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in the parish, and we know that ho has held an important position
in the vestry. At question 628 Lord William Compton was
asked: "Do you know the state, for instance, of any of the
"property that Mr. Decimus Ball holds under Lord Northamp"ton,"
and his answer was "Yes, I have been into almost all
"the places." Then question 629 is "He has done a great deal
"of sanitary work upon those houses since you have yourself
"been looking into them, has he not," and the answer is "It
is rather difficult to say what sanitary work is. I do not "think
that his work is at all good." Then Lord William Compton
was asked in definite terms about Wynyatt cottages and
Wynyatt Court, and he stated, in answer to question 633, that
Wynyatt cottages, which were held by Mr. Ball, were in a very
bad condition indeed. Then Lord William Compton, when he
was asked with regard to the. raising of rents by Mr. Ball, said
that he had acquired the property and broken up houses which
had been occupied by whole families, and that they were now
occupied in single rooms. "Then speaking of Chapel Row one of
the properties which is held by Mr. Ball, Lord William Compton
was asked, question 644, whether the rents had been raised, and
he said "I imagine that it has ; at all events the people com"plain
of it."b He then went into details with regard to a
particular case of the raising of rent in answer to question 645;
and at question 649 he was asked this : "I believe that you have
been into the figures of what Mr. Ball, for instance, pays, and
"what he receives, and you find that he makes considerable
"profits;" and Lord William Compton's answer was: "This
"profit is perfectly enormous, if he does not do any repairs."
"Then question 650 is this: "The repairs are done irregularly,
"are they not," and the answer is "I think that in some cases
"they are not done at all." Then at question 651 he was asked
this. "He will make repairs in one year, and then he will
"make no repairs for several years, is not that so ?" and his
answer was, "I think that is the principle upon which he has
"gone. He say himself that he has done repairs, and that the
"the people themselves destroy the repairs as soon as he has
"done them." Then at question 658 Lord William Compton
was asked "Have you come across cases in which Mr. Decimus
"Ball raises the rent if it is not paid on Monday morning?
"A.) He certainly threatens to do so. When I taxed him with
"it he positively denied that he had ever done it, but he said
"that he always had to threaten it?"—As to doing the necessary
repairs on the property that Mr. Ball holds under the Marquess
of Northampton, is not the remedy in the Marquess' own hands,
under his leases?