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HABITATIONS AND SOCIAL CONDITION OF THE POOR. 95
available cure for such evils would consist in the
Corporation assuming to itself (if only for a time,
and in gradual succession) the proprietage of such
wretched tenements, and fulfilling towards them
those large and liberal duties of landlordship which
now remain unperformed through the multiplicity
and neediness of petty owners. And, as a precedent
for one species of such improvement, I may mention
to your Honourable Court, that in such property as
I have described to you, situated in other parts of the
metropolis, private societies have already effected
purchases which have enabled them to convert bad
and unwholesome residences into the form of model
lodgings for the working classes.
Before leaving the consideration of evils, in which
over-density of building and defective ventilation
form such important parts, I would avail myself of
the opportunity to observe, that it is of incalculable
importance to preserve, for the health of the City,
every open space which at present exists. The density
of buildings within the City of London Union is
very great, and in the East and West London Unions,
is very considerably greater than in any other part
of the metropolis; and not merely are the houses
closely packed together, but (as I have already described
them) very thickly inhabited. Within the
City of London Union, each human being, on an
average, has less than an eighth part of the space
he would have if residing in the district of Islington;
and, small as is this pittance, it is more than double