offenders, and other

classes of women who are held awaiting trial, or for investigation,

or as witnesses, should not be obliged to associate indiscriminately

with one another while awaiting the disposition of their cases.

The need of a building large enough to provide for the separate

detention of the various classes of women who are in the care of the

court has been recognized, but so far little provision has been made

to meet it. In other places in the State, wherever there is a court,

there is need of a place of detention for women where they will be

safe from degrading influences, and where they will be under the care

of other women.

=Women Judges or Judges’ Assistants=: The system which has been

instituted in Chicago since women were given the vote, of a quiet

talk with a woman assistant in the Court of Special Sessions, in

her own private office, instead of an open trial, has resulted in

saving many a girl who otherwise would have become an outcast. In

certain intimate matters it is a woman’s task to question girls.

Contrast the picture of an open court-room: the judge on the bench,

the jury, if there is one, composed of men, the room filled with men

of all descriptions, and the frightened, trembling child, with this

private room with the young offender telling her story alone to an

experienced woman. Which offers the best chance for saving the girl

from a ruined life?

Frequently the girl comes from a family where crowded living

conditions make decent living almost impossible. Instead of her first

offense coming up for inevitable punishment, it is treated with the

sole object of prevention and cure.

Judges in New York State cannot appoint women assistants without

authority from the Legislature, and that authority the Legislature

has always refused to give.

=Policewomen=, or =Women Protective Officers=, are now recognized

as a necessary part of the correctional work of a city. The work

of the woman protective officer is very different from that of the

policeman. The policewoman protects and controls, rather than

arrests. In protecting children, in caring for lost children, in

acting as mother to the motherless, in watching over young girls, in

getting evidence against cadets, she does an invaluable work. The

disorderly saloon, the dance-hall, and the moving-picture theater are

all hunting-grounds for the white-slaver. In getting evidence in this

sort of crime she is more effective than the policeman. There are

policewomen now in fifty cities of the United States.

* * * * *

That the whole subject of prostitution and the law is a most

difficult one to deal with, there can be no question. It needs the

combined intelligence of both men and women engaged not only in

theorizing over the problem, but in actual efforts to grapple with

it. Until public opinion supports the single standard of morality,

the courts will continue to discriminate against women.

Unfortunately, women of all ages, even very young girls, are

arrested. Sometimes they are guilty, sometimes innocent, sometimes

sinned against, sometimes only the victims of circumstances, but

always unfortunate. Their misfortune and its results on their lives

are more terrible than they need be, because they are usually

deprived of the help of women in places of authority.

In the Chicago Court of Morals women are welcome, and there are women

court officers, women police, and women probation officers who create

an atmosphere entirely different from the usual court-room. There is

also no division of sex; when it is a question of morality, the man

and woman are both held. A physical examination is made by a woman

physician. When a woman is found to be diseased she is sent to a

hospital to be cured.

Some of the most progressive magistrates and judges are endeavoring

to improve the methods of handling cases of women offenders, but it

would seem that wherever the welfare and disposition of women are

involved other women should be part of the machinery which deals with

them. This is not so much because of sentimental considerations, for

in some cases women would be less influenced by sentiment than men,

but there are certain peculiarities, tendencies, and experiences

common to each sex which only those of that sex can understand. In

all cases of women offenders against the law other women must be

concerned, and should be equally responsible with men for their

handling and disposition.

XVI

PUBLIC EDUCATION

The best foundation for a democracy rests on free educational

facilities for all the people. An ideal school system is one that

reaches out to every child and prepares him for a useful occupation,

that is also available for the further development of every member

of the State, and that will give every individual the knowledge

necessary for him to do his part in government. A self-governing

people cannot afford a class too ignorant to vote.

In New York State, school attendance is compulsory for children

between the ages of seven and sixteen years. An exception is made of

children between fourteen and sixteen, who have completed the first

six years of school, and have been to school 130 days since their

fourteenth birthday. Such children may be employed if they have a

duly signed work certificate. In cities of the first and second

classes, boys between fourteen and sixteen who are employed during

the day, who do not hold certain certificates, must attend night

school sixteen weeks in the year. Truant officers must be appointed

in every city, town, and village to enforce the law. Parents who fail

to send their children to school are guilty of a misdemeanor.

