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they, or the Home Secretary, have the necessary practical
acquaintance with the actual state of the case, in respect of the
supervision of Common Lodging Houses, and what it involves ;
and I would humbly suggest, that before any change is made
in the present system, the Home Secretary should take counsel
with the Police authorities, both as to the number of Inspectors
and other officers engaged in the duty, and as to the conditions
under which the work is carried on. Personally, I deprecate
any change in a system which works well, and which, in my
hearing, the philanthropic Lord Shaftesbury once characterised
as "the perfection of sanitary administration applied to the
housing of the poor." Should the police require the assistance
that Medical Officers of Health and Sanitary Inspectors
can give, it is always forthcoming; but I greatly doubt
whether the Common Lodging Houses, at any rate in some
parts of the Metropolis, could be effectively supervised by any
body of men not endowed with the status of police officers.
The subject has not received the attention or the criticism
which its importance demands, and I, for one, shall be glad
should it appear that an Act is necessary to effect the desired
transference, so that, before any change is made, the matter
may be fully considered in Parliament, with all the light the
police are able to throw upon it. It may be interesting to add
that at the end of 1891, the registered Common Lodging
Houses, under the control of the Metropolitan police, were
863 in number, with accommodation for 33,086 lodgers.
During that year 39 new houses were registered, 92 were
re-opened and 230 closed. One hundred and fifty-six keepers
were served with notices to register their houses: 78 nonregistered
houses were periodically visited to enforce the Acts:
89 houses were surveyed, and 8 keepers of registered houses
were summoned and convicted. One hundred cases of illness,
other than infectious, occurred, 73 of which resulted fatally,
necessitating inquests being held. Twenty-four cases of
infectious diseases occurred. The Act" for the well ordering
of Common Lodging Houses," is 14 and 15 Vict., Cap., 28: it
became law 24th July, 1851.