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Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health—1866—7. 23
How great this evil of overcrowding is, and how difficult to be avoided, may be inferred
from the condition of our soldiers. Here we have picked men; drilled to their work ; compelled
in all things to obey; diet and hours rigidly regulated; yet these men are daily
perishing from overcrowding. Government, with all its powerful means and appliances,
cannot afford them breathing spacc. What then can a Vestry do? There is a povertystricken
and unruly population. Obedience cannot be enforced, and which indeed if it could
no benefit would follow, as they have neither means nor power to provide what is necessary,
as the Government possesses, to provide for the soldier, yet does not. To me it
seems that it would be far wiser, and certainly have a far more practical and beneficial influence,
that men who desire to perpetuate their name, or their friends who desire to do it
for them, should select for that purpose the building of blocks of houses first, and afterwards,
works of art. Daily then would men bless their benefactors' memory, as daily they would
enjoy the fruits of the good work bequeathed. Many Model Lodging Houses have been
built, but the rents are far above the means of those who most need them, such as the daily
labourer, the costermonger, and the like. I visited some the other day, in which there
were three flats in each house, and three rooms on each flat, with suitable conveniences;
the rent for each flat was 7/6 per week. The property, it is said, pays 5 per cent. But
what would be the use of such houses in St. George's New-town and similar localities? On
going through one of the houses which was empty, and had only been occupied six months,
I found it greatly damaged, and exceedingly dirty; yet the rent must have insured a superior
class of the people. Amongst the lowest class there is not the slightest care taken of property;
whatever admits of destruction is destroyed, even when their own convenience
and comfort are at stake. Time and education can alone alter this. But as now situated
this class cannot be educated, for everything about it is unfavourable. My wonder is,
that the men and women whose birth and growth have been amidst such surroundings, are
not worse, very far worse than we find them. The late Chaplain (Rev. Mr. Clay) of the
Preston House of Correction, said concerning thieves, "that their habits from children had
been such, that even if by God's blessing a new heart and a right spirit could be implanted
within them, there would still often remain the difficulty of qualifying them to obtain a
livelihood by their own honest exertions." Hordes of children are sent out to live as they can,
with their little sharp premature faces, and eyes expressing a painful cunning; or they are
sent out by parents too idle to work, or who are sunk in intemperance, to beg or steal, and
their reception home will depend upon their gains; if little, blows and curses; if much,
then perhaps a sullen recognition. What can these children become? What can they do?
Just what we should do under the like circumstances, fit ourselves for the prison and the hulks,
We stand aghast when we hear of the guilt and savage brutality of this class; our indignation
knows no bound, and we design and prepare for them the cat, the gallows-rope, and
other sore punishments. Are not these vices and crimes "but the foliage and fruit of such
trees as we now see growing?" That which has been sown springs up, and not another
thing. Is there no Company that can be formed which will not mind "cash payment," but
will lay out its money freely without usury? It is my deliberate conviction that the large
sums of money collected for building Churches, and which when built, are only remarkable
for their emptiness, would be far more usefully spent in the physical welfare of the people.
A mighty change must pass over the class of which I am now speaking before it will become
a Church-going people.