RACE DETERIORATION

Southland Times, Issue 18840, 5 June 1920, Page 8

RACE DETERIORATION

DUE TO DEPLORAGLE HOUSING. ASTOUNDING DISCLOSURES IN SCOTLAND. (From the Melbourne Age.) The- health of the people of Great Britain is causing grave concern to those in authority. And rightly so, for the strength of a nation is the strength of the individual citizen. That is indisputable. Conditions of life which are the legacy of centuries of callousness and indifference, have resulted in the physical deterioration of the British race. Those who, from a sense of patriotism, would contest this assertion, will receive convincing proof in the report of the Ministry of National Service on the physical condition of the men medically examined for military service. This report disclosed the startling information that of every nine men of military age only three were perfectly fit and healthy, two were upon a definitely infirm plane of health, three could almost be described as physical wrecks, whilst the remaining man was a chronic invalid. Little wonder that these disclosures created alarm for the future of the race. A conscientious attempt, it now appears, is being made by the British authorities' ’to ascertain arid remove the causes of this deplorable state of affairs. If Britain learned nothing else from the war, she at least learned that the physical fitness of a nation’s citizens is the fundamental essential of national efficiency.

What, then, are the causes of this deterioration ? The primary cause seems to be the squalid and unhealthy conditions under which a large proportion of the people in Britain live. The poverty, the •over-crowding, the insanitary Conditions and the bad housing existing in England and Scotland is almost incomprehensible to the average Australian. Considerable light is thrown on the subject by the voluminous report of the royal commission appointed to inquire into the housing of the industrial population of Scotland, rural and urban. The commission was appointed in October, 1912, and after exhaustive inquiries presented its report in September, 1917. The investigation disclosed a position of almost inconceivable gravity. It found that in Scotland more than half of the total number of dwellings were houses of one or two rooms, and that the general housing conditions of the poorer classes were a blot on Britain’s honour, whilst in many cases conditions were nothing short of revolting. It is easy to understand that such things should exist in the huge overcrowded cities, but it comes as a shock to learn that the position was little, if any, better in mining, agricultural and fishing districts. Out of a total population of 4,827,417 no fewer than 283,564 people remain to bo properly housed and even that is a very moderate estimate indeed. Nearly 60,000 of the houses in which people now live arc set down as being quite uninhabitable, and the commission says that “before housing conditions in Scotland could bs regarded as satisfactory 235,990 additional houses would have to he provided.” But even with these additional dwellings housing conditions in Scotland could not for a moment be compared to those existing in Australia. Indeed, the Australian worker lives in a virtual paradise as compared with the Scottish worker.

Over 400,000 people in Scotland live in houses of one room, and there arc 180,000 one-room dwellings in the country. Of these 26,000 are occupied by three persons, 20,000 by four persons, 13,000 by five persons, 70U0 by six persons, 3500 by seven persons, 1500 by eight persons, ami 800 by over eight persons. How can a nation build up a healthy and virile race under such conditions as these? The homes of the residents of the poorer quarters of Edinburgh and Glasgow are slums of the worst type. Hidden away in narrow, back, ili-ht and badly drained streets and lanes, devoid of ventilation and with scanty revolting sanitary conveniences, dilapidated and lilthy tenements arc the homes of thousands of human being.-. Health, decency, morality—how can they be expected to exist in such surrounding?.' Here is a typical description of homes in the Anderston district of Glasgow;— The sunk, flat houses even in a hot, dry summer remain damp and unwholesome. The stairs down In tnese houses arc dark and dirty; me passages pitch dark on me brightest day. 1 n all these closes, the stairs are filthy ana cvd-smcllmg, water eloctts arc constantly etiokeff, and loul water running i.ir.vn the stairs; sickly cate everywhere spreading disease. . . . Une street, is Known a- “Collin Close.”

