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worse on rubbish foundations: the bricks and mortar have scarcely
deserved their names; the plastering has frequently been done
with a mixture of fine sittings of house refuse; the wood-work
was badly put together and made of ill-seasoned wood, which
speedily shrank and gave rise to draughts and consequent colds
and rheumatism. These and many other evils which obtain in
the present manner of building houses would have been prevented,
if the Building Bill, introduced more than once by the Metropolitan
Board of Works into the House of Commons, had become
law. Now, however, that public attention has been so frequently
and so forcibly called to the matter, and the Secretary of State
has considered some of these matters favourably, there may be
some chance of the poor artizan and lower middle classes being
better lodged and accommodated than at present. It will
however be difficult to remedy the evils of the past without
pulling down a large number of these wretchedly constructed
dwellings.
The number of notices served differed but little from those
in former years, except that the proportion of statutory notices
was not much more than half. This has been caused by the
larger number of summonses taken out during the last two or
three years, and the consequently greater rapidity with which
other owners have carried out the necessary works for fear of
themselves being summoned. I am quite sure that a prompt and
strict enforcement of the various sanitary acts is beneficial not
only to tenants but landlords, because the latter will not allow
tenants to occupy their houses who frequently bring them
under the notice of the sanitary officers. The smallness of the
rooms; the number and careless habits of their occupants, and
the bad construction of dwellings must always lead to the
recurrence of nuisances, but I hope by a strict supervision over
the property in this District to induce greater cleanliness as well
as more care in using the dwellings, even although it may at first
cause lather considerable expense to the landlords by frequent
repair and cleansing of the houses.
In conclusion, I have to acknowledge the uniform support