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66
also suggested the desirability of your Vestry undertaking the removal
of the manure, &c., as the law permits you, with the sanction of the
owner, which probably it would not be difficult to obtain if it were
understood that the penalties for non-compliance with the regulations
would be enforced. The addition of the manure would give value to
other refuse matter as slop, dust, &c., and as it is most desirable on
sanitary grounds that the regulations should be carried out strictly, I
trust steps will be taken to give effect to my suggestion. That stable
refuse has an appreciable value is obvious, for a tender has been
accepted for the purchase of the stuff from your Vestry's wharves and
depots for one year, for the sum of £70. There are nearly 150 mews
in this parish, and the value of the stable refuse must be very great in
the aggregate, though the produce of a single stable can be of little
worth to the proprietor or his coachman. I cannot but believe therefore
that it would pay to collect the stuff as proposed, and at the least
I would urge a fair trial of the plan under the direction and supervision
of the Wharves and Plant Committee.
Proceedings were taken in a few instances against offenders for systematic
neglect to remove accumulations of manure, &c., and in two
instances a fine of twenty shillings was inflicted. In other cases,
however, the magistrates required the defendants to pay the costs only
(one shilling!) although the offence had been glaring and continuous.
The reason given for this leniency was that the penalty imposed by
the Act under which your Vestry's regulations had been framed, viz.
twenty shillings a day, is "too high"—a matter for which, however
the magistrates cannot be held responsible, their duty being simply to
carry out the law.
REMOVAL OF OFFENSIVE MATTER.
The subject of the conveyance of offensive matter through the parish
has engaged a good deal of attention. The greater part of such matter
comes from stables and cowsheds, the refuse from cowsheds being, as a
rule, taken to Chelsea and barged away on the river. The licensee of
a cowshed, when he gives your Vestry notice of his intention to apply
to the Justices for a renewal of his license, pledges himself to remove
al1 manure. &c., from his shed three times in the week, and before
eight o'clock in the morning. From time to time, however, the Inspectors
have had occasion to report dung-carts going river-wards