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74
nine instances for failure to cleanse rooms and passages, in one for
overcrowding, in six for failure to maintain drainage in good order.
The bye-laws for one part of the City differ from those governing
the remainder; it is therefore necessary to adopt fresh bye-laws,
which has been done, but the Local Government Board has not yet
given consent thereto.
Customs and Inland Revenue Act.
Where an owner is able to obtain the certificate of the Medical
Officer of Health under this Act, he may obtain exemption from or
abatement of the Inhabited House Duty; the intention being to
assist owners who construct houses for the labouring classes, so
as to afford suitable accommodation with one provision for their
sanitary requirements, and in every respect fit for habitation.
385 tenements were examined by me, and the certificate asked for
was granted for 295, and refused for 90.
Housing of the Working Classes Acts.
A doption of Part III.—(1) Part III of the Housing Act, 1890, was
adopted by the Council, and in pursuance of the power contained
therein, steps have been taken to ascertain the number of persons
who, from the nature of their occupation, require to live in the City,
with the view ot erecting suitable dwellings for them. Reference
has already been made to this enquiry in an earlier part of this
Report (see p. 21).
Clare Market Scheme.—(2) The clearing of this area proceeds
slowly, and is dependent on the progress which is made with the
Holborn to Strand street. The number of persons displaced is
shown in the census statistics of the parishes and wards most
affected.
Turner s Court.—(3) This is a narrow court containing 11 houses,
which extends between St. Martin's Lane and Bedfordbury, and for
several years its condition occupied the serious attention of the
St. Martin's Vestry. In 1900 Dr. Skegg, then Medical Officer of
Health for that parish, Avas requested to report to the Vestry on the
sanitary condition of the Court, in order that action might be taken
under the Housing Acts, which he did, showing that there were
about 155 persons living in the Court, that the average death-rate
for five years was 47.8 per 1,000 as compared with 15.3 for the whole
parish, and 13.4 for the block of Peabody Buildings close by in
Bedfordbury. A copy of this report was sent to the London County
Council, with a proposition that they should deal with the Court