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150
17. Defective enforcement of
tary Law.
18. Amendment of the Law;
mary powers needed.
25 & 26 Vic., c. 102, s. 64, p.
196.
Various Acts.
The Committee reported, in substance, on the several subjects
as follows:—
1. The Housing of the Working Classes is a "question
that can he dealt with satisfactorily" only by a
metropolitan authority having power to put Lord Shaftesbury's
Acts into operation. This view was subsequently sustained by
the action of Parliament, which by Section 1 of the Housing of
the Working Classes (England) Act, 1885, authorized the
Metropolitan Board of Works to adopt the Acts, if one of Her
Majesty's principal Secretaries of State approves of such
adoption,
2. Underground Rooms,—The Committee take note of
Clause 61, Public Health (Metropolis) Bill, 1885, which proposed
to transfer the powers now exercised by the District
Surveyor to the Sanitary Inspector, and recommend, pending
legislation on the subject, that enquiry be made by the
Inspector with regard to the rooms scheduled by the District
Surveyor, "with a view to such action by the Vestry
as the circumstances of each case may seem to warrant."
3. Construction of Drains.—The Committee recommend
the Yestry to encourage the practice of construction of drains
outside the house to junction with the sewer, by their own
officers.
4. Inspection of Drains, etc.—The Committee doubt
whether the Vestry have power to recover the cost of opening
up drains of private houses for inspection, even when the drains
are found to be defective, and recommend an amendment of
Sec, 85 Metropolis Management Act to confer such power,