Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 10.djvu/246

 THE WORLD'S FAMOUS ORATIONS

we are far in the lead ; but in the government of cities we are far behind. Glasgow has to-day nearly one million inhabitants and is one of the great manufacturing and commercial cities of the world. Thirty years ago there was scarcely a city that was in a worse condition. Private corporations furnished it a poor quality of water, taken from the Clyde River, and they charged high rates for it. The city drained into the Clyde, and it became horribly filthy. Private corporations furnished a poor quality of gas, at a high price; and private companies operated the street railroads. Private companies had the same grip on the people there that they have in most American cities. Owing to the develop- ment of great shipbuilding and other industries in the valley of the Clyde, the laboring popu- lation of Glasgow became very dense and the means of housing the people were miserable. Poorly lighted, poorly ventilated, filthy houses brought high rents. In many cases two families lived in one room. Cleanliness was impossible; the sanitary conditions were frightful and the death rate was high. As for educational facili- ties, there were none worth mentioning for these people. The condition of the laboring classes was one of degradation and misery ; children were growing up mentally, morally and physically diseased ; a generation was coming which threatened to be an expense and a menace to the country. It was n great slum city. But patriotic and public-spirited men came to 212

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