The Express.
London, England, 1852-09-06 00:00:00

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1 ONDON. MONDAY, SEPT. 6.

Two medical inspectors, Dr. SL'IIIfiILAND and Mr.
Oatinosta, hare been eppointed "to watch the
threatening. and approach of cholera" This is a
step io the right direction, but one step is not
enough. Three years ago the cholera was amongst
is. We were crouching under the influence of the
most dreadful visitor that has appeared on our shores
since the days of the plague, and we acted an men
sally will art in the immediate presence of death
or danger. We reckoned up our backsliding*, we
confessed them freely, we repented grievously, we
were reedy to do penance for our past transgressions,
and to promise never to offend again for the future,
What was there we did not vow we would do?
What measure of contempt was large enough for
the wight who should have dared to mention such
a weed as economy when put into the'
balance against public safety, or who
hinted that we must take care not to
beach on the liberty of the subject when striving
for sanitary reform. Economy, indeed! liberty.
how could people prate about these things while
death was at every door? It is scarcely an ezegge.
ration to say that there were numbers who would
have scarcely hesitated about adding • heavy per
ventage to the national debt, or publicly
.burning
the original Magna Charts, if by such a prom they
could have bought off the present danger and secured
immunity for the future. The least, however, that
was supposed necessary in order to repair
our past negligence was, that measures should
be taken to drain the metropolis tho-
roughly, to cleanse the river, to take care that
the high tide should no longer send back the
sewage into the streets and cellars, to allow no more
deed bodies to rot under our noses, to provide that
the supply of fresh water should be abundant and cheap,
and lastly, that common lodging houses,—a perennial
source of disease,—should be swept away or made sub-
ject to such regulations as would render them in-
anxious. This was three yeses ago; how much of
our eelf•indieted penance has been performed? We
are very much mistaken if as much has been done
as would release us from an infinitesimally small
fraction of these evils which we were so eager to
buy off. The metropolis has not been drained. Iles
river has nut been cleansed. The burying grounds
still receive dead bodies, and common lodging.
houses still exist in all their deformity.
It is to the latter fact we now wish to draw espe-
cial public attention. Twice within the last few
datshave the officers appointed to inspect the
Iu • (-houses appeared before the magistrates
with -large batches of summonses for receiv-
ing lodgers without registration. It may be
said that this is an evidence of activity
and desire to remelt • nuisance. The reply to
this is, that the nuisance ought never to have reached
such • head, and that there is every reason to suspect
that nothing but a sudden alarm at the probable
appearance of the cholera has excited the uncommon
activity. How is it that we have heard little or
nothing of the continuation of the abuse until
within the lest week or two? The details of wretch-
edness, filth, disease, and want of common decency,
which were revealed on the examinations of the per-
sons who attended in obedience to the summonses were
fearful and revolting. Six persons, it appeared in one
case, held each a separate room in a public-house
is Rosemary-lane, which they sublet to various
weekly and nightly tenants. The whole house was
described to be in • filthy state, and emitted a deadly
alluvium. The only one of the persons who ap-
peared to the summons was • woman, who paid eigh-
teen-pence per week for her room, and sub-let it to
seven different persons. This, however, does not tell
the whole tale. On the night of the Sith of August
the inspector entered the rem, acd the asesant he
gives is as follows:
la the lint bed were twe num owned Alba red Wrni•••
Moore On a bedstead, bite elided thes they paid
nothing for the SCOOTISIMMOthe, sal were Mir
time of the defendant. Oa tae @semi had sa the Ism
Prude Coghlant and wife, An paid pr
night. Oa the third bed on the leer Seth Pshin., mr•
infante, and two girls one aged aloe and the other three
lean. Oa • box in the corner of the room a girl aged tea
yews, the daughter a the tenant of the room—in all
ought prom'. The regulation. of the commissioners, if the
room had been registered and licensed, would have oaly
allowed these persona.
So mach for one room. An inspection of another
brought to light a condition of things still more
revolting.
In this TOM. occupied by Daniel Daly, and for whisk be
paid 2a. 4d. per week, were five bode on the floor. Theist
iteatained Daly and his wife and their two sons, on. 7 swift
other 5 yeses of age; the wend, three Irishman.. builed
Curnelias Toomey John Shea, sad Peter Shea, vie bib
paid Id. pet week.for the privilege of sleeping nisbfillgw
shakedown," which was swarming with
third bed essitaisted Jobe Sullivan and his vb.
paid 7d. per week. The fourth bed contained
, his wife, a girl aged 13, andea
77:11. who paid le. per week, and the fifth.
ell y and La wife, who paid 10d. per week. Mrs INN
is all 14 adults is this dark, dirty, and dismal me.. Then
were fear other mew is the house let and mallet is a
wailer 11111•41.

