Chapter IX: Act 1875: , but that power is now rarely exercised, and new urban (1)

districts are in practice created only by orders of county councils
made under the Local Government Act 1888, section 57. Rural districts
were first created in 1872. Before that time there was practically no
sanitary authority outside the urban district, for although the vestry
of a parish had in some cases power to make sewers and had also some
other sanitary powers, there was no authority for such a district as
now corresponds to a rural district. There were, indeed, highway
boards and burial boards which had powers for special purposes, but
district authority in the sense in which it is now understood there
was none. Before the year 1894 the rural district consisted of the
area of the poor-law union, exclusive of any urban district which
might be within it, and the guardians of the poor were the rural
sanitary authority. Since 1894 this has been changed. By the Local
Government Act of that year the guardians ceased to be the rural
sanitary authority. The union was preserved as the rural sanitary
district, with this qualification, that if it extended into more than
one county it was divided so that no rural district should extend into
more than one county. Rural district councillors are elected for each
parish in the rural district, and they become by virtue of their
office guardians of the poor for the union comprising the district, so
that there is now no election of guardians in a rural district.
Guardians are still elected as such for urban districts, but the rural
district council have ceased to be the same body as the guardians and
are now wholly distinct. A district councillor, whether urban or
rural, holds office for a term of three years. One-third of the whole
council retire in each year, the annual elections being held in March,
but there may be a simultaneous retirement of the whole council in
every third year if the county council at the instance of the district
council so order. The qualification and disqualification of district
councillors, whether urban or rural, now depend upon the Local
Government Act 1894. Property qualification is abolished. Any person
may be elected who is either a parochial elector of some parish within
the district or has during the whole of the twelve months preceding
his election resided in the district, and no person is disqualified
by sex or marriage. The electors both in urban and rural districts are
the body called the parochial electors. These are practically the
persons whose names appear in the parliamentary register or in the
local government register as being entitled to vote at elections for
members of parliament or county or parish councillors as the case may
be. The election takes place subject to rules made by the Local
Government Board, these rules being largely founded upon adaptations
of the Municipal Corporations Act 1882. The election is by ballot on
the same lines as those prescribed for a municipal election, and the
Corrupt Practices Act, the provisions of which have been referred to
when dealing with county councils, applies to the elections of
district councils. The provisions with reference to election
petitions, the grounds upon which they may be presented and the
procedure upon them, are the same in every respect as have already
been mentioned when dealing with county councils. It may be convenient
here to state that the Local Government Board has power to unite any
number of districts or parts of districts into what is called a united
district for certain special purposes such as water-supply, sewerage
or the like. This is done by means of a provisional order made by the
board and confirmed by parliament. In such a united district the
governing body is a joint board constituted in manner provided by the
order, and it has under the order such of the powers of a district
council as are necessary for the purposes for which the united
district is created. Thus a joint sewerage board would generally be
invested by the order with all the powers of a district council
relating to the provision and control of sewers and the disposal of
sewage. It may also be convenient here to mention another special kind
of district authority, that is, a port sanitary authority. It is also
constituted by order of the Local Government Board, and it may include
one or more sanitary districts or parts of districts abutting upon a
port. In this case also the authority consists of such members and is
elected in such manner as the order determines, and it has such of the
powers of an ordinary district council as the order may confer upon
it. These relate for the most part to nuisances and infectious
disease, having special reference to ships. It has been thought
convenient to deal here with district councils, whether urban or
rural, together, but the powers of the former are much more extensive
than those of the latter, and as the consideration of the subject
proceeds it will be necessary to indicate what powers and duties are
conferred or imposed upon urban district councils only. It must be
pointed out, however, that when the necessity arises for conferring
upon a rural district council any of the powers exercisable only by an
urban district council, that can be done by means of an order of the
Local Government Board. The necessity for this provision arises
because it sometimes happens that in a district otherwise rural there
are some centres of population, hardly large enough to be constituted
urban districts, which nevertheless require the same control as an
urban district.

Business and offices.

