[Report 1913] / Medical Officer of Health, Chatham Borough.

  • Chatham (Kent, England). Borough Council.
Date:
1913
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1913] / Medical Officer of Health, Chatham Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    -> •? -o Section 15. Xumber inspected 214 Xumber reported 214 Xumber put into lit state 127 X”umber outstanding 84 Xdimljer demolished ^ (Of the total number of 214, 62 were reported during the last six weeks of the year, and therefore could not be completed.) General requirements : — (food repair. Cleanliness. Adeijuate ventilation. Sutficient water supply. ^ V e 11 - JO a V e d y a r d s. Projoer conveniences. Sinks. With regard to the general character of the defects found to exist, they are broadly such as are scheduled in the Regulations, but in addition to the defects therein set out, I consider that a back-todoack house, or a non-through ventilated single house, comes within the provisions of Section 17. and is injurious to health by virtue of its being back-to-back, even if it is otherwise in good condition. In estimating whether a dwelling is satisfactory and (it for human habitation, 1 regard it as an essential first step that it should possess sufficient light and ventilation, water sujoj:>ly. and siu'h sanitary and other conveniences as will facilitate cleanliness, and will rob the tenant of any reasonable excuse for neglect and dirt. T have stated j^reviously that owmers as a (dass have risen to their resjionsibilities in this matter, and that there has been no joractical difficulty in securing comjiliance wath reasonable and necessarv re- quirements. In all the Ac'ts which have been jiassed to deal wdth the housing question it is the owmer wdio^ has been com]ielled to sjiend money, and in many instances rightly so, but in no single case does the occujaier contribute. The real obstacle to the irn]WT)vcment of slum ])rojjerty is. therefore, not the owmer, but the occujaier, and it is quite time that tenants who foul and damage jiroperty wdik'h has been put in ])ro]ier rejoair should suffer a jienalty for doing .so. There may be differences of ojiinion as to- the nature of this ]:)enalty, but I think its jirimary objecf should be the infliction of jihysical j^ain or discomfort. The haldts of some jieople are aj)|ialling, they revel in dirt and squalor. Go'ssij) is the ('hief occujiation of the female, whilst intem- perance is frequent, and children may be seen half-naked and vilelv dirty, utterly uncared for. Such is a common sjiecfac'le in certain neighljourhoods. Imoking into the interior of the houses, thev are