Report to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State For the Home Department, from the Poor Law Commissioners, on an Inquiry Into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain; With AppendicesChadwick, Edwin
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Report to Her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State For the Home Department, from the Poor Law Commissioners, on an Inquiry Into the Sanitary Condition of the Labouring Population of Great Britain; With Appendices
Chadwick, Edwin
Housing -- Great Britain; Public health -- Great Britain
“Can you doubt that, under favourable sanitary circumstances, such
instances would become frequent?—It cannot be doubted. I have known
other instances of saving, but those were not of men working on the
board: they were mostly of men who had situations in the
cutting-rooms.”
_Mr. John Fowler_:—
“You are a tailor, are you not?—I have been all my life a journeyman
tailor, and worked in the metropolis; but I have long been
superannuated, and now act as collector to the Benevolent Institution
for the Relief of Aged and Infirm Tailors.
“That is supported by the masters, is it not?—Yes; the journeymen
tailors subscribe, but it is principally supported by masters, who
subscribe to it most liberally. Mr. Stultze, for example, has
subscribed 795_l._ in money, and is a yearly subscriber of 25 guineas.
He has made a present to the institution of the ground for the
erection of almshouses, worth about 1000_l._, and has undertaken to
build six houses at his own expense, for the reception of 20 poor
pensioners. The funds are about 11,000_l._, principally subscribed by
the masters.
“Have you belonged to any other society?—I was clerk to a trade
society, consisting of upwards of 500 men.
“Have you worked in the more crowded shops?—I have worked at Mr.
Allen’s, and Mr. William’s, of Conduit-street, which was a shop
containing about as many men as Mr. Allen’s. I have worked at other
shops, not so large as Mr. Allen’s.
“Have you read Mr. Brownlow’s evidence?—Yes, I have.
“How far do the facts generally coincide with your own
observations?—Generally they do. I agree with him as to the effects of
work in close workshops, and as to the time a man would last as a
workman, under the most favourable circumstances, in a well-ventilated
place. I do not think the drinking of gin was general, to the extent
he mentions; and I think the improvement as to drinking beer, as well
as spirits, is now very great; particularly in spirits, since tea and
coffee have been so much drank. Of late, as far as my knowledge
extends, there is very little beer-drinking in the afternoon. I knew
the individuals he mentions as having saved money, and I have known
many others do so too. Some of them have become opulent and
respectable masters, who were fellow-shopmen with me. I conceive that
the establishment of coffee-shops has been of great benefit to the
health and morals of the men: it has taken them from the public-house.
I have known a very large proportion of men carried off young, and in
middle life, by consumption; but, in general, irregular habits were
mixed up with the effects of the work in close places. The crowding of
the large shops must be considered as occurring only in the season.”
The following is the examination of a tailor in Marlborough, taken by
Mr. Grainger:—
_Charles Dobson_, 58 years old,—
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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