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as may be necessary for that purpose." Such a Bill ("Metropolitan
Sewers and Drains ") was brought in on behalf of the
Council last session, but it did not become law; and so far it
does not appear to have been introduced during the current
session. Legislation is certainly necessary, seeing that Sanitary
Authorities are unwilling to carry out the provisions of the law,
by repairing, as " sewers," conduits which they consider to be
" combined drains" properly repairable at the expense of the
owners of the houses drained, in common, thereby. Cases are
not unknown in which a Sanitary Authority have neglected to
abate nuisances, after the refusal of the owners of houses
to comply with notices requiring them to execute work which,
in the present state of the law, has been held by the highest
legal authorities to be the duty of the Sanitary Authority.
HOUSE TO HOUSE INSPECTION.
When time permitted, house-to-house inspection was
carried on during the year, as required by section 1 of the
Public Health (London) Act, 1891 ; streets being dealt with as a
whole in conformity with the instructions of your Vestry.
This work had been in practical abeyancefor some time owing
to more pressing engagements of the Sanitary Inspectors in
regard to matters requiring attention day by day. But when
these officers were relieved of the duty of supervising works
of repair of underground drainage, it was felt that some of
their time should be devoted to this important duty. I was of
opinion, moreover, that their attention should be given, in the
first instance, to some of the so-called better class streets,
the houses in which are, in some cases, not so well sanitated,
structually, as the houses in many of the poorer streets,
which have properly received attention to the largest extent
hitherto. I was led to suspect that this might prove to be so
by observing in the Inspectors' diaries, that when they had
had to inspect " good " houses, on complaint, or by reason of
the occurrence of infectious disease thereat, the sanitary