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should be taken for the discharge of the new duties imposed
upon the Sanitary Authority under the above Acts." And in
conformity with the request of your Vestry I addressed a
further report on the subject to the Committee as follows:—
"Having been requested by the Vestry to report to your Committee on the
steps necessary to be taken for the discharge of the new duties imposed
upon the Vestry under the Factory Acts and the Public Health (London)
Act, 1891, I beg to state that these steps appear to me to be mainly (1)
the preparation of the necessary forms for notices, &c., and (2) the
appointment of a sufficient staff of officers to perform the said duties:—
(1) With respect to Forms I submit a large number that have been
prepared for, and are published by Messrs. Knight and Co., some
of which, either as drafted or with modifications, might be made
available for the purposes of the Public Health (London) Act.
Some forms, I may mention, are contained in the Third Schedule
to the Act. It is for the consideration of your Committee what
steps should be taken to settle the forms to be used in my department
in carrying out the provisions of this Act. The duties of the
Vestry with respect to factories, workshops, &c., are mainly of a
sanitary character; it is probable therefore that the forms provided
in connection with the Public Health Act, will suffice for the
purposes of the Factory Acts.
(2) With respect to the appointment of officers, this is a question
that will have to be considered in connection with the duties which
the Acts impose on the Sanitary Authority.
"These duties were fully set out in my tenth and eleventh monthly reports,
but it may be desirable to repeat here, that, under the Factory Acts, it
will be the duty of the Sanitary Authority to inspect non-textile factories,
including bakehouses and workshops, workplaces and laundries,
in order to see that the provisions of the law relating to public health
as to effluvia arising from drains, water closets, or other nuisances, or
with respect to cleanliness, ventilation, overcrowding, limewashing, &c.
are duly observed. The discharge of this duty involves the necessity
primarily, of making a list of all such premises.
"The duties devolving upon the Sanitary Authority under the Public Health
Act are too numerous even to be named here, seeing that the Act
consolidates in whole or in part no fewer than thirty-five statutes, and
adds many new provisions to those of previously existing sanitary
legislation. With respect to nuisances and sanitary matters generally,
the first section may be said to strike the key-note of the Act, seeing
that it provides for the inspection of the parish with the object of securing