The  meanincr  attached  to  the  term  ove7^-
croivding  is  in  each  case  the  same,  namely,
the  occupation  of  one  room  as  a  dwelling  by
more  than  two  persons  ;  and  the  percentage  of
the  population  that  is  overcrowded  is  given  in
each  case.  The  facts  thus  brought  to  liojht  are
illustrated  in  Fio^.  9.
The  parallelogram  of  which  the  figure
consists  is  divided  into  seventeen  horizontal
sections,  each  section  representing  the  popu-
lation of  a  town.  The  shaded  portions  of  each
represent  that  portion  of  the  population  in
question  which  is  housed  more  or  less  satis-
factorily. The  unshaded  portions  represent
the  percentage  which  is  in  each  case  over-
crowded. It  will  be  seen  that  this  percentage
is  highest  in  certain  northern  towns,  and  in
Plymouth  ;  the  percentage  of  overcrowding  in


Fig.  9.
136         THE  CONDITION  OF  THE  PEOPLE

London  being  not  half  of  what  it  is  in  Gates-
head, and  not  much  more  than  half  of  what  it
is  in  Newcastle.  Again,  in  Liverpool  the  over-
crowding is  about  half  of  what  it  is  in  London  ;
whilst  in  ]\Ianchester  and  Bristol  it  is  less  than
a  half,  in  Preston  less  than  a  quarter,  and  in
Nottingham  less  than  a  sixth.  Again,  Ply-
mouth and  Portsmouth  are  towns  in  many-
ways  of  the  same  character ;  and  yet  Plymouth
is  one  of  the  four  most  overcrowded  towns  in
the  kingdom,  whilst  there  is  in  Portsmouth
hardly  any  overcrowding  at  all.
If  there  were  any  truth  in  the  theory  that
overcrowding  is  due  to  the  extortion  of  the
landlords,  we  should  find  that  the  percentage
of  overcrowding  in  the  towns  just  named  had
some  general  correspondence  with  the  rents.
