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195; Bethnal Green, 168; Whitechapel, 176; St. George-inthe-East,
193; Mile End, 156; Poplar, 59; St. Saviour. Southwark,
167; Camberwell, 42; Lewisham, 6; &c.
It is thus seen that Clerkenwell is among the most crowded
parishes in the Metropolis; and this point should be well considered
by those who are advocating the building of more
enormous "model dwellings" within it. Surely the parish is
overcrowded already. The law provides against overcrowding
in a dwelling; why should it not do so in regard to a parish ?
But the mortality of parts of a parish vary. It may be
according to the nature of the dwellings, or it may be according
to the habits of the tenants, which latter. I believe to be the main
cause. Thus, while the general mortality of Clerkenwell amounts
to 21.1 per 1,000, the mortality of the Farringdon Road Buildings
amounts to only 14.1 per 1,000; and that of the Compton
Buildings, to 16.5 per 1,000, all extra-parochial deaths being
included. This might seem to show, that if you could place all
the inhabitants in model dwellings, the mortality of the parish
would be only about 15 per 1,000. But we have ample
experience to prove, that where houses, which were formerly
occupied by careful, orderly tenants, have become converted into
"tenement" houses, everything becomes dirt, destruction, and
disease.
In 1884, when Mr. Gladstone was pressing-on the Municipal
Bill, he tried to prove, in the House of Commons, that the establishment
of central municipal institutions was the only means of
bringing the worse to the level of the better districts. He compared,
among other things, the district of St. Saviour, Southwark,
where the death rate was 25, with that of Cavendish
Square, where it was only 15 per 1,000. But the fallacy of the
reasoning is at once evident. To produce a small mortality, you
must select your population. This is what is done in the model
buildings; the occupiers are orderly, trained persons; many
belonging to the public service—policemen, post office workers,
&c.; no rough population is admitted. The same applies to