Chapter IV: Part 4

CVIII. It shall be lawful for every vestry and district board from time to time to place any posts, fences, and rails on the sides of any footways or carriageways in their parish or district, for the purposes of safety, and to prevent any carriage or cattle from going on the same, and also to place any posts or other erections in any carriage-way so as to make the crossings thereof less dangerous for foot passengers, and also from time to time to repair and renew any such posts, rails or fences, or to remove the same, or any other obstruction or encroachment on any carriageway or footway. CXIX. If any porch, shed, _To consider the propriety of projecting window, step, cellar introducing the words_, door or window, or steps leading “_projecting blind_, _blind into any cellar or otherwise, frame_, _or part thereof_.” lamp, lamp post, lamp iron, sign, sign post, sign iron, snowboard, window shutter, wall, gate, fence, or opening, or any other projection or obstruction placed or made against or in front of any house or building after the commencement of this Act, shall be an annoyance, in consequence of the same projecting into or being made in or endangering or rendering less commodious the passage along any street in their parish or district, it shall be lawful for the vestry or district board to give notice in writing to the owner or occupier of such house or building to remove such projection or obstruction, or to alter the same, in such manner as the vestry or board think fit, &c. CXXX. Every vestry and district _Section_ 250 _gives the board shall cause the several following as the meaning of the _streets_ within their parish or word_ “_street_” _any or part of district to be well and any highway_, _road_, _bridge_, sufficiently lighted, and for _lane_, _footway_, _square_, that purpose shall maintain, or _court_, _alley_, _passage_, set up and maintain, a sufficient _whether a thoroughfare or not_. number of lamps in every such street, and shall cause the same _There should be some limit to to be lighted with gas or the obligation to light_. otherwise, and to continue lighted at and during such times as such vestry or board may think fit, necessary, or proper; and public lamps, and the lamp posts and lamp irons and fittings thereof, to be provided by any vestry or district board, shall vest in such vestry or board. CCII. The Metropolitan Board of _The attention of the Works and every district board Metropolitan Board has been drawn and vestry respectively may from to their powers under this time to time make, alter and section_, _and they have passed repeal bye laws for all or any of the following resolution upon the the purposes following; (that is subject_, _in that_ “_it is not to say), for regulating the practicable for this Board to lay business and proceedings at their down any uniform body of meetings and of committees regulations for regulating the appointed by them, the plans and levels of sites for appointment and removal of their buildings and for the officers and servants, and the construction of house drainage_, duties, conduct, and remuneration _properly adapted to the peculiar of such officers and servants; circumstances of each district_; _and the said Metropolitan Board _and that the Vestry of Chelsea may also from time to time make_, be so informed._” _alter_, _and repeal bye laws for regulating the plans_, _level_, _No doubt uniformity is _width_, _surface inclination_, desirable_; _but regulation of _and the material of the pavement some kind_, _for the guidance of and roadway of new streets and the officers_, _is necessary_. roads_, _and the plans and level of sites for building_, _and for _The power of making such bye regulating the dimensions_, laws should lie in the body for _form_, _and mode of whom its exercise is construction_, _and the keeping_, practicable_. _cleansing_, _and repairing of the pipes_, _drains_, _and other means of communicating with sewers_, _and the traps and apparatus connected therewith_; _for the emptying_, _cleansing_, _closing and filling up of cesspools and privies_; _and for other works of cleansing_, _and of removing and disposing of refuse_, _and for regulating the form of appeal and mode of proceeding thereon_; _and generally for carrying into effect the purposes of this Act_: and every such board and vestry may thereby impose such reasonable penalties as they think fit, not exceeding forty shillings, for each breach of such bye laws, and in case of a continuing offence a further penalty not exceeding twenty shillings for each day after notice of the offence from the board or vestry: Provided always, that under every such bye law it shall be lawful for the justices before whom any penalty imposed thereby is sought to be recovered to order the whole or part only of such penalty to be paid, or to remit the whole penalty: Penalty: Provided also, that no bye laws shall be repugnant to the laws of _England_ or to the provisions of this Act; and that no bye law shall be of any force or effect unless and until the same be submitted to and confirmed at a subsequent meeting of the board or vestry: Provided also, that no penalty shall be imposed by any such bye law unless the same be approved by one of Her Majesty’s principal Secretaries of State. CCL. The word “drain” shall mean _To consider whether the word and include any drain of and used “drain” should be made to include for the drainage of one building any drain_, _for draining any only, or premises within the same group or block of houses_, _by a curtilage, and made merely for combined operation_, _under the the purpose of communicating with authority of any former a cesspool or other like Commissioners of Sewers_. receptacle for drainage, or with a sewer into which the drainage of two or more buildings or premises occupied by different persons is conveyed, _and shall also include any drain for draining any group or block of houses by a combined operation under the order of any vestry or district board_.

