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Beaconsfield House,
Harwell. W.7.
To the Chairman & Members; of
The Greenford U. D. Council.
Gentlemen,
For a district of such a Rural character as this
is, with a rateable Value so low, that a penny in the pound
produces only about £30, where there are about eight miles
of gravel roads and lanes, constructed of such friable
material as to be prolific of dust in dry weather and mud in
wet. It does not require much imagination to realise what
they are like, as the language used by the users especially
with rubber tyres. It is true that there are, at least,
three men, at work during a portion of the week and not a
single whole time official. The salary of the Medical
Officer of Health which is no doubt much lower than that
of one of the aforesaid three men on the roads does not
cover the cost of petrol, wear and tear of a Car etc.
It is not surprising that now the war is over,
the trouble of strikes, high cost of labour and everything
else is (it is to be hoped) subsiding, the time is arriving
if not already here, that some more suitable method of
management of the local affairs of the District should be
initiated without further delay.
That whole time officials will be required in
the immediate future I do not doubt, and it i s to be hoped
that every opportunity will be taken to develope this at
present barren district so advantageously thatit will
blossom into one of the most delightful of suburbs. Now
is the time either for making or the marring of this
district.
As Sir A. Newsholme, late Chief Medical Officer
of the Local Government Board/a said short time ago We are an
illogical race". We generally begin at the wrong end,
especially in Local Government matters. We are only now
beginning to realise that prevention is better than cure,
and that disease, its causes, must be ascertained at birth
or even before death, that we may be able to adopt preventive
measures. Till recently we have been content to treat the
disease rather than to prevent its appearance.
Before building a house, it must be seen that
its foundations are satisfactory, that its drain pipes are
of proper materials and placed outside the building, that
there is a suitable water supply with pipes in easily get
at- able positions, should be the reverse as regards position
as well as internal heating arrangements. It is waste of time
to argue about the chimney pots till these other essentials
are settled. The same applies to a Town. The question
2.