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pies were manufactured in the cellar which was neither paved nor drained,
and was in a most filthy condition. The houses numbered 244 and 245a are
likewise without back yards, they having been taken for the erection of a
warehouse. In No. 245a, the privy and water supply are in the cellar, and
in No. 244, the privy is built on a lead flat over the shop. If these were
the only houses in the District which have been rendered unhealthy by the
owners building over the back yards, it would be sufficient to show how
necessary it is so to amend the Building Act as shall prevent similar alterations
from being made in other houses; but when there are also several other houses
so unhealthily constructed as to be the means of conveying the poison of some
diseases from one family to another, I may be excused for again directing
attention to the necessity of the Government bringing in such a Bill as shall
prevent the further erection of unhealthy dwellings.
There can be no doubt that the healthy housing of the population is the
foundation of all sanitary improvements, for unless stringent laws are passed
to prevent the erection of unhealthy dwellings, the numerous statutes
relating to the public health will be of comparatively little benefit.
In order therefore that a more healthy class of houses may in the future
be built, the sanitary provisions of any new Building Act should provide—
1.—That no house in any new street shall be occupied as a dwelling-house
unless a sewer has been constructed along such street, and a properly constructed
drain made from the house to the sewer.
2.—That, before any house is permitted to be occupied, the road and footway
shall be paved, and the surface drainage properly provided for.
3.—That, before the building of any new house is commenced, plans of the
drainage, and of all the sanitary arrangements of the house, shall be submitted
for approval to the Local Board. This Board shall be invested with
power to compel the builder of any new house within the district so to alter
his plans, if necessary, as to render such house fit for healthy occupation.
4.—It shall likewise be made compulsory upon every builder to provide a
separate water closet or privy and ashpit for each house, within the
curtilage of the house. This provision would prevent the erection of public
privies in courts occupied by the poorer classes, which are now for the most
part nuisances, and injurious to the public health.
5.—That during the progress of the building of any house, the Surveyor
to the Local Board shall be required to inspect the foundation thereof; and
if such Surveyor be of opinion that the materials which are being used for
such foundation are not proper for the purpose, he shall make known his
objections to the builder, and shall report the same to the Board. This report
having been made, the Board shall have power to prevent the use of all such
improper materials.
6.—That the walls and foundation of every house shall be so constructed
as to prevent the rise of damp.
7.—That every new house shall at all times have at the rear an open space
of sufficient extent for the thorough ventilation of the staircases and