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144
which was done by the Factory and Workshop Amendment.
Act, 1883. In my annual report for 1881,1 called attention to
the failure of the Act of 1878, and urged the restoration of the
status quo ante 1879. At the same time I pointed out the
necessity for 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,
and 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. These views were adopted by your
Vestry in 1882, and in January, 1883, they were communicated
to the other Vestries and District Boards. (The subject had
been previously taken up and dropped by the St. Pancras
Vestry.) The Society of Medical Officers of Health forwarded
to the Home Secretary a memorial which I had drafted, in
which the grounds for placing the Bakehouses under the Sanitary
Authorities were set out. The Operative Bakers' and
Confectioners' Union addressed the Government on the subject,
in a memorial which stated that "at present almost any kitchen
or cellar is turned into a bakehouse, often in close proximity to
drains, many being even undrained and totally unfit places for
the manufacture of human food." And subsequently the President
of the Local Government Board received a deputation from
the Union, which stated that "the unsatisfactory condition of
bakehouses seriously affected the wholesome character of bread,
and injuriously affected the health of the operatives.'' The
President observed, in reply, that the Government proposed, by
legislation, to prevent the construction of underground bakehouses
for the future, but that he could not then hold out any
promise as to inspection. In the last days ofthe session (1883),
however, the Factory and Workshop Amendment Act was passed, by
which your Vestry are constituted " local authority," so far as relates
to cleanliness, ventilation, overcrowding, and other sanitary
conditions of bakehouses—with power to enforce sections 3, 33,