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_Suggestions made to the Metropolitan Board of Works_, _for the Amendment of the Metropolis Local Management Act_, 1855, 18_th and_ 19_th Vict._, _cap._ 120. _Printed by order of the Board_, _on the_ 24_th of April_, 1860.

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NOTE.—The following suggestions, for convenience of reference, have been arranged under three heads:

1. _Observations upon the Act_, 18_th &_ 19_th Vict._, _cap._ 120, _not included in the Amendment Bill_.

2. _Observations upon the Bill prepared and forwarded by the Metropolitan Board of Works_, _on the_ 29_th May_, 1858.

3. _Proposed New Clauses_, _and Suggestions for the same_.

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1.—OBSERVATIONS UPON THE ACT, 18th and 19th VICT., CAP. 120, NOT INCLUDED IN THE AMENDMENT BILL.

The provisions of the 83rd, 121st, 122nd, and 123rd sections of this Act, to be made to extend to the person causing the offences to be committed.

In section 109, gas companies to be prevented from taking up mains of pipes except for the purpose of substituting new pipes for old, unless by permission of vestries or district boards.

In section 119, to introduce the words, “projecting blind, blind iron, blind frame, reflecting shop lamps, gas reflectors,” or part thereof, below six feet six inches from the pavement.

That an independent paid auditor or auditors should be appointed to audit the accounts of all the vestries and district boards throughout the metropolis, as well as of the Metropolitan Board of Works. That power should be given to vestries and district boards, to put streets, which have never been properly formed, into a proper state of repair, and to rate the owners and occupiers of the property abutting on such streets for the expense of putting the same into a proper state of repair, the future maintenance thereof to devolve upon the vestry or board.

That power should be given to compel the owners or occupiers of property abutting on streets, to erect such fences as may be necessary for the protection of the public.

2.—OBSERVATIONS UPON THE BILL PREPARED AND FORWARDED BY THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS, on the 29th MAY, 1858.

_It must be recollected that this Bill was not proceeded with_, _and is not the same as that now_ (_April_, 1860), _under consideration_, _nor as that introduced by Mr. Tite_, _in the House of Commons_, _in August_, 1859.

