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considerable delay is involved, as everything has to be done
regularly and in proper order, much in the same way as in the
proceedings already described for the abatement of a nuisance resulting
from other insanitary conditions of the dwelling.
" Hitherto I have dealt with the subject much as though the
lodger-tenant were an obstructionist, with whom the law may
fairly deal as best it can, so as to abate the nuisance; but there
are multitudes of cases in which he is the hapless victim of hopeless
poverty. What to do in such cases who shall tell ? If he is
turned out of one miserable room, made to ' move on' like
' Poor Jo,' he must needs seek another of the same sort, or go
into The House. But there are plenty other cases—of people a
shade more or less better off, people temporarily out of work and
compelled to restrict their expenditure : Artizans, it may be, with
large families, who can afford, when times are good, to pay the
rent of two, or even three rooms, but who, when work fails, may
be compelled to put up with one room which they overcrowd.
How shall these be dealt with ? It is useless to say to them,
' You must get a second room,' when they are but too often
unable to pay the rent of one, without recourse to the pawnbroker,
when the landlord is hard : they get into arrears when the landlord
is element. And it is equally vain to say to the head of the
family, ' You must get rid of some of your children and so abate
the overcrowding.' Overcrowding ! which is so often spoken of
as if the landlord necessarily benefited by it, or as if the poor were
quite willing agents in the matter. In this connection let us
consider for a moment how hard is the lot of so many of the
labouring classes at the best of times. What high rents they
pay! Compelled to live near their work, and the demand for
accommodation being in excess of the supply, competition comes
into play and they are constrained to expend an inordinate proportion
of their earnings to procure shelter of the most squalid
kind. Evidence that this is so may be found to any extent in the
' First Report of Her Majesty's Commissioners for Enquiry into
the Housing of the Working Classes ' (1885).
F