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42
Committee ordered a summons to be taken out under
Section 98 of the Factory and Workshops Act, 1901:—
Where a court of summary jurisdiction is satisfied on the
prosecution of an inspector or a district council that any
room or place used as a bakehouse is in such a state as to
be on sanitary grounds unfit for use or occupation as a
bakehouse, the occupier of the bakehouse shall be liable
to a fine not exceeding for the first offence forty shillings,
and for any subsequent offence, five pounds.
The case was heard at Worship Street before Mr.
Cluer. The Magistrate showed by his remarks that he
considered the section under which the proceedings
were taken was intended to deal with something much
more serious than a dirty bakehouse. He drew my
attention to the fact that some foreign nations habitually
eat sour bread and thrive upon it, also that many
kitchens are allowed to remain in a dirty condition
without rendering the food cooked therein unwholesome.
Mr. Cluer did not consider the nuisance. I
complained of injurious to health, and on the principle
de minimis non curat lex, he declined to convict. I
agree that proceedings against a dirty baker under
Section 98 somewhat resemble cracking nuts with a
steam-hammer; but the Factory Act of 1895 has taken
away from London Sanitary Authorities the power to
recover a penalty for permitting a (workshop or) bakehouse
to be in a dirty condition. I am, of course,
aware that proceedings can be taken under the Public
Health (London) Act, 1891, after service of notice,
and that on proof of nuisance injurious to health a
recurring order can be granted; but magistrates as a
rule decline to grant these orders, and prefer to treat
each case on its merits as it arises.