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26 Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southward.
sent ill built, ill placed habitations; an endeavour very suitable as a temporary mitigation
of the evil, yet, one utterly inadequate for its destruction. In many of the districts of this
metropolis, between 60 and 70 per cent. of the population are compelled to live in one small
overcrowded room, and in which every domestic operation has to be carried on ; in it birth
and death take place; there plays the infant, and there lies the corpse ; it is lived in by
day and slept in by night; weekly it is filled with the nauseous reeking steam from the
wash-tub; and for days kept damp and miserable with the drying clothes ; it has also to
serve as a recreation ground for the children. Such, now, is the home of multitudes of our
toiling population. A little way on in the future, the home will present a brighter and
more cheering aspect. In that home there will be sufficiency of light and ventilation ; efficient
drainage, a continuous supply of water, and every facility for practising cleanliness ;
laundries have to be established, with means of drying speedily and thoroughly the washed
linen ; and, what is of very great importance, spaces have to be provided where children can
play in the open air, without fear of being knocked down, or crushed to death by the passing
vehicle; or, of acquiring the theory and practice of premature vice. We will welcome
this "good time coming;" it is needed. For, there is growing up in the midst of our
large towns a most dangerous class, and which is increasing in number and power; and is
casting forward a deep and darkening shadow. This class, even in its mirth, displays a recklessness
and savagery which is fearful to contemplate. The condition of this part of our
population is but the result of its education, and the circumstances by which it is surrounded.
Born into the world in that state where only the darkest and worst passions that
find a dwelling place in the human heart are evoked and matured; goaded on by want,
that terrible enemy to peace and order: life barely sustained; with impoverished blood
streaming through the system, poisoning the very source of thought and action. A class
ready at any time to rush and collect together wherever cause for a crowd exists;
gambling in the quiet nooks and corners of our streets, often in the broad highway; living
no one knows how, and sleeping no one knows where ; dwelling in the centre of the highest
civilization, yet not of it; in fact, the product of that civilization, and one which civilization
can alone alter and improve. Sanitary science will have much to do in this matter,
and much will be expected from its administrators. Every court, alley, and wretched street
which are mere refuges for crime, and nests for disease, will have eventually to be swept
away, and houses built out in the open day, and in large wide streets, that all may be exposed
and seen. Those who desire the prosperity and welfare of this country have an interest,
and must lend a helping hand to this work. It is not the time now, nor indeed was it ever
the time, when a man might do what he liked with his own; at all times it is his duty to
merge his individual interests for the good of the commonwealth. Many who occupy the
high places of the realm, and whose position carries with it an equal amount of responsibility,
would do well to have their land freed from the foul stain of bearing houses which are
a disgrace and a curse. Princely gifts of individuals must not be depended upon. Companies
should be formed, not for the purpose of paying large dividends, but to help those
who cannot help themselves. Justice must be done on every hand; and that is all which
is required; for they who know justice and do it, are " like unto the man who sets his mill
on the rock, and the river of God for ever turns his wheels."
HENRY BATESON, M.D.,
May 29th, 1866. Medical Officer of Health