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14
But to require that a vestry shall superintend all
works of drainage, that it shall periodically and systematically
inspect all private drains, &c., throughout the
parish or district under its control, and that thus it shall be
rendered responsible for all drainage defaults which may
produce disease or discomfort, is a very serious matter, and
involves a responsibility that should not be accepted
without thorough consideration, and to which acceptance
(according to my present views) I should, both as an
Officer of Health and as a ratepayer, most strongly object.
1st. It seems to me that it should be a fundamental
principle that landlords and tenants should be responsible
to themselves and to each other for the sanitary well-being
and maintenance of their houses; that a landlord (unless
he gets rid of his responsibility by the terms of his lease
or agreement with his tenant) should be held responsible
for the condition of his underground drains, and for the
amendment of any defects in these or in the sanitary
works above ground, which may arise from time to time,
and which the tenant or any one else, may bring to his
notice; and that a tenant (even if he do not hold a lease)
should be required, for his own sake, and for that of his
landlord, to keep a watch over the condition of his drains,
closets, &tc., and to at once call his landlord's attention to
any defects he may discover or suspect in them. It is far
more likely that all such matters will be kept in thorough
and efficient order (especially when the education in
sanitary matters which the public is how undergoing shall
have become general and appreciated) when those who are
immediately concerned are held responsible and acknowledge
their responsibility, than they would be through the
agency of some central authority.