CLAUSES IN BILL. OBSERVATIONS. III. The inspectors of votes _The committee consider that in directed to be appointed under case of division amongst the the first recited Act, shall, inspectors_, _the umpire should before commencing the duties of be chosen by lot_. their office under the said Act, appoint by writing under their hands an umpire; and in case of any dispute or disagreement between the said inspectors, as to any matter which they are by the said Act required to determine, such matter shall be decided by the said umpire, and his decision in relation thereto shall be final and conclusive. V. Any vestryman who during six _The committee would have successive months shall not have preferred three months as the attended the meetings of the limit_; _but that attendance at vestry of which he is a member, any committee should count_. shall, upon the expiration of _They think also that leave of such six months, cease to be a absence might be given in certain member of such vestry, and the cases_. vacancy occasioned by his so ceasing to be a member, shall be filled up at the next annual election. XVII. In case any sewer shall be _Suppose a street cut through constructed by any vestry or market garden ground_, _upon district board in a street in which a small sewers rate has which no sewer existed previously been paid_, _are the houses and to such construction, and in and land to be free from payment on which no sewers rate had been under this section_. levied previously to 1st January, 1856, the expense of constructing such sewer, including the cost of gullies, side entrances, and other incidental charges and expenses, shall be borne and defrayed by the owners of the houses situate in such street, and of the land bounding or abutting on such street respectively, in proportion to the length of frontage of the houses or land belonging to them or any of them, and such expenses shall be apportioned by the vestry or district board, and the amount charged upon or in respect of each house or premises shall be paid by instalments within such period as the vestry or district board shall determine, not exceeding seven years, and shall be recoverable from the present or any future owner of the said house or premises in manner hereinafter provided. XXI. The 77th section of the _The committee consider that this said Act is hereby repealed, and section should be made to apply in lieu thereof be it enacted, also to any person causing the that no person shall make or works to be executed_. branch any sewer or dram, or make any opening into any sewer vested in the Metropolitan Board of Works, or in any vestry or district board, without the previous consent in writing of such board or vestry: provided that it shall be lawful for any person, with such consent, at his own expense, to make or branch any drain into any sewer vested in any such board or vestry, or authorized to be made by them, or either of them, under the first recited Act, or this Act, such drain being of such size and conditions, and branched into such sewer in such manner and form of communication, in all respects as the board or vestry shall direct or appoint; and in case any person, without such consent, make or branch any sewer or drain, or make any opening into any of the sewers vested in any board or vestry, or authorized to be made by them as aforesaid; or if any person make or branch any drain of a different construction, size, or conditions, or in another manner or form of communication than shall be directed or appointed by the said board or vestry, every person so offending shall, for every such offence, forfeit a sum not exceeding fifty pounds; and the said board or vestry may, if they shall see fit, execute the necessary works for making the drain conformable to their directions, at the expense of the person making such drain, or causing the same to be made, such expenses to be recovered in a manner hereinafter provided. XXX. The vestry of every parish, _make_, _lengthen_, _continue_, and the district board of every _extend_ district, shall, with the previous consent in writing of the Metropolitan Board of Works, have power within their respective parish or district, to widen, alter, or improve any street, road, or way, for facilitating passage and traffic; or to contribute and join with the Metropolitan Board, or with any other body or persons, in any such improvements; and to take by agreement or by gift any land, rights in land, or property, for the purposes aforesaid, or any of them, on such terms and conditions as they may think fit. XXXIV. So much or the 141st _The committee think the section of the first recited Act numbering should be also as provides that it shall be transferred to vestries_, _&c._ lawful for the Metropolitan Board of Works, from time to time, to cause to be painted or affixed on a conspicuous part of some house or building at or near each end, corner, or entrance of every street in the Metropolis the name of such street, and that the said board may, where more than one street in the Metropolis is called by the same name, alter the name of any or all such streets, except one, to any other name which to such board may seem fit, and which may be approved by the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings, is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof be it enacted, that vestries and district boards shall and may, within the limits of their respective jurisdiction, from time to time cause to be painted or affixed on a conspicuous part of some house or building at or near each end, corner, or entrance of every street in then parish or district the name of such street, and renew such name, whenever it may be obliterated or defaced; and the Metropolitan Board of Works may alter the name or names of any street, or of any place or row of houses, or in any line of road, to any other name or names which to such board may seem convenient and proper, and which may be approved by the Commissioners of Her Majesty’s Works and Public Buildings. XXXVI. The 143rd section of the _The committee think it would be first recited Act is hereby advisable to introduce after the repealed, and in lieu thereof be word_ “building,” _the words_, it enacted, that no building [_or ‘_wall_, _gate_, _fence_, _pier_, erection whether temporary or _or other projection_,’_ and that permanent_] shall without the the application should be made consent in writing of the and the consent conveyed through Metropolitan Board of Works be vestries_, _&c._ erected [_or made_] beyond the general line of buildings, in any street, place, or row of houses in which the same is situate, in case the distance of such line of buildings from the highway does not exceed thirty feet, or within thirty feet, of the highway where the distance of the line of buildings therefrom amounts to or exceeds thirty feet, notwithstanding there being gardens or vacant