A district council may from time to time make regulations with respect
to summoning, notice, place, management and adjournment of their
meetings, and generally with respect to the transaction and management
of their business. Three members must be present to constitute a
quorum. At the annual meeting, which is held as soon as convenient
after the 15th April in each year, a chairman for the succeeding year
has to be appointed. He presides at all meetings, and in his absence
another member appointed by the meeting takes his place. Questions are
determined by the majority present and voting, the chairman having the
casting vote. Minutes are taken and, if signed at the meeting or the
next ensuing meeting, are made evidence. The officers of the council
consist of a clerk, a medical officer, a surveyor, one or more
inspectors of nuisances and a treasurer. Of these all but the medical
officer of health and inspectors of nuisances hold office at pleasure
and receive such remuneration as the council may determine. If the
urban district is a borough, the town clerk and borough treasurer
fulfil the same office for purposes of the Public Health Acts. The
salaries of the medical officer of health and inspectors of nuisances
are, as to one moiety thereof, paid out of "the exchequer contribution
account" by the county council, if they are appointed in accordance
with the requirements of the Local Government Board as to
qualification, appointment, duties, salary and tenure of office. The
orders of the Local Government Board as to these matters are set out
in the _Statutory Rules and Orders_. District councils may also employ
such other officers and servants as may be necessary and proper for
the fulfilment of their duties. Officers and servants are prohibited
from being concerned or interested in any bargain or contract made
with their council, and from receiving under cover of their office or
employment any fee or reward whatsoever other than their proper
salaries, wages and allowances, under penalty of being rendered
incapable of holding office under any district council, and of a
pecuniary penalty of L50. There are some exceptions to this provision
somewhat similar to those already mentioned with respect to the
disqualification of members of the council. It may be mentioned here
that by an act, called the Public Bodies' Corrupt Practices Act 1889,
severe penalties are imposed alike upon members and officers of public
bodies for corruption in office.

Committees.

A district council may appoint committees consisting wholly or partly
of members of their own body for the exercise of any powers which in
their opinion can properly be exercised by such committees. Such
committees do not, however, hold office beyond the next annual meeting
of the council, and their acts must be submitted to the council for
their approval. If they are appointed for any purposes of the Public
Health or Highway Acts, the council may authorize them to institute
any proceedings or do any act which the council might have instituted
or done, other than the raising of any loan or the making of any rate
or contract. A rural district council may delegate their entire powers
in any parish to a parochial committee. Such committee may consist
wholly of members of their own body or of members of the parish
council, or partly of members of both. Such a committee may be subject
to any regulations and restrictions imposed upon it by the rural
district council.

Public Health Acts.

In dealing with the powers and duties of district councils it will be
convenient to treat of these first as they arise under the Public
Health Acts, and afterwards as they arise under other statutes. In so
far as such powers and duties are common to urban and rural district
councils alike they will be referred to as appertaining to district
councils. When reference is made to any power or duty of an urban
council it is to be understood that the rural council have no such
power or duty unless conferred or imposed upon them by order of the
Local Government Board. And it must be borne in mind that in a borough
the borough council is the urban district council.

Sewerage and drainage.

The district council are required to cause to be made such sewers as
may be necessary for effectually draining their district. This duty
may be enforced by the Local Government Board on complaint made to
them that the council have failed in performing it, and in the case of
a rural district by the county council on complaint of the parish
council. All sewers, whether made by the council, by their
predecessors, or by private persons, vest in the district council,
that is to say, become their property, with some exceptions, of which
the principal is sewers made by a person for his own profit. The owner
or occupier of any premises is entitled as of right to cause his drain
to be connected with any sewer, on condition only of his giving notice
and complying with the regulations of the council as to the mode in
which the communication is to be made, and subject to the control of
any person appointed by the council to superintend the work. Moreover,
the owner or occupier of premises without the district has the same
right, subject only to such terms and conditions as may be agreed or,
in ease of dispute, settled by justices or by arbitration. If a house
does not possess a sufficient drain, the occupier may be required to
provide one, and to cause it to discharge into a sewer if there is one
within 100 ft. of the house, otherwise into a cesspool, as the council
may direct. In the case of new houses, these may not be built or
occupied in an urban district without their being first provided with
sufficient drains as the council may require; and in an urban district
it is forbidden to cause any building to be newly erected over a sewer
without the consent of the council. For the purpose of sewage disposal
a district council may construct any works and contract for the use or
purchase or lease of any land, buildings, engines, materials or
apparatus, and contract to supply for a period not exceeding
twenty-five years any person with sewage. It may be pointed out here
that these expressions are defined by the act, the effect of the
definitions being shortly that a drain is a conduit for the drainage
of one building or of several within the same curtilage, while a sewer
comprises every kind of drain except that which is covered by the
definition of a drain as above stated. The result has been that
district councils frequently find themselves in the position of being
responsible for the repair and condition of drains which, by reason of
having been laid for more than one house, are sewers vested in and
repairable by them. An attempt was made to remedy this state of things
by the Public Health Amendment Act 1890, section 19, but the remedy so
provided was very partial, and may be said to be confined to the case
where two or more houses belonging to different owners are drained
into a common drain laid under private land, and ultimately
discharging into a sewer in a road or street.

Sanitary accommodation for houses.

Removal of refuse.

