Therearelandlordswhodeemanystyegoodenoughfortheirlabourerandhisfamily，andwhoyetdonotdisdaintodrivewithhimthehardestpossiblebargainforrent。[104]Itmaybebutaruinousone—bedroomedhut，havingnofire—grate，noprivy，noopeningwindow，nowatersupplybuttheditch，nogarden？butthelabourerishelplessagainstthewrong……AndtheNuisancesRemovalActs……are……ameredeadletter……ingreatpartdependentfortheirworkingonsuchcottage—ownersastheonefromwhomhis（thelabourer’s）hovelisrented……Frombrighter，butexceptionalscenes，itisrequisiteintheinterestsofjustice，thatattentionshouldagainbedrawntotheoverwhelmingpreponderanceoffactswhichareareproachtothecivilisationofEngland。Lamentableindeed，mustbethecase，when，notwithstandingallthatisevidentwithregardtothequalityofthepresentaccommodation，itisthecommonconclusionofcompetentobserversthateventhegeneralbadnessofdwellingsisanevilinfinitelylessurgentthantheirmerenumericalinsufficiency。Foryearstheover—crowdingofrurallabourers’dwellingshasbeenamatterofdeepconcern，notonlytopersonswhocareforsanitarygood，buttopersonswhocarefordecentandmorallife。For，againandagaininphrasessouniformthattheyseemstereotyped，reportersonthespreadofepidemicdiseaseinruraldistricts，haveinsistedentheextremeimportanceofthatover—crowding，asaninfluencewhichrendersitaquitehopelesstask，toattemptthelimitingofanyinfectionwhichisintroduced。Andagainandagainithasbeenpointedoutthat，notwithstandingthemanysalubriousinfluenceswhichthereareincountrylife，thecrowdingwhichsofavourstheextensionofcontagiousdisease，alsofavourstheoriginationofdiseasewhichisnotcontagious。
Andthosewhohavedenouncedtheover—crowdedstateofourruralpopulationhavenotbeensilentastoafurthermischief。Evenwheretheirprimaryconcernhasbeenonlywiththeinjurytohealth，oftenalmostperforcetheyhavereferredtootherrelationsonthesubject。Inshowinghowfrequentlyithappensthatadultpersonsofbothsexes，marriedandunmarried，arehuddledtogetherinsinglesmallsleepingrooms，theirreportshavecarriedtheconvictionthat;underthecircumstancestheydescribe，decencymustalwaysbeoutraged，andmoralityalmostofnecessitymustsuffer。[105]Thus，forinstance，intheappendixofmylastannualreport，Dr。Ord，reportingonanoutbreakoffeveratWing，inBuckinghamshire，mentionshowayoungmanwhohadcomethitherfromWingravewithfever，\"inthefirstdaysofhisillnesssleptinaroomwithnineotherpersons。
Withinafortnightseveralofthesepersonswereattacked，andinthecourseofafewweeksfiveoutoftheninehadfever，andonedied……\"FromDr。
Harvey，ofSt。George’sHospital，who，onprivateprofessionalbusiness，visitedWingduringthetimeoftheepidemic，Ireceivedinformationexactlyinthesenseoftheabovereport……\"Ayoungwomanhavingfever，layatnightinaroomoccupiedbyherfatherandmother，herbastardchild，twoyoungmen（herbrothers），andhertwosisters，eachwithabastardchild？10personsinall。Afewweeksago13personssleptinit。;[106]
Dr。Hunterinvestigated5，375cottagesofagriculturallabourers，notonlyinthepurelyagriculturaldistricts，butinallcountiesofEngland。