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2.—Another difficulty is that overcrowding is like a globule of quicksilver,
which, when the finger is placed upon it, disappears and
reappears elsewhere, but the place where overcrowding reappears
is infinitely the more difficult to find.
3.—A further difficulty is that tenants sometimes deceive owners by
understating the number in family, not bringing the whole
family to the new tenement until some weeks have elapsed after
possession.
Cleansing.—If as suggested the minimum amount of cubic space per head
were fixed by Statute for dwelling-houses, then, except that of differentiating
the duties of landlords and tenants respectively, the only definite point
remaining to be enforced by the By-laws would be that of annual cleansing.
This point also might with advantage be made applicable to all dwellinghouses
by statute, if it were provided that, where, in the opinion of the
Sanitary Authority, on account of the mode of occupation or of usage, a
dwelling-house should be cleansed annually, the Sanitary Authority may pass
a resolution and make an order to that effect, and be empowered to enforce
the order.
Procedure.—The difficulty of procedure before Magistrates is to convince
Magistrates that defects proved to exist are nuisances within the meaning of
the Public Health (London) Act, 1891. Definite statute law or By-laws
facilitates Magistrates going through the process of being convinced, and also
relieves them of the responsibility of deciding what is and what is not a
nuisance.
The London County Council appear to desire Sanitary Authorities to proceed
without giving notice. The St. Pancras By-laws appear to preclude this
possibility, but even if the Yestry were desirous of the officers proceeding
without giving notice, and therefore without the instruction of the Health
Committee or the Vestry in each individual case, still there would be some
risks in so proceeding.
The owner has to be ascertained or confirmed in each case before proceeding.
A tenement house not unfrequently changes hands, and if there be a new
owner immediate proceedings cannot wisely be taken until after the new owner
has been supplied with all the information his predecessor was supplied with.
In the case of a tenant the same applies. In Court the owner may deny
having received the necessary information, or may plead that it was so long
ago as to have escaped memory, and Magistrates are not anxious to convict
when defendants have received no notice. Magistrates also require proof of
registration in each case.
Inspection.—Registered tenement-houses ought to be inspected every year,
as cleansing is required annually by the By-laws, the real advantage of registration
being annual inspection, to enforce cleanliness and air-space.
As it is probable that the supervision of Common Lodging Houses may be
handed over to the Vestry, when this takes place it may be advisable to place
the inspection of tenement-houses in the hands of the Inspector of Common
Lodging Houses, so that they may all be in the hands of one Inspector to
inspect at regular periodical intervals.