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OVERCROWDING IN ISLINGTON.
To the Chairman and Members of the Public Health Committee.
Gentlemen,—
In 1894 I presented a report, whicli was included in my Annual Report
for 1893, showing the conditions which prevailed at that time in Islington with
respect to overcrowding.
That report was based on the returns respecting population, houses and
tenements which were contained in the 1891 Census of London, published
towards the close of 1893.
Again in March, 1902, I presented another report based on the Census of
1901, which showed how far the overcrowded conditions had been improved.
It is necessary to consider much of that information now, and I have therefore
incorporated a large portion of it in the present report.
Since then, through the courtesy of the Statistical Officer of the London
County Council, particulars relating to the Enumeration Areas into which the
Borough had been divided for the purposes of the Census have been placed at
my disposal, so that it is possible to point more definitely to those parts
of the Borough which are most overcrowded.
But first it is essential that we should start with a fixed idea as to what
is meant by the term "overcrowding."
In 1894, I pointed out that it was not always the mere allowance of cubic
feet, per individual occupying a room, which taken alone should be the determining
quantity, but that consideration should be given to several other
important factors, such as:—
(a) The occupation of the room both as a sleeping and a living room.
(b) The outward surroundings or situation of the house or room.
(c) The work or employment carried on in the house or room; and
(d) The ventilation, light, and sanitary circumstances generally of the
house.
These are without doubt factors to be carefully considered in dealing with
a case of overcrowding; but as it is not possible to lay them down in any