The moral side of overcrowding must not be forgotten, but it is not necessary to dwell upon it, as the Whitechapel horrors are still fresh in the memory, and the difficulty of detecting crime in a labyrinth of hiding-places has been demonstrated. The first aim of a sanitary authority should be to prevent overcrowding, and its most important duty is to control building operations, a duty which is never performed because buildings help to pay the rates. THE LOOSE END OF OUR SANITATION. Another reason why it is not possible to regard the present sanitary condition of London with much complacency arises from the fact that our sanitarians have failed to “make both ends meet,” but have left a terrible loose end to their measures, which is a constant menace and an increasing danger. This “loose end” consists of a daily allowance of 150,000,000 gallons of sewage, which our new councillors have inherited from the late Board, and which is the result of probably the greatest sanitary blunder ever committed in the history of the world. The proper destination of organic refuse is the soil. Nobody doubts this. Why, therefore, in a moment of weakness, did we construct six millions’ worth of machinery to throw it in the water? The great glory of London, time out of mind, has been the Thames, but now certainly our glory has departed. Having adopted a method of sanitation which is based on an utterly wrong principle, the condition of the Thames must get progressively worse as long as that method is pursued. Some persons talk of a sewage farm as a remedy, but at least 50,000 acres of land would be necessary, and, to say the least of it, that is not a cheerful outlook for the ratepayer in these days of agricultural depression. At present we are spending £50,000 a year on chemical abominations to mix with the other abominations, but it is very hard to see how that can improve matters. The chemicals will certainly not help the fishing industry, and if added in sufficient quantity they must absolutely destroy the very small manurial value possessed by the sewage or its sludge. My own belief is that the sewage problem in its present form is insoluble. To deal with and filter slop-water, as is done in Paris, is comparatively easy, but here in London the problem is of a wholly different kind, and my firm conviction is that our present system of “water-carriage” must lead us deeper and deeper into the mire.