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262
All-round cleanliness would do more than any other single
agency to raise the standard of health of a community.
Before leaving this part of the subject it is necessary to state
that in addition to these conditions of life which are unfavourable
to health, there is the moral character of the people. It is not
within my province to discuss this subject, but it is my duty to
point out that there is a definite and intimate relation between
morality and the public health. If, as I am informed, there is
increasing laxity in domestic discipline and personal morality in
Finsbury, the public health will suffer. I am bound to assert that
I have seen conditions in many houses in Finsbury (particularly in
night inspections) where it is impracticable, in some cases even
impossible, for boys a fid girls to be brought up to lead decent
lives. This should not be so. Enlightened public opinion would
not permit it to be so.
PROPOSED REMEDIES.
It is now necessary to offer a few simple suggestions and notes
respecting what may be done and what is being done to remedy
the evil conditions above-named.
1. The Feeding and Management of Infants.—One in every six
children born in Finsbury does not live to be twelve months old.
Of the 522 infants who died in 1904 there are three chief groups:—
152 died from debility, prematurity and developmental disease—
in brief, most of these did not get a fair start because their mothers
were not physically fit to give them it*—106 more died
from infantile diarrhoea, and 98 others died from bronchitis or
pneumonia. Most of the diarrhoea deaths were due, as pointed out
in the report, to bad feeding (see pp. 82-86), and the deaths from lung
disease were mostly due to exposure.
In this connection it should be remembered that the feeding of mothers is sometimes
more important than feeding infants, and the counsel of health visitors than
an ideal infant milk supply.