In the paper which Mr. T. 0. Horsfall read last
week at the Charity Organisation Conference there are some facts which call for serious attention. Last year in Manchester about 11,000 young men wished to enlist. Of the 11,000, 8,000 had to be rejected on account of physical defects, and of the 3,000 who were not rejected only 1,072 could be put into the Army ; 2,107 were sent into Militia regiments. What is true of Manchester is true of all our larger towns, and it is a terrible comment on the physical condition of the poor. Mr. Horsfall pleads for the appointment of a Government Commission to provide a code of regulations for controlling the building of dwellings, and for the supply of wide streets and open spaces. He wishes to see some such regulation as the Berlin code adopted, but, as he rightly argues, it is not only powers that are needed, but the knowledge and intelligence for a right use of the power. Unless we can in the next twenty years tackle seriously the slum question we Ethan be physically no lees than morally undone as a nation.
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