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lightly abandoned. A partial relinquishment, however, is not
of unfrequent occurrence. The occupational interest in land
often limited to small plots associated with burdensome
restrictions and incumbered by heavy annual rent charges is
assigned for a term of years. The builder, in order that he
may secure a profitable return upon his investment, must
cater for the requirements of a class wealthier than that of
the artizan.
The demand for accommodation in town communities thus
forges for itself an obstructive girdle of vested interest
stronger than iron in the resistance which it offers to normal
expansion.
Meanwhile the pressure in the beleaguered town is
becoming intolerable. There is a steady increase in population.
There is a constant influx from the country.
Expansive efforts prove abortive. The pressure resisted
at the circumference recoils upon the centre. The demand
for accommodation becomes urgent. Rent, which in a
rural or small urban district would be deemed excessive,
is offered and refused. Tenements of a meagre and confined
description arc occupied by the families of workmen
in receipt of more than an average income. The
labourer whose work is intermittent and wages uncertain
must be content with a single room, or even submit to joint
occupation with another. In some districts the demand for
shelter is so urgent that eager competition is witnessed for
rooms dark and unwholesome.
The evil of overcrowding is aggravated by causes which
derive their origin from the effects of that condition itself.
A lowered standard of health, always the accompaniment of
close building, is a factor in the further increase of pressure
in an already congested area.
This undesirable end is accomplished by the operation of
two forces, an elevated birth rate and a demand in the