356 SECTIONAL TRANSACTIONS.— F. 



A more complete survey is possible in investigations where the total number of 

 cases to be examined is reasonably small. Sub-normal types in illustration. Failure 

 in life may be due to causes outside the personal control of the individual. On the 

 other hand it may be due to innate incapacity or defect. Some of the problems to 

 which the latter type of human failure gives rise. Outline of enquiry initiated. A 

 central register for all cases investigated. How confidence is preserved as to the 

 identity of the individuals concerned. 



Other enquiries in progress, or contemplated if resources permit, relate to the 

 industrial position and prospects of the area, to such questions as racial migration 

 which is of some importance in Merseyside, to the welfare of infants and adolescents, 

 to education and the use of leisure, and to organised religion. The difficulty of weaving 

 all these different investigations together into a single coherent and logical scheme. 

 A possible plan outlined. 



Dr. H. A. Mess. — The Social Survey of Tyneside. 



The Social Survey of Tyneside was privately inaugurated in 1925 and occupied 

 three years. It covered that portion of the North East Coast industrial region which 

 lies along the tidal waters of the river Tyne. It was a study of the area as it has 

 changed over a period of about a century, but with more detail for the latter part of 

 the period. The method adopted was mainly assembly and interpretation of existing 

 data, supplemented to some extent by direct observation. Social conditions in the 

 Tyneside towns were compared statistically with those of the average Enghsh town 

 of that category, e.g. county boroughs were compared with the average county 

 borough of England and Wales. 



Several salient features of the social life of the area were thus brought to light. 

 Wherever possible social phenomena were mapped out in time and in space. Thus the 

 high degree of overcrowding, found in practically all the Tyneside towns, was found 

 to date back several centuries, and to be characteristic of an area extending from the 

 Cheviots almost down to the Tees. A number of explanations commonly offered were 

 thus shown to be untenable. It seemed probable that the low standards of a disturbed 

 Border area, with subsequent early and rapid industrial development, were mainly 

 responsible for it. 



Attention was called to the high infantile mortality in several parts of the area, 

 and to the very high tuberculosis mortality prevalent in almost every part of it. 



Attention was also called to the unusually high proportion of large classes in the 

 elementary schools of the majority of Tyneside towns. 



The relation between population and industry was examined. Birth rates are 

 above the average for the country, though dropping here as elsewhere. Until about 

 1881 the industries of the area attracted many immigrants, but about that date the 

 balance of migration turned outwards. The present population is mainly dependent 

 upon the depressed heavy industries, and there is exceptional unemployment. Partial 

 revival of the staple industries, the rise of new industries, migration, and a falling 

 birth rate will gradually bring about a new equilibrium between population and 

 industry. 



Modern rapid transport has had two marked effects on what were formerly a number 

 of self-contained towns. It has interwoven them socially and industrially. It has 

 also segregated the classes. The smaller industrial towns along the Tyne, almost 

 entirely working class in character, have insufficient financial resources for the duties 

 of local government ; they are also lacking in social leadership. Their boundaries no 

 longer correspond to social realities, and a reduction in the number of separate 

 administrative areas is very desirable. 



Attention is called to the special features of this survey, (a) It is the first social 

 survey of a group of neighbouring towns. (6) It illustrates the possibilities, and also 

 the limitations, of the method of assembly and interpretation of existing data, 

 (f ) The historical method throws much light on causation of social phenomena. 



The practical results of the survey have been a quickened social intelligence and 

 social conscience, some improvements in local administration, and several philan- 

 thropic experiments. 



Prof. F. W. Ogilvie. — Margins. 



