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an impossibility; and lastly, the owners of poor
property naturally expect return from property in
the purchase of which many have invested their
savings; and hence are often loth to expend money
lavishly on it, especially if they have tenants who
wantonly or of design injure or destroy works executed
presumably for their benefit.
The sanitary state of the houses of the poor
depends largely on three conditions, namely:—ist,
the conduct of the poor themselves; 2nd, the conduct
of the landlords or their agents; and 3rd, the
conduct of the authorities constituted by law to
enforce the provisions of the Sanitary Acts.
1 st. That much depends on the poor themselves
is obvious. One may see proof of this statement
over and over again in the course of house-tohouse
inspection. In adjoining houses of the same
kind, belonging to the same landlord, similarly cared
for by him and looked after by the Sanitary Officials,
one may often discover, in the one case, floors, walls,
staircases all filthy, foul rubbish piled in corners,
drains and closets choked up or out of order, and
reckless damage done to all kinds of structural
works; in the other case, the whole place, though
poor and scantily furnished, kept clean and comfortable,
and all sanitary provisions maintained in