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9
The great majority is made up of the working classes, who go daily
to work in London and return at night to sleep.
The district is one of the City's dormitories, with a large child and
"working age" population compared with the country generally.
A small amount of local labour is absorbed by the factories situated
in the Northern Ward, but from their position and the industries carried
on they have no appreciable effect on the general health.
Of the five Wards, Hoe Street generally has the best residential
character, portions of Wood Street and the Northern Wards come next,
while the High Street is intermediate, and is largely studded with the
“Warner Flats," leaving the St. James Street and Wood Street areas—
particularly the portions near the railway stations—as the poorest
portions of the district.
The same tendency to migrate from the older and more congested
parts to the outlying districts, is shown here as elsewhere, and may
account for the larger number of empty houses in the St. James Street
district compared with Census year.
The electric trams, which cover a large portion of the district, help
materially in this connection, and the Northern Ward in consequence
is fast loosing its semi-rural character.
No Ward in the district is without a fair proportion of good class
houses, ranging in rateable value from £20 to £50, and shop property
is mainly grouped around the railway stations situated at St. James
Street, Hoe Street, Wood Street and Highams Park.
VITAL STATISTICS.
POPULATION.
A correct estimate of the population becomes yearly more difficult as
we recede from the Census year; and its importance is manifest if any
judgment is to be formed or other deductions drawn from the various
rates relied on for comparison with other parts of the country and
the constituent parts of the area within your control.
The Registrar-General assuming that our rate of growth since 1901
continues similar to that of the previous intercensal period, estimates