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of the occupants more than their minds. Apart
from the relatively few houses in Friern Barnet which
are being dealt with under the broad heading of slum
clearance - a term which I have never particularly liked
I am satisfied that structural defects do not necessarily
have a serious effect on the health of the community.
They must obviously receive attention. This attention
they do receive from Mr. Jackaman and from the Public
Health Inspectors, as will be noted from the information
submitted month by month to the Public Health Committee
and summarised in the Report.
The second major problem is much, very much more
important. I refer to overcrowding. a social menace
of the first order. Overcrowding exerts its pernicious
influence mainly in two directions. First, overcrowded
families continue to live under conditions which favour
the spread of disease. I need scarcely say that,
when several families live in one house which was never
intended for this purpose, the chance of infection
spreading from one family to the other is considerable.
Further, when beds are used to sleep two or three times
the number which the size of the bed would normally
accommodate, this danger is appreciably magnified.
That is the obvious result of over-crowding, an undesirable
end-product which has long been recognised. One
might describe this aspect of the problem as purely
physical and we can see for ourselves what is happening;
we can even take certain steps to minimise or at best
reduce the dangers. But there is another facet of the
problem which, in my submission, calls for even more
urgent attention. The effects here are insidious,
often latent, that in the end can spell stark tragedy.
Overcrowded families are seldom happy families.
It is under these conditions that social problems are
born and blossom like noisome weeds, problems such as
the unfortunate splitting up of families, delinquency,
the development of dangerous strains and nervous conditions,
the eventual outcome of which is literally unpredictable.
In this connection, there are two facts which we must
appreciate. In the first place, it would be untrue to
say that conditions in Friern Barnet, even conditions of
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