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, who seconded the motion, said:—I am glad to have an opportunity of saying a few words in support of the resolution proposed by the hon. member for Hastings. The subject is one in which I have taken the greatest interest for many years past. It has never been treated as a party question, and I trust never will be. On the contrary, from my own experience, I have found that right hon. and hon. members of this House, whether sitting on the right or the left of the Chair, have rather vied with each other in their expression of sympathy with the object of the resolution, and I trust that we may hope from this that it may be found acceptable to those who are present here to-night. I do not purpose to take up the time of the House by dwelling upon the evils of over-crowding or drawing a picture of the wretched habitations in the narrow courts and alleys of our Metropolis, in which so many of our labouring population are compelled to reside. I say compelled to reside, because it is as important to the mechanic, the costermonger, and the huckster to reside near to the place of his employment and to the markets for his trade, as it is to the merchant, and perhaps more so, since the poor man cannot afford the daily cost of transit. The proof of this is found in the high prices paid for rooms near the centres of labour. I once asked a poor woman who proposed to remove from the outskirts into London, how she could afford the extra 1s. or 1s. 6d. per week for their two rooms? She replied that she should save much more than 1s. 6d. per week when her husband could come home to his breakfast and dinner instead of taking it in a public house. There can be no doubt that it is absolutely essential to the well-being of the community that the labouring population of our great Metropolis should continue to reside near to their work. The cheap workmen's trains and the tramway cars are, no doubt, a great convenience, but only available where the head of the family is the sole breadwinner. If the earnings of the wife and the children form part of the weekly wages, the family must reside near their work. During the last quarter of a century efforts have been made by several philanthropic societies, public companies, and private individuals to lessen the evils of overcrowding and to improve the dwellings of the labouring class. Much good has, no doubt, been done by these means, and the rents of working-men's houses would but for these efforts have risen much higher even than they have done. But these efforts do not reach the real evil. In very few cases have the