The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-17 00:00:00

BATHS AND WASH-HOUSES FOR
THE LABOURING CLASSES.
A numerous and most respectable meeting was held
yesterday at the Mansion-house, for the purpose of
forming an institution for the establishment of baths
and washing-houses for the use of the working classes
and the labouring poor. A great number of ladies
were present, and on the platform we observ(d the
Bishop of London, Archdeacons Wilberforce and
Hale, Mr. Byng, M.P. for Middlesex, Lord D. C.
Stuart, and several other noblemen, Members of Par-
liament, and dignitaries of the Church. The chair
was taken at two o'clock, by
The LORD MAYOR, who said that he had received
a requisition calling upon him to sanction a meeting
in that hall, for ;the object mentioned in the adver-
tisement. He would not enlarge upon the advan-
tages of establishing baths and wash-houses for the
poorer classes, as many gentlemen were present who
had devoted their attention to the subject, and would,
he had no doubt, prove the utility of the proposed in-
stitution.--(A pplause.)
The Bishop of LONDON, amidst much applause,
came forwar Ito move the first resolution, which was
to the effect that "great advantage would be conferred
upon the working-classes and the labouring poor by
the establishment of baths and wash-houses, of which
they could have the use at a small expense." As the
resolution simply stated a matter of fact, it
would not be necessary for him to occupy
the meeting with many observations. But he would
briefly state the reasons which had induced several
benevolent individuals to propose raising subscriptions
for the object, which had been circulated and made
extensively known by advertisements. The object
might seem, upon a first view, to be of a trifling kind;
but viewing as to its probable—he would say, certain
results—he would not hesitate to describe it as one
of the very first importance.—(Hear, hear.) The
crowds who thronged the streets of this great and
rich metropolis, and who were surrounded at every
step by the evidences of its wealth and grandeur,
were not aware of the wretchedness which was occa-
sioned by that splendour.—(Hear, hear.) They were
little aware of the misery which surrounded those
magnificent shops, filled with the riches of the world.
The merchant princes of the City were not themselves
aware of it. No one was aware of it,- except those
who were brought into hourly contact with it, by
the duties of their professions—the medical men, and
the ministers of religion. A great part of that misery
arose from the crowded habitations of the poor, which
precluded them from those habits of decency and
cleanliness which were necessary to health and mo-
rality.—(Hear.) Upon that ground it was impos-
sible not to see the necessity of mitigating, if not of
altogether removing, the misery which existed in
the metropolis and all large towns.—(Hear.) Indeed,
he thought that the mind of the public was now
pretty well made up upon the subject. A great deal
had been effected by the inquiries instituted by the
Government as to the sanatory condition of the great
towns, the result of which showed the misery, squalid
wretchedness, and compulsory barbarism, in which a
large number of our fellow-creatures were placed in
the midst of redundant wealth.—(Hear, heal%) Great
credit was due to the Government, and. those who
assisted them in their painful investigation, as to the
extent and causes of the physical and moral degrada-
tion of so important and deserving a. portion of the
people.—(Applause.) It was not necessary for him
to trouble the meeting with any observations of his
own, but he would read the observations of a benevo-
lent gentleman who had devoted much. time and
professional skill to the investigation'ef the subject—he
meant Dr. Southwood Smith.—(Applause.). The
Right Rev. Prelate then read an extract from Dr.
Smith's work, to the effect, that "a clean and orderly
house has a moral effect upon the. inhabitants, and
tended to form habits of propriety and order in
themselves, and of respect to each' other, which no
laws could produce ; whereas, in squalid and filthy
houses, the decencies of life could not be ofiserved."—
(Hear, hear.) He then read an extract from the
report of the Inspectors of Prisons in Edinburgh,
which recommended the establishment of baths
and wash-houses in all large—towns, _-In two
ways sickness and squalidness induced crime
—by enfeebling the man, and forcing him- to seek a
living by the easiest means, and by cutting short the
lives of virtuous parents.—(Hear, hear.) He had
seen lately some laudable efforts made to ameliorate
the condition of the poor, by improving their habita-
tions; and, in proportion as that was effected, those
who visited them for their moral and religious inte-
rests found it more easy to impress them with a sense
of their duties. He feared, however, that it would
be a long time before those efforts could be attended,
he would not say with complete success, but with any
great extent of success. But were they to be de-
terred in the meantime from doing something to alle-
viate the condition of the poor in their present -habita-
tions ?—(Hear, hear.) Two modes of doing so were
proposed by the resolution which be held in his hand
—the establishment of public baths and of. public
wash-houses. He would not enlarge upon the value
of the frequent use of baths. They were found to be
of great benefit to the rich—they would be much
more so to the poor.—(Hear.) There was no fact in
pathology better established, than that nothing was
more conducive to health than frequent ablution ; and
he need not say that whatever promoted the health
and comfort of the labouring classes, increased their
usefulness in society.—(Hear.) The Right Rev.
