never taken a bath may prefer not to pay more rent for a house because it is provided with a bathroom, they are likely to learn to use it after a time if it is always at hand. And the children, who go to school, and come in contact with clean and well-dressed children from homes a little higher in the scale of civilized life, will soon learn to make use of the bath tub, if it is in a warm room and is provided with an ample supply of hot and cold water. A supply of hot water to be drawn at will from a faucet over the bath tub, calls for a stove with a water back, or some special appliance for heating the water. In planning houses for wage earners in Washington, more than ten years ago, the writer had in view these requirements and all houses built by the two companies with which he is connected have a good range with water-back in the kitchen and a bathroom provided with a bath tub supplied with hot and cold water; also a modern type of water closet, and usually with an enamelled wash basin, having faucets for hot and cold water. These appliances, together with a kitchen sink supplied with hot and cold water, add considerably to the cost of a house and consequently to the rent. The problem of providing independent "homes" for day laborers, supplied with these requisites of modern civilized life, at rentals which this class of working men can afford to pay, is a difficult one. But we believe it is not insoluble as will be shown hereafter. It is evident that it is not fair to compare the rental, per room, of a well-built brick house provided with a bathroom, one or more closets, and a range with water-back in the kitchen, with a more or less dilapidated frame structure, having a "running" water closet in the back yard. Moreover, in making a comparison as to rentals the size of the rooms must be considered. In many of the old houses now occupied by working men in the city of Washington, the kitchen is a small shed in the rear of the main building, yet it counts as a room, and as a rule no kitchen stove is provided by the landlord. The rooms are also, as a rule, of very modest dimensions-often not more than 8 by 10 feet; yet the monthly rent, per room, of these old houses is from two to three dollars or more. The rent per room of a well-built twostory brick house will depend upon its location (cost of land) and upon the demands of the capital invested in the way of interest. We shall show later that it is quite possible to construct houses and rent them at less than three dollars a room, if the two-flat plan is adopted and dividends of a company organized to construct them are limited to four per cent. This is shown by the experience of the Washington Sanitary Housing Company, which was organized under a charter from Congress in 1904. The act of incorporation is as follows: AN ACT TO INCORPORATE THE WASHINGTON SANITARY HOUSING COMPANY. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That Henry Y. Satterlee, Teunis S. Hamlin, John M. Harlan, S. Walter Woodward, Brainard H. Warner, John Joy Edson, Maximilian G. Seckendorff, Wallace Radcliffe, Clement Brown, John W. Foster, George M. Sternberg, Henry B. Brown, David J. Brewer, Crosby S. Noyes, George M. Kober, Charles C. Glover, Charles J. Bell, Henry F. Blount, Charles B. Purvis, Francis J. Grimke, Frederick A. Miller, J. W. Pinchot, Mary L. D. Macfarland, Elizabeth J. Somers, Herbert Wadsworth, George Truesdell, John F. Wilkins, Simon Wolf, Henry A. Willard, J. Henry Small, Jr., Augustus S. Worthington, Emily Tuckerman, Thomas W. Smith, Clare G. Addison, John B. Larner, Bernard T. Janney, Tallmadge A. Lambert, Charles F. Weller, G. Lloyd Magruder, Charles E. Foster, E. Francis Riggs, Alexander Graham Bell, Samuel R. Bond, Caleb C. Willard, and George H. Harries, their associates and successors, be, and they are hereby, created a body corporate and politic in the District of Columbia by the name, title, and style of the Washington Sanitary Housing Company, and by that name have perpetual succession, and it shall be lawful for the said corporation to have a common seal, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and have and exercise all the rights, privileges, and immunities for the purposes of the corporation hereby created, which purposes are declared to be to acquire, hold, improve, rent, mortgage, sell, and convey real estate within the District of Columbia, for the building of sanitary houses for the poor, to replace the insanitary houses now occupied by them, especially in the alleys, and to rent such houses at so low a rental that dilapidated and insanitary houses will be abandoned by their tenants when, as a result of this work, better houses can be secured at the same or a lower figure: Provided, That the value of any and all property so acquired shall not exceed the sum of five thousand dollars: And provided further, That no land shall be acquired or houses built thereon except of the character hereinbefore described. SEC. 2. That the capital stock of said corporation shall be twenty-five thousand dollars, divided into two hundred and fifty shares of the par value of one hundred dollars each, and when said amount shall have been subscribed the said corporation shall be fully authorized and empowered to commence business: Provided, That said capital stock may be increased by the sale of additional stock from time to time, but the total issue thereof shall not exceed the sum of five hundred thousand dollars: And provided further, That it shall be unlawful for the officers or directors of said corporation to declare any greater dividend to the stockholders than four per centum per annum upon the capital stock outstanding at the time of any such dividend. SEC. 3. That the affairs of the corporation shall be managed by a board of directors consisting of fifteen persons, who shall for the first year be elected by the incorporators hereinbefore named, from their number, and thereafter said board shall annually be elected in such manner as may be provided by the by-laws of the corporation, and such board of directors shall have power to ordain, establish, and put in execution such rules, regulations, ordinances, and by-laws as they may deem essential for the good government of the corporation, not contrary to the laws and the Constitution of the United States, or of this Act, and generally to do and perform all acts, matters, and things which a corporation may or can lawfully do. SEC. 4. That Congress reserves the right to repeal, alter, or amend this Act. Approved, April 23, 1904. The object of the company was stated by the present writer as follows: "The object of the company is to build sanitary houses for a deserving class of the population which cannot afford to pay the rentals of from ten to sixteen dollars per month, which the better class of wage earners pay for the flats of the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company. To bring the rentals within the reach of this class, it is necessary to build on cheaper land, and to leave out certain features (bay windows, cellars), which add to the expense of construction. It is not proposed to provide for the idle and the dissolute, and only those who pay their rents and take reasonable care of the apartments will be retained as tenants. The dividends are limited to four per cent, but the rentals are placed at such a figure as to insure a four per cent dividend and a surplus fund of two per cent per annum after paying all expenses. The difference between four and five per cent in dividends goes to the benefit of the tenant, and enables the company to establish the lowest possible rentals. The company is practically under the same management and will have the benefit of the experience gained in conducting the business of the Washington Sanitary Improvement Company." The company organized under the above charter from Congress succeeded in securing stock subscriptions sufficient to justify it in commencing building operations and in October, 1904, twenty houses had been completed and were occupied by colored tenants. Seventeen of these houses were on Van Street S. W. (See Figure 7). The flats of three rooms and a bath were rented for seven dollars per month for lower and seven and one-half dollars per month for upper flats. The four-room flats were rented for eight and eight and one-half dollars per month. This is an average of $2.26 per room. It should be remembered that each of these flats has a good-sized bathroom, with a bath tub and a modern water closet. There is a good range with water-back in the kitchen and a small coal stove in the front room. The hot water boiler connected with the kitchen range is placed in the bathroom and furnishes sufficient heat to make it comfortable. These flats have now been occupied by colored tenants, mostly day laborers, for nearly four years. They are in such demand that there is constantly a waiting list of applicants in case a flat becomes vacant. Many of the present tenants have occupied their flats since the houses were completed. The repairs required have not been excessive and there has been very little loss from vacancies or failure to collect rents. The company has paid four per cent dividends from the outset and at the end of the second year was able to report a surplus of $1,211.18. When the statement is made that these flats are rented at an average of |