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14
6000), these are but a small number of cases to have been
discovered on inspection. It is, however, very probable that the
true number was not in all instances given to the Inspector.
There cannot be any doubt that the pulling down of houses
occupied by the poor in making wider streets, railways, and other
improvements, tends to throw a large surplus population on this
district. But as the district does not contain many manufactories,
the crowding together has not been so large as it otherwise
would have been, as workpeople, permanently employed, like to
live as near their work as they can. The question of providing
dwellings for the poor is becoming a more pressing question than
ever, and yet without any satisfactory plan for remedying the
evil in London having been fairly discussed. It seems almost
hopeless to expect that all the Metropolitan Vestries and Boards
of Works would carry out plans similar to those which have been
so successful in Glasgow. It is also a question if such extensive
powers, as are necessary for raising the necessary funds, should
be entrusted to any one public corporation. There is also another
difficulty amongst the poor themselves, as they prefer occupying
a certain class of house wherever they can do so, and overcrowding
will to a certain extent take place, even when better houses are
provided. The portion of income which can be set aside for rent
will be, as a rule, in proportion to the earnings, and not to the
accommodation required, so that persons with very small incomes
and large families will always, more or less, overcrowd their
rooms, unless in model lodging houses where they are somewhat
controlled. A great deal has been done in this district for the
prevention of disease by cleansing, whitewashing, and draining
the houses, but your sanitary staff is powerless to amend the
original structural defects in very many houses, and therefore
much which we object to remains unaltered. It is obvious if
the powers of pulling down houses more or less unfit for human
habitation be strictly enforced, without any corresponding powers
to compel the owners to build them up again, the overcrowding