The condition of the vast tenement-house population in this great city is of such immeasurable consequence to the community at large that matters can only be allowed to continue in their present most unsatisfactory state at the most dire cost. The sooner it is thoroughly inquired into by Parliament and drastically dealt with the better; great evils will be stayed, great benefits will be secured.
The third principal cause of failure to attain a higher level of the public health in London than at present enjoyed has been the want of a real central Health Authority. The Metropolitan Board of Works was never such. The London County Council is only such in a very limited way. A real central Health Authority for London is an absolute necessity—that is the great moral to be drawn from the history of the last half-century so far as local government in health matters in London is concerned.
Disease recognises no boundaries, and in a great city like London it is essential that in so vital a matter as the public health full authority should, subject to Parliament, be vested in one supreme authority—a central authority which shall secure uniformity of administration; a central authority which shall be able to compel a local authority in London to do that which if it neglects is a danger to the community; a central authority which, in the event of such neglect, shall be authorised itself to undertake that work; a central authority which shall be able to act at once for London as a whole in presence of any sudden or great emergency—that is absolutely essential for the sanitary safety of this great city and of the millions who live in it.
The want of such an authority has throughout the whole sanitary evolution of London been a disaster of the greatest magnitude, and is an ever-present peril to this great metropolis. The existence now of a central popularly elected representative body for the metropolis would render this reform quite a simple matter.
Further measures are also required to aid in the removal of the worst of London evils.
In 1903 a Royal Commission was appointed to inquire into the means of locomotion and transport in London. It reported in 1905, having done its work more thoroughly than even most Royal Commissions do their work.
A great portion of its report deals directly or indirectly with the sanitary condition of the people of London.
“The question of locomotion,” said the Commissioners, “affects the health, comfort, and efficiency for work of the whole community….
“Witnesses who have special knowledge of the subject are of opinion that the remedy for overcrowding is to be found in the removal of the people to outside districts by providing additional facilities for locomotion, and in this opinion we agree….
“We have come to the conclusion that in order to relieve overcrowding means must be provided for taking the population into and out of London, not in one or two directions but in many directions, at rapid speed, frequent intervals, and cheap rates.”