The district council are charged with the duty of enforcing the
provision of proper sanitary accommodation (water-closets, privies,
ashpits, &c.) for all dwelling-houses, new or old, and for factories,
and the maintenance of such conveniences in proper condition. The
urban council have power to provide and maintain and make provision
for the regulation of urinals, water-closets, earth-closets, privies,
ashpits and other similar conveniences for public accommodation. In
the event of a complaint being made to a district council that any
drain, closet, privy, ashpit or cesspool is a nuisance or injurious to
health, the council may empower their surveyor to enter and examine
the premises, and, if the complaint is well founded, they may require
the owner to do the necessary works. The district council are not
bound to undertake the removal of house refuse from premises, or the
cleansing of closets, privies, ashpits and cesspools. They may,
however, undertake these duties, and, if the Local Government Board
require, they must do so. An urban council and a rural council, if
invested with the requisite power by the Local Government Board, may,
and when required by order of that board must, provide for the proper
cleansing of streets, and may also provide for the proper watering of
streets. When they have undertaken, or are required to perform these
duties, a penalty is imposed upon them for neglect. If they do not
undertake these duties, they may make by-laws imposing on the
occupiers of premises the duty of cleansing footways and pavements,
the removal of house refuse, and the cleansing of earth-closets,
privies, ashpits and cesspools; and an urban council may also make
by-laws for the prevention of nuisances arising from snow, filth,
dust, ashes and rubbish, and for the prevention of the keeping of
animals on any premises so as to be injurious to health. The keeping
of swine in a dwelling-house, or so as to be a nuisance, is made an
offence punishable by a penalty in an urban district, as also is the
suffering of any waste or stagnant water to remain in any cellar, or
within any dwelling-house after notice, and the allowing of the
contents of any closet, privy or cesspool to overflow or soak
therefrom. Provision is also made for enforcing the removal of
accumulations of manure, dung, soil or filth from any premises in an
urban district, and for the periodical removal of manure or other
refuse from mews, stables or other premises.

Water-supply.

With regard to water-supply, district councils have extensive powers.
They may provide their district or any part of it with a supply of
water proper and sufficient for public and private purposes, and for
this purpose they may construct and maintain waterworks, dig wells,
take on lease or hire any waterworks, purchase waterworks or water, or
right to take or convey water either within or without their district,
and any rights, powers and privileges of any water company, and
contract with any person for the supply of water. They may not,
however, commence to construct waterworks within the limits of supply
of any water company empowered by act of parliament or provisional
order to supply water without giving notice to the company, and not
even then so long as the company are able and willing to supply the
necessary water. Any dispute as to whether the company are able and
willing has to be settled by arbitration. Where the council do supply
water, they have the same powers of carrying mains under streets or
through private lands as they have with respect to the laying of
sewers, as already mentioned. They can charge water rents which depend
upon agreements with consumers, or they may charge water rates
assessed on the net annual value of the premises supplied. It is to be
observed that they are not bound to charge for a supply of water at
all, unless they are required to do so in an urban district by at
least ten persons, rated to the poor rate, or in a parish in a rural
district by at least five persons so rated in the parish. Even then
the amount of the rate is left to the council, any deficiency in the
cost of the water, in so far as it is not defrayed out of water rates
or rents, being borne in an urban district by the general district
rate, and in a rural district by the separate sanitary rates made for
the parish or contributory place supplied. For the purpose of enabling
them to supply water, most of the provisions of the Waterworks Clauses
Acts are incorporated with the Public Health Act, and are made
available for the district council. They are empowered to supply water
by measure if they think fit, and may charge a rent for water-meters.
The power of the district council to supply water is strictly limited
to their own district, but they may, with the sanction of the Local
Government Board, supply water to the council of an adjoining district
on such terms as may be agreed upon, or as, in case of dispute, may be
settled by arbitration. If any house is without a sufficient supply,
and it appears that a supply can be furnished at a reasonable cost, as
defined in the Public Health Act and the Public Health Water Act 1878,
the owner may be required to provide the supply, and, if he fails, the
council may themselves provide the supply and charge the owner with
the cost. All public sources of water-supply such as streams, pumps,
wells, reservoirs, conduits, aqueducts and works used for the
gratuitous supply of water to the inhabitants of the district are
vested in the council, who may cause all such works to be maintained
and plentifully supplied with pure and wholesome water for the
gratuitous use of the inhabitants, but not for sale by them. The
council may supply water to public baths or wash-houses, or for trade
or manufacturing purposes. In the case of the former the supply may be
gratuitous. In the latter case it is to be on terms agreed between the
parties. The urban council are required to cause fire-plugs, and all
necessary works, machinery and assistance for securing a supply of
water in case of fire, to be provided and maintained, and for this
purpose they may enter into an agreement with any water company or
person. Provision is made for preventing the pollution of water by gas
refuse and enabling a district council, with the sanction of the
attorney-general, to take any proceedings they may think fit for
preventing the pollution of any stream in their district by sewage.
The district council are also empowered to obtain an order of justices
directing the closing of any well, tank or cistern, public or private,
or any public pump the water from which is likely to be used for
drinking or domestic purposes, or for manufacturing drinks for the use
of man, if such water is found to be so polluted as to be injurious to
health.

