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104
not been carried out, and that if it were to be carried out, it would
involve the repaying of most of the sheds with new material, for, with
here and there an exception, the material of the existing pavements
is not impervious. Your Vestry called the Board's attention to this
"provision" in August, and the Board, in a letter dated 15th
October, intimated that "such provisions are only intended as a
standard or guide—having no legal force beyond what is given by
section 6 of the Dairies, Cowsheds, and Milkshops Order of July,
1879." The sixth section, it may be mentioned, makes it "unlawful
for any person following the trade of a cowkeeper to
occupy as a cowshed any building if, and as
long as, the lighting and the ventilation, including air space, and
the cleansing, drainage, and water supply thereof, are not such as
are necessary or proper (a) for the health and good condition of the
cattle therein and (c) for the protection of the milk
therein against contamination." The Board have
framed their regulations under the "Order," and the Order is
authorised by the 34th section of the Contagious Diseases
(Animals) Act, 1878, which enables the Privy Council "from time
to time" to make orders (inter aliaJ "for prescribing and regulating
the lighting, ventilation, cleansing, drainage, and water supply of
cowsheds," and "for authorising a local authority to make regulations
for the purposes aforesaid." Sections 60 and 61 of the Act
provide that any person who does anything in contravention of an
Order in Council, or of a regulation of a local authority, will be
guilty of an offence against the Act, and be liable to a penalty not
exceeding twenty pounds." The question therefore, is whether
the 6th regulation referred to goes beyond the powers conferred on
the Board by the Order framed by the privy Council under the Act ?
In my opinion it does not, and I should think no one acquainted
with the subject would question the necessity of the "provision"
of a sloped and impervious flooring to secure the proper drainage
and cleansing of the cowshed; the preservation of the health of
cattle kept therein day and night for months together; and the
protection of the milk therein against contamination from foul
emanations from a subsoil reeking with accumulated filth.
It is to be hoped, in any case, that the Board and the Sanitary
Authorities will co-operate to secure obedience to the provisions of