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81
"When in 1891 a fresh Bill was brought in to 'amend the law relating to factories and
workshops,' the Vestry, on my advice, made a further effort in the direction of bakehouse reform.
A Public Health (London) Bill having also been brought in, the Vestry's appeals were directed
both to the Secretary of State and the President of the Local Government Board, who had
charge of the two measures respectively. In the third monthly report for that year, specific
recommendations were made to secure power of entrv to bakehouses by sanitary inspectors,
and power to sanitary authorities to make by-laws for regulating the structure of the premises
and the conduct of the business. The Factory Act gave the desired power of entry, and, with
the Public Health (London) Act, of the same year, increased the powers of the sanitary authority
to enforce measures for securing such improved sanitary conditions in bakehouses as
were practicable in underground premises. At this time the Public Health Committee of the
County Council issued a report covering a grood deal of the subject matter of reform in bakehouses
as dealt with in my report for 1881. The co-operation of the Committee was welcomed, and
there was no hesitation in agreeing to their suggestion that the Council 'should be empowered
to make regulations;' but the Committee went too far in proposing that 'the Council, as Central
Metropolitan Authority, rather than the local sanitary authority, should have charge of the
bakehouses of London.' 'The precedent of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891 (I said) was in
point: the Council should be empowered to make by-laws, but the duty of enforcing the by-laws
should rest with the sanitary authorities.'
"In 1895 another Factory and Workshop Act was passed, section 27 (3) enacting that—
'A place underground shall not be used as a bakehouse unless it is so used at the
commencement of this Act'-i.e., January 1st, 1896.
"It was hoped, as already stated, that this sub-section would enable the sanitary authorities,
from time to time, to close insanitary underground bakehouses on vacation of premisesa
hope that was disappointed by magisterial decisions. The point, moreover, came before the
High Court in Schwerzerhof v. Wilkins* on an appeal from a conviction by a Metropolitan
Magistrate under the Summary Jurisdiction Acts. In the statement of the case, it appeared
that the premises in question had been fitted up with an underground bakehouse in 1879, and
had been occupied and used as a baker's premises down to October, 1895, when the tenant
left. The owner then put the premises into repair, and the work was completed at about
Christmas, 1895. The appellant became tenant of the premises in February, 189G, and at once
commenced to use the underground bakehouse for the purposes of his business, and had continued
to do so down to October 15th, 1897. It was contended for the appellant that the premises
were 'used as a bakehouse' within the meaning of the Act, at the time when the Act came into
operation. The magistrate, however, held that the place was not 'used as a bakehouse' on
January 1st, 189G, and convicted the appellant, but stated a case for the opinion of the Court.
It was held by the Court (Wright and Darling, J.J.) that the premises were 'used as a bakehouse'
at the commencement of the Act—but Mr. Justice Wright was 'far from saying that there
might not be cases in which the Court would take a different view.' The conviction was quashed.
* Law Reports, 1898, 1 Q.B., p. 640.
bakehouse, and every sink-waste, or other pipe used for carrying off surface water within the
bakehouse, shall be efficiently trapped and disconnected from any drain.
"8. Every bakehouse shall be efficiently lighted, shall be ventilated so as to render harmless all
gases and dust, and shall not be overcrowded while work is carried on therein.
" 9. Every bakehouse shall be used for the purposes of the trade only.
" 10. No animal shall be kept in the bakehouse on any pretence whatever.
"11. No person suffering, or who has recently suffered, from any infectious disease shall be
permitted to enter the bakehouse, or take part in the manufacture or sale on the premises,
of bread, biscuits or confectionery.
"12. The owner or occupier of a bakehouse shall give immediate notice to the Medical Officer
of Health of any case of infectious disease occurring on the same premises as the bakehouse.
"Penalties—Every bakehouse in which there is a contravention of sections 3, 33, or 34 of the
Factory and Workshop Act, 1878, which provide for the sanitary condition and cleansing of the
bakehouse, shall be deemed to be not kept in conformity with the Act, and the occupier thereof
is liable for default to a fine not exceeding Ten Pounds.
" The use of a bakehouse for sleeping purposes, or of a room on the same level as the bakehouse,
insufficiently separated from it and insufficiently ventilated and lighted, is punishable
under the 35th section of the same Act by a fine not exceeding Twenty Shillings for the ???rst
offence, and of a sum not exceeding Five Pounds for every subsequent offence.
"An infringement of the 15th section of the Factory and Workshop Act, 1883, which
prohibits—
"A direct communication between a water closet, earth closet, privy, or ash-pit, with
the bakehouse;
"The supply of water to a bakehouse from a cistern also supplying a water closet;
"The opening into a bakehouse of a drain carrying off fæcal or sewage matter—
is punishable by a fine not exceeding Forty Shillings, and a further fine not exceeding Five
Shillings for every day during which the infringement is continued after a conviction."