less expensive because the government would not have to pay for the cost of cholera outbreaks. In his report from 1842, Chadwick evidenced the connection between disease and sanitation. It should be noted that Chadwick was a believer in the miasma theory, though this does not change the evidence that he found. His evidence provides a window into the grave conditions suffered by the poor.
The poor lived in conditions that made them more vulnerable to disease. According to Mr. Thomas H. Smith, the medical officer of the Bromley union, there were poor drainage systems, trash and organic matter, and foul material associated with raising pigs near cottages. Mr. Smith states that these are the breeding grounds of malaria and fever, but also mentions cholera. This waste was not the result of disinterest in their own health or desire to be dirty, but the result of poor waste collection systems and a lack of knowledge. Many commented on the conditions suffered.…show more content… Robert Atkinson, a witness of conditions from Gateshead, ‘It is impossible to give a proper representation of the wretched state of many of the inhabitants of the indigent class…’ This expresses the conditions that fostered the spread of cholera. Two streets, Pipewellgate and Killgate, Mr. Atkinson says, ‘to a stranger would appear inimical to the existence of human beings…’ Streets that seem more likely to kill than foster life reflect the desperate need for reform. Inmates used ‘chamber utensils, which are suffered to remain in the most offensive state for several days and are then emptied out of the windows.’ The poor lived in such awful sanitation conditions that it is no wonder they experienced cases of cholera. Mr. Atkinson goes on to describe the housing conditions on Pipewellgate and Killgate streets, saying that each apartment had seven to nine inhabitants with only two bed in each. Still from Mr. Atkinson, a description of a cholera victim’s
