And then he summarised his figures for the City Division:
| Number of | children of school age | == | 6,986 |
| „„ | churches and chapels | == | 71 |
| „„ | public-houses | == | 408 |
Number of families living, each, in more than two rooms was 1,972, which is about 33 per cent. of the scheduled families.
| About | 43 | per cent. live, each, in | 2 | rooms only, and |
| nearly | 24 | „„„ | 1 | room only. |
The Times commented, in a leading article, on this information.
“Everywhere, and by all sections not immediately affected, the scandal and almost the absurdity of the brutish degradation of an enormous number of habitations in the greatest and most opulent city in the world are thoroughly recognised…. Habits of life such as lodgings of the kind now common among London workmen foster and encourage are a positive danger to the whole of society. Only by one rank is the question treated as of no pressing importance. That happens to be the body of persons directly interested.
“… No more instructive contribution has been offered towards a clear perception of the dimensions of the problem than those given by Mr. Marchant Williams….
“Incidentally the census, by the School Board, of the classes it was founded to teach, contains the precise materials for informing the public of the extent of the overcrowding which has been shocking the moral sense of the nation. Formerly, when instances of overcrowding were cited, it might have been fancied they were exceptions or exaggerations. Mr. Williams’ report allows of no possibility of a doubt.