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twenty shillings per day, is provided for default. Nevertheless,
where regulations exist they are rarely carried out
strictly, for this reason, among others, that it is found difficult
to get the Justices to inflict the penalties for neglect or
default.
"Of late years the difficulty of procuring the removal of the
refuse has considerably increased, owing to the growth of
London and the greater distances to the fields and market
gardens. Formerly stable manure was in request by market
gardeners, who paid a good price for it. Now, horse owners
generally have to pay for its removal, or at best to give it
away. It is often difficult, moreover, to get it removed on
any terms, for, as a rule, it is conveyed in vehicles returning
from the markets; and at certain seasons of the year, e.g.,
hay-making and harvest time, it is practically impossible to
get the farmers to send their carts so regularly as is necessary
for compliance with the regulations.
"'With the permission of the owner,' the Nuisance Authority
may collect the refuse : but the Committee are of opinion that
the Nuisance Authority should have the same right everywhere
as in the City of London,* to collect it when the owner is in
default, and to charge him for so doing. There is good ground
for believing that many horse owners would be glad to be
relieved of the difficulty and responsibility of their position
under the 'regulations,' and would be willing to pay a reasonable
compensation to the Nuisance Authority to cover the
cost of the removal of the refuse. The penalties for default
of compliance with the regulations should be rigorously
enforced against persons who fail to come to an arrangement
with the Nuisance Authority.
Less difficulty is experienced in enforcing the removal of
cowshed refuse, this being further provided for by regulations
framed under the 'Dairies, Cowsheds, and Milkshops Order,
1879;' the Nuisance Authority, moreover, being able to
bring pressure to bear on offenders on the occasion of the
annual application for the renewal of the cowshed license.
* City of London Sewers Act, 1851, 14 and 15 Vict., cap. 91, sec. 8.