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4
north side and the other on the south, their geographical
position in relation to the centre of the Metropolitan area is
not dissimilar. And in the condition of life of their inhabitants
they bear a resemblance. In each there is a
large middle class and a large working class. In neither is
there a great body of the very rich, and in neither a great
body of the very poor. Bearing so many points of
resemblance the two parishes are favourably adapted for the
purposes of comparison. A few years ago the staffs of
Lambeth and Islington were numerically equal. To each
Inspector in the one a population of 65,000 was apportioned.
To each in the other a population of 70,000. But Islington
has reorganized its Department and added to the number of
its Inspectors, whilst in Lambeth the question of reorganization
has not yet assumed definite shape. These two parishes,
so much alike in the size of their populations and in the number
of their inhabited houses, have become widely dissimilar
in the strength of their Sanitary Departments.
The Comparative Strength of the Sanitary Departments
of Lambeth and Islington, 1888.
Lambeth.
One Chief Inspector.
Three District Inspectors.
One Clerk.
Islington.
One Chief Inspector.
Eight District Inspectors.
Four Clerks.
These figures afford food for reflection. They point to a
belief that either the staff of Islington is too large, or the
staff of Lambeth is too small. But although the means of
satisfying the needs of a parish may be conjectured by
making a comparison with the provision made in others,
especially when a fair parallel may be drawn, they are
rather to be estimated from the examination of conditions
not extraneous to the parish itself.