spaces between the line of buildings and the highway; and in case any building be erected contrary to this enactment, it shall be lawful for the Metropolitan Board of Works to cause the same to be demolished, and the materials thereof to be removed to a convenient place, or to cause such building to be set back (as the case may require), and to recover the expenses incurred by them in so doing from the owner of the premises, in manner hereinafter provided. XXXVII. The 157th section of the _See remark as to sec._ 21. first recited Act is hereby repealed, and in lieu thereof be it enacted, that the Metropolitan Board of Works, and any vestry or district board, may, where necessary for the purpose of executing any work authorized by this Act, open and break up any turnpike road, under and subject to the restrictions and provisions hereinafter contained; that is to say, seven days’ previous notice, with a full description of any intended works, shall be left at the office of the Commissioners or trustees of the road; and the party doing the works shall cause all openings in the road to be effectually secured and fenced, and affix, and maintain lights during the night near to the place where the ground is open, so as to prevent accidents: and the said commissioners or trustees are hereby absolved from all liability in respect of any accident arising in consequence of such works; and the party doing the works shall restore every road so opened or broken up to its original state as to surface and materials, and in order to meet the future expenses consequent on the subsidence of materials newly filled in, shall pay to such commissioners or trustees, on demand, such sum as they shall require for such purpose, not exceeding one shilling for every superficial square yard, and, so far as the works affect the same, shall make good all drainage, paving of water channels, kerbs of footpaths, and other matters and things connected with the maintenance of the road; and in default the surveyor of the said commissioners or trustees may cause the necessary work to be done; and in all cases of expense incurred by any such surveyor, on the default of the party doing the works, such party shall pay such expense to the commissioners or trustees, on demand. XLIII. The Metropolitan Board _These powers to be extended to may order any person on their vestries and district boards_. behalf from time to time to C. of Wks. M.B. Vol. 2. Fo. inspect any of the rates for the 51. relief of the poor in any parish or place within the limits of the said Act, and every district board may order any person on their behalf to inspect any rate for the relief of the poor in the parishes in their district, or either of them, and the books in which are contained the assessments by which the same are made, and to take copies thereof, or any part or parts thereof, or extracts therefrom respectively. And it shall be lawful for the said Metropolitan Board and district boards respectively by order in writing to require the vestry clerk, overseer, collector, or other person having the custody or control of such rate or books as aforesaid of any parish or place to furnish within such period, not being less than seven days, as shall be limited in such order, a true copy of such rate book, or of such part or parts of the rate book in his or their custody, as shall be specified in such order, on payment or tender for such copy at the rate of sixpence for every twenty-four names (inclusive of all the particulars in the several columns of the rate, so far as such particulars have reference to such names respectively); and such copy shall be examined and signed by such vestry clerk, overseer, collector or other person, and shall be verified by his solemn declaration, if the said metropolitan or district board shall require the same, which solemn declaration any justice of the peace, or commissioner duly authorized, is hereby authorized to administer; and any person having the custody or control of such rates or books as aforesaid respectively, who shall refuse or neglect at all reasonable times, to produce the same respectively to such persons so authorized as aforesaid, and permit him to inspect the same, and to take copies thereof or extracts therefrom as he shall think fit, or who shall refuse or neglect to make and deliver to such person such copy or extract, or to make such solemn declaration as aforesaid, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds for every such offence, and to a further continuing penalty of ten pounds for each and every day during which the said offence shall be continued. XLV. The provisions of the 171st _These powers to be extended to section of the first recited Act vestries and district boards_. for enabling the clerk or other C. of Wks. M.B. Vol. 2. Fo. person authorized by the 51. Metropolitan Board of Works to inspect or take copies of, or extracts from county rates, bases, returns, and other documents; and the penalties by the said enactment prescribed in the case of neglect of permission or refusal of inspection, or neglect or refusal of permission for taking copies or extracts, are hereby extended and made applicable to all other rates, taxes, and assessments, whether parliamentary, parochial, or otherwise, within the several parts of the metropolis, or the other parts liable to assessment by the said board, and the books in which the same are contained, and the valuations and returns relating thereto, and the person or persons having the custody or control thereof. XLVIII. The assessment of any _A form for use of vestries and money assessed or to be assessed district boards to be also by the Metropolitan Board of given_. C. of Wks. M.B. Vol. Works, and the precept for 2. Fo. 51. obtaining payment of any monies required by the said board, may be according to the forms contained in Schedule A to this Act, or to the like effect. XLIX. Whereas the Metropolitan _The committee wish the sums Commissioners of Sewers in the levied upon the Counter’s Creek exercise of the powers conferred District_, _under former precepts upon them by the Act of the 11 of Metropolitan Board_, _if not and 12 years of Her Majesty, cap. paid by vestries_, _&c._, _to be 112, did approve and adopt returned to the ratepayer or to certain plans for the main the person holding the receipt drainage and sewage interception for the time being_. of the metropolis, and certain sewers and works included within and forming a portion of the plans so approved and adopted were constructed and completed by the said Commissioners, or by the Metropolitan Board of Works, that is to say, the sewers and works known as the Counter’s Creek Diversion Works; and whereas the cost of the said works, amounting to the sum of £43,721 15s., was defrayed by monies borrowed on certain securities, which securities and monies are included amongst, and form part of the securities