The Life of the City. 495 



(3) The cleanliness of the streets should be the pride of a well- 

 ordered city, its obser\'ance contributing, as it perhaps does, more 

 directly to public comfort than any one other condition of city life. 

 Unfortunately, it is the most difficult duty to perform effectively, 

 including as it does the dealing with storm water (in Northern coun- 

 tries snow, too), and the removal of refuse of all descriptions from 

 houses, as well as streets, and their sweeping and watering during 

 all seasons of the year, the proper performance of which requiring 

 an organisation as complete as an army corps. 



In South African towns, it is true, there is no snow to deal with, 

 but there is something scarcely less formidable, i.e., the rarity of any 

 complete system of drainage, except in the largest towns, which in- 

 volves, of course, a great additional tax on the resources of the 

 Municipal organisation. The contributions of practical science to 

 deal with these problems are manifold, such as the distribution of a 

 water supply, appliances for cleaning and watering the streets, refuse 

 destructors, and improved forms of paving, and many forms of 

 sewage disposal. 



The item of paving alone deserves far more consideration than 

 I am able to here give it. That its importance is recognised is shewn 

 by the attention which it has attracted from practical scientists in 

 recent times, and the large amount of useful information which has 

 been compiled for anyone wishing to study the subject. It must 

 suffice here to say that no' rule can be laid down as tO' the suitability of 

 material, depending as it does so entirely on local conditions and 

 requirements. 



The condition which unfortunately largely dictates in this 

 country the thoroughness and otherwise of the performance of these 

 duties is the state of the labour market. These or similar difficulties 

 dxist, however, to a greater ot less extent in all countries, and the 

 resources of civilisation and science must be shewn in their success- 

 ful .surmounting, in view of their vital bearing upon the health of the 

 community. 



(4) The acquisition of land for dwellings for the poorer classes 

 should private enterprise prove inadequate. 



Perhaps the most telling result of the influence of practical 

 science upon our generation is tO' be seen in the efforts tO' provide 

 suitable dwellings for the poorer classes in our large towns. Of all 

 the problems facing a community this is perhaps the toughest, 

 and yet the most imperative for intelligent action. At the 

 present moment the Municipality is the only properly constituted 

 power to stand between the not too scrupulous land specu- 

 lators and the well-being of the industrial portion of the community. 

 As the whole industrial fabric is built on the exertion of the workers, 

 so their health, both physical and mental, should occupv the first 

 and constant plan in all schemes for municipal improvement. 



It is only necessan,' to compare the slums of back to back 

 houses in our large towns of fifty years ago to a modem Rowton 

 house to see that some potent influence has been at work to produce 

 in a comparatively short space of time such a remarkable change in 



