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tenements which are either unfit for human habitation, or in such
a condition as to be distinctly prejudicial to the health of the
inmates." It was further said that there could be "no doubt of
the gravity of the evils which result," from this state of things,
"or of the ability of the Local Authorities, by a strenuous and
judicious exercise" of their powers, "to effect a very material
improvement in the present condition of these dwellings." The
Board then proceeded to explain the provisions of law bearing
upon the subject, and concluded by impressing on the several
Authorities the grave responsibility they would incur should they
neglect the duty cast upon them by the legislature. At the request
of the Works and Sanitary Committee, I presented a Report to
your Vestry on the subject, in which I set out, in some detail, the
difficulties experienced, by Sanitary Authorities and officials alike,
in giving effect to existing law, and shewed "the necessity for
amending legislation to expedite and simplify legal proceedings for
the abatement of nuisances and overcrowding." Since that
report was submitted, much has been done to lessen
the difficulties, and to increase the powers, of those engaged
in administering sanitary law; viz., by the passing of
the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, which
consolidates and amends the Acts (1851 to 1885) intended for the
improvement of the dwellings of the labouring classes, and by the
introduction of Bills, which will shortly become law as the Public
Health (London) Act, and by which a large number of scattered
provisions, dealing with nuisances, infectious disease (notification,
and prevention), and many cognate subjects, will be consolidated
and amended. The admitted necessity for these measures furnishes,
perhaps, the best defence that the Sanitary Authorities
can make to the charges of neglect, in the past, so freely brought
against them. At the same time, the fact that such measures
have been passed, will, to a considerable extent, deprive Sanitary
Authorities of reasonable excuse for allowing the evils complained
of to continue. I have referred so fully in other parts of this
Report to the leading provisions of these measures (as well as the
Factory Bill, which also will shortly become law), that I need not