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(а) That the flooring of the lower rooms is from eight to twelve
inches below the level of the forecourts ;
(b) That houses constructed back to back cannot be properly
ventilated;
(c) That there are two W.C.'s only for eight houses.
I should be glad of information on the following points, viz.:—
(a) Are the houses unfit for habitation because the floors are
below the level, &c.?
(b) Are they unfit for habitation because they are back to back?
If so, the only remedy would be to pull down half of
them.
(c) How many houses of this character in your opinion should
one W.C. serve ?
I am sorry to trouble you, but if you can instruct me on these
points it will much facilitate the preparation of my report, which
I should like to get before the next Vestry, if possible.
I am, dear Dr. Bate,
Yours faithfully,
F. W. BARRATT.
The following is Dr. Bate's reply:—
412, Bethnal Green Road, E.,
February 13th, 1888.
Dear Mr. Barratt,
I have carefully considered your letter, and also the four
conditions which as you say contribute to the insanitary condition
of Martha Court. You ask me which of these conditions causes
the houses to be in my opinion unfit for human habitation. Now,
I object to bind myself to any one of these four items, aud say
that the houses in question are unhealthy because all the four
conditions you name obtain at one and the same time on these
premises, and that this insanitary total is the "evil complained
of," and not the separate items.
I have looked well into the Act of 1868, and I am sure that
section five provides for a health report only. It would be unreasonable
to require a Medical Officer of Health or an Inspector
of Nuisances (from either of whom the primary report to the
Vestry may emanate), to specify works to be done of which a
Surveyor is the only professional judge; and I consider that I
should have acted up to what is sought for if, in the certificate;
read at the last meeting of the Vestry, I had said, "That from the
number of deaths and cases of disease in the houses A B C & D,
and from their general insanitary surroundings " (without specifying
them), "I report that they are in a condition dangerous to
health, so as to be unfit for human habitation."
The Act does not require me to state reasons, but merely to
follow the wording of the fifth section.