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certain, however, that owing to the increasing value of land in the
Metropolis this desideratum is not yet to be attained. The height too of
these modern model dwellings stands in the way of furnishing them with a
constant supply of drinking water, The water must, therefore, be stored
in cisterns of sufficient capacity to supply all but the lower floors, and this
arrangement certainly is not in the direction of improved sanitation. In
times of drought other and more serious inconveniences occur. Small
children are not given the chance to breathe as much fresh air as they
require, and they do not reap those advantages obtainable from sunshine,
which are absolutely necessary to ensure them becoming healthy men and
women. I feel that my contention will be eventually demonstrated, and
that the time will come when many so called model dwellings will be condemned.
These evils are certainly counteracted to some extent by greatly
improved systems of drainage, and'by the facilities which have been introduced
for the immediate removal of all offensive garbage from the vicinity
of the rooms. It is much to be regretted that the recent Building Act did
not impose conditions which would have rendered it impossible in the future
to continue some evils which now exist in the most modern of this class of
dwelling. It sometimes happens that new houses are let differently from
the manner stated when the plans were submitted. I can illustrate this
proposition by a case which recently came before the Law Courts. A
builder who desired to erect houses of a certain height applied to the London
County Council for permission, and exhibited his plans. He stated that the
buildings were to consist of shops with dwelling houses over ohern. They
were not to be built to let for occupation by persons of the working class.
Without this undertaking sanction would have been withheld, but under
the circumstances permission was granted. The houses when finished were
let each to one tenant who paid a weekly rental. Tnis tenant sub-let each
floor, and occasionally each room. A prosecution undertaken by the
London County Council, under the London Building Act, resulted in a
defeat before a Magistrate. Upon appeal the Magistrate's decision was
upheld. Before leaving these preliminary remarks I must state that I do
not thick very much overcrowding of rooms takes place within the District.
Some night visits made by your Inspectors upon specific information have
not resulted in proving definite overcrowding to be present to such an
extent as to warrant legal proceedings. In several instances where two or
three rooms were occupied by one family any overcrowding which existed
could be remedied by readjusting the sleeping arrangements of the family.
And now to deal with some of the statistics belonging to the year 1897.
The marriages which took place within the District numbered 504. Last
year they amounted to 434, and in the two previous years they were
respectively 409 and 373. The total births which were registered in the
four Sub-Registration Districts during the 52 weeks amounted to 3,150. In
the Whitechapel Union Infirmary 110 births took place, of which number
21 were the children of women who had not previously resided in the District.
Distributing the remaining births among the Sub-Registration
Districts to which the mothers belonged, the correct distribution of births
was as under:-
Mile End New Whitechapel Goodman's
Spitalnelda. Town. Church. Fields. Total.
1087 665 943 434 3129
So that the number of births as corrected amounted to 3,129, viz.:—1,608
boys, and 1,521 girls. The District birth-rate was equal to 39.11 per 1000.
See Table A* of the Appendix.
* Page 24.