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owner may erect upon the sites of these buildings dwelling-houses, and
may let them out'in tenements, without any regard being had to the width
of the Court, because it is said to be an old Court, and no power is given
to any authority to limit the height of the houses built thereon, but in a
new Court, a bye-law of the Metropolitan Board provides, that an open
space of 20 feet shall exist between the houses on each side of it.
The present Building Act does not require a parapet-wall to be made.
The want of such a protection to the public may be productive of danger
to life. A tile, slate, or a quantity of frozen snow may fall from the roof and
injure persons in the public streets. Neither is there any provision made
to afford safety to the public in enabling them to make a speedy exit from
places of public entertainment in case of an alarm of fire.
The law relating to the building of houses, appears to be in this
anomalous state, viz.: That houses can be built without suitable provision
being made for the proper ventilation and height of the rooms; but after
such houses are completed and let out in tenements, then, by virtue of
another act, the local authority may institute proceedings before a magistrate
to prevent the occupation of any room, which, in the opinion of the
medical officer, is unfitted for the health of the occupants. It surely
would be much better to prevent houses being built, unless every
arrangement suitable for preserving the health of the occupants be first
made, than to allow houses to be completed, and then to prevent the
landlord from letting them.
At the present time large sums of money are being expended by
some philanthropists in erecting improved dwellings for the labouring
classes, in the hope that such dwellings will not only directly benefit the
occupants themselves, hut will contribute indirectly to the general welfare
of the whole 'community; but, unless the provisions of a new Building
Act forbid the extension of buildings in unsuitable localities, and at the
same time enact that all the rooms in dwelling-houses shall be sufficiently
lighted and ventilated, the labour, time, and property of such kind-hearted
persons will be, to a certain extent, thrown away.
All the cow-houses and slaughter-houses have been inspected, and
the Board has not offered any opposition to the annual grant of the necessary
license in any one case. There is, I am sorry to say, great difficulty
in compelling the cow-keepers to observe the regulations of the Board
respecting the regular removal of the dung three times every week. I
intimated to all the keepers of cows, where these necessary regulations were
not obeyed, that I should advise the Board to oppose the license on the
next licensing day.
I stated in a former Report that 1,000 cubic feet of space should be
allowed to each cow kept within a cow-house. This important regulation
was insisted upon by the Vestry of St. James', Westminster, and in every
case it appears to have been disregarded ; whereupon, the Vestry opposed
the further granting of the annual license, and the magistrates consequently