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VIII.—SANITARY ADMINISTRATION.
HOUSING.
In an industrial district such as our own, the housing conditions
must always require serious and sustained attention
from the sanitary authority, because health and happiness depend
on these conditions. Without doubt the inadequate housing
conditions of the people of this Borough constitute the most
serious problem with which that authority has to deal at the
present moment. It is not a single straight-forward issue, but a
many-sided problem in which numerous folk are involved. One
aspect of the problem which presents itself is that of education.
The tenant, the actual dweller in the house is sadly in need of
instruction,, sometimes indeed, of instruction in the elementary
duty of cleanliness. But those whose contribution to the solution
of the problem consists in criticism of the tenant, should picture
to themselves the hopeless and heartbreaking circumstances of the
person on whom they lay the blame. So far as the education of
the tenant is concerned the sanitary authority has dene and is
doing its duty with energy and enthusiasm. There remains the
matter of educating landlords and owners. It would be quite
wrong to say that there are no landlords as it is to say that there
are no tenants, alive to their duties in this matter. There are,
however, owners who acquiesce in, if they do not actually encourage,
conditions of overcrowding and dilapidation which are
deplorable in the property which they own and from which they
derive substantial profits. Observed from another aspect altogether,
the problem is a dual one. There are two main directions
in which the housing conditions of this Borough commonly
transgress the postulates of hygiene. A house which is fitted
to be a dwelling place for human beings must be properly constructed
and in reasonable repair, but it must not, if it is to remain
suitable for a dwelling place, be occupied by more than a certain
number of people. In other words the problem is one of disrepair
and dilapidation on the one hand, and of overcrowding on
the other hand.