The "touchiness of the lower class" causes them to be offended by the very sanitary regulations designed for their benefit.
But "shelter" is not the only thing for which the poor pay high.
Astounding facts are adduced as to the prices paid by the poor for common articles of consumption, especially for vegetables, dairy produce, groceries, and coal.

The price of fresh vegetables, such as carrots, parsnips, &c., in East London is not infrequently ten times the price at which the same articles can be purchased wholesale from the growers.[8] Hence arises the popular cry against the wicked middleman who stands between producer and consumer, and takes the bulk of the profit.

There is much want of thought shown in this railing against the iniquities of the middleman.

It is true that a large portion of the price paid by the poor goes to the retail distributor, but we should remember that the labour of distribution under present conditions and with existing machinery is very great.

We have no reason to believe that the small retailers who sell to the poor die millionaires.