THE CONTROL OF LAUNDRIES
SIR,—If the Secretary of the Institution of British Laundries, Ltd., really thinks that I wrote to The Spectator without even taking the trouble to make full enquiries he will probably be awakened with a rather painful jerk. The whole point of my letter was that the Act to which the Secre- tary refers is now out of date, and that nothing has been done by the public health authorities to meet the changed conditions.
There must be a great many of your readers whose eyes were opened when the slums were evacuated in 1939 who will have a pretty good idea of the difference that the combined shortage of soap and surplus of money is making to the laundries. I hope they will press for a thorough investigation of the whole problem by the Government. It is futile to rely, as the Institution of British Laundries does, on regulations of the verboten type or on laws that cannot be enforced. The Ministry of Health could help the Ministry of Education to build up, in the elementary schools, the same tradition of hygiene as has been built up by the ancient public schools, but it is, of course, a very slow process. In the meantime, a large quantity of very dirty and dangerous clothing of all sorts has to be dealt with and it presents a very urgent scientific problem. It is a problem that involves several of the Government departments, and it should be tackled by a strong scientific committee.—I am, Sir, &c.,
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