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Europe. Frequently these immigrants arrived without money or jobs and were forced to move in with friends or relatives. This led to severe overcrowding. Most of the information available pertains to New York City, because the situation there was worse than that in any other city in the country. It received the majority of the immigrants, many of whom were unable to move beyond the city. The most serious housing problems began in new York about 1840 when the first tenements were built. These provided such substandard housing and such unhealthy, crowded living conditions that a social reform movement was imminent in New York. During the early part of the 19th century, the only housing control authority was that vested in the fire wardens, whose objective was to prevent fires, and the health wardens, who were charged with the enforcement of general sanitation. In 1867, with the passing of the Tenement Housing Act, New York City began to face the problem of substandard housing. This law represented the first comprehensive legislation of its kind in this country. The principal features of the act are summarized as follows: for every room occupied for sleeping in a tenement or lodging house, if it does not communicate directly with the external air, a ventilating or transom window to the neighboring room or hall; a proper fire escape on every tenement or lodging house; the roof to be kept in repair and the stairs to have banisters; water closets or privies -- at least one to every twenty occupants for all such houses; after July 1, 1867, permits for occupancy of every cellar not previously occupied as a dwelling; cleansing of every lodging house to the satisfaction of the Board of Health, which is to have access at any time; reporting of all cases of infectious disease to the Board by the owner or his agent; inspection and, if necessary, disinfection of such houses; and vacation of buildings found to be out of repair. There were also regulations governing distances between buildings, heights of rooms, and dimensions of windows. The terms "tenement house," "Iodging house," and "cellar" were defined. Although this act had some beneficial influences on overcrowding, sewage disposal, lighting, and ventilation, it did not correct the evils of crowding on lots and did not provide for adequate ventilation for inner rooms. In 1879, a second tenement act, amending the first, was passed adding restrictions on the amount of lot coverage and providing for a window opening of a least 12 square feet in every room. Several attempts in 1882, 1884, and 1895 were made to amend this original act and provide for occupancy standards, but they were relatively unenforceable. While these numerous acts remedied only slightly the serious problems of the tenements, they did show the city's acknowledgement of the problems. This public acknowledgement, however, was seldom shared by the owners of the tenements, or, ins some cases, by the courts. The most famous case, in 1892, involved Trinity Church, at that time one of the largest owners of tenements in New York City. In the case, the City of New York accused Trinity Church of violating provisions of the Act of 1882 by failing to provide running water on every floor of its buildings. A district court levied a fine of $200 against the Church, which in turn appealed to the Court of Common Pleas to have the law set aside as unconstitutional. Incredibly, the court agreed unanimously to uphold the landlord's position, stating there is no evidence nor can the court judicially know that the presence and distribution of water on the several floors will 2