In
many instances the repairs, to be of any use, would have to be
considerable; there would be a difficulty in executing them whilst
the tenants remained in possession. One possibility occurred to him
in the course of examination, and he determined to make use of it;
he would create room by getting rid of the worst tenants, all those,
in fact, whose presence was pollution to the neighbourhood, and whom
it was hopeless to think of reforming. In this way he would be able
to shift about the remaining lodgers without too great a loss to
himself, and avoid the necessity of turning helpless people into the
street.
Mr. Woodstock had considerably more knowledge of the state of his
property, and of the tenants inhabiting it, than is usual with
landlords of his kind; for all that, the present examination brought
to light not a few things which were startling even to him. Since
Waymark had ceased to act as his collector, the office had been
filled by an agent of the ordinary kind, and Mr. Woodstock had, till
just now, taken less interest in the property than formerly. Things
had got worse on the whole. Whereas Waymark had here and there been
successful in suppressing the grosser forms of uncleanliness by
threats of expulsion, and at times by the actual enforcement of his
threat, no such supervision had of late been exercised.
Pages:
488
489
490
491
492
493
494
495
496
497
498
499
500
501
502
503
504
505
506
507
508
509
510
511
512