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4. A store-house for hide3, for bones, wool, hair, &c.; and the blood and offal, and all
offensive materials, to be kept in covered tanks. The making of animal charcoal may be
desirable, and other processes which 1 need not mention here.
5. In an adjoining part of the same premises, or field, should be the knacker's yard,
with suitable appliances.
6. Dwellings for men and stabling for horses may have to be provided for those who
have to be employed on the premises, or for carrying out the work.
The main points I endeavour to prove are these:—
1. The impracticability of attempting to re-construct the old slaughter houses in built
up parts of towns.
2. The impossibility of securing, in the present private slaughter houses, ample air
space, means of cleansing, and drainage sufficient to prevent them from becoming
nuisances injurious to the health of people living in their vicinity—nuisances arising from
the pollution of the air, drains, and subsoil.
The remedy I propose is the erection of abattoirs in convenient suburban
localities, or where the objectionable practice of driving cattle in streets
and thoroughfares can be avoided; where cattle can be kept sweet and
clean in well-kept pens, duly provided with pure water, fresh air, shade
in hot and shelter in cold weather; where they are less exposed to violence
and brutality of person; and where the transport of blood, offal, hides,
and tallow can be effected, without nuisance or complaint of neighbours,
to places where they can either be sold, or preserved by methods free
from objection, or utilized at once for the owners thereof.
And lastly, this is the most important recommendation, where, as I
maintain, there is no difficulty in the inspection, by competent judges, of
the cattle before they are killed, or of the meat supplied, either in carcase
or otherwise, to the public markets, or to retail dealers.
In conclusion, permit me to remark, that it will neither be creditable
to Parliament, nor to the local governing bodies of the metropolis and
large towns, to endure the present state of things a day longer than is
necessary. The Act, as I have said, will shortly come into operation, and
a great achievement will be performed by simply remaining quiet and
doing nothing at all. Should any efforts be made by persons interested
in the prolongation of the Act, it will then, I urge, become the duty of
this Association to make some representation to Government, with a view
to effectually putting a stop to a system so offensive, so injurious, and so
repugnant to the feelings of all right-minded persons.