Prelate then went into details respecting the public
baths and wash-houses at Liverpool, in which it ap-
peared, that although the baths were on a con-
tracted scale, 22Q labourers bathed in one day.
One man told him, after he had a bath on a Saturday,
that he felt himself able to do another week's work.—
(Hear, and a laugh.) Surely if he felt so much re•
freshed, he would be more able and more disposed
to:attend to his soul's health on the Lord's day.—(Hear,
hear.) The clergy around him would bear him out,
that there was no greater cause of the neglect of Di-
vine service on that day by the labouring classes,
than the compulsory filthiness in which they lived.—
(Hear, hear.) It had been objected to the proposed
institution that there were already baths in the me-
tropolis which the poor could use at a small ex-
pense. But it was not the object of the society to
make large public baths, but such as each man could
use by himself, and in private, with an unlimited sup-
ply of hot and cold water—(Hear, hear)—as was the
case in Liverpool.—(flear.) This was not to be re-
garded in the light of a luxury, but of a necessary
refreshment, which could not be dispensed with.—
(Hear.) The next object was the formation of public
wash-houses. In reference to this part of the subject,
he would observe that the crowded and unwholesome
state of the dwellings of the poor was admitted. Now
he would remind those who poss7ssed property in this
great City, and who were engaged in the honourable
and lucrative pursuit of commerce, that every im-
provement in the streets increased the wretchedness of
the poor.—(Hear, hear.) In St. Giles's many thou-
sands had been displaced by the recent improvements,
and these were driven to increase the overcrowded
population of the poorer districts—(Hear, hear)—
therefore those who took pride in the improvement of
the external appearance of the metropolis, were
bound to do something towards alleviating the
evils which those improvements brought upon
the poor.—(Hear, hear.) A few years ago, a
benevolent nobleman, Lord Sandon, employed per-
sons to visit the wealthy parish of St. George's,
Hanover-square, and it was found that there were in
that seat of opulence 929 families living in one room
for each family; and he himself knew of 64 indi-
viduals of 16 families, occupying one house of 16
rooms, in the City.—(Hear.) In Whitechapel and
Bethnal-green the case was worse. Not only was it
impossible, under such circumstances, that the mother
of a family could properly attend to the washing of
the clothing, but whatever washing was done in the
crowded room must be attended with injury to the
health of the poor inmates, by the damp which it
occasioned. Besides, he had the testimony of medical
gentlemen, that the difficulty of obtaining water was
such, that the clothes were washed in filthy water,
and with substitutes fur soap which could not be
mentioned in that meeting. Would it not be an incal-
culable benefit to those people to provide them with
the means of well washing and drying their clothes
at a small expense ?—(Hear.) It was said the
women would do mishief to one another when they
met at- the public wash-house. But the experience
at Liverpool proved that they were too much occu-
pied to do so; and even if they did talk over their
grievances, he, for one, could see no harm in that.—
(Cheers and laughter.) After some further observa-
tions of the same tendency, the Right Rev. Prelate
concluded, amidst much applause, by moving the
resolution.
Mr. BYNG, M.P. for Middlesex, who was greeted
with repeated cheers, seconded the resolution. He
said, that a few weeks ago, when he was absent from
town, he received a letter, signed " W. C.," and from
the good sense and good feeling with which the letter
appealed to him, he ventured to take upon himself
to send the answer to the Governor of the Bank of
England, and to tell him how happy he should be to
join in the many good works of this noble City—
(Cheers)—which he shad always looked upon as the
first in the world. Therefore he determined to appear
there that day, not thinking that he was to have the
happiness of seconding the resolution. This was a
blessed City, and it was promoted by the Almighty
above all other cities, who favoured men an institu-
tions according to their good works.—(Hear, hear.)
Having, for a greater number of years than any
other person, had the honour of representing the
county of Middlesex, which included London, he
owed a large debt to the City, and he hoped the 4o-
vernor of the Bank would allow him to subscribe in
the amount to which his fifty-four years' Parlia-
mentary connexion entitled him.—(Cheers.)
Mr. GREGG begged leave to stste, before the reso-
lution passed, that he bad erected hails foe the
use of the poor in St. Luke's parish, at an expense
of 1,000/.—(Hear, hear.)
The resolution was tarried tinanimoutlY.