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8
Another view of the need which exists may be
gained from the Guardians' expenditure on outdoor
relief for the year ended the 30th September, 1929,
which was £124,434 (including £59,794 on relief of
unemployment).
There is no reason to suppose that there has been
any material improvement in the general level of wages
as indicated by my predecessor in last year's report,
when Welfare Centre enquiries tended to show that the
majority of families were below the " living wage"
level of £4 per week for a family of 5. There seems,
however, to be a slight improvement in employment.
PUBLIC HEALTH EXPENDITURE.
The exceedingly small cost of the local Public
Health services is shown by the latest available
figures for the financial year 1928-9, when the nett
expenditure of the Public Health Committee was
£16,663, or 3s. Od. per head of the population, and
equivalent to a rate of 6.9d. in the £1. I make no
apology for repeating the quotation from the stationery
of the New York State Department of Health contained
in the reports of my predecessors: "Public Health is purchasable.
Within natural limitations any community can
determine its own death rate." Efficient public health
administration in Bethnal Green, as illustrated in this
and previous Annual Reports has achieved results which
show that the assertion is largely true. Bethnal Green
has been handicapped in engaging in any expensive
health scheme by its low rateable value, but its modest
expenditure and substantial achievements compare
favourably with those of many better-circumstanced
districts.
THE HEALTH SERVICES IN THE BOROUGH.
Although the Borough Council is the local health
authority many important health services are still
outside its jurisdiction and indeed health functions are
exercised bv an extraordinary diversity of agencies.