" That was a big white milestone on a
dreary road. From that time on we hear of "souls" in the slum. The
property end of it had held the stage up till then, and in a kind
of self-defence, I suppose, we had had to forget that the people there
had souls. Because you couldn't very well count souls as chattels
yielding so much income to the owner: it would not be polite toward
the Lord, say. Sounds queer, but if that was not the attitude
I would like to know what it was. The Commission met at Police
Headquarters, and I sat through all its sessions as a reporter,
and heard every word of the testimony, which was more than some of
the Commissioners did. Mr. Ottendorfer and Mr. Drexel, the banker,
took many a quiet little nap when things were dull. One man the
landlords, who had their innings to the full, never caught off
his guard. His clear, incisive questions, that went through all
subterfuges to the root of things, were sometimes like flashes of
lightning on a dark night discovering the landscape far and near.
He was Dr. Felix Adler, whom I met there for the first time.
Pages:
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265
266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281