Abstract of the proceedings of the public meeting held at Exeter Hall, Dec. 11, 1844 : containing the speeches of the most noble the Marquess of Normanby, chairman ... together with a form of petition.
- Health of Towns Association (London, England)
- Date:
- [1844?]
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Abstract of the proceedings of the public meeting held at Exeter Hall, Dec. 11, 1844 : containing the speeches of the most noble the Marquess of Normanby, chairman ... together with a form of petition. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![chose to save himself the expense of constructing the drainage ncces:5ary to keej) off epidemics. Tlie poor man could not help himself; the competition for house-room was great, and li e was comjielled to give as much rent for apartments cunl'’.aining the seeds of pestilence as would ])roj)erly repay ti'ie building of a house tit for a human being to inhabit. A remedy to this state of things was beyond the reach of individuals; there must be combina- tion—there must be municipal and legislative action. With that view he was about to propose that which was the chief purpose of the meeting, the formation of an association. It might become a centre to unite scattered and varied efforts,—a channel of communication,—a means of enlightening public opinion, and bringins: it to bear with effect u))on legislation. The slownessof the Govern- ment in carrying out the Reports of Commissioners served to point to the necessity of pressure from without, or at least to an emphaiic concentration of the voice of opinion. The warmest advocates of non-interference with indivi- dual concerns could not deny that this was a matter de- manding the interference ot the State. The owner of a court or alley could not claim the right of generating his own fever on his own property, because he could not pre- tend to confine it to his own tenants. It would be sure to trespass upon the surrounding property, and no de- fined limit could be put uiion its ravages. An epidemic on every account concerned the community at large, and Government was not attaining the objects for which it was instiiuted if it did not intervene to prevent the ava- rice or carelessness of individuals from inflicting sucli evils. Allusion had been made to the fact that the de- struction of the old unwholesome streets which was going on in the heart of London, which was so beneficial in rooting out dens of misery and disease, was yet a great hardship upon the poor, who were driven away to the suburbs out of reach of their work. The hardship was a heavy one, and ought to be looked to. particularly as there was a remedy. Tfiey had only to apply the principle of club-union to the dwellings of the poor, and build large mansions w’iih distinct apartments for many families under one naT, and there the poorest would be able to live with the addition of many new comforts, in parts of a town where a small separate lumse would be too expensive. There were two societies attempting to apply this prin- ciple, and now beginning their operations, one in the na- ture of a joint-stock company, and the other intending to exhibit models, and make experiments for the imitation](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b24931615_0032.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
