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of it, and direct the works necessary to prevent such recurrence.
Moreover, if the nuisance be such as to render a house or building,
in the judgment of the justices, unfit for human habitation, they
may prohibit the using thereof for that purpose, until it is rendered
fit, in the judgment of the justices, for habitation. In certain
circumstances the Vestry may, if they see fit, do the work themselves,
and charge the cost on the owner.
Shortly then, the justices may order a dilapidated house to be
made safe and habitable, may order certain structural works to be
carried out, for the purpose of improving ventilation, and for the
removal of, and for preventing the recurrence of, a nuisance; or, if
the house be so bad as to be unfit for human habitation, they may
cause it to be closed, until it has been repaired. But closets without
water supply, and mere dilapidations, such as leaky roofs, holes in
flooring, broken walls and ceilings, &c., can only be attacked
under this Act, if they can be proved to be nuisances and injurious
to health.
The other series of Acts are the Artizans' and Labourers'
Dwellings Acts, known as Torrens' Acts. The chief of these was
passed in 1868; and has been subsequently several times amended.
Its scope is limited, by the preamble of the Act, to dwellings
occupied by working people and their families; it requires the
Medical Officer of Health to report to his Vestry such houses, as
ho considers from defective construction, dilapidation or malposition,
to be in a condition or state dangerous to health, so as to be unfit
for human habitation. This report is required to be in writing,
and to be delivered to the Clerk of the Vestry. It becomes the
duty of the Vestry, on the receipt of such report, to refer it to
some surveyor or engineer for consideration ; and he, in his turn, is
to present a report to the Vestry, on the cause of the evil reported
by the Medioal Officer, and also, what works should be done by
way of remedy. If he thinks the premises, reported on by the
Medical Officer, are so bad as to be beyond repair, he may report
that they ought to be demolished. Upon receipt of the Surveyor's
Report, the Vestry must send copies, of both the Health Officer's