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Annual Report of the Medical Officer of Health,—1893. 69
The Section further imposes upon the inspector the duty of forwarding the notice
forthwith to the Sanitary Authority of the district in which the bakehouse if
situate.
"The chief conclusions at which I have arrived may be stated somewhat as
follows:—
(1). That it is advisable, by means of a Select Committee of the House of
Commons, to enquire into the bakehouse question.
(2). That in case the Committee advise fresh legislation they shall prepareas
Bill incorporating their recommendations with the Public Health
(London) Act, 1891.
(3). That it should be rendered an offence to occupy as a bakehouse any
cellar or place almost or altogether below the level of the street, unless
it had been so occupied before and up to a certain fixed date.
(4). That all bakehouses be compulsorily licensed, and that such license be
renewable annually.
(5). That the granting of licenses be vested in the London County Council.
(6). That uniform Metropolitan bye-laws regulating the conduct of the retail
bakeries be made by the County Council, and be confirmed by the Local
Government Board; and that the duty of enforcing these bye-laws
devolve upon the various Sanitary Authorities.
(7). That such bye-laws shall cover: (a) The regulation of the conduct of
the business; (b) The regulation of the structure of the premises;
(c) The regulation of the mode in which application is to be made for
sanction to establish anew the business of a baker in the County of
London.
(8). That the bye-laws relating to structure and comprised under heading
(b) do not apply to existing bakeries until after the lapse of a certain
number of years.
(9). That the question of compensation for disturbance of existing right in
bakeries be taken into consideration by the Parliamentary Committee.
(10). That no dealing with the question of the regulation of bakehouses will
be complete unless it investigates the relations between the millers and
the retail bakers. At present the small tradesmen are often completely
under the thumb of the capitalist millers.
(11). That inspection of bakehouses should be more systematic and thorough.
To fulfil this condition an increase of the staff of sanitary inspectors is
imperative.
(12). That a more intelligent knowledge of the whole question of their bread
supply is desireable on the part of the public.
(13). That the weight of sacks of flour should be reduced from 280 to 140 lbs.
"To my mind, the ill-health of the baker is, in the main, the result of the bad
surroundings in which he works. If baking be carried on in well-ventilated places,
with a perfect sanitary environment, there is no reason why it should be a
particularly dangerous or unhealthy trade. It is open to question how far the State
should be called upon to fix the hours of labour of the journeyman baker. Without
entering, however, into the discussion of that difficult and complex economical
problem, it may, I think, on the other hand be emphatically asserted that there is
much in the present condition of the retail bakehouses which calls for stringent
legislative interference."