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19
Arising out of the above the following instruction
was issued by the Clerk to the Guardians, and it is to
be hoped that in future no more will be heard of
sanitary works being executed without notice to the
authority :-
" Will you please instruct all officers under you, when
dealing with the drains at any time, in future, to intimate to the
Chief Sanitary Inspector of the district any defect, or intended
alteration or addition to the drainage system at the Infirmary
and Workhouse, in order that such alterations etc. may be
carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Sanitary
Authority "
OVERCROWDING AND POVERTY.
During the year the Committee continued their
past practice in the case of overcrowded families
whose condition was apparently due to poverty, of
allowing a lengthy period for the abatement of overcrowding.
In many cases the result was that the
families concerned were able to turn the respite
allowed to good account and upon the expiry of the
notices served had managed to secure more
accommodation, whereas doubtless with a strict
application of the law they would have been
compelled to enter the workhouse and break up their
home ; there being small reason to suppose they would
ever be able to get another together again.
In many cases complaints of overcrowding were
received from outside mainly philanthopic bodies
requesting official action. Many of these cases were
wholly due to poverty and would have more fitly been
dealt with in a philanthropic manner than by the
strict invocation of the law. In one particular case