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Further, if structural alterations are required before the Certificate
can be granted, and the occupier alleges that the whole, cr
part, of the expenses of such alterations ought to be borne by the
owner, he (i.e., the occupier) may, by complaint, apply to a
Court of Summary Jurisdiction, and the expenses connected with
such structural alterations may be apportioned by the Court in
any way that the Court may think just and equitable, regard
being had to the terms of any contract between the occupier and
owner; or the Court may, at the request of the occupier, determine
the lease. Such an arrangement appeals to common sense,
as it would be unfair to saddle an occupier with the whole of
the expenses of any structural alterations which might be found
necessary and which would improve an owner's property, before
a certificate of suitability could be granted.
It would appear from the working of Section 101 of the new
Factory and Workshop Act, 1901, that the Legislature intends
that all Underground Bakehouses that are not suitable for use
as regards construction, light, ventilation, and in all other respects,
shall be closed after January 1st, 1904, unless previously
altered and improved so as to be certified as sanitarily suitable by
a District Council; whilst Underground Bakehouses that were
not in use (i.e., were abandoned) on August 17th, 1901, shall
never again be used as such. Many Underground Bakehouses
have already been permanently closed as such by virtue of Section
27 (Sub.section 3) of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1895,
which made it unlawful to use any place underground as a Bakehouse,
unless it was so used, temporarily or otherwise, on
January 1st, 1896. [Vide Schwertzerhof v. Wilkins, 1898, 1
Q.B. 640, where it was held that, under the 1895 Act, an Underground
Bakehouse, temporarily unoccupied but not abandoned,
was used as a Bakehouse at the commencement of such Act.]
It is, consequently, illegal to build, or open as new, an Underground
Bakehouse.
Section 27 of the 1895 Act, and Section 101 of the 1901 Act,
clearly point to the final disuse, after January 1st, 1904, of all
Underground Bakehouses, except such as can be, and are, certified
by a District Council as suitable in construction, light, ventilation,
and in all other respects.
It becomes, therefore, a serious matter to decide what standard
of suitability shall be adopted so as to secure (if possible), on the.
one hand, sanitary Underground Bakehouses, wherein the employees
can work underground without, or with a minimum
amount of, injury to their healths, and wherein food can be