SQUALID LIFE AND CRIME

Southland Times, Issue 19757, 3 February 1923, Page 11 (Supplement)

SQUALID LIFE AND CRIME

CONDITIONS AT LEEDS. DISMAY OF A JUDGE. Tn his charge to the Grand Jury at Leeds Assizes recently, Mr Justice Greer said that when he arrived at a northern manufacturt ing city two things almost filled him with diem ay, both of which, he was glad to think, in the course of time were cruable by real effort on the part of the inhabitants. The first was the dim, gloomy, grimy condition of the city. They found in a city like Leeds one of two very fine public buildings, the exteriors of w’hich were debased by the smoke and the soot and the dirt created by industrial processes, and by fireszof the homes of the people. Surrounding them were miles and miles of mean streets, with houses of blackened bricks and black surroundings generally. ‘ I cannot help thinking that something might be done, even with the powers that at present exist, to prevent the enormous accumulation oi smoke which makes our manufacturing cities, instead of being an addition to the beauty of the country, a black spot on its face,’’ he said. "I tiunk the time is not far distant when industrial processes will be carried on in such a way that no smoke will result at all. That will be done by a revolution in the processes of manufacture and production of heat. There may come a time when heat will be distributed in our houses in the same way that light is distributed now. But the time is far distant, and I should like to

suggest to those in authority that in tfie meantime something might be done to imorove the atmosphere of these great cities jy stricter administration of the laws which •t present exist.”

The other thing which filled him with dismay, His lordship continued, was the character of the calendar and the nature of the offences. “Im am not at all sure there is not some connection between the things, because nothing tends more to the preservation of social order and obedience of the law than the possession of a home which a man and his wife may enjoy. I think the improvement of slum areas in our towns will necessarily be followed by some diminuation of crime, though it would not abolish crime altogether.”

The present calendar, he added, was the most serious that he had ever had to deal ■with at Leeds. There were three charges of murder, several of attempted murder, the usual cases of fraud, and a very long list of “black list” cases.