Yet I am sure that nothing promises so much
for reform as a revival of conscientious land-
lordism. The landlord is now, too often, as
one well says, " an enormous wealthy estate,
with heirs scattered here and there, who hire
an agent, as their Southern brothers hired an
overseer, irresponsible, unsympathetic, caring
only to please his patrons, by showing a large
balance of profit. And the poorer the tene-
ment, the larger the balance. No repairs, no
janitor, no supervision to pay for ; accommoda-
tions so wretched that only the very wretched,
who will expect to be crowded and miserable,
will apply for it. O landlord! or 'estate!'
too busy to collect your own rents, be not too
indolent to require of your agent a strict
account when he brings you twenty per cent



202 WHITJB SLAVES

instead of six ! You would quickly bring him
to book if he were suddenly to hand you six
instead of twenty, but the time to question
him is when it is twenty."

Mrs. Alice Wellington Rollins says in the
Forum, speaking of New York: "Nothing is
more astonishing, in investigating the slums,
than the discovery of the enormous prices the
poor are paying for the most wretched accommo-
dations. One man boasts that he draws thirty-
three per cent on his tenement investments."
The same writer wisely says, farther: "The
landlord is not to be a philanthropist, willing to
sacrifice himself for the good of others ; he is
to be an intelligent capitalist, putting in his
money purely as an investment, and philan-
thropic only to the degree of being satisfied
with six per cent returns, of hiring a janitor to
be on hand day and night, of being his own
agent, or keeping a sharp lookout on the one he
may have to employ, and of urging his wife to
collect the rents. But individual landlordism
need not necessarily be confined to individual
persons. Individual corporations can become
landlords. Why should not some of the insur-



SOCIAL MICKOBES 203

ance companies that complain of being unable
to find suitable investments for their immense
funds, take hold of the tenement question ? A
life insurance company of Boston, complaining
of the low rates of interest obtainable, announce
that they never expect over five per cent, and
find it difficult at times to get four.
