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13
Rightly or wrongly it was understood that Miss Woodgate
desired then and there to proceed to an inspection of these
premises, and my Committee feel that it is time some protest
was made against the multiplication of inspections one after the
other by officers of various Authorities and Institutions and
which inspections appear to lead to no very conclusive results.
In certain circumstances large numbers of the poorest
workers in this and similar boroughs are now subjected to
inspection and inquiry from
(a) the Factory Department of the Home Office;
(b) various departments of the London County Council;
(c) the Borough Council;
(d) the Local Government Board ;
(e) the Board of Trade and, in some special cases, the
Board of Agriculture and Fisheries, and many
other voluntary and semi-public Associations and
Institutions, i.e., such as Health Associations,
Care Committee Associations, Day Nursery
Associations, the Mansion House Council on the
Dwellings of the Poor and others.
My Committee feel that the overlapping and confusion
that already takes place should be corrected and are strongly of
opinion that the various duties and functions of these several
Authorities should be defined and co-ordinated in order that
some one Authority may be able to deal effectually with the
matters and so prevent unnecessary expense, irritation to the
worker and confusion.
Moreover, it is found as a matter of experience that this
exaggerated over-inspection is defeating the very aim and
object of all proper and reasonable inspection as shown by the
fact that 447 outworkers in this Borough last year gave false
names and addresses in order to escape what they term