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59
Council to the fact that certain premises occupied by
various firms employed in the Gut-scraping business
and in Tripe boiling, were not built in accordance with the
London County Council By-laws. Inspection was madeof
these premises and it was found that they did not
comply with the letter of the By-laws in many respects.
Permission was obtained to inspect premises in another
Borough which were admitted by the London County
Council to be in accordance with their by-laws, and as
a result of such inspection, and a comparison of the conditions
found in the two sets of premises, I came to theconclusion
that the conditions existing in the Foreign
Cattle Market were infinitely preferable to those found in
the other premises referred to. Representations were
accordingly made to the London County Council to this
effect, and under the circumstances this Council declined
to take proceedings against the various firms for not
having their premises in compliance with the by-laws.
At an interview between Sir Shirley Murphy, the
Medical Officer to the London County Council,
and myself, I strongly insisted upon the need for differentiation
between these various premises, and on the
grounds that these premises were considerably removed
from dwelling-houses that the whole of the material dealt
with on the premises was dealt with in quite a fresh state,
always within 24 hours of its production, and that
there was a large amount of air-space and fresh air permeating
this neighbourhood by reason of its proximity
to the river, and the large open spaces in the Cattle
Market premises themselves. On these grounds arrangements
were made that action against any or all of
these various firms should at any rate be delayed until
after this forthcoming summer, so that observations may
be kept upon the premises during the warmer weather of
the summer months.