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32
boats are inspected yearly. Of course this will add considerably
to the work to be done by the Sanitary Authority.
Factory and Workshops Act, 1891.—This Act, together with
the recent circular relating to out-workers, has almost doubled the
work of the Sanitary department, if carried out thoroughly.
Enquiry has revealed the presence of something like 2,000 workshops
and dwellings of out-workers, which under this Act and
Order should be inspected to ascertain the presence or otherwise of
any insanitary condition. With the present staff it is impossible
that this can be attempted.
Food and Drugs Acts and Margarine Acts.—If the Board of Works
desire another 100 samples of Foods and Drugs to be analysed
every year, the collection of these samples will take one half more
time than that already consumed in the work.
1 do not pretend in the above list of increased duties to have
exhausted them, but I have given I think sufficient to show that
the amount of work to be done by the Sanitary Staff, has greatlyincreased
during the last few years.
Therefore from a comparison of our staff of permanent inspectors
with those of other districts and vestries in London, and
from a consideration of the increased duties imposed upon the
Sanitary Authority since the last permanent increase, I am
convinced, and I believe the Board will also be convinced, that
Hackney is under-staffed in the matter of its Sanitary Inspectors.
The question now naturally arises, how many Inspectors might
be considered an adequate number for a district like Hackney ?
In answering this question, I think it much preferable to estimate
the number requisite on the total number of houses in Hackneyrather
than on the population; for the Inspectors have to deal with
dwellings rather than with individuals, although this remark is
subject to the qualification that a dwelling with a large number of
inmates requires more looking after than one with a few only.
In the Northern Registration Districts of London, viz.: those
bordering on Hackney, the permanent staff of Sanitary Inspectors