198 REPORT 1860. 



able fittings, including the lodging Louse, has been £7226 Is. 4tf. ; and the clear 

 return for the year ending 31st December 1858, was £203 14s. 3d., from which 

 deducting li per cent, for the expense of repairs, leaves about 1} per cent, net on 

 the outlay. 



From these figures it would appear that whilst in the metropolis old buildings 

 maybe renovated and fitted up for men's lodging houses, with the prospect of at 

 least a fair remunerative return, although this has not been the case invariably, 

 the putting of old courts and blocks of dwelling houses for families into a good 

 sanitary condition, unless they are obtained at an unusually low price, is not likely 

 to yield a satisfactory return on the outlay, even taking 4 to 5 per cent, as the lowest 

 rate of interest which such investments should yield, after provision has been made 

 for repairs, and a sinking fund to pay off the capital, which there should be, espe- 

 cially in the case of leasehold property. 



It is well also to notice that the actual benefit resulting from these efforts has 

 not been conferred to the extent which might be supposed, on those who were the 

 occupants of the courts, when they were taken by the Society, as a considerable 

 portion of them have been ejected, in order not only to reduce the number of occu- 

 pants to a due limit, but also to secure a more eligible set of tenants. 



It may, however, be stated here, that a Society has for the past three years been 

 successfully in operation at Hastings, established mainly through the instrumenta- 

 lity of Dr. Greenhill, and called the Hastings Cottage Improvement Society, which 

 avowed "the fixed determination to spare no pains in seeming the main object of 

 benefiting the tenants, and at the same time not to discourage the good cause by a 

 commercial failure." AYith an expenditure to the present time of £9246 in pur- 

 chasing and putting old dwelling-houses into good condition, a dividend of 6 per 

 cent, has been paid. Judging from what I have seen of the Society's labours at an 

 early stage, it is simply that of putting the acquired property into the condition 

 which any kind-hearted considerate landlord would desire for his own tenants ; 

 and this has been done with as little disturbance of the existing occupants as pos- 

 sible. The operations of this Society derive much advantage from the appointment 

 of two visitors, whose duty is to inspect the houses every fortnight, lhe forma- 

 tion of a reserve fund at the rate of 1 per cent, per annum, and also of a benevo- 

 lent fund amongst the tenants, deserve notice. 



The physical results obtained by the two Societies in the Metropolis have been 

 of a very marked character. For the four consecutive years 1850 to 1853, the 

 average number of deaths in all their houses was only 136 per 1000, as compared 

 with 27 to 28 per 1000 in the districts immediately around them, and of 25 per 

 1000 in the Metropolis generally, whilst there has been an almost entire freedom 

 from the special diseases to which the lower classes are more peculiarly subject, 

 not even excepting cholera. That such returns should not have been regularly 

 continued by the second named of these societies, is cause for regret. A very beneficial 

 influence has been exercised on the localities in which the houses are situated, 

 especially those occupied by families : and it may be confidently asserted that the 

 most sanguine expectations of their projectors have been realized in every respect, 

 excepting that of their financial returns, and the extent to which it was anticipated 

 that the example would be followed. 



Had the returns generally proved more remunerative, doubtless a greater number 

 of similar houses would have been built ; yet, although they are but a drop in the 

 bucket, when the extent and vast population of London is considered, they are not, 

 as compared with what has been done at Paris, encouraged by a large governmi nt 

 subvention, by any means as insignificant as might be inferred from a remark made 

 in the last number of the Quarterly Review, that " the wants of the displaced poor 

 have with us been utterly neglected.'' It is too true that in the Metropolis of 

 Great Britain, as well as in that of France, the foimation of new streets, and the 

 removing masses of miserable dens, has only increased the e\ il, by crowding yet more 

 those that remain. I can, however, after minutely examining all which had been 

 done or commenced in Paris two years ago, and ascertaining the additions since 

 made, confidently assert that England, which took the Lad in this effort of prac- 

 tical benevolence, has done much more through the unaided force of that motive, 

 than has been accomplished in France, with the stimulus of a government subven- 

 tion of 10,000,000 francs. 



