3 20 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



and change in the character of the occupants ; and new, large, and 

 badly lighted and ventilated buildings were erected as domiciles 

 for immigrants from foreign lands and the native poor. It was 

 at this period and under these circumstances that the tenement- 

 house system of New York was inaugurated, since famous for its 

 extent, and for a long time infamous for its character and in- 

 fluence. 



Native-born citizens viewed with considerable apprehension 

 and dissatisfaction this great influx of foreigners, with their di- 

 verse languages, customs, and religions ; to avoid unpleasant asso- 

 ciations they reluctantly surrendered their dwellings and found 

 new homes in the more northerly part of the island, or beyond 

 the East River, in Brooklyn ; and this migration continued until 

 large sections of the city were almost entirely occupied by tene- 

 ment-houses. In all such districts the sanitary condition, which 

 had been fairly good, rapidly deteriorated ; the municipal gov- 

 ernment made no effort to enforce regulations necessary to insure 

 cleanliness and to promote the health and comfort of the poor and 

 helpless ; and thus between the years 1830 and 18G0 a considerable 

 part of the city year by year drifted into a condition deplorable to 

 the philanthropist and disgraceful to the corporation. The wiser 

 statesmen of that period urged that universal education would be 

 more effective than proscription in removing the acknowledged 

 evils from this immense immigration, and that proper laws and 

 regulations to promote thrift, morality, cleanliness, and health 

 were the true panacea. Free schools for all the people, after a long 

 struggle, were authorized and required by statute. Although the 

 necessity of sanitary reform and improvement was evident, it was 

 not until 1864 that an organized and intelligent movement was 

 made to remove the evils which had gradually accumulated and 

 which seriously threatened the health and permanent prosperity 

 of the metropolis. The great draft riot of 18G3, when the city was 

 for several days controlled by the ignorant and dangerous classes, 

 a large amount of property destroyed, many lives lost, business sus- 

 pended, and the streets unsafe for traffic or passage, was largely 

 instrumental in awakening the New York public to the absolute 

 necessity of reform and improvement in the social condition of a 

 considerable portion of its population. 



On the 29th day of February, 1864, at a meeting of the Citizens' 

 Association, at that time an organization of great activity and in- 

 fluence, and composed of the most prominent intelligent and pub- 

 lic-spirited citizens of New York, a committee of inquiry was ap- 

 pointed to obtain full and reliable information relative to the sani- 

 tary condition of all parts of the city. Upon the report of this 

 committee a Council of Hygiene and Public Health was organ- 

 ized, and under its direction a thorough sanitary survey of the 



