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We had every reason to be grateful for the opportunity of seeing the excellent
health institutions, the courtesy with which we were received and the trouble
taken in explaining were beyond all praise. The arrangements made did not fail
on one single occasion; for this our gratitude is especially due to Dr. Kaiser of
the Austrian Ministry of Health and to Dr. Lebzelter, its well-known Librarian.
We had the honour of being invited to tea at the Ball Platz by Dr. Michael
Hainisch, the President of the Republic; many of the members of the delegation
were introduced to him; in the course of conversation he showed himself extremely
well-informed of conditions in England, notably those relating to agriculture.
From Austria the delegates proceeded to Geneva where the workings of the
Lengue of Nations, its Health Section, the International Labour Organisation, and
its political work were all demonstrated. The part played by the Health Section
in combating epidemics, some of which might spread to this country, were set
forth. Conferences were held at which the delegates compared the health
institutions of Austria and England, and incidently of their own countries. Of
chief interest was a discussion on venereal disease, the Russians wanted to
educate illiterate people, the Swedes to compel such people to accept treatment.
At the International Labour Bureau Mr. Butler and Mr. Albert Thomas explained
how their section was endeavouring to improve the health conditions of the
industrial workers in various countries.
On the way home I stopped at Dijon to confer with the Medical Officer of
Health. He was especially interested in the routine medical inspection of school
children which he hoped to institute shortly and accepted with pleasure a set of
the cards and forms used for this purpose in London.
HOUSING.
In 1919 the housing survey established the need in the Borough for sufficient
dwellings to rehouse about 200 persons who were about to be displaced by the
clearance of the Wild Street area by the Incorporated Society for Improving the
Condition of the Labouring Classes. The Society intend to provide this housing
accommodation on a site purchased from the Council.
Owing to the extreme difficulty of finding alternative accommodation it has not
been found possible to deal with more than a few cases of overcrowding during
the year.
One of the most unsatisfactory features with regard to housing in the district
is the presence of so many houses let in lodgings. These houses were not built for
the purpose to which they are now put: the using of the staircases, water supply,
washhouses, yards, waterclosets, ashbins, etc., in common leads to misuse and
neglect; the tenants suffer much inconvenience in carrying out their ordinary
housework In most of the houses there is no suitable provision for the storage
of food and cooking. The structure of these houses is in many cases satisfactory;
the conversion into self-contained tenements would much improve the
accommodation.
During the year 792 houses occupied by the working classes were inspected,
this number consisted of 587 registered lodging houses and 205 non-registered houses