For instance, the efforts of the philanthropist and working man together have succeeded in shortening hours of labor and increasing wages—­without, alas! increasing the speed or quality of the work done, especially in the trades which have to do with materials of construction, so that house-building has about doubled in cost within twenty-five years, largely due to cost of labor.  This increased cost has fallen heavily on the very group of people least able to bear it, the skilled artisan, the teacher, and the young salaried man.  Again I call attention to the need of a philanthropist who shall raise his eyes to that group, the hope of our democracy, those whom he has held to be able to help themselves—­and given time would do so; but time is the very thing denied them in this motor age.  Help to make quick adjustment must come to the rescue of those to whom time more than equals money.

One used to wait patiently for seed-sown lawns to become velvety turf.  Money can bring sod from afar and in a season give the results of years.  So the housing of the $2000 family can be accomplished just as soon as it seems sufficiently desirable.  It needs a research just as truly as the cancer problem or desert botany, and affects thousands more.

One other cause of increased cost in construction and operation which does, if wisely carried out, increase health and efficiency is the sanitary provision of our recent building laws.

The instalment of these sanitary appliances becomes increasingly costly because of the rise in wages of the workmen, plumbers, masons, etc.  The careful statistics of the Bureau of Labor show conclusively that all building trades have decreased hours of labor and increased wages per hour, so that cost of construction has doubled, and the sanitary requirements have again doubled the cost, so that it is easy to see why the family with a stationary income has quartered its dwelling-space.

The end is not yet:  the new devices mentioned in previous chapters will at first increase cost of construction.

From lack of business training the public is at fault in estimating relative costs.  A well-built “automatic house” costs too much, they say.  Yes, but what does it save?  Cost looms large, saving seems small.  Moreover, the value of mental serenity, of that peace of mind consequent on the smooth running of the domestic machine, is undervalued.  The American child such as he is is largely the product of the American house and its ill adapted construction.  I must reiterate my belief that the modification of the house itself to the life the twentieth century is calling for is the first step in social reform.

CHAPTER VII.

  THE RELATION BETWEEN COST OF HOUSING AND TOTAL INCOME.

  “It must be made possible to live within one’s income.”