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55
Report oj the County Medical Officer—General.

Proceedings before the magistrate were instituted in 4 cases, three iu respect of licensed premises
and one for keeping a house without a licence ; in the latter case the person being an old offender was
fined £50 and £1 3s. costs. No cases of infectious disease were reported among inmates of seamen's
lodging houses during the year.
Cleansing of
Persons Act,
1897.
Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897, etc.
I' I The Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897, provides " that any local authority shall have the power when
in their discretion they shall see fit, to permit any person who shall apply to the said authority on the
ground that he is infested with vermin to have the use, free of charge, of the apparatus (if any) which
the authority possesses for cleansing the person and his clothing from vermin." It is also provided
that the use of such apparatus shall not be considered to be parochial relief or charitable allowance,
and local authorities may expend any reasonable sum on buildings, appliances, etc., required for
carrying out the Act. The Act, however, is a permissive one only. For several years the metropolitan
borough councils, with some few exceptions, took very little action under the provisions of this
Act, and so recently as 1906 except in boroughs like St. Marylebone, St. Pancras and Poplar, there
was little progress to record.
General
Powers Act,
1904, sects.
19,20, 21, 24
It was recognised, however, in dealing with verminous persons and more particularly in the case of
children, that the cleansing of the individual could be of little service unless accompanied by the cleansing
of the home and the purification of articles of furniture and clothing. The London County Council,
therefore, in its General Powers Bill of 1904 inserted clauses empowering local authorities to cleanse,
purify, or destroy articles which the medical officer of health certifies are filthy, dangerous, or unwholesome.
In addition, power was obtained to compel owners to strip and cleanse any house or part of a
house certified by the medical officer of health to be infested with vermin. These clauses became law
and have been increasingly used, and articles to the number of many thousands are recorded each year
as having been freed from vermin. For some years, moreover, an average number exceeding 10,000
rooms a year received the attention of the borough councils on account of their verminous condition.
General
Powers Act,
1907, sects.
36-40.
A further impetus was given to this work by the passing of the London County Council (General
Powers) Act of 1907. This Act contained clauses empowering the Council, as Education Authority, to
make arrangements for the cleansing of school children, and as supervising authority, for the cleansing
of the inmates of common lodging houses. In both cases power was obtained to detain and convey
to suitable premises for the purpose of cleansing, any person failing to comply with a twenty-four hours'
notice. Section 38 of the Act expressly provided that the Council might enter into agreements with
local authorities possessing suitable stations for the cleansing of school children and inmates of common
lodging houses, and incidentally this section has been the means of securing a considerable extension
DO ' " _ o
throughout London of the facilities for cleansing which were first provided after the passing of the
Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897.
Children
Act, 1908.
Sect. 122.
Almost immediately following the General Powers Act of 1907, the Children Act, 1908, was
passed. This Act also gave power to cleanse when necessary elementary school children, and,