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112
rooms from being overcrowded at night; no doubt
it is a good thing to prevent immorality. But
surely it would be scandalous that any subordinate
Vestry official should be permitted, when he likes,
to enter the bedroom of a respectable man and wife
or a number of girls, or even one occupied by persons
of opposite sexes whose relations are decently
immoral. We have no right to assume that lodgers
are ill-conducted or not respectable, merely because
they are lodgers and poor. The power of demanding
admission at night is one that should, if possible,
be retained; but it is one that should only be
exercised under special circumstances and under
special authority.
Lastly. The means by which the regulations
shall be brought into operation in respect of any house,
and shall be maintained in respect of that house is not
even touched on; while, on the other hand, there are
introduced a number of practically useless enquiries
which would entail an enormous amount of wholly unremunerative
clerical labour. One of the greatest,
if not the greatest, of the practical difficulties we
have had to encounter is that of bringing and maintaining
houses legally under the operation of our
regulations. We have had to give notice of our
intention to the actual landlord and to the occupier,