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under the supervision of the police and the medical officer, and were accessible to them at
all times. If they were not in proper order they would report them, and the consequence
would be that the license would be suspended, and the place would not be allowed to be
opened again until the requirements were complied with. The license was renewed
annually, and the person requiring it had to appear either personally or by deputy. The
supervision thus carried out was much better, he thought, than it would be for larger
places. If a private slaughter house were objectionable, the evils would be multiplied
fifty-fold in the place where the larger one was located. He denied that private slaughter
houses were necessarily injurious to health. He had lived for twenty years, and brought
up a family over one, and they had been as healthy a family as any in London. He did
not think animal matter was so injurious as vegetable matter. The nearer the man lived
to the slaughter house, the more likely was he to keep it in a good state. In his own
business the blood had always been taken away immediately, and there was not any
objectionable matter left at night. It would be impossible to do as much as this in
public slaughter houses. With them the expense of conveying the meat to the shops
would increase its price. He would rather see facilities given for keeping the present
slaughter houses in a cleanly and creditable manner.
Mr. R. C. Gkeatorex said that the gentleman who had last spoken had noticed the
immense supervision that was necessary, and which he said was carried out. That he
(Mr. Greatorex) thought was rather—as so much was required—a reason why the private
slaughter houses should be abolished, for there would then be no necessity for any at all.
Their position was bad, and all sanitary science agreed that they were not only injurious
to the health of the people, but also to the food. The poor animals passing through
several dealers' hands, and driven from one place to the other, became in such a state to
be unfit for food. This also enhanced the price to the consumer, for each person must
have his per centage of profit. On economical grounds he advocated the abolition of
the slaughter houses. And he would call attention to the very unnatural way in which
cow-houses are constructed. The animal is shut up in a kind of black hole, and there
fed upon all kinds of stimulating food, and hence we do not get healthy milk.
Mr. H. N. Mozley asked if there was any means of forming a definite idea of the
proportionate amount of diseased meat actually sold to that which was seized ?
Dr. Hardwicke, in reply, stated that there were no facts sufficiently certain whereon
to found any data; but there was no doubt at all that the quantity was enormous, and
was made up into sausages, or sold by the low-class butchers.
The Chairman said he had taken much interest in the subject, and a year or two ago
had felt it his duty to take such parliamentary action as led to the defeat of Dr. Brewer's
bill. Something more precise in the definition, and more stringent in the remedies, was
required to meet the condition of the slaughter houses in our large towns. The matter,
as it concerned them, should not be left till found to be a nuisance, but taken as being,
in a degree, a nuisance per se. And the only question was whether these places should
be under strict regulations or entirely forbidden. He had taken note of the evidence
offered before the Select Committee of the House of Commons of 1873, on this subject,
and of the character of the witnesses, and had found that many frivolous and irrelevant
questions were asked. A great experiment had been carried on at Edinburgh, which had
resulted in a great saving financially, and an improvement in the public health. But no
one from that city was examined as to these matters. A great discussion had likewise been
carried on at Liverpool on the subject, and definite results arrived at; but no gentleman
from that town was consulted. Most of the witnesses examined were interested persons