Cellar dwellings.

Power is given to prohibit the use as dwellings of any cellars, vaults
or underground rooms built or occupied after 1875, and with regard to
such cellars as were occupied as dwellings before 1875, the continued
occupation of these is also forbidden unless they comply with certain
stringent requirements as to the height of the rooms, height of the
ceilings above the surface of the street, open areas in front,
effectual drainage, sanitary conveniences appurtenant to the cellars,
and the provision of fireplaces.

Common lodging-houses.

District councils are required to keep a register of the common
lodging-houses in their district. No person is allowed to keep a
common lodging-house unless he is registered, and a house may not be
registered until it has been inspected and approved for the purpose by
an officer of the council. Further, the council may refuse to register
a keeper unless they are satisfied of his character and of his fitness
for the position. The council are empowered to make by-laws for fixing
the number of lodgers and separating the sexes therein, promoting
cleanliness and ventilation, giving of notices and taking precautions
in case of any infectious disease, and generally for the well-ordering
of such houses. The keepers of common lodging-houses are required to
limewash their walls and ceilings in the months of April and October
in every year, and if paupers or vagrants are received to lodge, they
may be required to report as to the persons who have resorted thereto.
They must give notice of any infectious disease to the medical officer
of health and to the poor-law relieving officer, and they must give
free access for inspection. There is no definition of the expression
"common lodging-house" in the Public Health Acts, and at one time the
courts decided that shelters for the destitute kept by charitable
persons were not common lodging-houses. That idea is now exploded, and
the acts apply to charitable institutions which receive persons of the
class ordinarily received into common lodging-houses.

Houses let in lodgings.

By-laws may also be made relating to houses let in lodgings which are
not common lodging-houses. These by-laws are in practice limited to
those inhabited by the poorer classes, although the act imposes no
such restriction.

Nuisances.

The Public Health Acts 1875 to 1907 contain elaborate provisions for
dealing with nuisances. Those which are dealt with summarily are thus
enumerated:--(1) any premises in such a state as to be a nuisance or
injurious to health; (2) any pool, ditch, gutter, watercourse, privy,
urinal, cesspool, drain or ashpit so foul or in such a state as to be
injurious to health; (3) any animal so kept as to be a nuisance or
injurious to health; (4) any accumulation or deposit which is a
nuisance or injurious to health; (5) any house or part of a house so
overcrowded as to be dangerous or injurious to the health of the
inmates, whether or not members of the same family; (6) any factory,
workshop or workplace not already under the operation of any general
act for the regulation of factories or bakehouses not kept in a
cleanly state or not ventilated in such a manner as to render harmless
as far as practicable any gases, vapours, dust or other impurities
generated in the course of the work carried on therein that are a
nuisance or injurious to health, or so overcrowded while work is
carried on as to be dangerous or injurious to the health of those
employed therein; (7) any fireplace or furnace which does not as far
as practicable consume the smoke arising from the combustible used
therein, and which is used for working engines by steam or in any
mill, factory, dye-house, brewery, bakehouse or gas work, or in any
manufacturing or trade process whatsoever; and (8) any chimney not
being the chimney of a private dwelling-house sending forth black
smoke in such quantity as to be a nuisance. The nuisances above
enumerated are said to be nuisances liable to be dealt with summarily.
It is the duty of every district council to inspect their district
with a view to the discovery of any such nuisances. In the event of
such discovery by them or of information given to them of the
existence of any such nuisance, the district council are required to
serve a notice requiring the abatement of the nuisance on the person
by whose act, default or sufferance it arises or continues, or if such
person cannot be found, on the owner or occupier of the premises at
which the nuisance arises. The notice must require the abatement of
the nuisance within a specified time, and must prescribe the works
which in the opinion of the council are necessary to be done. If the
nuisance arises from the absence or defective construction of any
structural convenience, or if there is no occupier of the premises,
the notice must be served upon the owner. If the person who causes the
nuisance cannot be found, and it is clear that the nuisance does not
arise or continue by the act, default or sufferance of the owner or
occupier of the premises, the local authority may themselves abate the
nuisance without further order. If the person on whom the notice is
served objects to give effect to it, he may be summoned before
justices, and the justices may make an order upon him to abate the
nuisance, or prohibiting the recurrence of the nuisance if this is
likely, and directing the execution of the necessary works. If the
nuisance is such as to render a dwelling-house unfit for human
habitation, the justices may close it until it is rendered fit for
that purpose. Disobedience under the order of justices involves a
penalty and a daily penalty for every day during which default
continues. Private persons may complain to justices in respect of
nuisances by which they are personally aggrieved, and if the district
council make default in doing their duty, the Local Government Board
may authorize any officer of police to institute any necessary
proceedings at the cost of the defaulting council. The district
council may, if in their opinion proceedings before justices afford an
inadequate remedy, take proceedings in the high court, but in that
case, if the nuisance is of a public nature, they must proceed by
action in the name of the attorney-general. The provisions as to
nuisances are extended to ships by an act of 1885.

