(NO. 181.) SECOND READING. (Hansard, 30 July 1874)

§ LORD WALSINGHAM
, in moving that the Bill be now road the second time, said, that this measure, which had come up from the Commons, was only to be considered as a necessary step towards the general consolidation and amendment of the sanitary laws. From 1848 onwards, attempts had been made to legislate upon sanitary matters. Several Acts had been passed of which, perhaps, the first which might be considered of importance was the Act of 1866; but up to 1872 great confusion had existed among the various sanitary authorities in the country. There was a complication of jurisdiction which was one of the points specially referred for inquiry to the Royal Sanitary Commission. They recommended in their Report that the country should be divided into urban and rural sanitary districts, and that one authority only should exercise jurisdiction in each district. In 1872 the Public Health Act was passed, which gave effect to the recommendations of the Commission by dividing the country into urban and rural sanitary districts, the urban authorities under the Act being Town Councils, Improvement Commissioners, and Local Boards; in rural districts the authorities being the Boards of Guardians for each Union, but Guardians representing parishes included in any urban districts were to be excluded, from all rural district Boards. The Act also provided for the necessary transfer of powers and property which were to accompany this jurisdiction, and conferred upon the Local Government Board certain powers with reference to the constitution of port sanitary authorities and other matters. It dealt with great and varied interests, with details of local administration, with minute and intricate questions of duty and authority, in which a permanently satisfactory arrangement could hardly have been hoped to be arrived at without some further experience which might enable Parliament to remedy defects, and to condense or to elaborate the system which had been set in motion, according to such 959 necessities as time and observation might indicate. Many questions had arisen, much experience had now been gained, defects had been discovered, and anomalies recognized in the existing law, which it became the duty of the responsible Department to remedy and to remove. The Local Government Board had long contemplated a complete consolidation of the Sanitary Laws, but until the general provisions of the law had been ascertained and fixed, it was felt that such consolidation would be premature, and the present Bill might be considered as only a necessary step towards it. A large number of the provisions in the present Bill were therefore merely administrative, and, to some extent, technical. It conferred but few new powers, merely improving for the most part, the machinery by which the provisions of the old Acts might be carried out, and defining the means by which various authorities were to perform their duties. For these purposes it was proposed by the first part of the Bill to explain and amend the Public Health Act of 1872; the second part to amend the general Sanitary Law with regard to the powers and duties of sanitary authorities; and the third part to regulate the constitution and election of Local Boards. Subsequent divisions were then devoted to provisions as to the acquisition of property, powers of borrowing, and the audit of accounts. Some regulations followed having regard to the institution and confirmation of bye-laws; while the remainder of the Act was devoted to miscellaneous sanitary provisions in connection with water supply, the prevention of disease, and the sale of unwholesome food. First, in amending the Act of 1872, it removed existing doubts by declaring that the rural sanitary authority and the Board of Guardians were the same authority, and that all regulations applicable to Guardians should apply to them in both capacities. It further provided that transfers of powers held for sanitary purposes should apply to authorities Tinder local Acts, as well as to those under the general law. It also adjusted the incidence of the various rates under which sanitary expenses were to be levied; and provided compensation for officers who might hereafter be deprived of office under its operation. Secondly, in amending the general law, it pro- 960 vided for the payment of expenses incurred by the chief constables in prosecuting offenders in default of the nuisance authority, and enabled the Local Government Board to enforce by mandamus their orders for the execution of necessary works; giving, moreover, a power to settle disputes between local boards about boundaries of sanitary districts which were often made the excuse for neglecting important duties. There were, as he had said, very few new powers taken by this Bill. It extended the borrowing powers of sanitary authorities, and gave them increased facilities for purchasing easements and rights as well as land and water. It authorized them to recover by summary proceeding the costs of the removal of works. It enabled justices to order the closing of wells and pumps which might be proved to be injurious to health—which was an important new power distinctly recommended by the Sanitary Commission. It enabled sanitary authorities to provide hospitals for infectious diseases, and to secure means for the removal of patients beyond the limits of their district in cases of emergency. It extended to the Metropolis the power to order the destruction of infected clothing, and provided that complaints of nuisances made by persons other than inhabitants of the place where they occurred should be attended to. It granted power to Justices to issue warrants to search for unwholesome food, though not exposed for sale, and imposed penalties on lodging-house keepers falsely denying the harbouring of infectious or epidemic diseases. Except in these matters which he had enumerated, the Bill was devoted to clearing up doubts as to the interpretation of the old Sanitary Acts, and to improving and arranging the machinery provided in them for various purposes. Most of the important clauses had formed the subject of distinct recommendation by the Sanitary Commission, and the Bill had received the cordial assent of both sides of the House of Commons. Its adoption would assist the action of sanitary authorities, and would greatly facilitate the subsequent introduction of a measure for the general consolidation of the law.

§ LORD REDESDALE
said, he was glad to hear that, in the opinion of Her Majesty's Government, the Bill was a step towards the consolidation of the Sanitary Laws, than which nothing was more wanted. He had his doubts that it would tend very much in that direction. It would be one Bill the more, in addition to the many others which must be included in any scheme of codification. Sanitary works were apt to be very expensive, and he thought there ought to be the fullest explanation as to the power of acquiring and holding land.

§ EARL FORTESCUE
said, he agreed with the noble Lord the Chairman of Committees in approving the Bill, so far as it was a measure for consolidating the Sanitary Laws, which, undoubtedly, required consolidation; but, considering the enlightened views of the present Prime Minister, he was rather disappointed that a more comprehensive measure on the subject of sanitary reform had not been submitted to Parliament this year. The time wasted on the Intoxicating Liquors Bill would have been much better bestowed in discussing the subject of sanitary legislation; but, after what had been said by the noble Lord (Lord Walsingham) he entertained a sanguine hope that the Government would introduce next Session some large measure on the subject. He had not expected much from the late Government, whose Cabinet included an influential Member who was opposed to sanitary legislation, and which invented the now system of "Ministerial Responsibility (limited)"; but he did expect it from Her Majesty's present Ministers. The Sanitary Acts were excellent in theory, but far too numerous, and he feared that the practical results under them had in many instances been retrograde. If they compared the death-rate of London, Manchester, Liverpool, and other large towns, for the last decade with that of the decade after the Public Health Act of 1848, he thought they would find reason to conclude that the operation of this mass of sanitary legislation had not been far from as beneficial as was expected. The mortality in the Metropolis was greater than what it was some years back, and the right rev. Prelate who had attacked the farmers of Suffolk in respect of the homos of their labourers, would have done well if he had in the first instance 962 inquired into the sanitary condition of the large towns in his own diocese, nay, of the whole county of Lancashire; for the Returns of the Registrar General showed that while the rate of mortality was decreasing in the country districts, it was increasing in the Metropolis and the other large centres of population.

§ THE DUKE OF RICHMOND
hoped the noble Earl would forgive him if he did not follow him in his comment on the Intoxicating Liquors Bill. He quite concurred with his noble Friends in thinking that a consolidation and revision of the Sanitary Laws was very desirable; but he would not undertake that Her Majesty's Government would prepare a Bill having that object during the ensuing Recess. He could not think, however, that desirability of a Consolidation Bill would afford any good reason for not passing this Bill. Neither could he concur with his noble Friend that the action of the local authorities in respect of sanitary matters had been retrograde. In many localities the local authorities had done much in the cause of sanitary reform.