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68 Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
"Section 16 relates to all bakehouses whatever may be the date of their construction
or first occupation. It provides that where a court of summary jurisdiction
is satisfied on the prosecution of a Local Authority that any place used as a retail
bakehouse is in such a state as to be, on sanitary grounds, unfit for use or occupation
as a bakehouse, the occupier of the bakehouse shall be liable, on summary conviction,
to a fine not exceeding forty shillings, and on a second or any subsequent conviction,
not exceeding £5. The Court, in addition to, or instead of, inflicting such fine, have
it in their power to order means to be adopted by the occupier within a time named
in the order for the purpose of removing the ground of complaint, and may on
application enlarge the time so named; but if after the time so originally named or
enlarged by subsequent order, the order is not complied with, the occupier will be
liable to a fine not exceeding £1, for every day that such non-compliance continues.
"The Vestry of St. George the Martyr, Southwark, is the first Sanitary Authority
that has gained a conviction, and this quite recently, under the 16th Section of
the 1883 Act, without asking the Court to order means to be adopted by the occupier
for the purpose of removing the ground of complaint. In the case cited, the
prosecution did not apply for this order, since the Medical Officer of Health was of
opinion that the premises were incapable of being made fit for use as a bakehouse.
"The magistrate inflicted the full peualty with costs, and made no order for
removing the ground of complaint for the reason stated above.
"Sub-sections 1 and 2 of the 17th Section of the 1883 Act have been repealed—
so far as London is concerned—by Section 142 (vide fourth Schedule) of the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891.
"Sub-section 3 of the same 17th Section has been repealed by Section 39 (vide
second Schedule) of the Factory and "Workshop Act, 1891.
"The present law for the regulation of the metropolitan bakehouses, summarised
and reproduced in the following two Sections of the Public Health (London) Act,
1891, reads as follows:—
" 'Section 26.—(1). Sections 34, 35, and 81 of the Factory and Workshop Act
1878, and Sections 15 and 16 of the Factory and Workshop Act (Amendment Act),
1883 (which relates to cleanliness, ventilation, and other sanitary conditions), shall,
as respects every bakehouse which is a workshop, be enforced by the Sanitary
Authority of the district in which the bakehouse is situate, and they shall be the
local authority within the meaning of those sections.
" '(2). For the purpose of this Section, the provisions of this Act with respect to
the admission of the Sanitary Authority and their officers into any premises for any
purpose in relation to nuisances shall apply in like manner as if they were herein
re-enacted and in terms made applicable to this Section; and every person refusing
or failing to allow the Sanitary Authority or their officer to enter any premises in
pursuance of those provisions for the purposes of this Section shall be subject to
a fine.
" 'Section 27.—If any child, young person or woman is employed in a workshop,
and the medical officer of the Sanitary Authority becomes aware thereof, he shall
forthwith give written notice thereof to the factory inspector for the district.'
"By Section 96 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1878, 'child' means a
person under the age of fourteen years; 'young person' signifies a person of the age
of fourteen years and under the age of eighteen years; and 'woman' is defined as a
female of eighteen years of age and upwards.
"The only remaining special legislation affecting retail bakehouses is to be found
under Section 26, Sub-sections 1 and 2 of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1891.
This Section obliges every person within one month after opening a bakehouse to
serve a writien notice on the district factory inspector, acquainting him of the fact.