[TO TEE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR. "]
Sin,—Your correspondents on the subject of undergraduates' rooms seem not to be aware that at Oxford, at any rate, all licensed lodgings (and it is only in these that undergraduates are allowed to reside) are inspected by a firm of sanitary engineers of high standing, and that their recommendations are rigidly enforced. Attention is paid not only to the sani- tary arrangements, and the size and position of the rooms, but also to the number of persons other than lodgers living in the house, and the accommodation reserved for them. The Con- troller of lodging-houses, so far from being one of the "young men, fair classical scholars," &c., whom one of your corre- spondents so distrusts, is a gentleman of. over sixty years of age and a householder of some years' standing, a Guardian of the Poor, and an Alderman. As regards rooms in College, the accusation of your correspondent, " Quondam Don," is couched in so general a form that it is difficult to deal with it. State- ments as to the "majority of Colleges" can hardly be refuted by one who has little knowledge of rooms outside his own College. I doubt whether your correspondent is in any better position. At any rate, his want of acquaintance with the facts as regards the lodging-house system does not inspire one with any confidence in his accuracy. As regards my own College, I can only say that most of the evils which he mentions are non-existent. College bedrooms are no doubt mostly small and without fireplaces, but it is difficult to see how this can be cured without rebuilding the Colleges. It must be remembered that the bedrooms almost invariably communicate directly with the sitting-rooms. I have slept in one of these small bedrooms for thirty years, and I am not aware that my health has suffered from it.—I am, Sir, &c., A TUTQR.
[The suggestion made by Mr. Lupton seems to be already in great part forestalled by the organisations described in the two following letters. We can print no more correspondence on this subject. —En. Spectator.]
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