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181
seen generations of vestrymen come and go; I have
been intimately associated with vestrymen of widely
different social positions; I have known that a
varying proportion of them consist of the landlords
of the kind of property to which the sanitary laws
chiefly relate, that many of these have become
vestrymen with the main object of defending the
interests of their class (and why should they not ?),
and that often they have influenced the decision of
the Sanitary Committee, and even of the Vestry
itself, in respect of sanitary questions. But I have
never known a case in which the Vestry, or even the
Sanitary Committee, has interfered to prevent the
strict application of the sanitary laws in respect of
any one of its own members. Nor do I ever
recollect that any sanitary proceedings which I had
urged as being necessary have not been sanctioned
by the Vestry. As regards the sufficiency of the
sanitary work done during these many years I dare
not speak quite so positively, for I have had a large
share in what has been done, and I am conscious
(as every man must be conscious who has had large
experience of such work) how often our efforts fail
to achieve the result at which we aim, and how
often our most successful efforts fail to secure
more than mere temporary benefit. I think it