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176
1879, the regulations were published for the guidance of UrbanSanitary
Authorities.
I brought these suggested regulations under the notice of the
Special Purposes Committee, and on the 17th June, 1879, the
Committee reported, recommending that "the regulations proposed
by the Society of Medical Officers of Health be adopted and
forwarded to the Local Government Board for sanction." The
report was referred back by your Vestry. As already mentioned,
the Committee had requested me in April, 1879, to ascertain to
what extent the Acts had been adopted in other Metropolitan
parishes, large provincial towns, etc., and the result of my inquiries
having been to show that the Acts had been adopted in few
places, metropolitan or provincial, and that in the majority of such
places the provisions had been executed in a perfunctory manner,
the Committee finally advised your Vestry, in July, that it was
not expedient to adopt the Acts at that time. The Committee
were influenced to some extent, in coming to this decision, by a
report that the Local Government Board contemplated framingmodel
bye-laws for the guidance of sanitary authorities, the issue
of which it was thought desirable to await; possibly also by the
fact that the Board had never exercised the power conferred by
the Act of 1874 of declaring the enactments to be in force in any
district. Model regulations for "Houses let in Lodgings" were
issued by the Board in the following year (1880), framed with
regard to section 90 of the Public Health Act, 1875, (38 and 39
Vict., c. 55). The provisions of that section are practically
identical with those of sec. 35 of the Sanitary Act, 1866, and sec.
47 of the Sanitary Law Amendment Act, 1874, which were incorporated
in the Act of 1855, from the operation of which the
Metropolis is excluded. But the regulations were not suitable for
the circumstances of the Metropolis and your Vestry took no
further action in the matter at that time.
At the close of the year 1883, the Local Government Board,
by notice published in the London Gazette, declared the enactments
of the Acts to be in force in all parts of the Metropolis,
and they issued a circular letter, together with "Suggestions for