He mentioned also “a room in Cooper’s Court, occupied by man, wife, and seven children, which contained about 630 cubic feet of space, which allows only 70 feet for each.”
And numerous other cases of overcrowding and indecent occupation, and a case in which the dead body of a child had been retained in a room for fifteen days.
Passing on to the larger aspects of this dreadful overcrowding, he wrote:—
“It is manifest that persons living in such circumstances must become so enfeebled in health as to be unfit for any employment which requires much physical strength. The mental capacity of such persons is also so low as to prevent them earning a livelihood in any occupation requiring much thought, and the consequence is an increase of paupers or of criminals, or perhaps of both.”
“Consumption and the whole tubercular class of disease are chiefly caused by the defective ventilation of dwelling-houses, and particularly of sleeping rooms, in which at least one-third of one’s existence is passed.”
And the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, in his report for 1871, wrote:—
“Serious evils of physical and moral character are found to afflict the population of these overcrowded houses. The want of fresh air, habitual uncleanliness, bad washing accommodation, with other unsanitary conditions, favour the spread of contagion. There is a notable increase of tubercular and consumptive maladies in our large cities, and the low form of vitality engendered in people who do not enjoy fresh air, leads to the abuse of stimulants and tobacco.”
In 1874 he wrote:—
“… Eighteen per cent. of the whole deaths—a formidable proportion—are from the tubercular class of diseases: a greater proportion than zymotic. The 206 deaths from consumption at ages between 20 and 60 show that there exists some general cause silently working great mischief and undermining the constitution of parents at a period of life in health and strength when they can least be spared from their families.”
And he added:—