It is forbidden to establish within an urban district without the
consent of the council any offensive trade, business or manufacture.
With regard to any offensive trade which has been established or may
be consented to in any urban district, if it is verified by the
medical officer or any two legally qualified medical practitioners, or
by any ten inhabitants of the district, to be a nuisance or injurious
to health, the urban district council are required to take proceedings
before magistrates with a view to the abatement of the nuisance
complained of.

Unsound meat.

Any medical officer or inspector of nuisances may inspect any meat,
&c., exposed for sale or deposited in any place for the purpose of
sale or of preparation for sale and intended for the food of man. This
power of inspection is, in districts where the Public Health Act 1890
has been adopted, extended to all articles intended for the food of
man. If upon such inspection the meat, &c., appears to be diseased,
unsound or unwholesome, it may be taken before a justice for the
purpose of being condemned, and the person to whom the meat, &c.,
belongs or in whose possession it was found is liable to a penalty or,
in the discretion of the justices, to imprisonment for three months
without the option of a fine.

Infectious diseases.

The Public Health Acts contain important provisions relating to
infectious disease. Any person who knows he is suffering from an
infectious disease must not carry on any trade or business unless he
can do so without risk of spreading the disease. Local authorities may
require premises to be cleansed and disinfected; they may order the
destruction of bedding, clothing or other articles which have been
exposed to infection; they may provide proper places for the
disinfection of infected articles free of charge; they may provide
ambulances, &c. In the case of a person found suffering from
infectious disease who has not proper lodging or accommodation, or is
lodging in a room occupied by more than one family, or is on board any
ship or vessel, such person may by means of a justice's order be
removed to a hospital; a local authority may pay the expenses of a
person in a hospital or, if necessary, provide nursing attendance; any
person exposing himself or any other in his charge while suffering
from infectious disease, or exposing infected bedding, clothing or the
like, is made liable to a penalty. Owners and drivers of public
conveyances must not knowingly convey any person suffering from
infectious disease, and if any person suffering from such a disease is
conveyed in any public vehicle the owner or driver as soon as it comes
to his knowledge must give notice to the medical officer. It is also
forbidden to let houses or rooms in which infected persons have been
lodging, or to make false statements to persons negotiating for the
hire of such rooms. An act was passed in the year 1890, called the
Infectious Diseases Prevention Act. When adopted it enabled an urban
or district council to obtain the inspection of dairies where these
were suspected to be the cause of infectious disease, with a view to
prohibiting the supply of milk from such dairies if the fact were
established. The act of 1907 extended the provisions of the act of
1890. It enables a local authority to require dairymen to furnish a
complete list of sources of supply if the medical officer certifies
that any person is suffering from infectious disease which he has
reason to suspect is attributable to milk supplied within his
district. It also compels dairymen to notify infectious diseases
existing among their servants. The act of 1890 also forbids the
keeping for more than forty-eight hours of the body of a person who
has died of infectious disease in a room used at the time as a
dwelling-place, sleeping-place or workshop. It provides for the bodies
of persons dying of infectious diseases in a hospital being removed
only for burial, and gives power to justices in certain cases to order
bodies to be buried. The diseases to which the act applies are
smallpox, cholera, membranous croup, erysipelas, scarlatina or scarlet
fever, typhus, typhoid, enteric, relapsing, continued or puerperal
fever, and any other infectious disease to which the act has been
applied by the local authority of the district in the prescribed
manner. The most important provision, however, relating to infectious
disease is that contained in the Infectious Disease Notification Act
1889. That was originally an adoptive act, but it is now extended to
all districts in England and Wales. It requires the notification to
the medical officer of health of the district of every case in which a
person is suffering from one of the diseases above mentioned. The duty
of notification is imposed upon the head of the family, and also upon
the medical practitioner who may be in attendance on the patient. The
medical attendant is entitled to receive in respect of each
notification a fee of 2s. 6d. if the case occurs in his private
practice, and of 1s. if the case occurs in his practice as medical
officer of any public body or institution. These fees are paid by the
urban or rural district council as the case may be. The provisions as
to notification are applied to every ship, vessel, boat, tent, van,
shed or similar structure used for human habitation in like manner as
nearly as may be as if it were a building. Exception is made, however,
in the case of a ship, vessel or boat belonging to a foreign
government. It is not too much to say that this act has been one of
the most effectual means of preventing the spread of infectious
disease in modern times.

Hospitals.

