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102
into abeyance. The Factory Inspectors were too few to
take up the duty, which the Sanitary Authorities, as a rule,
had ceased to perform; these, moreover, no longer having a
statutory power of entry; the result being that many of the
bakehouses fell into a deplorable state of neglect, as testified
by the reports of the factory inspectors themselves. Happily,
the representations addressed to the Government, to which
I referred in my last report, together with the statements of
the Chief Factory Inspector himself, satisfied the Government
that an error had been committed in taking away from
the sanitary authority the right to exercise a sanitary supervision
over these establishments; and so, in the last days of
the session of 1883, an Act was passed, ("Factory and
Workshop Amendment Act, 1883"), by which the legislation
of 1878 was revoked, and their former position was restored
to the Vestries and District Boards, who are now the "local
authority," so far as relates to cleanliness, ventilation, overcrowding,
and other sanitary conditions of bakehouses, with
powers to enforce sections 3, 33, 34 and 35 of the "Factory
and Workshop Act, 1878." The recommendations of your
Vestry went considerably beyond the point reached by the
new Act, being substantially in agreement with the views
I had set out in my annual report for 1881, when I said—
"What really is required is a proper 'Bakehouse Regulation Act,' providing
for the licensing of bakehouses, and conferring on Sanitary Authorities
the power, which they should be obliged to exercise, of regulating the
trade by bye-laws, uniform for the Metropolis, dealing with—
(1) The position and construction, including lighting and
ventilation of bakehouses.
(2) The periodical cleansing of them; and
(3) The materials and utensils employed in the manufacture of
bread."
But, however desirable that the above recommendations
should be carried out, it was felt to be useless to press for
their adoption by Parliament last year. I took the oppotunity,
nevertheless, of drawing the attention of the Local
Government Board to the imperfections of the Bill, and it