104 COMMISSION ON BUILDING DISTRICTS 



comply with the law. They had no light, no guard against fire, no extra 

 means of exit, and the sanitary conditions were very poor. 



We ought to try to make permanent certain localities in the city to be 

 used for certain purposes and that would permit of buildings being erected 

 adapted for such purposes, or altered for such purposes permanently, instead 

 of requiring changes to be made periodically, and instead of permitting the 

 old buildings to be changed and changed rapidly. It does seem to me at 

 times that it is a very great hardship if a man erects a building and complies 

 with the then existing law and does everything he can do to make it comply 

 with the law, to then have the Legislature come along, for very good reason 

 I will say, and decree that he should change it or alter it at great expense 

 to himself and with no apparent benefit, and then, of course, to have another 

 man come along and construct a building complying with the new law right 

 next to him, which is far superior to his — sometimes I feel really that the 

 State ought to compensate the man for his building. 



Greater safety in low buildings 



Any plan that proposes to reduce to six and seven stories in height the 

 kind of buildings that formerly were permitted to go as high as twenty-one 

 stories, would be a positive benefit from the standpoint of safety. Our 

 whole Factory Law shows that. We increase the safety guard as the build- 

 ings become higher. They must be of a certain kind of construction above 

 a certain height. They have to have a sprinkler system above a certain 

 story. They must have all sorts of restrictions and means of escape as the 

 buildings become higher and house more people. But, if you could cut off 

 the buildings and make them all lower you would certainly conduce to 

 safety. There is no question about that. Now, take present conditions in 

 the old buildings. Personally I say I would rather be in a twelve-story or a 

 twenty-story modern fireproof building that has a sprinkler system and all 

 of the modern conditions for safety, than I would in a five or six story 

 building that was not under the same conditions. 



Manufacturing in tenements 



All manufacturing, to my mind, ought to be taken out of homes, for 

 economical reasons, as well as for health reasons. We have made a very 

 thorough investigation of manufacturing in tenements, and the results 

 showed very bad conditions, not only to health, but as I have already said, 

 for economical reasons which ought to be established. They are due to the 

 extension of the factory to the home without any of the requirements which 

 cover factory work being extended to it. In other words, if a man employs 

 people in his factory he must have a certain number of safeguards and give 

 his employees a certain amount of air space. He must have all sanitary 

 arrangements. He has to do a great many things for their safety and for 

 their care — perhaps not enough — nevertheless he has to do a great many 

 things ; but, in the home that same man can send the very same article to be 

 manufactured, and none of these conditions that I have mentioned have to 

 be complied with. Manufacturing is done in the living rooms of tenements 

 with all the family present, because labor conditions do not have to be 

 observed there. You can't do anything in that matter just now. I don't 

 think you can be too strong about this home work proposition. 



