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Offices of the Whitechapel District Board of Works,
No. 15, Great Alie Street,
London, E.,
January 29th, 1891.
Gentlemen,
For the seventh time I have the honor to present for
your perusal an Annual Statement dealing with various particulars
which concern the health and welfare of the parishes over which
your Board exercises control. In doing so, I must admit that
year by year as we travel away from the last Census year, the
greater becomes the difficulty in estimating the population of the
Whitechapel District. In the absence of this most important
factor many of the figures lose much of their value. It is impossible
to even determine with sufficient accuracy to serve any useful
purpose such a necessary detail as the death-rate. Such tables
and figures as I can with any certainty produce for your acceptance
will be forthcoming, and we must rest satisfied with such rather
crude materials until the advent of a new Census places us in a
position more secure. I have hitherto relied upon calculations
founded upon the birth-rates determined by the Census years,
1871 and 1881. A glance at the tables I have prepared, and
which I here introduce, will prove that in the first table the last
two columns cannot be devoid of error when they are considered
by the light of the preceding columns, together with some of the
other tables which I append to this Report. Nor would reflection
lead us to imagine that the estimates contained in the two columns
referred to were very trustworthy, because they pre-suppose the
stationary condition of the birth-rate, whereas it is probable that
the birth-rate of the Whitechapel population has increased. Such
increase in the birth-rate is rendered more probable in our district
by reason of the great addition it has received during the last few
years to the number of its Model Dwellings, where the choice of
selection which is freely exercised aggregates persons of an age
eminently calculated to increase the number of births. To a
certain extent such tendency must be counteracted by the opening
of new lodging-houses where only men are accommodated.