Words cannot, convey what life in such a [dace mean-. Bad as it is for the auiut population, what must it be lor tne children 1 Brought up in squalor, filth and disease, neglected ami unaerfea, with an entire absence of the barest comforts, how cun any child be expected to grow to virile mannoon lieio is a glimpse at the tragedy of die Scottish poor, according to one witness oeiore the i oi.imi-a.on - 1 u:i- exiled into a house where a ch,ld was lying i.-.iud in the m,mu and auolner was eying m tne some room. intre \uiv two diiieionc h.miiic.s t..e,e, Hi. re were at least seven per; >n- m unit mom. Another iin-tance may In; i.iiux.l:— A house id one Dug. :o;.m mi a gi'uutuldoor (Uiini.t, -ti.nt.cwu,,... p-u.un, aped il, wife i.n.i lodi '..mu.; 1 .. ..mil ± ,:mut!i- to lit i wo ci..cat . Um-U.ll i.ep.ng i n a cu ..r-ocu, lit.- other iuui mcm.uti- ot tne ~.m ly, iiiCxU.ung me paneat, sleeping in a i-yi-m bed. in aim m ri i.’.o :., 11 c.'.v.iing it was rjui.i mat me r, b.- i,.0 b.omcrs and mother, ah a..1. 1., occupied tlie kitcncn I ac'dipicd ov :. i....u. ..... wo.; :n. tour c.i.i- ---| occupied b\ a men. ha- wife ana lour einl- | ~;n. jy,. pci.x., xr.v o' me mom le- | .:citing i a ' v, a- m.a .n w,..cu me i.augn- ! ...r ii.gc. -i' v.;. . .oui,.. to m oic.-pjiig .n | die -;,iiia bed w.lu her lamer (ugea -.9 1, ! and he r bru'oer ( -,;e i 19), ana the amasI ing part of in? business was taut Utcy .au i not ..ppe ir to l a UK there was ' any uuug j unusual in it.” At Greenock, a ease wus j qtir led ot lour lamil.e?, con.x-ting of 16 1 per-oiis, in a two loan iioa c ami another of two 1 xmiir-, tot ail. m; 14 people. li\ ing in one room. ilic-se not isolated to. ternl la y on typical tu many t lyni-cn :- of viler.-, end they iff gn to .-‘how why it t- that on y three men lout of evert nine of mil:i.,ry oge in n.-Ic.u 1 wi re lor.n . to to dt aiv.i In alti.y. I'lie :,.lu- [ at r.n is very much the. same .n tne ecu: Jry I dint net-, and purlieu Lilly in me .i-hing wiI lagrs, wht.e mean hovels without venl.la- | t;on, di.sgu. t:ng sanitary condjt.ons aim an : f.b.v ace of ordinaly conUoits are the main Lomas of tin population. The Scotch are natural.y a clean and thrifty people and even in the meanest homes in the ino-t congc.-tcd and. unhealthy are as, home- of -inprising cicxnliu?-- arc found. But lack off water, lack of space, absence of sinks and drains and the scarcity of sonetury , convenien-cs make the leisk of preserving tidiness and cleanliness almost impos.s.blt. The house- are mostly either the “single- | end,” i.e., one loom, or the ' but-und-ben” i.e., (one room and kitchen), eeod apace is v) congee;ted, im a rule, that the tool has to be kept miller the bed. “Bed Clost t.t' (littic cupboards just large enough to hold a bed i and "box-beds,” built into revxtxcs in the wall, are extensively used, and wh-:n three or four people have to sleep in one Lex, tlie preativai.on of health hecotus-3 a , very difficult matter. Another factor is ; the practice of providing only one water I closet for four families—that is the average with one-room “houses.” It has been conclusively shown that the terrible congestion and overcrowding which exists is one of the main causatice factors in tubercular and other complaints. Under present conditions, it is absolutely impossible to prevent the spread of these diseases which sap the vitality of a large proportion j of the population and result in the loss of so much valuable life to the community. Tlie infantile death rate is nothing short of a national tragedy, and it is estimated that 32 per cent of the children under five years who die in Scotland die in one-room dwellings. It is difficult in a limited space to convey any adequate idea of the terrible oon- , ditions which exist, but sufficient has been j said to indicate why it is that the physical fitness of such a large proportion of the I>eople of England and Scotland has be-

come seriously impaired. This is one o the most potent factors in the evtr-increas ing unrest in Great Biitain. 'lhese thing: are not the affaire of a decade, but are th( results of the accumulation of evils of cen turies. Ancient, unsuitable buildings con verted to tenements, generations of peoph growing up amid the same squalid sur roundings and the almost total absence o any attempt to remedy conditions v/hicl have yearly become worse—these are tin real causes of the situation in which Bri tain finds herself to-day. The conscience of Britain has at las b&en awakened to the imperative need fo: action. Only this week Mr Bonar Law an nounced (hat the Imperial Government hat decided to proceed at once with the crec tion of 100,000 houses in England, to b< followed later by the construction of i further 300,000. Building laws are beim drawn tighter, more central control o homing is to be established, and the Publii Treasury quite rightly is to bear a iarg proportion of the cost. Then, too, more r.t tan tion is to be paid to health, ventilatioi and sanitation, and the establishment o garden suburbs ami lung spaces for botl adult and child population is to be en couruged. But p-srlnips at the root of i all lies the ncccsi.ly for the education o the people in so.ial decency. Given that they will never allow a reversion to the old degrading conmt.ons •*! life, which hnvi struck such a staggering blow at the migh of Britain.