FILTH AND SQUALOR.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 16815, 18 August 1922, Page 9

FILTH AND SQUALOR.

SLUM CONDITIONS IN CHRISTCHURCH. DRASTIC ACTION URGED. Instances of conditions ot filth and qualour in some homes of the poorer classes of Christchurch were quoted at n special combined meeting ot members of the Society for the Protection of "Women and Children, the Coal and Blanket Fund and other social workers, held yesterday afternoon. The Row C. A Fraer presided over a largo attendance. Miss Gardale reported that on Monday she had taken two reporters to see a number of the worst cases that had como under her notice. In tho first place visited three girls and two hoys were sleeping in one room. The second place visited was in a very filthy condition. a horrible odour pervading the •whole place. There were fire children, and they were not taught the ordinary decencies of life. The man was at home at the time of the visit. A member : The man got a job at 13s a. day, but lie was too tired to turn up the other dayContinuing. Miss Cardale said that the filth at the third place visited was almost indescribable. There were six y bung children—boys and girls—and five of them slept in the one bed. The man was now working, but v/a* out of work for four months, during which time he had apparently done nothing to alleviate the conditions under which he was living. At this house there was a baby seven weeks old. Another case had been reported to her that day oi a woman and her husband and six children who were living in two rooms, for which they were paying 22s 6d a week rent. There was another woman, with four children, and two of her sisters living in the same house, which had seven rooms. “ FILTHY. J>IRTY PEOPLE.” “ Can we do anything in this matter f” asked the Rev F. Rule. Ho added that they had periodical reports of these kind of cases, but if they shifted the people away from where they were living, they would go to another district and live under similar condi--1 ions. Mr S. E. McCarthy suggested that the houses could be demolished if they were insanitary, otherwise they could be ddue up. Airs H. F. Herbert said that if the houses were repaired, the people would have them in just as bad condition in a few weeks’ time. They were filthy, dirty people, and nothing seemed to bo able to make them live decently. In one case the children were so filthy that they were kept separate from tho other children in the school. Mv M’Carthv: Then they are not under proper control, and can be dealt with accordingly. Mrs Herbert said she thought the health inspectors should pay greater attention to these houses- What was worse was that babies were being continually born in these houses. How the St Helens nurses attended them .she did not know. In some of the places sh© had visited there were no sheets, the blankets were filthy and the maltresees were in an awful condition. Tn one case the people had burnt practically everything about the place for firewood. The shed and fences had been pulled down, and everything burnable bad been put on the fires. The landlords could not be blamed because of tho condition of these houses. If such people had to live in houses she thought the Government must bear the brunt of it. It was not fair to ask landlords to put up with such people. Then there was another class, consisting of people who could not, get homes, and had to live under bad conditions. She found in many of these cases that the women gradually got more and more slummy, they were slipping back all the time. These people must be assisted before it was too late.

