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23
DISTRIBUTION OF DIPHTHERIA ANTI.TOXIN AND
ANTI.INFLUENZA VACCINE.
Provision has been made for the distribution of Diphtheria Anti.toxin in accordance
with the Diphtheria Anti.toxin (London) Order, 1910, and also for the distribution
of Anti.Influenza Vaccine in accordance with the suggestion contained
in the letter from the Ministry of Health, dated 20th December, 1919.
One application for a supply of Diphtheria Anti.toxin was received during
1924, but none for Anti.Influenza Vaccine.
HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES.
In consequence of reports by your Medical Officer of Health to the Sanitary
Committee during 1923 and 1924, the Committee, after careful consideration of
the circumstances, submitted the following report to the Corporation :—
We beg to report that we have had our attention directed by your Medical Officer
of Health to the question of housing accommodation for the working classes generally in
the City, and to the fact that a state of matters exists which presents a difficult problem and
one needing immediate attention.
From the details supplied by your Medical Officer of Health it appears that, apart
from the houses contained in the Improvement Schemes for the Hutchison Street and Queen's
Court, Vine Street, Minories Areas, there exist in the City some forty other houses which
at the present moment are unfit for human habitation, a similar number which are already
arriving at a state of unfitness, and many houses which are available for sale, and on the
sites of which business premises, rather than dwelling.houses, would be erected if the sale
could be effected. This will doubtless happen when the Rent Restrictions Act ceases to be
operative.
The position, therefore, is as follows:—
The majority of the houses of the working classes, other than the specially designed
tenement houses, exist as single houses, or as small groups of two or three forming part of
a court, or as a group of eight or ten forming a complete court. A few of these houses are
let for the use of one family, but the majority are sub.let into tenements. The tenement
houses are essentially converted houses, and by no stretch of imagination can they be assumed
to possess satisfactory amenities, particularly for the residents in the upper floors. These
houses constitute the remnants of Court property which at the time of the wholesale clearances
of some thirty or forty years back were considered good enough to leave standing
whilst the worse neighbouring houses were demolished. The result of leaving these houses
has been that on the sites of the now demolished houses, warehouses have been erected.
The original building lines, although perhaps straightened out to some extent, have often
resulted in a lesser space between adjoining properties being left than was the original case.
As a consequence, even if these residential houses were internally equipped with all the essentials
necessary to make life pleasant or comfortable, they would still be handicapped
by external deficiencies. External ventilation is, as a consequence, often defective ; in the
majority of houses the lighting, particularly of the lower rooms, is markedly deficient, and
in the course of years the fabric of most of them has deteriorated by the wearing process of
age. The tenants who have entered into occupation have not been able to discriminate,
since possibly they have been compelled to occupy these tenements either from the necessity
of living close to work or of being unable to obtain better premises.
Much of this property is three or four storeys in height. Sanitary conveniences may be
found either in the basement or on the ground floor. It is the exception to find a convenience
at a higher level. Water supply is similarly inadequate ; sinks are the exception ; the
cooking provision, if it exists, is of a meagre type ; storage provision is limited ; there is
no privacy, since doors open off small landings ; domestic washing can only be performed
under difficulty, and coal must be stored in an unsuitable place. There is no encouragement
to keep the place clean owing to the increased labour which obtaining water and the disposal
of slops entails. Children must needs play in the streets, and as the stairs are frequently
dangerous it necessitates, in the case of the very young, the mothers taking charge of them,
and as a consequence the youngest children only obtain fresh air when they accompany their
mothers on visits or shopping excursions. One careless tenant in such a house produces an
effect on all the other occupants which is altogether disproportionate to the original evil.
A number of these houses are without through ventilation. The state of repair is reflected
in the windows, some of which will not open, and yet let in draughts of air. Constant
attention by the Sanitary Staff to roofs, cleansing and general sanitation is the rule.
The result is that many persons are housed under conditions which are not compatible
with a healthy existence. Rents are very high, because the requirements of the Sanitary
Authority must be attended to, and involve the landlord in constant expenditure. The
social grade to which the occupants of those houses belong is that of the more lowly paid.
If they reside far from their work the daily expenditure on omnibus, tram or train fares
involves the outlay of a considerable part of the weekly income, not to mention the encroachment
on their leisure hours by the time taken up in travel.
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