Page:The homes of the working classes and the promises of the Right Hon. Joseph Chamberlain, M.P.djvu/6



Recently the attention of the workingmen electors has been called to a very difficult and exceedingly grave subject, namely, the condition of the homes in which they dwell. More than one plan has been proposed by which it is intended that the home life of the toilers of the great towns shall be rendered happier and brighter in the future. That the evils of overcrowding in unsanitary areas need grappling with at once must be patent to all who have given the slightest study to the subject. In London and in many provincial towns the poor are huddled together in unwholesome dens, which must be detrimental to health, and tend to stunt the intellectual development of the children, the future electors of the country. Chief amongst the schemes which have been propounded to remedy a deplorable state of affairs is that of a great statesman, the Marquis of Salisbury, who would have the Imperial Legislature take the matter into its early consideration, and by public loans assist corporations in their endeavours to deal with unhealthy areas. All must recognize the great difficulty which surrounds any proposal of this kind. Time, skill, labour, and expense must be freely given to succeed in grappling with so great an undertaking. Vested rights and vested interests must be fairly and honourably dealt with, and one class must not be injured for the purpose of benefiting another. There can be no higher duty for a legislative body to undertake than to do all that is possible towards improving the homes where those who are the backbone of the nation pass their lives.