BULLETIN OF THE U. S. BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS. WHOLE NO. 158. WASHINGTON. OCTOBER 15, 1914. GOVERNMENT AID TO HOME OWNING AND HOUSING OF WORKING PEOPLE IN FOREIGN COUNTRIES. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY. It is a common observation that a characteristic tendency of recent times, with the great development of industry, has been the concentration of the population into cities. With this growth has come the problem of the overcrowding of dwellings and insanitary conditions endangering the health of the entire community. The attempt has been made by health regulations on the one hand and by building regulations on the other to correct insanitary conditions where they have existed and to prevent their development in new buildings and in new quarters. But haphazard opening of new streets and building sites in rapidly growing areas and cheap, speculative building, liable to fall quickly into decay, have constantly led to the development of new slum areas and of houses unfit to be human dwellings and threatening the health of the community. INADEQUACY OF PRIVATE INITIATIVE IN PROVIDING HOUSING. In the larger cities the question of cheap and, at the same time, sanitary dwellings for workingmen of small earnings has in many cases become an acute one. The ordinary means of supply by the erection of houses by capitalists for investment have rarely proved adequate. So we find national, State, and local housing commissions, societies for the promotion of the erection of workmen's dwellings, and everywhere the conclusion that private initiative has proved 9 inadequate to deal with the problem and that systematic Government regulation, encouragement, and financial aid must be given.1 The fact that international housing congresses have been held in Europe since 1889 gives some indication of the public interest in the subject in European countries and of the activity of organized effort to deal with some of its problems. The following list of international congresses shows the countries in which they have been organized and 'held: 1. Paris, 1889. 2. Antwerp, 1894. 10. The Hague, 1913. METHODS OF GOVERNMENT AID IN EUROPE. Most European countries have, as the result of investigation and study, enacted legislation providing for Government aid in one form or another for the better housing of the working people. The method of granting this Government aid differs greatly in detail in various countries, but the form in which the aid is given may be described as of three main classes. 1 Compare in regard to American housing conditions: Baltimore, Md., Housing Conditions in Baltimore 1907; Cambridge, Mass., First Report of the Cambridge Housing Association, 1913; Chicago, Ill., Tenement Conditions in Chicago, Report of Committee of City Homes Association, 1901; Breckinridge & Abbott, Series of Articles in American Journal of Sociology, November, 1910, to January, 1913; Cleveland, Report of Bureau of Sanitation, 1914, published by Department of Public Welfare; Fall River, Mass., Housing Conditions in Fall River, C. Aronovici, 1912; Grand Rapids, Mich., Report of the Housing Committee of the Charity Organization Society, 1913; Kansas City, Mo., Report on Housing Conditions by Board of Public Welfare, 1913; Lawrence, Mass., The Lawrence Survey, Todd & Sanborn, 1912; Lowell, Mass., The Record of a City, G. F. Kenngott, 1912; Louisville, Ky., Report of the Tenement House Commission, 1910; Housing Conditions in Main Line Towns, M. Bosworth, 1913 (study of five towns-Ardmore, Haverford, Bryn Mawr, Kayne, Rosemont-on main line of Pennsylvania Railroad, showing development of slum conditions in wealthy suburban towns); New York City, The Tenement House Problem, DeForest & Veiller, 1903 (2 vols.); First Report of the Tenement House Department of the City of New York, 1902-3 (2 vols.); Report of the New York City Commission on Congestion of Population, 1911; Philadelphia, Second Annual Report of Philadelphia Housing Commission, 1912; Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh Survey, Vol. VI, 1914, The Civic Frontage; Rhode Island, Tenement House Conditions in Five Rhode Island Cities, Rhode Island Bureau of Industrial Statistics, 1911; Richmond, Report on Housing and Living Conditions in the Neglected Sections of Richmond, Va., G. A. Weber, Whittet & Shepperson, 1913; San Francisco, First Report of the San Francisco Housing Association, 1911; St. Louis, Housing Conditions in St. Louis; Report of the Housing Committee of the Civic League of St. Louis, 1908; Satellite Cities, G. R. Taylor; A St. Louis East Side Suburb, The Survey, February, 1913, pp. 582-598; Gary, The Survey, March, 1913, pp. 781-798; Springfield, Mass., Report on Housing Conditions in Springfield, Mass., C. Aronovici, 1912; The Housing Problem in Texas, a series of newspaper articles by G. W. Briggs, 1911; Washington Housing Conditions, Report of the President's Home Commission, Washington, 1908; Neglected Neighbors, C. F. Weller, The J. C. Winston Co., Philadelphia, 1909; A description of an objectionable building on Rhode Island Avenue, The Survey, May 16, 1914, p. 204; Four Washington alleys, The Survey, Dec. 6, 1913, pp. 250-252. 1. Building directly, for rental or sale. (a) For Government's own employees National, as in Austria, Germany, Hungary, and Rou mania. State or provincial, as in Germany, Switzerland, and Municipal, as in Germany, Hungary, and Roumania. (b) For working people generally, as in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Australia, and New Zealand. 2. Making loans of public funds (including also Government. guaranty of loans) to (a) Local authorities, as in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Luxemburg, Sweden, and Norway. (b) Noncommercial building associations, as in Austria, Belgium (by savings bank whose deposits are guaranteed), Denmark, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Luxemburg, Netherlands, Sweden, and Norway. (c) Employers, as in Germany, Great Britain, and Luxemburg. (d) Individuals, as in Germany, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway. 3. Granting exemptions from or concessions in taxes or fees or granting some other form of subsidy to building associations or others, as in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, Hungary, Roumania, Spain, Switzerland, Australia, and New Zealand. It should be noted that classed under the loans of public funds are the loans which have been made of the funds of the State accident and sickness insurance associations in Austria and of the funds of the invalidity and old-age insurance institutes in France and in Germany. These loans in Germany represent the most important financial aid to housing anywhere developed, having reached a total of over $118,000,000. LOANS OF PUBLIC FUNDS TO PUBLIC-WELFARE BUILDING ASSOCIA TIONS. By these various methods European countries have expended millions of public funds to aid in the erection of low-cost and sanitary dwellings for wage earners. Most important among these methods of aid is that of loans to public-welfare building associations. These are associations in which the dividends which may be paid to the stockholders are limited usually to 4, or at most 5, per cent on the paid-up capital. In many cases it is also required that upon the dissolution of the association any surplus which may exist shall not be divided among the stockholders but must go to some specified public purpose. |