Science and City Suburbs 



is high, there the vitality is low. The people are 

 tired, hopeless, fearful of adventuring either for 

 work or pleasure, disinclined to put forth effort, 

 ready to accept the enjoyment of watching instead 

 of joining in games, prone to sedentary amuse- 

 ments such as can be obtained in music-halls or 

 by gambling, falling into drunkenness, not so 

 much from wilful wickedness as from dreariness, 

 rinding it, as Mr. Justice Day explained, as "the 

 shortest way out of Manchester " the cheapest 

 method of escaping from the depressing influences 

 of great cities and the unlovely barrack boxes or 

 dirty alleys in which are situated the homes of 

 the poor. 



Lately, the nation, alarmed into considering its 

 defences, has examined the physique of its town- 

 bred population. During the South African War, 

 out of 11,000 men who wished to enlist in Man- 

 chester only 3000 passed the low physical standard 

 then in use, and of these 3000 only a few over 

 1000 could be sent into the army, about 2000 going 

 into militia regiments. 



" That the belief that the population of England, 

 as it becomes increasingly urban, will not increas- 

 ingly deteriorate physically, unless great changes 

 are made in our towns and in the habits of the 

 inhabitants, is unfounded," writes Mr. T. C. Hors- 

 fall, whose work and patient pursuit of civic 

 ideals has made him a recognised authority on 

 these matters, "few will doubt who compare the 

 appearance of the inhabitants of a large manu- 

 facturing town with that of the inhabitants of those 



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