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houses and poorer localities of the Parish, and to those houses
of whatever class they may be which lie along the lines of newly
constructed sewers, and that much of the worst property is
really inspected pretty frequently. There is no doubt however
that a staff of two inspectors was quite inadequate to keep a
constant supervision over the whole of the poorer parts of the
Parish, even at the time of their first appointment, when the
Parish contained a total of not more probably than 11500 houses;
and that as the Parish has gradually been growing, until at the
end of last year it contained over 16000 houses, such a staff has
become more and more unequal to the task which it is evident
that many persons supposed it was their duty to perform. As
population grows, and as new and increased powers in reference
to sanitary matters are conferred upon the Vestry, it is evident
that to maintain efficiency a commensurate increase in the sanitary
staff must be made. The appointment of two additional Inspectors
last year, whose services will I hope be permanently
retained, was therefore a most important and beneficial step.
I suspect however that before long it will be found advisable, if
not absolutely necessary, to appoint such an officer for each
separate ward into which the Parish is divided. I may here
point out one or two disadvantages under which our Inspectors
in common with those of some other districts labour; these are,
in the first place the very great superficial extent of the Parish,
which makes it a considerable part of a day's labour to get from
one extremity of it to the other, as our old Inspectors had not
unfrequently to do; in the second place, the fact that the policecourt
is not only not within our Parish but at a considerable
distance from it, an arrangement which necessarily leads to a
very considerable sacrifice of the Inspectors' time.
There was also evidently an impression on the part of many