View report page

6
During the last six months, about 70 houses, inhabited principally by the poor, have
been pulled down in Swallow's Gardens and its immediate vicinity, owing to the extension
of the Blackwall Railway It is estimated that about 700 persons have been compelled
to remove from this locality and seek lodgings elsewhere; not, it is to be hoped, in the
already overcrowded courts in this district, otherwise, so far from the taking down of
houses for the extension of traffic being beneficial to the health of the inhabitants of a
district, the reverse will be the case
The keeping of pigs is a continually recurring nuisance; notices in six instances have
been served upon the owners to discontinue the practice
Information was given at the office of the board that, in North Street, the dead body
of a child had been kept, during a fortnight, in a room occupied by a family as a living
and sleeping room; upon inquiry, the statement was ascertained to be correct, and a
notice from the inspector was immediately served upon the father of the child to bury it
forthwith, who, in the course of the following day, complied with the order, and had the
child buried
On referring to Table XII, it will be seen that 43 courts, inhabited by the poor, have
been visited by the inspectors, and particulars obtained respecting the drainage, paving,
water supply, general condition of the rooms, and how occupied, &c These courts
contain 388 houses, in which are 1,076 rooms, and are occupied by 3,132 people From
information obtained by the inspectors, it appears that in 68 instances the rooms were
indecently occupied, that is to say, adult brothers and sisters, or a father and daughter,
slept together in the same room The particulars of each case are recorded in the
appendix We may well inquire how such gross indecency, and want of self-respect
can exist in this country, which is usually considered to be the centre of civilization, and
where so much money is annually expended in imparting religious and moral instruction
to the people; yet, such is the state in which many of the inhabitants of this district live,
as is ascertained on a house to house visitation It is a common and true remark "that
one half of the world does not know how the other half lives" Before, therefore, the
existing evils can be remedied, they must first be made known, and it is to be hoped, that
in course of time, public opinion will be brought to bear upon the demoralised condition in
which so many of our fellow citizens live, that a change for the better will then take
place It is not among the " arabs," or vagrants of society only that this indifference to
decency is found to exist, but it is also seen among the industrious labouring population,
in whom we should expect to find a more general feeling of self-respect When I have
pointed out to the respective parents the impropriety of living together in the promiscuous
manner above described, I have been told by some it was poverty that prevented them
taking two rooms for the family; and by others, that they did not consider it in any way
improper for all the members of the same family to live and sleep in the same room As
regards the first named plea, it is in every instance, except in cases of illness, inadmissible,
for it is surely possible, for adults in health, to earn a sufficient sum weekly to pay for a
lodging, notwithstanding the very high rents the poor people pay for their lodgings These
high rents are the result of the system adopted by landlords in employing agents, who
again employ sub-agents to collect the rents and manage the estate; and also by the
expense landlords incur by the wilful destruction of their property by the tenants, and
likewise by the loss of rent occasioned either by the dishonesty of the tenants, or by
their inability to pay the rent As regards the second plea advanced, viz,—ignorance
of the impropriety of all the family occupying the same room by night, as well as by
day ; this must be overcome by the lessons of the moralist, and by the instruction of the
ministers of religion
I have the honor to be,
Gentlemen,
Your obedient Servant,
JOHN LIDDLE
15, Great Alie Street