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Report of the Medical Officer of Health. 101
The occupations of the residenters in White Square and Nelson's
Row are as follows:—Labourers 51, laundresses 13, gardener
I, stone masons 2, coal porters 3, Borough Council employees
II, costers 25, bricklayers 3, engine drivers 2, leather
worker 1, carmen 7, gas fitter 1, painters 3, charwomen 12, bottlers
2, booksellers assistant 1, cab owner 1, apprentice 1, employed on
London County Council trams 5, needlework and dressmaking 8,
horsekeepers 4, blacksmith 1, shopkeepers 3, beerhouse keepers 2,
shop assistants 8, chair mender 1, paper seller 1, traveller 1, miner
1, waiter 1, plasterer 1, cab driver 1, packer 1, domestic servants 2,
widows (old, without employment) 7.
The statement in Mr. Booth's book that a large number of
costers reside here is not exactly true, as the above detailed
report shows that only 25 out of a total number of 154 employed
belong to that class. The Square itself is scavenged by the
Wandsworth Borough Council, and although I have frequently
visited it I have never found it to be in an unsatisfactory condition.
The statements by Mr. Booth with reference to the Valley of
the Wandle are so serious that it is necessary to deal with this
locality in a more detailed manner. It is perfectly true that a
large amount of building is going on in this neighbourhood, but
I emphatically protest against the definite statement made by
Mr. Booth that such building is "of a vile character and inevitably
"involves the creation of new slum areas." His definition of a
slum area and my own may not exactly correspond, but I cannot
believe that the nature of the buildings at present being erected
can possibly tend to the creation of slums in the proper sense
of the word.
The localities specifically mentioned comprise the new streets
north of Wardley Street, such as Lydden Grove, Guelph Street,
Twilley Street, and Furmage Street, and from an inspection of
such property I have no hesitation in stating that these will compare
favourably with any other of the same class in London.
The statement made by Mr. Booth is to the effect "that the
"streets building north of Wardley Street are the worst of many
"badly built streets in the Wandle Valley." Another statement
of a serious nature makes an almost definite charge of corruption
against the officials who had the superintendence of the erection