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110
sewers; 2nd, that every precaution shall be taken to
prevent the entry of sewer gas into houses; and 3rd, that
all the drainage works shall be good and lasting, and so
placed as to be easy to inspect and keep in good order. I
need not go into the details of the regulations, the importance
and significance of each of which will be obvious to all who
study them.
Another matter on which I wish to make a few remarks
is the question of the application of the powers conferred by
the Artisans' Dwelling Acts to unhealthy areas in the Parish.
It will be recollected that soon after the creation of the
London County Council, a communication was addressed by
this body to all the Metropolitan Vestries and District
Boards requesting that the Medical Officers and Surveyors
should be directed to report to the County Council all such
areas within their respective districts as seemed to them
proper for demolition and replacement by model lodginghouses
; and it will probably be recollected that I reported
briefly that I was not prepared to make any such return.
Now it is well known that in various parts of Camberwell
there is much small property which is old, ill-built, dirty,
inhabited by persons of not over cleanly habits or occupations,
and needing constant supervision to keep it in anything
like a reasonable sanitary condition; which for various
reasons we might well like to get rid of; and which I am
sure many well-meaning persons would at once condemn.
But of the property here referred to, the larger groups
occupy sites not well adapted for dealing with on a large
scale and as a whole, and the smaller groups can be dealt with
if the need should arise, by the Vestry itself, under Torrens's
Act, or the Nuisance Removal Acts. There are, moreover,
other reasons of a more important kind why I have