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106
GENERAL
SANITARY ADMINISTRATION.
This section of my report is mainly concerned with
the work of the Sanitary Inspectors, under the capable
leadership of Mr. Evan Richards. It is sometimes
imagined that the problems of sanitation have been
solved and that the task of the present day sanitary
inspector is a relatively light one. This is very far
from the truth. The sanitary inspector is primarily
concerned with the maintenance of a hygienic domestic
environment for the community, which depends upon
such things as a satisfactory water supply, the prompt
and efficient removal of refuse of all kinds, a clean, dry,
well lighted, well-ventilated house. When it is remembered
that a large number of the houses in the Borough
did not come up to the latter standard, even when they
were built, and that they are now old, and when it is
further realised that casual employment and low wages
in many cases mean frequently changing tenants with
little interest in their temporary abode and consequently
little care for its structure or sanitary equipment, it is
not surprising that "nuisances" and "sanitary defects"
abound. Much of the work is indeed like the process
of patching up an outworn, old-fashioned garment,
requiring infinite skill and patience to achieve a tolerable
repair, and much of it is wasted labour.
It used to be said that the Infant Death Rate was
a sensitive index to the sanitary administration of a
district, and there is much truth in the statement,
although it requires qualification. I would build on it
the analogous statement that the activity of the sanitary
inspectors is a measure of the sanitary conscience of a
district. Judged by this standard, Bethnal Green has
a very live " sanitary conscience." It is specialty
important in these difficult times that this work should
not be relaxed, but if anything increased. Any diminution
in the systematic house to house inspection of the
district, in the enforcement of Sanitary Notices, or in
the many day to day activities of the Sanitary Staff,