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44
occasions the out-workers in connection with several workshops had to
be stopped from carrying on their work at home. A complete list of all
outworkers (206 in number), has been kept in the office; these lists
have often been obtained on calling at the workshops, for some
employers still fail to realise their duty to send in their list of outworkers
twice a year, viz., in February and August, as the Act directs.
The kitchens of the restaurants and public dining-rooms in ths
Borough have been thoroughly inspected throughout the year, with
good results.
THE HOUSING QUESTION.
In England all the large towns are essentially modern and twothirds
of our population live in towns of over 10,000, and town life
will soon prevail for three-fourths of our people. In most of the big
towns a considerable proportion of the population is living upon
unduly congested areas. Apart from the great cities, where the
mischief is acute and most detrimental to the moral, mental and
physical health of the people, even in the small towns the same congestion
is to be found and the same want of houses suited to the needs
and the means of the working classes. This fact is made evident by
the circumstance that by now a very large number of Sanitary Authorities
have adopted Part 39 of the Act of 1890 which enables them to
build. At the housing debate in the House of Commons in April,
1903, it was well stated by the member for Shoreditch that the
character of the new century will be determined by the kind of houses
out of which the children come. The difficulties in the way of Sanitary
Authorities providing suitable accommodation do not become less year
by year, for what is necessary is cheaper land and cheaper building.
The Act of 1903 has materially reduced the dimensions of one great
difficulty, by allowing 80 years instead of 60 as the maximum period
of repayment of loans for building purposes.
I have in previous Reports drawn attention to the circumstance that
many houses in the Borough which were originally constructed for one
family are at present occupied by several families. In a great many