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162
in incest with his eldest daughter, and having a
family of several children by his deceased wife and
another of two or three by his daughter, all living
together in the greatest squalor and filth,
It is very difficult to see what should be done in
many of the cases that are met with. Slovenliness,
improvidence, recklessness, dishonesty, offences
against the seventh commandment lie beyond the
immediate scope of the duties of sanitary authorities.
They must be dealt with, if dealt with at all, by the
common law on the one hand, and on the other by
the clergy and their associates, and other charitable
persons and institutions that devote themselves to
the welfare of the poor. I fail to see how benefit
can accrue to them by their possession of the franchise,
especially now that they are debarred from
selling their votes ; or in what useful way they would
be benefitted by making them landed proprietors.
I do not for a moment mean to imply that there
are not many decent and well-conducted persons
among the very poor, or even that behind the screen
of filth and slovenliness and improvidence there may
still be much that is good and even admirable. Still
less do I mean to suggest that sanitary labours
amongst the very poor are necessarily fruitless.
But I maintain that to a large extent they neutralise