o 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."

The thrifty French rule is one fifth for rent. In towns where land is
cheap and wood abundant, or in college communities exempt from taxes,
comfortable housing is found in this country for as little as fifteen or
eighteen per cent of the total income. In some mining towns where all
prospects are uncertain and the house has no particular social
significanc