The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-05-31 00:00:00

WORKMEN'S DWELLINGS.

On Saturday afternoon the Right Hon. R. A. Cross,
M.P., the Home Secretary, laid the foundation stone
of ail additional block to the "Beaconsfield•buildings,”
which have been erected by the Victoria D mailings
Association, at Stroud-vale, near King's•cross, London.
The ceremony waa attended by a number of noblemen
and ladies and gentlemen interested in the society's
work, among whom may be mentioned the Earl and
Countess of Stradbroke, Earl Stanhope, the Earl of
Belmore, Lady Stella Rotas, Mr. Walter, M.P., chair-
man of the association ; Colonel Bridgeman, Mr. H. W.
Petre, Sir G. Elliot, M.P., Sir H. Hart, C. 8., Mr. H.
Praed, M.P., Mr. Ritchie, M.P., Mr. J. Clutton, Mr.
H. R. Farrer, Mr. J. H. Lloyd, Mr. C. Lucas, Mr.
T. Lucas, Mr. J. W. Eccles, Major-General Scott,
C.B. hon. sec.; the Rev. Canon Barry, and Mr. C.
Barry, architect to the association. In furtherance of
its obrect, which is the better housing of the labouring
classes, not as a work of charity, bilt as a commercial
speculation, calculated to yield a moderate return to
investors, the association has already erected build-
ings at Battersea and Stroud-vale to accommod ite
some 2000, people, and the new block of which the
foundation stone was laid on Saturday will re-
ceive 950 more. One of the blocks at Battersea is for
the accommodation of artisans; all the others have
been designed for the labouring class, who are more
especially the object of the society's care. In all of
them great attention has been paid to the sanitary
arrangements, and, as the rooms are let singly or in
twos and threes, a min of small means can obtain at a
most moderate rate just the amount of accommodation
he may require for himself or his family.
The whole neighbourhood of Stroud vale seemed to
make a fête on Saturday in honour of the occasion the
various approaches to the scene of the ceremony being
gay with flags and crowded with spectators. The band
of the Royal Caledonian Asylum and a choir of children
from a neighbouring Board school were present.
The proceedings were commenced by Mr, Walter,
M. P., who, after a few preliminary remark, spoke as
follows

"Good Queen Bess in her time found London too
large, and said that no one should add another house to
it on pain of her severe displeasure. From Queen
Elizabeth's point of view I have no doubt London was
too large, It contained at that time 200,000 souls, and,
with the exception of a few palaces lining the Strand,
it consisted probably of nothing but miserable lanes
and filthy hovels, with no sanitary accommodation
except cesspools, if, indeed, the sanitary reformer of
that day had got BO far in his ideas. But I need not
say that the idea of stopping the growth of London
was about as feasible as that of the famous Mrs.
Partington, who attempted to stop the flow of the
tide with her mop. London has continued to grow
from that time till the present, until at length it has
reached a size which would have appeared absolutely
incredible to the. statesman and philanthropists of
Queen Elizabe-th's day, and which it is impossible
even now to realize without the aid of some interesting
comparisons. Manchester, Liverpool, and Glasgow
contain each about half a niillion.of people, but all
three put together would not form the half of London.
To make up the balance you would require to add
Dublin, Edinburgh, Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield,
and a few other towns of smaller size. Well, now, in
this enormous metropolis every family, I suppose,
would desire, if it were possible, to possess a home of
its own, and, if it were possible to go on extending
London indefinitely, there would be no occasion Jos
associations such as that lam representing today. But,
as you all know, the requirements of business make
it absolutely necessary that a large portion of the
population should be housed as near as possible to
their place of work, and in the absence of such idocks
of buildings as you have before you there h no alter-
native from miserable, crowded dwellings of which we
have had so much experience, and of which so many
still survive—tenements where sometimes even more
than one family are lodged in the same room. In
such a state of things it is hardly necessary to say that
great unhealthiness must exist, and espenially great
mortality among the infant population. In spite of
its enormous size, London as a whole is by far the
healthiest city in the world. After some observations
on the diminution of the rate of mortality by sanitary
improvements, Mr. Walter introduced Mr. Cross as
"too Minister of Civilization," as he felicitiously
styled him.
Mr. Cross' who was received with great cheering,
then stepped forward and said : _ _ _

"My lords, ladies, and gentlemen, and also, I must
add, 30U working men,—l want to say a few words to
three different classes of people. First, to you work-
ing men. If there is one thing upon which your happi-
ness depends more than another it is your home, and
in the matter of your home you are bound to con-
sult your wife's happiness as well as your own. It
is your first duty to provide your wife with a
happy home, and if you do so you will tenfold
reap the benefit yourselves. I want now to say a
word to those who interest themselves in the work
of this association, not so much for their own
henefit as for the benefit of their fellow creatures.
Under the Artisans and Labourers' Dwellings' Act it
is easy to clear the ground of the hovels and dens in
which, unfortunately, working men have been con-
demned to live; but dwellings cannot be erected in
their place without money. It is mgney which an
association of this kind requires in order to carry out
its useful operations; but it does not want the money
to be offered in charity. It proposes to pay a reason-
able interest on commer9ial principles, and those who
purchase its shares will not only confer a wilt benefit
upon their fellow creatures, but eventually benefit
themselves. And now /et me say a word to the general
public. They must not be impatient of the results of
such undertakings as these. the growth of the misery
of London. has been the growth of centuries, and can-
not be undone in a day, or a year, or even in many years.
I have been told that the Act which we passed in
1875 has not borne the fruits expected of it. I entirely
deny that. A vast amount of money has been spent
by the Metropolitan Board of Works and the City of
Lindn in clearing the ground of unwholesome habita-
tions, and in place of these I hope within a very few
years to find magnificent buildings erected by this and
other similar associations. The providing of such
dwellings must not be a work of charity. The
houses must be let at such a rent as to afford a
moderate but only a moderate, return to the share-
holders. I hope the effect of this a) eeting will be to in-
terest people still more in this association, and that every
one of the ladies and gentlemen now present will not
only come forward themselves if they have not already
done so, but endeavour to induce their friends to come
forward and assist in this greAt work, You talk of
drunkenness, idleness, dissipation, and vice. I believe
there isibothing that will be half so efficacious in cur;ng
these evils as to put it in the power of working men
to provide themselves and those in whose welfare they
are interested with happy homes. For that reason I
heartily wish this and all similar undertakings "god-
speed," and I hope before I die to see a great change
in the • physical constitution of this metropolis.
(Cheers.)
The stone was then laid. On the conclusion of the
ceremony,

_
The Earl of Stradbroke briefly pr..posed, and Earl
Stanhope seconded, a vote of thanks to Mr. Cross,
which was briefly responded to, and the proceedings
terminated.