=The School District= is the smallest division of the State, and must

maintain a free common school at least thirty-six weeks in the year.

In 1917, an amendment to the school law was passed which abolished

the old school-district system, that dated from 1795, and which makes

it possible for the children of the rural districts to have some

of the facilities for modern education which have heretofore been

confined to larger communities.

In place of the former school trustees for the separate school

districts, there is now one board of education for each town, and

this board has charge of all the schools in the town. There are 4,000

schools in the State which have less than ten pupils each. The value

of taxable property in many of these school districts is very small.

The school tax has been the only State tax which has been assessed

in such small units. The needs of each school district had to be met

by the taxation of that one district. For all other State expenses

the county is the unit of taxation and taxes are assessed equally all

over the county, and the apportionment made according to the needs of

each district. Under the present law, by treating the town as a unit

for school taxes, all property in the town is assessed equally, and

the money raised is used for the benefit of all the town.

In this way the rich and poor districts share more equally in school

facilities.

The initial expenses of making the change have increased school taxes

in some places for the first year, but the change will undoubtedly

work to the great benefit of the children of the State, and is

along the lines adopted some years ago by most of the other States.

Villages of over 1,500 people are outside the provision of the

new town law. If the people of two or more school districts wish

to combine, they may vote to consolidate and establish a central

school.[D]

=The Town Board of Education= consists of from three to five members

who are elected for a term of three years each and who appoint their

own clerk and treasurer.

They have larger power than was given to the former school trustee.

They have charge of all school property; they determine the kind of

schools that are needed; they may establish high schools, vocational,

industrial, agricultural, and night schools; they determine the

number of teachers to be employed, and their salaries; they may

employ medical inspectors and nurses, and may provide transportation

for children attending school.

=The Annual School Meeting= to elect the Board of Education is held

the first Tuesday in May.

Qualifications for Voters: At this meeting any one living in the

district can vote who is a citizen twenty-one years old, a resident

in the district for thirty days, who owns or rents or has under

contract of purchase taxable property in the district; or has had a

child, either his own or residing with him, in school for at least

eight weeks during the year preceding; or who owns personal property

exceeding $50 which was assessed on the last assessment roll.

Candidates for the board of education may be nominated on petition of

twenty-five voters. Men and women who are duly qualified electors are

eligible to the board.

=Annual School Budget=: The board of education must prepare an

itemized budget of the amount necessary to be raised for school

purposes, and must publish it in July for public consideration.

Additional money may only be raised by a vote of the school district

indorsed by the district superintendent. The building of a school,

or repairs costing over $5,000, must be submitted to a vote of the

school electors.

A board of school directors is elected in each town, consisting of

two men, each with a term of five years, but elected in different

years.

=The Supervisory District=: Each county, except those in Greater

New York, is divided into from one to eight supervisory districts.

(Villages and cities of over 5,000 people are not included, as they

make their own provisions. Each of these has a board of education.)

=The District Superintendent= is the director of a supervisory

district. He is chosen by the board of school directors and is

engaged for a term of five years and paid $1,200 a year by the State,

with an additional allowance of $300 for traveling expenses. The

supervisors of the towns in his district may vote to increase his

salary, the increase to come out of the taxes raised in the towns in

the district.

A man or a woman twenty-one years of age, and a citizen and resident

of the State, is eligible for the office, provided he or she has

a State teacher’s certificate and can pass an examination in the

teaching of agriculture.

The District Superintendent has the general supervision of the

schools in his district. He is responsible for the instruction

given in them and the discipline that is maintained. He examines

candidates for teachers’ positions, under the direction of the State

Commissioner of Education.

=Union Free School Districts= have been permitted under State law

for many years in cities and villages. Some years ago this law

was extended to include rural districts, and during the past few

years about 500 rural school districts have been discontinued and

consolidated with adjoining districts. Many of the discontinued

schools had only a handful of pupils, the buildings and equipment

were primitive and inadequate, and the small amount of money

available made it impossible for the school to offer any advantages.

The union of school districts has given better educational facilities

to the rural districts. The children have been taken to school by

wagons provided for their transportation, and have had the advantages

of a larger school, a higher grade of teachers, and better

facilities of all kinds for modern education. The new educational law

provides still greater development in this direction.

