First report. : Minutes of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to inquire whether any and what special means may be requisite for the improvement of the health of the metropolis.

  • Great Britain. Metropolitan Sanitary Commission
Date:
1847
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: First report. : Minutes of evidence taken before the Commissioners appointed to inquire whether any and what special means may be requisite for the improvement of the health of the metropolis. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service. The original may be consulted at London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine Library & Archives Service.

    28/204 (page 22)
    No. 9. public to see that there was some protection for theni also, that is to saj^ if parties in a district 2. Taylor, Esq. request that a sewer might be made, a petition being sig.ned to that efiect, the Commissioners of Sewers should be obliged to construct it. if the Commissioners of Sewers are obliged to construct it, who should pay for it?—The owners of the property, or long leaseholders, who would derive benefit. Even in poor districts there is considerable difficulty in managing it. It is utterly impossible that persons who are earning from 10s. to I5s. a-week, who perhaps form the great bulk of the population in my district, could be called upon to pay any part of the sewers-rate. / Supposing the landlord paid it, would not it come upon them ultimately in the shape of increased rent?— I think the rents could hardly be increased beyond what they are. Would not the supply of water carried into the house be actual economy of labour, and a I saving even to the poorest weaver ?—No question of it. Supposing a constant supply of water could be carried into a house for a pennj'' a-week, is there any poor weaver or labourer in Bethnal Green to whom it would not be a matter of economy ?—It would be a matter of economy ; but, under present circumstances, I do not think carrying water to them would be of much use, inasmuch as they have no means of getting rid of it. Supposing it were practicable to carry away the refuse water again by a house-drain at another penny a-week, would not that be an economy of labour even to the poorest weaver?— There can be no question about it. The inhabitants of the poorest tenement must make use of a privy or a cesspool?—Yes. Supposing a water-closet apparatus or soil-pan could be put down at the rate of a penny a- week, would not that be economy over the existing charges ?—I think so. Supposing the front of the street coidd be swejit or cleansed at a-penny a-week, taking into account the expense of washing, would not that be economy to the poorest weaver who works in Spitalfields P—I think there can be no doubt about it. Suppose the sanitary improvement in respect of those points could be carried out at 4c/. a- week, that is to say, the price of a pot of porter, would that be too much even for the poorest to pay: and to the poorest, who must now pay in some shape, can it be other than an economy ?— I think not. I think their increased health would give them greater energy to attend to their work. The poorest man there contributes to sick clubs or benefit societies, probably ?—'Pretty gene- rally, I should say. Would not such a payment as 4c?. a-week for those improvements so far reduce the chances of sickness, and extend the proportionate duration of life, that even as an insurance charge upon the family that ]:)ayment would be worth while?—I think there can be no doubt about it. Do not a great number at present pay more than that amount in the expenses of sickness ?— In the loss of wages I think so, certainly; but the poor in the district are very badly off for medical attendance generally. They are not in a condition to pay a medical man, and there is considerable difficulty, which the poor complain of, in getting orders for attendance officially. Are there dispensaries in the district?—There are; but the funds that come into the hands of the Bethnal Green Dispensary do not amount to more than 20/. or 30Z. per annum. The great saving would-be in their being in a condition to attend to their work continuously. It appears from a statement, that of the deaths above 21 in your district as compared with the deaths in Greenwich or Camberwell, a working man loses 11 years of his life. Do not you believe that those several things would have a value upon the duration of life, making it cheaper for him to pay for it ?—No question of it. It appears that the average age of your population is 22 years, whereas in Hackney it is 31, and in Camberwell it is 31. The duration of life among the gentry is 46; tradesmen^ 24; artizans, 18. Do not you think the surrounding sanitary influences have a great deal to do with those various proportions?—Yes, certainly. The condition in which the poor man is placed from the want of every comfort of life about him will necessarily reduce the duration of his life. Have you any gin-palaces in Bethnal Green?—Several. Have you any notion of the expenditure in Bethnal Green in gin ?—No. Can you infer it from the sizes and magnificence of palaces?—I should think it is very con- siderable. Supposing that expenditure upon gin-palaces were expended upon their own houses, would not it lead to a very considerable improvement in them and increase of comfort as well as economy ?—No doubt about it. Can there be said to be an absolute want of power to pay for water, while you have displayed before you in your streets such a power of spending upon gin ?—I am quite willing to admit the tendency to spend money upon a luxury of that sort, as they consider it, when they would not spend it upon water. / Supposing they had very good water constantly supplied to them, would not that, to a certain extent, be an inducement to them to make use of it ?—Yes. Do not you think the condition of the localities in which a great many of the people in your district live, the uncleanliness of their houses, and the impossibility of keeping them clean without any drainage, or paving, or water, has a considerable influence in driving them to those gin- palaces ?—I think there cannot be a doubt of it. There can be no question that they do go to public-houses because they are more comfortable there. I knew an instance of that some time ago. A man and his wife had left their home to go to a public-house, and they stopped there till three or four o'clock in the morning; they quarrelled, and the man struck the woman; she lost a largish quantity of blood, and the matter came under the notice of the police. They had avowedly gone from their own wretched home to the public-house in consequence of its superior accommodation.