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paving of many of the sheds is irregular, and, beyond slight reparation,
has undergone no improvement in the majority. Speaking
generally, the paving is usually of bricks which are not impervious;
the bricks are not set in cement; the jointing is more or less defective,
and it is probable that in nearly all cases the paving is not bedded on
concrete." Your Committee recommended that "the attention of the
Board be called to this subject without loss of time, in order that
they may be enabled to require compliance with the regulation before
the licensing day" (Oct. 26th, 1880), it appearing to your Committee
that "a question of such great importance should be left to
the Local Authority to deal with.
The Board's attention was called to the subject in August, 1880, and in a reply
dated 15th October, the Board practically disclaimed power to carry
out the provisions of their own regulations, intimating that "such provisions
are only intended as a standard or a guide, having no legal force
beyond what is given by Section 6 of the Dairies, Cowsheds, and Milkshops
Order of July, 1879," which, 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 (6) for the protection of the milk therein against . .
contamination."
Now, as the Board have framed these regulations under powers conferred by
the Act and the "Order," and anything done in contravention of a
regulation of a "local authority" constitutes an offence which renders
the offender liable to a penalty not exceeding twenty pounds, the question
arises, whether the "provision"of the regulations above referred to goes
beyond the powers of the Board lawfully to have made and to enforce ?
Your Committee are of opinion that it does not, for no one acquainted
with the subject can reasonably question the necessity of the "provision"
of a sloped and impervious flooring, for the proper "drainage and cleansing"
of the cowshed, or for the preservation of the "health and good
condition of the cattle therein," or for the "protection of the milk
therein against contamination."
Be this as it may, the Board have not interfered, and therefore your Committee
have again to report that, as respects the flooring of nearly all the cowsheds,
the "paving" does not come up to the requirements of the provision
of the regulations, and is still just as defective as before the publication
of the " Order."
If the Board cannot enforce their regulation, it may be doubted whether your
Vestry can do so ? But as it is a sanitary question, your Committee are
of opinion that, directly or indirectly, your Vestry should be able to
effect improvements; and in any case it is desirable that the attention of
the Sanitary Inspectors should be kept directed to the matter with a view
to obtain such amendments of the paving from time to time as may