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77
" A.—Slaughter-houses.
"1. We recommend that in all towns and municipal boroughs in England and Wales, and
" in Ireland, powers be conferred on the authorities similar to those conferred on Scottish corporations
" and municipalities by the Burgh Police (Scotland) Act, 1892, viz.—
" (a) When the local authority in any town or urban district in England and Wales and
" Ireland have provided a public slaughter-house, power be Conferred on them to declare that
" no other place within the town or borough shall be used for slaughtering, except that a
" period of three years bo allowed to the owners of existing registered private slaughter-houses
" to apply their premises to other purposes. The term of three years to date in those places where
" adequate public slaughter-houses already exist, from the public announcement by the local
" authority that the use of such public slaughter-houses is obligatory, or, in those places where
" public slaughter-houses have not been erected, from the public announcement by the local
" authority that tenders for their erection have been accepted.
" (6) That local authorities be empowered to require all meat slaughtered elsewhere than
" in a public slaughter-house, and brought into the district for sale, to be taken to a place or
" places where such meat may be inspected; and that local authorities be empowered to make
" a charge to cover the reasonable expenses attendant on such inspection.
" (c) That when a public slaughter-house has been established inspectors shall be engaged
" to inspect all animals immediately after slaughter, and stamp the joints of all carcases passed
" as sound.
" 2. It appears desirable that in London the provision of public in substitution for private
" slaughter-houses should be considered in respect to the needs of Loudon as a whole, and in
" determining their positions regard must be had for the convenient conveyance of animals by
" railway from the markets beyond the limits of London, as well as from the Islington market, to
'' the public slaughter-houses which should be provided. At the present time no administrative
" authority has statutory power authorising it to provide public slaughter-houses other than for the
" slaughter of foreign cattle at the port of debarkation."
The report also contains the following recommendations—
" Milk.
" D.—Diseases in the udders of cows.
" 7. We recommend that notification of every disease in the udder shall be made compulsory,
" under penalty, on the owners of all cows, whether in private dairies or those of which the milk is
" offered for sale.
" 8. We recommend that for the purpose of excluding from their districts the milk of cows
" affected with tuberculosis of the udder, or exhibiting clinical symptoms of the disease, local
" authorities should be given powers somewhat similar to those of sections 21—27 of the Glasgow
" Police (Amendment) Act with power to slaughter such cows subject to compensation under the
" conditions named in the report.
" 9. We also recommend that powers shall be given to local authorities to take samples and
" make analyses from time to time of the milk produced or sold in their districts, and that milk
" vendors shall be required to supply sufficient information as to the sources from which their milk
" is derived.
" At ports where milk and milk products are received from foreign countries, any costs that
" may be thus incurred in their examination shall be borne by the importers."
The most important powers conferred by the sections of the Glasgow Police Act referred to in
paragraph No. 8 are the right to examine cows, the milk of which is sold within the City, wherever
those cows may be, and the right to prohibit the sale of milk from any cow which is Buffering from
tuberculosis or any disease which might render the use of such milk dangerous or injurious to health.
We concur in the views expressed by the Royal Commission on Tuberculosis and those contained
in the report of the medical officer, and we may add that so far as the slaughtering of animals and the
inspection of meat is concerned, similar opinions have been expressed to the Council in memorials
received from the Humanitarian League, the Church Society for the Promotion of Kindness to Animals,
and the London Model Abattoir Society. On the other hand a deputation of the Butchers' Trade
Society has pressed upon us the desire of the trade to retain the use of private slaughter-houses.
The question necessarily arises whether the provision of public slaughter-houses and stations for
the inspection of meat would involve cost to the ratepayers. We think that every effort should be made
to render the slaughter-houses and inspection stations self-supporting, but that it would be futile now
to attempt to submit estimates, as so much would depend upon [the locality of the sites, the circumstances
of the trade, and the character of the buildings. With regard to the last-mentioned we propose
that the architect should make himself acquainted with the provision made in the public slaughterhouses
in some of the continental cities, and report to us on the question. We may point out that in
some places, in this country and abroad, public slaughter-houses are a financial success, while in others
some loss is incurred, particularly in provincial towns in which there is no power to close private
slaughter-houses. It must be borne in mind that the object of the public slaughter-houses is to give
opportunity for the proper inspection of meat in the interest of the public health and not necessarily for
purposes of profit.
We think that the Council as a first step should inform the Local Government Board that it is prepared
to accept such responsibilities as may be necessary to give effect in London to the recommendations
of the Royal Commission, and that the Local Government Board should be asked whether they
will include in any legislation introduced by them in connection with the Royal Commission's report the
provisions which would be necessary for this purpose.
The resolutions which we submit for adoption by the Council are—
(а) That in the opinion of the Council it is desirable that, as a first step towards ensuring the
proper inspection of meat, private slaughter-houses should cease to exist in London, and that
butchers should in substitution be afforded such facilities as are necessary for the killing of animals
in public slaughter-houses to be erected by the Council.
(b) That a copy of this report and of the Council's resolutions thereon be sent to the Local
Government Board, with an intimation that the Council is prepared to accept such responsibilities
as may be necessary to give effect in London to the recommendations of the Royal Commission on
Tuberculosis, and that the Board be asked whether they will include in any legislation introduced
by them in connection with the Royal Commission's ropart the provisions which would be
necessary for this purpose.
The presentation of this report was the occasion of representations by memorial and deputation
of the meat trade to the Council, and the memorialists, while stating that they had no objection to
meat inspection, strongly opposed the substitution of public for private slaughter-houses. Deputations
from the trade, moreover, attended before the several sanitary authorities, who, for the most part,
adopted resolutions in favour of the existing arrangements. On instructions from the Public Health