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28
evidence upon each occasion. Ultimately fines were inflicted
amounting to six pounds, exclusive of costs, and a somewhat better
sanitary condition has since been maintained. But with tenants
such as inhabit dwellings of this nature, nuisance orders and small
fines upon the owner are almost useless, as he soon discovers that
it is cheaper to let things slide and submit to small penalties in the
shape of costs, than to execute proper repairs at once. Take as an
instance, that a closet has been refitted; in a couple of days
the trap may be choked through careless usage, or even broken
in a rough attempt to remove the obstruction; the Inspector reports
on this condition at his next visit and a notice is sent at once, but if
the landlord declines to obey, three weeks or a month must elapse
before a nuisance order can be obtained, and even then the Magistrate
always gives time for the work to be done, so that a landlord
may usually calculate on a month's respite at the expense of six
shillings in costs, whereas, if he does the repairs on receipt of the
notice, he might possibly have had the new closet trap broken again
before the expiration of a month.
Substantial penalties are rarely inflicted at Worship Street in
nuisance cases, as the Magistrates object to impose them, on the
ground that they are receivable by the Vestry who authorize the
proceedings.
Under the Tenement regulations, medical evidence as to the
existence of a nuisance dangerous to health is not necessary, as it is
sufficient to prove breach of the bye-laws, for which a specific penalty
is laid down, though the amount of the fine is within the discretion
of the Magistrate.
I cannot absolutely affirm that we should have fared any better
had we been able to take proceedings under the bye-laws, but I
think the experiment ought to have been tried, and at any rate the
time of your medical officer can be more profitably employed than
in attendance at the Police court to prove that a choked closet is a
dangerous nuisance.
SLAUGHTER HOUSES.
The ten slaughter houses in the parish have been kept under
observation and are in good condition, no objection to the renewal