The district council are empowered to provide hospitals or temporary
places for the reception of the sick. They may build them, contract
for the use of them, agree for the reception of the sick inhabitants
of their district into an existing hospital, or combine with any other
district council in providing a common hospital. As has already been
mentioned when dealing with county councils, if a district council
make default in providing hospital accommodation, the county council
may put in operation the Isolation Hospitals Act. The power given to
provide hospitals must be exercised so as not to create a nuisance,
and much litigation has taken place in respect of the providing of
hospitals for smallpox. Up to the present time, however, the courts
have refused to accept as a principle that a smallpox hospital is
necessarily a source of danger to the neighbourhood, and for the most
part applications for injunction on that ground have failed.

Epidemics.

Where any part of the country appears to be threatened with or is
affected by any formidable epidemic, endemic or infectious disease,
the Local Government Board may make regulations for the speedy
interment of the dead, house-to-house visitation, the provision of
medical aid and accommodation, the promotion of cleansing, ventilation
and disinfection, and the guarding against the spread of disease. Such
regulations are made and enforced by the district councils. The
provisions of the Public Health Acts relating to infectious disease
are for the most part extended to ships by an act of the year 1885.

Mortuaries.

District councils may, and if required by the Local Government Board,
must provide mortuaries, and they may make by-laws with respect to the
management and charges for the use of the same. Where the body of a
person who has died of an infectious disease is retained in a room
where persons live or sleep, or the retention of any dead body may
endanger health, any justice on the certificate of a medical
practitioner may order the removal of a body to a mortuary and direct
the body to be buried within a time limited by the friends of the
deceased or in their default by the relieving officer. A district
council may also provide and maintain a proper place (otherwise than
at a workhouse or at a mortuary) for the reception of dead bodies
during the time required to conduct any _post mortem_ examination
ordered by a coroner.

Cemeteries.

Under an act of 1879 the district council have power to provide and
maintain a cemetery either within or without their district, and they
may purchase or accept a donation of land for that purpose. The
provisions of the Cemeteries Clauses Act 1847 apply to a cemetery thus
provided. These cannot all be referred to here, but it may be noted
that no part of the cemetery need be consecrated, but that if any part
is, such part is to be defined by suitable marks, and a chapel in
connexion with the Established Church must be erected in it. A
chaplain must also be appointed to officiate at burials in the
consecrated portion. The power to provide a cemetery under the act
under consideration must not be confounded with that of providing a
burial ground under the Burial Acts. These acts will be mentioned
later in connexion with the powers of parish councils, for in general
they are adopted for a parish, part of a parish or combination of
parishes, and are administered by a burial board, except where that
body has been superseded by a parish council or joint committee. It
may be mentioned, however, that under the Local Government Act 1894,
where a burial board district is wholly in an urban district, the
urban council may resolve that the powers, duties and liabilities of
the burial board shall be transferred to the council, and thereupon
the burial board may cease to exist. And it is provided by the same
act that the Burial Acts shall not hereafter be adopted in any urban
parish without the approval of the urban council. The distinction
between a burial ground provided under the Burial Acts and a cemetery
provided under the act of 1879 is important in many ways, of which one
only need be mentioned here--the expenses under the Burial Acts are
paid out of the poor rate, while the expenses under the act of 1879
are paid in an urban district out of the general district rate, the
incidence of which differs materially from that of the poor rate, as
will be seen hereafter.

Highways.

In an urban district the urban council have always had all the powers
and duties of a surveyor of highways under the Highway Acts. But
before 1894 a rural district council had no power or duty in respect
of highways except in a few cases where, by virtue of a provision in
the Highway Act 1878, the rural sanitary authority of a district
coincident in area with a highway district were empowered to exercise
all the powers of a a highway board. Except in these cases the highway
authority in a parish was the surveyor of highways, elected annually
by the inhabitants in vestry, or in a highway district consisting of a
number of parishes united by order of quarter sessions, the highway
board composed of waywardens representing the several parishes. By the
Local Government Act 1894, there were transferred to the district
council of every rural district all the powers, duties and liabilities
of every highway authority, surveyor or highway board within their
district, and the former highway authorities ceased to exist. The
highway authority in every district, rural as well as urban, is
therefore the district council. Of the chief duties of a district
council with regard to highways, the first and most obvious is the
duty to repair. This duty was formerly enforceable by indictment of
the inhabitants of the parish, but it is not quite clear whether this
procedure is applicable, now that the liability to repair is
transferred to a council representing a wider area. Under the Highway
Acts it is enforceable by summary proceedings before justices and by
orders of the county council, but in either case, if the liability to
repair is disputed, that question has to be decided on indictment
preferred against the highway authority alleged to be in default. In a
rural district any parish council may complain to the county council
that the district council have made default in keeping any highway in
repair, and the county council may thereupon transfer to themselves
and execute the powers of the district council at the cost of the
latter body, or they may make an order requiring the district council
to perform their duty, or they may appoint some person to do so at the
cost of the district council. It is important to observe, however,
that an action does not lie against a district council in respect of
the failure to repair a highway even at the suit of a person who has
thereby been injured. The reason assigned for this doctrine is that
the council as highway surveyor stand in the same position as the
inhabitants of the parish, against whom such an action would not lie.
The district council are, however, liable for any injury caused
through negligence on the part of their officers or servants in
carrying out the work of repair.

