§ VISCOUNT ENFIELDsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of State for the Home Department, Whether any defect exists as regards the levying of Rates for Sanitary Improvements in the provisions of the forty-ninth Clause of "The Sanitary Act, 1866," and of the second Clause of "The Sewage Utilization Act, 1867;" and, if so, whether he proposes during the present Session to bring in any measure to remedy the same; and, whether any 259 steps have been taken, under the provisions of the above-mentioned Acts, to remedy the imperfect state of the drainage of Acton, Chiswick, and a detached part of Ealing, as reported to the Home Department in October, 1866, by Mr. Fulton, the engineer?
§ SIR JAMES FERGUSSON, in reply, said, he was not prepared to admit that there were defects in the Law to which his noble Friend pointed. Where the Secretary of State had reason to believe there was any disinclination on the part of the local authority to execute necessary drainage operations, he sent down a person to inquire into the case; if he found the local authority disinclined to perform the necessary works, he ordered them to be carried into execution, and he had power to recover the cost of the works. The remedy was by attachment of the property of the defaulting parties. In the case of a vestry there was no personal property; and it was a question, whether the Secretary of State could oblige the overseers to pay. The Opinion of the Law Officers of the Crown had been taken last year, and, from their Opinion, it appeared doubtful if the Act of 1867 gave powers to the Secretary of State to issue a precept to the overseer to levy additional rates. But, believing that the Legislature intended to give him the power to enforce his order, his (Sir James Fergusson's) right hon. Friend intended to try to enforce it, and if he found that he had not that power, he would apply to Parliament for additional powers. The parishes in question had failed to execute the necessary works because the Metropolitan Board declined to allow them to drain into the only available outfall, on the ground that it was insufficient for the purpose. They would therefore have to take other steps.