greatly checked. The city has more criminals than the country, partly Crime in because it affords them a better opportunity with the city greater secrecy. Whether the city actually makes criminals is not so easily proved. Figures for England show that London in 1894 had 416 offenses per 100,000 as against 155 in the agricultural counties. In this country striking figures are given for the effect of city life upon negroes and upon the second generation of immigrants. They show that the risk of a negro becoming a criminal if he enters factory life in the city is nearly nine times as great as if he stays in the country. As to immigrants,—the foreign born average about the same in crime as the native born. But if we take the second generation-native born of foreign parents-who are especially numerous in cities we find that the city is a dangerous place for them. In Massachusetts this element, native born of foreign parents, furnishes 63% of the criminals, though only 34% of the population. There is no doubt that certain The good and the evil in city-life districts of cities are as good schools for crime as Fagin's famous training school of which Dickens tells us in Oliver Twist. If, then, we try to strike a balance in a rough way between the good and the bad in city life, we should have to say that the city, like the machine, is a tremendous power. It may make for progress in many lines; it affords great opportunity to the strong, to the efficient, to those of firm character, and to those who love their fellow men and wish to work on a large scale for human betterment. It is a dangerous place th for the weak in ability or in character. It is certain to pull down into misery many who might be comfortable. in the country, where competition is less keen and unscrupulous. Like the machine, the city is not yet under control. We are only beginning to guess what it is doing. We are barely beginning to take measures to keep the good and check the evil. Nowhere is there greater opportunity for scientific study and for intelligent planning. to г CHAPTER XXX WHAT THE CITY DOES FOR ITS CITIZENS U NDER this heading we propose to consider not the general influence of the city, but what the city does as a government or corporation. In the eyes of the law cities are "municipal municipal" corporations. They are bodies, that is, by which many unite to do what they cannot do separately. Summing up the more important services which cities now perform for their citizens and contrasting them with the former days, Frederick Howe writes: "In earlier days, even the most elementary public functions were performed by the individual. He paved, cleaned, and lighted the street before his door. He was his own constable. Such health protection as he enjoyed was the result of his own vigilance. Education was conducted at home or by the church. The library was a priestly possession as was all learning. His house was his castle, even in the midst of the city, and society offered him little save the administration of justice and protection from foreign foes. It "Today the city protects his life and his property from injury. It safeguards his health in countless ways. oversees his house construction, and protects him from fire. It cleans and lights his streets, collects his garbage, supplies him with employees through free employment bureaus. It educates his children, supplies them with books, and in many instances with food. It offers him a library, and through the opening of branches almost brings it to his door. It offers nature in the parks; supplies him with opportunities for recreation and pleasure through concerts, lec What the city does as a cor poration The citizen cannot protect himself tures, and the like. It maintains a public market; administers justice; supplies nurses, physicians, and hospital service as well as a cemetery for burial. It takes the refuse from his door and brings back water, gas, and frequently heat and power at the same time. It inspects his food, protects his life, and that of his children through public oversight of the conditions of factory labor. It safeguards him from contagious diseases, facilitates communication upon the streets, and in some instances offers opportunities for higher technical and professional education." How has it come about that the city does all these services for its dwellers? In most instances it is a clear case of necessity. If the country dweller does not wish to have his house burned down he need only be careful of his own chimney, his lamps, or his matches. It is all in his own hands. If the city dweller exercises the greatest care he is still very liable to have his house burned. The great fire which burned over a large part of the Chicago business district, destroyed such an enormous amount of property and made so many people homeless, was said to have been started by Mrs. O'Leary's cow, which kicked over a lantern. The city dweller may not often be endangered by a cow, but he is frequently and almost constantly endangered by carelessness in any one of a hundred families about him, or because of especially dangerous kinds of manufacture. The only protection from his neighbors is through the city. If the country dweller wants pure water or pure milk he can examine his spring, and if he does not keep a cow himself, he can visit the farm from which his milk comes. The city man's water supply often comes from twenty-five, fifty, or one hundred miles, and the milk supply even farther. The only protection is through the city experts in the water and health departments. If the country house wife does not keep her dooryard neat and dispose of the household wastes in a healthful way, it is her own fault. In the city she must again depend upon the sewage system and the ash and garbage collection by the city. If these are not properly managed, the housewife is helpless. The country mother can guard her children against contagious diseases. She knows the neighbors and, living in a separate house, can be reasonably sure that her children will not be exposed. The city mother can know nothing about her neighbors; her only protection again is the city health department. All these tasks which the city performs, Doctor Wilcox in his book, The American City, places under the head of "municipal insurance." The city insures us against fire, against violence through its police and its courts, against certain forms of accident by inspection of steam boilers and of buildings, fire-escapes, and elevators, against ill-health, and finally in various forms of public relief it insures against absolute starvation in case of poverty. Some cities also maintain employment agencies to aid those who are out of work in finding positions, although this has not been carried far. How does the city do all these things? How are they Agencies managed? Who is responsible? Where does the money come from and who decides how much shall be spent in one way rather than in another? Broadly speaking it is the city government which in turn acts for the citizens. We might describe the city government and how it works in two different ways. We might begin with the process of voting by which the government is chosen, or if we wanted to begin nearer the beginning we should have to consider first the state government, because the state government prescribes what kind of a of the city |