The real remedy must lie with the
working classes themselves. Let them determine to raise their standard
of rental, and the reform is in a great measure accomplished.
We have already shown how masters have done a great deal for the better
accommodation of their work-people--how the benefactors of the poor,
such as Mr. Peabody and Lady Burdett Coutts, have promoted the building
of healthy homes. Yet the result must depend upon the individual action
of the working classes themselves. When they have the choice of living
in a dwelling situated in a healthy locality, and of another situated in
an unhealthy locality, they ought to choose the former. But very often
they do not. There is perhaps a difference of sixpence a week in the
rental, and, not knowing the advantages of health, they take the
unhealthy dwelling because it is the cheapest. But the money that sickly
people have to pay for physic, doctors' bills, and loss of wages, far
more than exceeds the amount saved by cheaper rental,--not to speak of
the loss of comfort, the want of cleanliness, and the depression of
spirits, which is inevitable where foul air is breathed.
To build a wholesome dwelling costs little more than to build an
unwholesome one. What is wanted on the part of the builder is, a
knowledge of sanitary conditions, and a willingness to provide the
proper accommodation.
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