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the accommodation of persons of the working class, in districts
where the need for such accommodation is felt, would not be
applicable to the Notting-dale area." I was, and still am of
opinion that the acquirement of the houses with a view to
letting them in lodgings, would entail no loss upon the ratepayers
: the houses pay handsomely the people who farm them
out by the night, (at exorbitant rents, it is true) to the lodgers
in the "furnished " rooms. The Council were favourable to the
the suggestion I made in 1897, that the sanitary authority
should be endowed with power to carry out the provisions of
Part III., and the London Government Act of 1899 will confer
this power ; in 1900, therefore, the Kensington Council will
be able to take the course in regard to this distressful locality,
which your Vestry in vain urged the County Council to adopt.
The Council, when rejecting the application of your Vestry,
which was endorsed in petitions by the ruri-decanal chapter, by
the members for the borough, and other influential inhabitants,
expressed the opinion that " so far from requiring the aid of
the Council . . . the Vestry possess ample powers under
Section 94 of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891, for
dealing with the evils existing in connection with the houses
in the area." They suggested, therefore, the exercise of the
powers of inspection and regulation of houses let in lodgings,
under the said section, with a view to mitigating such evils.
The Council were informed that the powers referred to had
been exercised, as far as was practicable, and had been found
inadequate for the purpose.
The question may naturally be asked whether the
sanitary authority have done all that might have been
done since attention was publicly drawn to the state
of the district in 1893? Much, undoubtedly, has been
done for the amelioration of the physical conditions of
the locality. The streets have been paved with asphalte; the