=Physical Training= is compulsory in all schools, public and private,

for children over eight years of age for at least twenty minutes a

day. The State gives financial aid in the training.

Military training is compulsory for boys between the ages of sixteen

and nineteen in public and private secondary schools and colleges.

The name “military” is misleading, for the law provides that the

development of “correct bearing, mental and physical alertness,

disciplined initiative, sense of duty, self-control, and a spirit of

co-operation under leadership” is to be given special attention.

=School Money=: For many years it has been recognized that sufficient

educational facilities could not be provided for every part of the

State through local taxation.

Besides the money raised by the school districts, the State

contributes large sums of money for the support of public schools.

Part of this money is the income from certain educational funds

belonging to the State which cannot be used for any other purpose,

and part is money appropriated by the State Legislature. This money

is distributed by the State Commissioner of Education according to

the needs of the school districts.

City schools are subject to the same general supervision of the State

Commissioner of Education, but are under the direction of local

boards of education, and local superintendents of schools.

=Normal Schools= for training teachers are maintained by the

State out of school funds, and teachers’ meetings are held in the

supervisory districts to help and improve teachers.

=The University of the State of New York=, which is at the head of

the entire educational system of the State, is not a university in

the ordinary sense of the word. It is a combination of all of the

colleges and secondary schools of the State. It is governed by a

Board of Regents, twelve men elected by the State Legislature for

twelve years each, but whose terms begin in different years, who

have large powers of control over all the higher institutions in the

State, universities, colleges, technical and professional schools.

They have the management of the State Library and Museum. They

prepare Regents’ examinations and grant Regents’ certificates, and

supervise the granting of degrees.

The president of the University of the State of New York is elected

by the Regents. He is also the _State Commissioner of Education_,

and as such is the head of the State Department of Education which

supervises the free public schools and normal schools of the State

and apportions the State school funds.

=The National Commissioner of Education= is at the head of the

National Bureau of Education in Washington. The work of this bureau

is largely to collect and publish information about educational

conditions and progress in the United States.

=Agricultural Help=: There are four free agricultural schools besides

the State College of Agriculture in Ithaca. Much assistance is given

by the government to the agricultural needs of the State. Special

courses are provided at many colleges for the various departments of

agricultural work. Short courses are arranged for those who can only

attend a few weeks, and at times in the year when farm work is slack.

=Farmers’ Institutes= are organized, at which experts discuss the

best way of doing the varied work of the farm, especially how to

increase production and to make the farm more profitable.

=Vocational Training=:[5] If the public school is going to prepare

young people for their work in the world, some guidance in the

selection of an occupation, and some practical training in a trade or

profession, must be included in their school work.

The great majority of children leave school at an early age to go

to work. Without specialized training they have little chance for

advancement, but fill the ranks of untrained labor, to the great loss

of the world and their own disadvantage.

=State Scholarships=: Each of the 150 Assembly districts of the State

has five free scholarships valued at $400 each. The scholarships are

awarded by the Commissioner of Education and the holder may attend

any college in the State, and receive $100 for each of the four years

he or she attends.

=Domestic Training=: The majority of girls, even though they are

wage-earners for a time, sooner or later marry, and have children

and a household to take care of. In the olden days, when the home

was a workshop, girls were taught cooking at home; they learned

to care for babies through taking care of the little ones in the

family. Now they often leave school to go to the factory, and only

leave the factory when they marry. They have no knowledge of cooking,

housekeeping, or the care of children. Unless domestic economy of

the most practical kind is taught in the school-room, there is no

way they can be prepared for the important business of housekeeper

and mother. If every girl were taught to cook and were trained in

the proper care of an infant, it would add immeasurably to the sum

total of the comfort and health of family life. It would be an

advantage to every boy, likewise, if he were taught to use his hands

in carpentering or other manual work. Whatever comes in later life,

hands that have been trained to be useful are a great asset to any

man or woman.

=Schools as Community Centers=: Education does not stop at any age.

Public free lectures, mothers’ meetings, and the use of schools for

community recreation are helping to make the school-house 100 per

cent. efficient as an educational center. The school plant that is

closed when school is not in session is an extravagance which no

community can afford.

