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196
During the year the sanitary work of the Parish has been
quietly and, in my opinion, efficiently done.
The routine work as Medical Officer of Health has been
done by me throughout the whole of the year. Special
reference may be made to the fact that in connection with
the election of a new Sanitary Inspector the Vestry have
required an undertaking from their Medical Officer of Health
and from each of their Sanitary Inspectors to the effect
that no one of them shall deal in house property, or act as
rent collectors, or as agents for the management of absentee
property in the parish of St. James's. This is a regulation
of. great importance, and one which might well be submitted
to the Local Government Board as proper for the subject
of a General Order. For an officer in whom the statutory
powers and discretion of a Sanitary Inspector or Medical
Officer of Health are vested to be allowed to grow rich by
trading in tenement houses in his own district, would be to
open the door to one of the worst forms of terrorism, corruption,
and malfeasance. It is best, in the mere interest of the
district for which they work, that these officers should have
an adequate salary secured to them. The Sanitary Inspectors
have duties to discharge in which judgment, discretion, and
impartiality, good temper and incorruptibility have to be constantly
shown, and their salaries should be such as to keep
them well above the position of an ordinary mechanic. The
pension, which is sometimes given with reluctance, is really
one of the cheapest means of paying the officer. It is only
actually incurred for an officer who survives after long service
and upon his becoming incapable of further work. Inasmuch
as his claim for pension is forfeited upon any misconduct or
breach of trust in his office, the prospect of a pension is really
the best and cheapest guarantee for the maintenance of his
industry and integrity.
Under date December 15th, 1896, the London County
Council, taking action under the "The Metropolis Local
Management Act, 1855," published a draft of proposed new