View report page

22
to admit the rays of the sun into each room, seeing that the height of the
proposed buildings will greatly exceed the width of the new streets; and
as the free access of the sun's rays is most essential to health and ventilation,
the "proper sanitary arrangements" required by the Act cannot be
secured. Had the Act been so framed as to require the provision of accommodation
for only half or even two-thirds of the people who may be displaced,
it would have been looked on by Medical Officers of Health as a great
public advantage.
Whilst I freely admit that the pulling down of the numerous unhealthy
rookeries, and even the erection of such lofty buildings on the site as proposed,
will be a great improvement upon the existing state of things, yet it may
happen that the crowding of so many persons under one roof during a
period of epidemic disease will be a source of danger, unless the most
ample means are afforded for efficient ventilation.
In my opinion, it will be found almost impracticable to thoroughly
ventilate such proposed large buildings, unless such houses are built in
large open spaces and surrounded by pure air; but the proposal to locate
the same number of persons as have been displaced from a limited area
in an equally small area, where the surroundings may not be so healthy as
are required, is a mistake: I have not the slightest fear that inconvenience
to any appreciable extent will be suffered by the people who will be
displaced under the provisions of this statute. The entire displacement of so
many people from the limited areas proposed to be dealt with will be an
incalculable benefit to the health of this overgrown metropolis.
Surely the suburbs of London, in view of existing facilities for cheap
railway travelling, will be found in every way as well adapted to the
accommodation of the working classes as the present crowded localities
in London. I find from inquiry that when the Victoria Docks were built,
some of the working classes, who were residing in the courts about Royal
Mint-street, walked to the new docks and back daily, a distance of upwards
of eight miles. This daily walk, in addition to the men's work at the
docks, is now saved by their being able to obtain house accommodation
nearer to their place of work at the Victoria Docks.
If these proposed new buildings were to be erected in the cottage or
detached form, with a good space between each, in a. manner somewhat
similar to that of St. Thomas' Hospital, they would be rendered much
more healthy. Although the rate of mortality in the several buildings
which have recently been erected by the Trustees of the Peabody Fund,
and by the Association for erecting Improved Dwellings for the working