Streets.

But while rural as well as urban district councils have the powers and
duties of surveyors of highways, the provisions of the Public Health
Acts relating to streets apply only in urban districts, except in so
far as the Local Government Board may by order have conferred urban
powers upon a rural district council. These provisions have now to be
referred to. It may be convenient to state that the expression
"street" is here used in a sense much wider than its ordinary meaning.
It is defined by the act to include any highway and any public bridge
(not being a county bridge), and any road, lane, footway, square,
court, alley or passage, whether a thoroughfare or not. For certain
purposes streets as thus defined are divided into two classes, viz.
those which are and those which are not highways repairable by the
inhabitants at large. But it has to be borne in mind that it is not
every highway that is repairable by the inhabitants at large. Before
the year 1836 as soon as a way was dedicated to public use and the
public had by user signified their acceptance of it, it became without
more notice repairable by the parish. Therefore every highway--whether
carriage-way, driftway, bridleway or footway--which can be shown to
have been in use before 1836, is presumably repairable by the
inhabitants at large, the only exceptions being such highways as are
repairable by private persons or corporate bodies _ratione clausurae_,
_ratione tenurae_, or by prescription. But in the year 1836, when the
Highway Act 1835 came into operation, the law was altered. It was
possible, just as formerly, to dedicate a way to the use of the
public, and it thereupon became a highway to all intents and purposes.
But mere dedication did not make the way repairable by the public.
That result was not to follow unless certain stringent requirements
were fulfilled. When it is shown, therefore, that a highway has been
dedicated after 1836, it is not repairable by the inhabitants at large
unless it can be shown that these provisions have been complied with,
or that it has been declared to be repairable under provisions of the
Public Health Acts presently to be mentioned. (There was also power
given to justices, by the Highway Act 1862, to declare a private road
or occupation road in a highway district to be a public highway
repairable by the parish; but this power does not appear to have been
acted upon to any extent.)

All streets being highways repairable by the inhabitants at large
within an urban district, are vested in and under the control of the
urban council. After much litigation it has now been established that
this provision does not give the council an absolute property in the
soil of the street, but merely such a qualified property in the
surfaces as enables them to exercise control. The urban council are
required from time to time to cause all such streets to be made up and
repaired as occasion may require, and they are empowered to raise,
lower or alter the soil of the street, and to place and keep in repair
fences and posts for the safety of foot-passengers. The other class of
streets consists of those which are not highways repairable by the
inhabitants at large. Under the Public Health Act 1875 such streets
may be dealt with in manner following:--If any such street or part
thereof is not sewered, levelled, paved, metalled, flagged,
channelled, made good or lighted to the satisfaction of the council,
the council may cause it to be made up at the expense of the owners of
premises fronting the street in proportion to their several frontages.
When all or any of the works aforesaid have been executed in the
street, and the council are of opinion that the street ought to become
a highway repairable by the inhabitants at large, they may by notice
to be fixed up in the street declare it to be a highway repairable by
the inhabitants at large, and the declaration will be effective
unless, within one month after the notice has been put up, the
majority of the owners in the street object thereto. An alternative
procedure has been provided by the Private Street Works Act, which may
be adopted by any urban council. One important point of difference is
that under the latter act the council may resolve that the expenses
shall be apportioned among the owners not merely according to
frontage, but according to the greater or less degree of benefit to
be derived by any premises from the works.

Where a house or building in a street is taken down to be rebuilt, the
urban district council may prescribe the line to which it is to be
rebuilt, paying compensation to the building owner for any damage
which he may sustain consequent upon the requirement. Save to this
extent, no power is given by the general law to a district council to
prescribe a building line. But under an act of 1888 it is provided
that it shall not be lawful in any urban district without the consent
of the urban authority to erect or bring forward any house or building
in any street or any part of such house or building beyond the front
main wall of the house or building on either side thereof in the same
street.

