The foregoing table is constructed upon the following plan: Whenever less than five families are found in occupancy of

tenements classed as entirely bad upon the inside, the number is indicated by figures in "roman" type [7]. When the num

ber of such families is five but under ten italic type [7] is used, and when the number exceeds ten the figures are presented in full face type [7]. Each line of figures in the table, therefore, forms a graphic picture of the condition of the streets and of the wards as a whole. In the line of totals placed at the head of the table, the 645 families in the tenements under consideration are distributed throughout the different wards, the ward totals rising from one such family in wards 1 and 2, respectively, to 193 in ward 7. The 193 families in ward 7 were found in Baker's Alley, Causeway Street, Crescent Place, Cusson Place, Douglass Court, Eaton Place, Endicott Street, Friend Street, Merrimac Street, Norman Street, North Margin Street, North Margin Street Court, Pitts Street, Prince Street, Salem Street, South Margin Street, Stillman Street, and Travers Street. It is not necessary to particularize the other wards, as the method of reading the table will be clear from what has been said. If this table is used in connection with the table of specific cases on pages 80 to 115, Section II., the location of the tenements classed as bad and the nature of the specific evils reported will be quite apparent. Of course some of the tenements which are not entirely bad, but are bad as to light and air, ventilation, or cleanliness, should be improved; but the first step must be taken with reference to the tenements which are entirely bad, and which are included in this table.

Outside conditions may be remedied by better drainage, improvements in paving, and, in general, enforcement of cleanliness, particularly in private alleys and court-yards. At present there exists no comprehensive plan for continuously caring for the private ways of the city. The duty of keeping such places clean rests of course primarily upon the abutter, but it is a duty apt to be neglected by him even in the best districts of the city; and as the city increases in size and the population is concentrated, the evils resulting from this neglect increase until the public health is threatened, and the private way becomes a public nuisance unless attended to by the Board of Health.

It would seem that some definite plan of regularly keeping such places clean, either as part of the general street cleaning service of the city, or in some other way, should be devised at once. Such a plan would tend to remove many of the evils

which now exist upon the outside of the tenements. Great improvement has been made in recent years in the general cleanliness of the streets of the city; indeed, one familiar with other cities must at once acknowledge that a much higher standard with respect to this matter prevails here than in most large cities. The private alley, however, remains, and as long as it exists will in many cases be periodically neglected unless the duty of continuously caring for it is assumed by the city as part of its general street cleaning system. It surely ought not to be difficult to arrange a practical plan for doing the work, which shall place the cost upon the landlord in the form of an assessment upon the estate, to be paid annually, or in some other way. Legislation may be necessary to accomplish this, but this is not an insuperable obstacle. It would be better for the city to do the work at the public expense, however, than to permit the present lack of system with regard to these places to continue.

The interior condition of the tenements can, of course, be improved by the landlord. Some landlords exercise constant care as to the condition of their property, but unfortunately all are not so scrupulous. The cases are by no means infrequent where the landlord exercises very little supervision over his property, but leaves its entire charge to an agent; and under such circumstances, instances are not rare of neglect to make necessary repairs or to remedy evils which the owner, after personal inspection, might be inclined to remove. If, for sanitary reasons, a tenement is unfit for human habitation it should be abandoned or improved. It does not seem that any additional legislation is required to enforce action on the part of the landlord or to prevent the occupancy of unfit tenements. The law already amply provides for such contingencies and its enforcement is placed in the hands of the Board of Health. This Board is continuously acting in such cases, and, as previously stated, has corrected, since the present report was prepared, some of the evils noted in it, and as part of its policy is still acting in the same direction.

The powers of this Board are very broad, and its action hardly open to revision if exercised in good faith. For instance, a Board of Health is empowered to "make such regulations as it judges necessary for the public health and safety,