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72 Parish of St. George the Martyr, Southwark.
by District Councils. If this were done thoroughly and properly, and the country
possessed more medical officers like Dr. Waldo, the bakery business would become as
healthy as any other.
"Dr. Walsh (London) said that the assertion as to landlords confiscating the leases
of bakehouses was an argument against the law of landlords and not against sanitation.
If you reformed the bakehouses you would no doubt drive out the small baker. The
public would gain in the end, but, as a class. the journeyman baker would suffer. He
would venture to ask if the conversion of an ordinary house into a bakery increased the
value of the property? Also whether Dr. Waldo was aware that many insanitary
bakehouses belonged to the City or other Corporations, and whether they were taking
any steps to remedy their condition, and if not, why were they not prosecuted ?
"Mr. Viokers (London) said that ordinary people would conclude from the lecture
that bakers were the blackest of sinners, and he thought the lecturer had drawn
greatly on his imagination. No doubt there were dirty bakehouses, and no trade could
show a clean sheet, but bakers had too much at stake to allow their premises to be in
such a condition as that described. If such a state of affairs became known, their trade
would be ruined. One might conclude from the lecture there was no inspection of
bakehouses, but he could say from experience, both as the owner of a bakehouse and a
member of the Health Committee of a Vestry, that inspection was both systematic and
regular. He submitted that inspectors did perform their duty and the trade had no
right to be blackballed. The Vestries were quite able to cope with the evils, and he
counselled people not to be afraid to eat their bread.
"Mr. James Priestley (London) quite agreed with Dr. Waldo that there was urgent
need for reform in the matter of the sanitary arrangements and condition of bakehouses;
need for suitable bye-laws and for the licensing of bakehouses. Dr. Waldo's
description of the "typical" bakehouse as it occurred in his parish would not apply to
the average bakehouse in the parish of Paddington. He had visited all the bakehouses
in the latter parish, and only two or three could be passed as requiring no amendment.
The average height of the ceilings was about eight feet. He did not see how underground
bakehouses were to be done away with, but the erection of any new underground
bakehouses could be stopped. He was opposed to the handing over of the
control of bakehouses to any other authority ? let the supervision remain with the
medical officer of health.
"Dr. Waldo (London), in reply, said that there was much to answer, but he would
endeavour briefly to meet the chief points raised. Dr. Parkes had given seven-eights as
the proportion of underground bakehouses to the total number of bakeries in London.
This was an over-estimate, and calculating from data in his possession, he thought
three-fifths would fairly express the correct proportion. Ninety-nine per cent. of the
master bakers in the metropolis were Germans. With regard to bread made in cellar
bakeries not being injurious to the public, he would point out that in various parts of
London reflux of sewage accompanied heavy rainfalls. In one day, in October last, he
had entered twenty cellars—situated in a main road leading to the Kentish capital—
and had found them all flooded with sewage.
"He considered that such conditions were highly dangerous. The bread—after it
came out of the oven—lay about the filthy bakery and was very liable to be contaminated.
Another source of danger was contact with the hands of the men, which were
frequently soiled. There was rarely—if ever—any provision for washing save in the
same utensils as used for bread-making.
"With regard to kitchens, he had not bad time enough to go into the subject. He
agreed that kitchens were too often quite as bad as or worse than bakehouses, but
the work in them was less by night and in length of hours than in bakeries.
"Mr. Lakeman had struck at the root of the evil when he charged the millers with
sweating and vested interests. The influential millers, so far as legislation was concerned,
were masters of the situation, and they could block or pass a Bill by appealing
to the owners of the land upon which the corn was raised, who sat in the Houses of
Parliament.