The control exercised by an urban district council over streets and
buildings is to a very large extent exercised through by-laws which
they are empowered to make for various purposes relating to the laying
out and formation of new streets, the erection and construction of new
buildings, the provision of sufficient air-space about buildings to
secure a free circulation of air, and the provision of suitable and
sufficient sanitary conveniences. The manner in which such by-laws are
made and confirmed will be hereafter noticed. In general, the by-laws
require plans of new streets to be submitted to the council, and they
are required to approve or disapprove of these plans within a month.
They cannot disapprove of a plan unless it contravenes the provisions
of some statute or by-law; but if a person builds otherwise than
according to an approved plan he does so at the risk of having his
work pulled down or destroyed. Among the miscellaneous powers of an
urban council with respect to streets may be mentioned the power to
widen or improve, and certain powers incorporated from the Towns
Improvement Clauses Act 1847, with respect to naming streets,
numbering houses, improving the line of streets, removing
obstructions, providing protection in respect of ruinous or dangerous
buildings, and requiring precautions to be taken during the
construction and repair of sewers, streets and houses. An urban
council may also provide for the lighting of any street in their
district, and may contract with any person or company for that
purpose. If there is no company having statutory powers of supply
within their district, they may themselves undertake the supply of
gas, and they may purchase the undertaking of any gas company within
their district.

Public parks.

An urban council may acquire and maintain lands for the purpose of
being used as public walks or pleasure-grounds, and may support or
contribute to the support of such walks or grounds if provided by any
other person. They may also contribute to the cost of laying out,
planting or improvement of lands provided for this purpose by any
person, in their own district or outside that district, if it appears
that the walks or grounds could eventually be used by the inhabitants
of that district. An urban council may also provide public clocks or
pay for the reasonable cost of repairing and maintaining any public
clocks in the district, though not vested in them.

Markets and slaughter-houses.

Where an urban council are the council of a borough, and in other
cases with the consent of the owners and ratepayers of the district,
they may provide market accommodation for their district. They may
not, however, establish any market so as to interfere with any market
already established in the district under a franchise or charter. For
purposes of markets certain provisions of the Markets and Fairs
Clauses Act 1847 are incorporated with the Public Health Act. The only
one of these that need be noticed is that which provides that after
the market is opened for public use every person, other than a
licensed hawker, who shall sell or expose for sale in any place within
the district, except in his own dwelling-place or shop, any articles
in respect of which tolls are authorized to be taken shall be liable
to a penalty. The tolls which may be taken by an urban council must be
approved by the Local Government Board; and any by-laws which they
make for the regulation of the market must be confirmed by the same
body. An urban council may also provide slaughter-houses and make
by-laws with respect to the management and charges for the use of
them. Where they do not provide slaughter-houses, all previously
existing slaughter-houses have to be registered and new ones licensed;
and no person may lawfully use a slaughter-house which is not either
registered or licensed. Licences may be suspended by justices in the
event of their being used contrary to the provisions of the act or of
the by-laws, and on a second conviction the licence may be revoked. On
a conviction of selling or exposing for sale, or having in his
possession or on his premises unsound meat, the court may also revoke
the licence.

Hackney carriages, &c.

Certain police regulations contained in the Town Police Clauses Act
1847 are by virtue of the Public Health Act 1875 in force in all urban
districts. These relate to obstructions and nuisances in streets,
fires, places of public resort, hackney carriages and public bathing.
An urban council may also license proprietors, drivers and conductors
of horses, ponies, mules or asses standing for hiring in the district
in the same way as in the case of hackney carriages, and they may also
license pleasure boats and vessels, and the boatmen or persons in
charge thereof, and they may make by-laws for all these purposes.

Contracts, purchase of lands.

Every district council may enter into such contracts as are necessary
for carrying into execution the various purposes of the Public Health
Acts. A district council being a corporation, the general law applies
in the case of a rural council that they must contract under their
common seal, the exception to this rule including the doing of acts
very frequently recurring or too insignificant to be worth the trouble
of affixing the common seal. In the case of an urban council certain
stringent regulations are laid down. A contract made by an urban
council, whereof the value and amount exceed L50, must be under seal,
and certain other formalities must be observed, some of which are
imperative; for example, the taking of sureties from the contractor,
and the making provision for penalties to be paid by him in case the
terms of the contract are not observed. Every local authority may
also, for purposes of the act, purchase or take on lease, sell or
exchange, any lands. Such lands as are not required for the purpose
for which they were purchased must, unless the Local Government Board
otherwise direct, be sold. Powers of compulsory purchase of lands are
also given under the Lands Clauses Acts, but before these can be put
in operation certain conditions must be observed. The Local Government
Board must make inquiry into the propriety of allowing the lands to be
taken, and the power to acquire the lands compulsorily can only be
conferred by means of a provisional order confirmed by parliament.

By-laws.

With regard to the by-laws which district councils may make for many
purposes, the subjects of which have been already from time to time
mentioned, it is only necessary to state that these require to be
confirmed by the Local Government Board. Such confirmation does not,
however, give validity to a by-law which cannot be justified by the
provisions of the act, and many by-laws which have been so confirmed
have been held to be invalid under the general law as being uncertain,
unreasonable or repugnant to the law of the realm. For the guidance of
local authorities, the Local Government Board have from time to time
issued model series of by-laws dealing with the various subjects for
which by-laws may be made, and these are for the most part followed
throughout England and Wales.

Finance.