The manner in which the eismannlest Mee el do-
esoey were violated was described by the isereslie
es something thoroughly revolting but, es we OW
simply alluding to these facts u touching upon tbe
ossuary question, we pees this by. It appears,
thee, that three years' freedom from the cholera
lads us very meek where we were. Here we are
still by the side of a pestilential river, keeping up
well-charged reservoirs of miasma in the shape of
Illthy lodging-houses, and providing for a constant
supply of deadly vapour by filling our graveyards.
la the populous district of Portland Town and St.
John's Wood there is one burial-ground which still
receives about two thousand corpses annually.
And this is the state in which the cholera will
find us if it makes its approach this year. How far
the alarm at present exhibited is founded on fact we
cosset my. It appears to us that there are not yet
sufficient data to guide us to a sound conclusion on
the subject, and Mr. Oaxntosa, one of the newly-
appointed officials, has started off for Magdeburg to
ere what can be made out about the m-
anes of the disease. In the meantime it is
enough to remark that it is doing its fearful work in
some of those parts of Europe over which it last
peened before its former visit to England, and that,
if it takes us unprepared, it will be our own fault.
la some villages of the Continent, 33 per cent. of the
pe”laticie have been carried of .
Now, there is no doubt that even three year is not
sufficient time for the carrying out all those plane of
amelioration to which allusion has been made. We
cannot expect impossibilities from governmeab
or corporations, or isolated societies. The
very freedom of our municipal institedeme
is of itself occasionally an obstacle in the
way of effecting quickly sweeping measures of
Morro. The river, the burial grounds the water
companiee, and the lodging houses, could not become
pure in a day. All we contend for is, that the prin-
ciple of esteem being recognised, it ought to have
bees acted upon, gradually at least, so as to have
prevented the occurrence of such facts as we have
bleu obliged to record. It is an ugly confession
to make, that after sleeping for so lone, we arc
awakened only by a cry of danger, and then burst
oat into such disordered activity that we shall
probably do as much damage by our bustle as we
have allowed to accumulate by our negligence. After
so long a time has clip.. 1 since • terrible warning
was given, we ought not to have heard of large
lookkea of summonses being required. The work
ought to hateeein dune gradually. Forewarned se I
we were, ht to have been forearmed. All
the cholera districts were well known and marked
during the last visitation, and the three years which
have *lapsed have affinued sufficient time to purify
them. In his report for the years 11449-30, Mr.
Strom, the corer of henith for the City. expressed
himself thee to the Commissioners of *were:—

I %Mak it right to teU For that the local predileeti.ns
of this dreadful disease or! so narked ,r.d obst3nste,

souses, perhaps in the cccy rooms, wits!e it recently pm-
' ',Aril, unless the do termintag local conditions sAalispress-
Nagy Aare been annwied.
It can scarcely be denied that if the warning im-
plied in this passage had been acted open, we
should not have been found unprepared. Tel us
hope, however, that no return et the fatal disease
will give us greater cause for repentance than we
have already in our past negligence. The Board of
health have secured the appointment of two me-
dical oaken to take such steps as may be best cal-
culated to mitigate any attack of cholera upon the
country ; and, economists as we are, we have every
wish that these gentlemen's appointments may be
s necures—so fez as absolute contact with the dis-
ease is concerned. But that they will have plenty to
do in the shape of pitaing out evils for abatement is
quite certain. Loudon is the largest of modern
cities, and the wealthiest—why should we not make
it the healthiest also ?