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transport, the removal of large factories, works, &c., not essential to
the economic life of individual towns, into country districts where
Garden Cities can be planned in which the housing of the workers
may be effected; and by other and far-reaching measures; in short,
by large, well thought-out schemes, having as their ultimate object
the re-population of the country side.
Much is hoped for from the Housing, Town Planning, &c., Act,
which became law during 1919, and if, as a result of the application of
its provisions, a very much greater proportion of the population
ultimately is housed in healthy homes with healthy surroundings, a
great stride forward will have been made towards the creation of a
healthy and happy England.
The proper housing of the working classes, and indeed of other
sections of the community as well, is certainly one of the most
important problems before us, bound up indissolubly as it is with the
reduction of tuberculosis and of infantile mortality and sickness, the
increase of true temperance, and, gene-ally, the improvement of the
health and morality of the mass of the people.
The contents and arrangements of the pages that follow are in
accordance with the suggestions contained in the Memorandum issued
by the Ministry of Health.
I.—General Housing Conditions.
(1) Number of Houses.—The total number of ordinary dwelling
houses in the Borough at the census of 1911 was 10,062, and the total
number of buildings used as dwellings 11,976. The average number of
persons in each was 6.7 and 7.l respectively. During the nine years
1911-1919, 123 new houses were certified by the Medical Officer of
Health under Section 48 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, but
none of these were definitely built for the "working classes" in the
generally accepted definition of the words. Owing to the crowded
state of so many of the houses, and the amount of subletting that has
taken place in the Borough, it is extremely difficult to estimate the
number of houses for the "working classes" that exist with any
reasonable degree of accuracy.