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were thoroughly cleansed. No further case of fever occurred in the neighbourhood,
and had similar steps been taken when the first case was treated,
it is not improbable that the disease would have been arrested, and instead of
six cases there would have been only one. The preference which is given
by our law makers to the protection of the supposed vested rights of property
above that of public health, is likewise shown by the
Rejection of the Several Building Bills,
which have been from time to time brought in by the Metropolitan
Board of Works, for the amendment of the Building Act; valuable as they
were in a sanitary point of view. These several Bills contained very valuable
suggestions for the proper arrangement of the number of square feet which
was necessary to be provided at the rear of dwelling houses. The opinion
of the House appeared to prevail that "a man has a right to do what he
likes with his own," as regards the building of as many houses as can
possibly be packed together on his own land without taking into consideration
the health of the people who are to inhabit them, or the health of
those in the immediate neighbourhood. So long as the Building Act, as
regards open spaces at the rear of houses, remains unaltered, so long will
unhealthy houses continue to be built; and if such are condemned under the
authority of Local Boards as unfit for habitation, they will have to be taken
down at the public expense, and compensation given to the owners. It does
appear to be a very unwise proceeding to pull down unhealthy houses in
some localities, and at the same time allow similarly unhealthy ones to be
erected elsewhere. Although some improvement was effected by the last
Building Act, which was brought in by the Metropolitan Board of Works,
yet a general Building Act for the whole of England is required, and the
Local Boards should be empowered to make bye-laws for regulating
the building of houses; which however, before being acted on, should be
approved by a Secretary of State. With a similar restriction, the
Metropolitan Board of Works might be empowered to make bye-laws for
buildings in the Metropolis. It would perhaps be better to embody in the
Building Act all that is essential to the sanitary condition of houses, and so
obviate the necessity for making bye-laws in each district.
The Metropolis Management and Building Acts'
Amendment Act.
In my last report, while speaking of the statutes relating to sanitary
subjects which were passed during the last session of Parliament, I
referred to the unfortunate omission of a clause determining the amount of