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have to a certain extent brought about this condition
of things, there can be no doubt; for their reckless
destruction of property, and disregard of all rules
and regulations, have forced them into the hands
of the most unfeeling landlords, and have checked
that spirit of enterprise which so large a want
would otherwise have created. In future legislation,
this part of the subject must be considered, and as
much attention must be devoted to the duties of the
tenant, as to the obligations of the landlord; for it
is not enough to provide fit and wholesome
dwellings for the poor, it is also necessary that the
poor themselves should be taught how to use them.
Of what avail are all the sanitary appliances for
giving them comfort and cleanliness if such appliances
are immediately abused and put out of order?
What benefit is there in compelling a landlord to
provide a good supply of water to his house, if the
receptacles or apparatus are forthwith deranged or
broken by the tenants? What encouragement is
there in providing proper and decent closet accommodation,
when the fouling of closets is a matter
of hourly occurrence; or what advantage is there in
erecting convenient dust-bins, when instead of using
them for the refuse of the house it is cast into the
cellars and mixed with the worst description of
filth? Such, indeed, is the perversity and ignorance
of the poor, in all these matters, that they can