WORKMEN ABROAD,

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It is an open question among those persons who
care for the welfare of the working classes, whether
drunkenness is the cause of wretched homes, or
wretched homes are the cause of drunkenness.
Probably the two act and react upon each other,
A man who spends a large proportion of his wages

on drink cannot afford to rent a healthy home, and |
the bad air and miserable surroundings of the house |

in which he does live give him a craving for stimu-
lants. Thus the vicious circle is permanently
maintained. Unfortunately in England it is often
difficult eyen for the sober working man to get a
decent healthy home. In our large towns enormous
ground rents swell the cost of lodgings beyond all
reasonable rate. There are, for instance, miserable
streets in London where each house pays a ground
rent of 11/. to its titled ground landlord. In Swit-
zerland a totally different state of things prevails.
There is very little private ownership of land.
The soil belongs for the most part to the communes.
The commune or the municipality allots land to a
townsman in order that he may cultivate it and
dwell on it, and when he dies the occupation is
transferred to his son. ‘ Planting out in the clear,”
which has been so much criticized here as an
impracticable chimeera, is in Switzerland a thing of
daily oceurrence. The author of ‘ Workmen’s
Rights and Workmen’s Wrongs” has described
how this is done. Supposing a town like Black-
burn existed in Switzerland, five years would be
allowed for the restoration of the people to the soil.
One third of the cost would be borne by the Swiss
population at large, one third by the county within
which the town was situated, and one third by that
| town itself. From the most central point of the
town a circle with a three mile radius would be

drawn, that would be the inner or old town circle.

An outer circle with a five mile outside radius
would be the new town circle. Into this outer
circle the inhabitants of the dismal lanes, crowded
alleys, and unwholesome dwellings, would be first
planted out, each provided with a detached home-
stead, a well-stocked garden, two or more cows and
pigs; in short, each would be provided with full
means of assistance from the soil. One part of the
land in this outer circle would be left as common
land, the rest would be let to tenant farmers, whose
rents would pass into the municipal exchequer. «
Few countries are so fortunate as Switzerland.
Holland is one of those most nearly approaching it.
The Dutchman is even more particular than the
Englishman about having a house to himself. Hence
the miniature dwellings which by their almost doll-
like proportions attract the notice of the tourist in
some of the old towns of Holland. ‘There are in-
stances in which the width of the whole house
barely exceeds that of the street-door, and where a

twenty-eight years would thus repay the capital,

more modern construction are the blocks of houses
built expressly for the working classes. The most
recent are built outside the towns, the less recent
among the crowded streets. Passing down one of
these, the pedestrian may notice a narrow passage
about four feet wide, which at first sight might be
taken for a backway to one of the adjoining houses.
But entering the passage it is found to lead toa
double row of neat brick dwellings inclosing a garden
divided off by low palings, with a number of small
plots three or four paces square, each belonging to
the’ house opposite to it. There may be a dozen
houses all exactly alike, and forming one property.
There is a common pump, and the little garden is
used as a drying-ground. Entering one of the houses,
aroom about fifteen feet square is seen, provided
with a single window in front, a stove, cupboard,
and a large recess curtained off which forms the
bed-room of the parents. A steep staircase leads to
the room above, where the younger members of the
family sleep. The rent of such a house in a town
is from 2s, to 2s. 6d. aweek. Inseveral of the large
towns model lodging-houses have been built by com-
panies which pay five per cent. ‘These houses are
built in rows with double fronts looking opposite
ways into separate gardens. The ground floor is
oceupied by one family, which has the use of one
garden, and the upper story is occupied by another
family which has the use of the garden on the other
side, and also of the attic above. This style of
building is comparatively cheap, and it offers the
advantage of the flat system, and at the same time
gives the occupants entirely separate homes. That
these houses are popular, may be gathered from
the fact that they are by no means exclusively in-
habited by the artisan class for whom they were built.
Many of the tenants are old servants of the Court.

In Denmark the Building Societies form an
important feature of social life. In 1865, Messrs. |
Burmeister and Wain (the latter gentleman is an
Englishman), the largest employers of labour in
the country, started a new cottage-system. The
plan was that every member should pay one mark
(43d.) a week and a deposit of one dollar (2s. 2d.).
The houses, when finished or unoccupied, were to
be drawn for by lot; the member winning would
have to pay a fair rent, and the excess of rent
over interest (six per cent.) on the actual cost of
the house is credited to the occupant, who in

and be entitled to the conveyance of the house in
freehold. Members who do not win are entitled
to reclaim the entire amount of their deposits after
eighteen years. The society has built thirty-six
two-floored cottages in rows, each haying a small
court and garden, and with either three or two
rooms besides a kitchen, affording in all accommo-

good-sized bed would extend from wall to wall. Of | dation for about 280 persons. The rent of the first
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