“Certainly,” replied Professor Adler; “and not only that, but most of the poor are too proud to accept charity in that form, though, inconsistently enough, they may be quite ready to accept it in other ways. But anything which savors of an institution or charity, and that puts them under obligations, is sure to fail. On the other hand, to hold out to capitalists the idea that they had better put their money into tenement houses because it is a good investment is something I do not like to do. A man who wishes simply to make money would tell me that he knows far better methods than mine, and would consider my advice an impertinence. But every man, no matter how much of an egotist he may be, likes to be thought unselfish, and if I can tell him that here is a means of doing great good while at the same time he loses no money, then he may listen to me. Money wisely put into tenements can provide for the tenant far more advantages than he usually has; it can give light, air, cleanliness, many conveniences in common with others, and yield to the landlord four per cent. besides. Some good tenements pay six per cent., but this is perhaps at a sacrifice of conveniences to the tenant, or is due to some special reasons. However, as the security of the investment is so great, four per cent. may be considered fair interest.” “Good; now as to the details,” said Mildred in her practical way. “I want to tell you my scheme, and then let you criticise it to the utmost. I suppose I was born with a bump for economy; at all events, nothing tries me more than the excessive waste which I have seen around me all my life. I don’t mean merely waste of money, but waste of time, waste of energy and effort in every direction. Of course there is less of the latter here than in the old world, for here Yankee ingenuity does not have so hard a fight with prejudice, and every inventor of a labor-saving machine is crowned with honor. Still, there is a terrible amount of waste, especially in women’s work. I will not stop to speak of all phases of it; but as I have observed men and women for years, and have seen the suffering from needless backaches caused by climbing stairs and doing housework in an unnecessarily hard way, as I have seen the complexity and endless details of our modern life crowd out, in the lives of all but the rich, the leisure which their children should have, and which they need for their own self-development, I have racked my brains to see what could be done to simplify the petty details of modern housekeeping. “I believe that we are on the verge of a new era in this respect. The prejudices of centuries must give way to the new requirements of a civilization which will more and more create an urban population, and also a higher standard of physical comfort. Now in this, time, strength, and money must be better conserved, or we shall, as a nation, have nervous prostration, I fear.