The demand for the use of the school-house for political meetings,

and as polling-places at election-time, is growing. Outside of New

York City school-buildings may only be so used by special permission

of the voters. Since one of the purposes of education is to train

people in citizenship, the use of the school-house as the center of

everything that pertains to the people’s part in government seems

legitimate.

=Health=: Compulsory education is futile unless at the same time

the health of children is maintained. It is as much the duty of

government to watch over the proper development of the body as of the

mind, yet more attention is often given to decoration of schoolrooms

than to matters of health.

An appallingly large number of children have defective teeth, poor

eyes, or obstructed breathing. Neglected teeth mean an undernourished

body and are a common source of disease.

Periodic medical examinations are required by State law, and

school nurses may be engaged as part of the regular school force.

The value of the law depends on the way it is enforced by local

school authorities, and this is often far from satisfactory. These

provisions are found to repay their cost in the added strength and

productive powers that they give to the community.

=Co-operation=: The greatest of all needs in connection with our

schools is a lively interest in them on the part of women. The woman

who cares about the future of her child must be interested in school

meetings and the election of school-boards, who should be carefully

chosen. Frequent visits to the school in city and country are a help

and inspiration to both teachers and parents.

FOOTNOTES:

[5] Under a provision of a recent Federal law, a certain sum of money

is available for use in any State for the teaching of home economics,

industrial training, or for any vocational work, provided that the

State appropriates an equal amount for the purpose, which New York

State has done.

XVII

HEALTH AND RECREATION

The great majority of men and women, and even many children, have to

work for a living. To keep healthy they need time and opportunity for

wholesome recreation.

Recreation is as much a necessary part of normal life as food or

drink; a fact that has been partially lost sight of in this economic

age, but throughout the world’s history there have been frequent

examples of governments which made careful provision to supply

necessary amusements for their citizens. In Greece great stadiums

were erected for games and contests; in medieval times the knights

held tournaments, even the churches celebrated their saints’ days

with gay street processions.

The need for recreation is particularly great to-day because the

congestion of population of our cities has left few open spaces for

leisure time, and crowded living and small, dark rooms where all the

work of the household must be done, preclude any social life in the

homes of many families. Many young girls who crave companionship and

social intercourse with friends have to go outside their homes to

find it.

Crowded tenements without light or air, dirty streets with no

provision for wholesome recreation, are proofs of poor government and

inefficient democracy, no matter how prosperous and contented a city

may look in its richer quarters.

People who are obliged to live in the crowded districts have a

lowered vitality and a lessened value to the world; and the same

natural impulses which, rightly directed, lead to an orderly,

useful, contented life, may be the causes of delinquency if stunted

or misdirected. The slum is an economic crime, condoned by a public

which pays the penalty in contamination and contagion thrust back

upon itself.

=Housing=: Air and sunshine are the first requisites of healthy life.

The government recognizes a certain responsibility in insuring these

necessities, and prescribes by law regulations for the construction

and inspection of living accommodations. Many families cannot choose

their homes, but are obliged to live in the kind of buildings that

are to be found near their work. Inside rooms without windows, rooms

into which a ray of sunshine has never penetrated, are common in

every city in the State. The law prohibits, in cities of the first

class, the building of new tenements with inside rooms without

windows, but many old ones are in existence, and two-family houses

may still be built with inside rooms. In other cities there are

practically no restrictions, except by occasional ineffectual city

ordinances. Sanitary arrangements, and the water-supply in many

tenement-houses, are insufficient for health or even decency.

Tenement-house inspection is a part of city government in which women

are particularly fitted to serve. In New York City, there are 103,688

tenement-houses and 193 inspectors. Only eight of these are women.

The war has greatly intensified the housing problem. With the

tremendous increase in certain industries which has brought thousands

of people to work in new factories, there is a corresponding demand

for living accommodations near their work. These factories may not

be permanent, and so private capital hesitates to build houses near

them. The result is a terrible crowding of people in unsanitary and

unfit buildings. The consequences of such overcrowding is seen in the

increase of child delinquency, immorality and disease, an increased

death-rate, and the inevitable unrest from such unhappiness which

results in strikes and labor troubles.