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vessel reached her berth and became clearly " lying" in the Port, the
passengers were all landed, and the nuisance, so far as overcrowding was
concerned, ceased to exist. That since the matter had been brought by the
Port Sanitary Authority to the notice of the representatives of the countries
from which the aliens arrived, there had been a marked improvement, both
in the condition of the people and the accommodation provided for them on
the vessel.
It was suggested that it would be an advantage if the Port Sanitary
Authority had power to detain vessels bringing aliens of the particular class in
question at Gravesend until such time as they could be inspected by the Medical
Officer, and that no real hardship would accrue, either to the ship, shipowners,
or owners of the cargo in case of such detention. That the Medical Officer
should further have the power to act without reference to the Sanitary
Authority, as, for instance, in the case of exotic diseases.
Subsequently one of the Metropolitan stipendiary magistrates in giving his
evidence commented upon that previously given by your Medical Officer,
stating that the difficulties to be contended with as set forth by your Medical
Officer were not overrated.
That a ship moving on the river could not be termed a " house " within the
meaning of the Public Health Act until it was " lying," i.e., anchored or
moored and attached to the soil, but that a vessel moving might be considered
as " premises."
There was no practical difficulty with regard to going on board, because no
master of a vessel would prevent it, especially as the boarding was usually
done in company with the Customs House Officer. There was, however, a
great difficulty in dealing with a nuisance existing on a ship. With regard
to these immigrant ships, the difficulty might perhaps be circumvented. It
might, for instance, be argued that the River Thames, from Gravesend to the
Docks, should be considered premises. It is property vested in the Conservancy,
and the definition of " premises " in the Public Health Act is very
far-reaching, including '' messuages, buildings, lands, easements, and
" hereditaments of any tenure, open or closed, built on or not, public or private,
" and whether maintained or not under Statutory Authority."
That a ship, as described by your Medical Officer, with numbers of persons
living there, might be described as a nuisance existing on " premises," namely,
"the Thames." The fact remained, however, there was no power to stop a
ship. Further, there was the question of insufficiency of time for the purpose
of communication with the Port Sanitary Authority. In relation to this,
there was a case which had not perhaps been sufficiently realised. " The
London County Council versus Hobbis " * laid down that a public authority
might delegate a matter of this nature to an Officer.
* 75 " Law Times," page 687.