PEOPLE WHO WON’T KEEP CLEAN. Mrs BiltclifF said that in some cases if the people were cleaned up they would he just ns bad again immediately afterwards. She would defy all the health inspectors in the world to make some people keep clean. Mr Reroll moved:—(l) “That the Health Department he asked to use the powers it- possesses under the Public Health Act. to insist on all insanitary houses in Christchurch being put forthwith in a sanitary condition”; (2) That the health authorities be informed that children are being born nnd bred in these insanitary dwellings; Ihat the children themselves are in describably filthy ; that attention has been drawn to these matters for some mne past but that whatever steps may have been taken bv the authorities. In tie improvement has taken place in either the condition of the houses or the children dwelling therein.” Me know the cases and we know the conditions under which these people are living and now we want to see that something is done to clean them up.” said Mr Rovell. They owed a duty to the children to sec that something was done for them. There was overcrowding in a number of houses and this had a bad moral effect, especially where boy* and girls were sleeping together. Those whose dutv it was to visit the- gaols knew that the inmates of gaols very often went in for the crudest Measure* and vices, and these men lived under the condition-, referred t » that afternoon. • How was a sense of the beautiful to enter into homes where there was such squalor, filth an.l horror? 111-trained ns they were and living as thev were, was it any wonder that tho boye and girls from such homes went out and engaged in the vdest orgies of drunkenness and vice? That was their idea of pleasures. Social workers were doing their l»e.st ft alleviate the conditions by (supplying blankets, coal, and food, and tried r«* persuade the people to clean their places up, but he had to admit that often the help given was wasted. Tt required some legal power to make these people do it Persuasion could not make them keep clean, but the power of the iaw could. POWER OF THE LAW. Mrs Herbert; ft can do it. You never see any of these cases at tho. Court. Mr Rovell went on to say that more frequent visit* should be paid to these places by tfm health officers. The social workers were doing their part and the health officer* should do theirs. If the houses were kept deoently clean and the windows opened so as to let tJvis irswn *ir in. the beds and the « lothfca would not smell *o filthily. The social workers could not allow the people to starve. The health officers had garbage and filth cleared up from hotels and restaurants in order to prevent plague, but if the plague did come it would not be as bad as allowing children to be born and bred under uch terrible conditions as existed in t hrisichurch. Mrs U. Malcolm sail she had been working on the Coal and Ranket Fund for over fifteen years and she was satisfied that drunkeimes*-! was u 1 the bottom of much of the trouble. 8! he

knew of many homes where the huebands were nearly always drunk, consequently the children were dirty, filthy and uncared for. They never had anything beautiful in their lives; everything about them was squalid. The health officers could do a certain amount but tlicv could not make drunkards give un drinking or the women, many of whom were perhaps born under exactly the same conditions themselves, improve their homes. The children were physically, morally and spiritualI." starred. Sh* bed pleasure m seconding the resolution. Mrs Biltcliff : We want the health officers to visit them every day until the conditions are improved. Mr Rule said ho wanted to know what was meant bv putting bouses “ in a. sanitary condition.” It was not the bouses that were at fault but tho blankets, the room*? and the people living in them. It would take tho Christchurch Fire Brigade to clean some of the houses out. I'he chairman said that the definition of insanitary- conditions could very well be left to the discretion of the health officers. Tho two resolutions moved by Air Rovell were then put to the meeting and carried. SEGREGATION. Mr Al’Carthy then moved :—“ That in some few case*? parents mentally subnormal are living together and the mothers are giving birth to sub-normal children constituting large families, the care of which will in the near and the distant future cause considerable expense to the State. It in advisable that power be taken to separate such parents and segregate each sex in special institutions, such ;ua farm colonies, or provision be made for surgical treatment.” The mover said that some reference had been made to the part that excessive drinking played in the state of affairs -they were considering and he was satisfied that excessive drinking was primarily the course of the trouble. Children born of drunken parents had their parents’ weaknesses transmitted to them. The only remedy when they had these sub-normal people, was to separate them and segregate them so that they could not propagate their species. He knew it would be said that in the present time of financial stress, such steps could not be taken, but he was ©fcrongly of tho opinion that action should not be delayed on any consideration. Parliament .should do something to rid the community of these, awful

Afru Herbert seconded the motion. •She said that she thought Air M’Cnrthy’s method of segregation was a good method, but she thought there was a better way and that the people could be dealt with scientifically. Many f of these people were not vicious, hut were easily led astray. When they were in homes they were good workers and gave no trouble, but as soon as they got to the street* again they returned to their former habits. She thought it was quite time the country made an attempt to save, future generations ex. pen.se caused by these people. Air Al’Carthy *aid that surgical operations were performed on male degenerates in certain American States. After further discussion Afr M’Oarthy’s motion was carried. Tt was decided that copies of the re-

solutions should he forwarded to the Prime Minister, the Minister of Public Health, the Commissioner of Police. "the Aleclical Ofifiioor of Health in Christchurch, the Mayor and the Town Clerk of Christchurch.