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204
Excepting as regards the one matter dealt with above, the
passing of the Act qua dairies, &c., is subject for satisfaction, for
the supervision of dairies, cowsheds, &c., is eminently a sanitary
matter proper to be placed in the hands of the Sanitarv
Authorities and under the control of the Local Government
Board by its Medical Department as Central Sanitary
Authority.
Much credit is due for improvements effected upon registered
premises, to the Metropolitan Board of Works, as Local
Authority, and to their " Chief Officer," who has brought
exceptional ability and energy to bear upon the discharge of his
duty under the Order—one only of multifarious duties devolving
upon him—and who has always maintained amicable
relations with the Medical Officers of Health, and always
receives their suggestions with courtesy and consideration. My
objection is to the negation of principle, so far as the metropolis
is concerned, involved in the new legislation, which is in no
slight degree the outcome of representations made to the
Governmental Authorities by the Society of Medical Officers of
Health, who were the first to frame "model" codes of
regulations for dairies, cowsheds, &c., and for slaughter-houses
also; the drafting of which, I may mention, devolved upon
myself in connection with papers which I read before the
Society, prior to the passing of the Slaughter-houses Act in 1871,
and before the passing of the Contagious Diseases (Animals)
Act in 1878, which was followed, in due course, by the issue of
the Dairies, &c., Order in 1879.
BAKEHOUSES.
In a previous report I had occasion to deprecate the transfer
of the duty of supervising bakehouses from the Sanitary
Authority to the Factory Inspector, under the provisions of
''The Factory and Workshop Act, 1878," by which "The