and monies enumerated in Schedule B to this Act, and the debt so incurred was charged by the said Commissioners upon the following sewerage districts, viz., the Counter’s Creek District, the Ranelagh District, and the Fulham and Hammersmith District, in certain shares and proportions, and has been apportioned by the Metropolitan Board of Works, pursuant to the 181st section of the firstly recited Act, among the several parishes or parts of parishes which heretofore constituted the said districts, that is to say, Paddington; Chelsea; St. Mary Abbotts, Kensington; St. Margaret and St. John the Evangelist, Westminster; St. Peter and St. Paul, Hammersmith; Fulham; Willesden; St. Marylebone; St. George, Hanover-square; Chelsea; St. John, Hampstead; Acton, Ealing, and Chiswick; and whereas it is just and expedient that the cost of and incidental to the construction and execution of the said sewers and works, amounting to the sum aforesaid, should be deemed to be, and become part of the expenses of, and incidental to the works directed by the 135th section of the said Act for the better Local Management of the Metropolis, to be made and executed by the said board, for preventing all or any part of the sewage within the metropolis from flowing or passing into the Thames in or near the metropolis: be it therefore enacted, that the costs and charges of the said works, amounting to the sum of £43,721 15s., and the monies borrowed for defraying the same, shall cease to be the special debt and obligation of the said parishes and parts of parishes, and that the same shall be transferred to the metropolis at large, including the said parishes and parts of parishes, in the several proportions and in manner set forth in Schedule B to this Act annexed, and all sums becoming payable under or required for the payment of any security given for such monies, or any part thereof, or any interest accruing thereon, shall be raised by the said Metropolitan Board of Works upon the City of London and the said other parts of the metropolis, in the proportion of the annual value of the property therein, in the same manner as other monies raised for the expenses of and incidental to the execution of works for preventing the sewage of the metropolis from flowing or passing into the Thames in or near the metropolis; and the said board shall give the said parishes, and parts of parishes, credit for all sums which may have been overpaid by them, or any of them, in respect of principal or interest on the said security or securities (if any), since the 1st day of January, 1856. LV. Any person who shall take _See remark as to section_ 21. up, remove, demolish, or interfere with any sewer or part _tide valve_, _flap_, _side of a sewer vested in the entrance_. Metropolitan Board of Works, or in any vestry or district board, without the previous permission in writing of such board or vestry, or who shall wilfully damage any sewer, bank, defence, wall, penstock, grating, work or thing vested in the Metropolitan Board, or any vestry or district board, or do any act by which the drainage of the metropolis, or of any parish or district or of any part or parts thereof, may be obstructed or injured, shall for every such offence forfeit and pay to the said Metropolitan Board of Works, or to the vestry or district board in which the same may be vested, for every such offence, a sum not exceeding twenty pounds, and shall also pay to such board or vestry all the expenses of repairing, restoring, reinstating, or amending any sewer or other work or thing so taken up, removed, demolished, damaged, or interfered with. LVIII. The 217th section of the _To be altered so as to give first recited Act is hereby vestries and district boards repealed, and in lieu thereof be power to make improvement rates_. it enacted, that it shall be C. of Wks. M.B. Vol. 2. Fo. lawful for any vestry or district 51. board, at their discretion, to require the payment of any costs or expenses which the owner of any premises may be liable to pay under the said recited Act or this Act, either from such owner or from any person who then or at any time thereafter occupies such premises; and the owner shall allow such occupier to deduct the sums of money which he so pays out of the rent from time to time becoming due in respect of the said premises, as if the same had been actually paid to such owner as part of such rent. LXI. The 234th section of the _Penalties under Nuisances’ first recited Act is hereby Removal Act to be made payable to repealed, and in lieu thereof be vestries and district boards_. it enacted, that all penalties or C. of Wks. M.B. Vol. 2. Fo. forfeitures payable or receivable 51. under the said first recited Act, or this Act, shall go and be paid in manner hereinafter mentioned, anything contained in the Act of the 2nd and 3rd Vict., c. 71, or in any other Act or Acts to the contrary notwithstanding, that is to say, one half shall go to the informer, and the remainder shall go to the vestry or district board of the parish or district in which the offence was committed, or to the Metropolitan Board of Works in case the injury shall have been sustained by or the offence committed in respect of that board, or if such vestry or district board or the Metropolitan Board of Works be the informers, then the whole of the penalty recovered shall go to them respectively, and all sums which shall go to or be recovered, by any board or vestry on account of any penalty or forfeiture, shall be paid to their treasurer or otherwise into such bank to their account as they may direct, and shall be applicable to the general expenses of the board or vestry. LXIII. No writ or process shall _To be given to contractors as be sued out against or served well as to vestries_, _&c._ C. upon, and no proceeding shall be of Wks. M.B. Vol. 2. Fo. 51. instituted against the Metropolitan Board of Works or any vestry or district board, or their clerk, or any clerks, surveyor, or other officer or person whomsoever, acting under their or any of their directions, for anything done or intended to be done under the powers of such board or vestry under the said Acts, or this Act, until the expiration of one month next after notice in writing shall have been delivered, as herein provided concerning the service of notices upon such board or vestry, or, where the action or proceeding shall be against such other officer or person, shall have been delivered to him or left at his office or place of abode, explicitly stating the cause of action, or ground of the proceeding or demand, and the name and place of abode of the intended plaintiff or claimant, and of his attorney or agent in the cause or proceeding; and upon the trial of any action the plaintiff shall not be permitted to go into evidence of any cause of action except such as is stated in the notice so delivered, and unless such notice be proved the jury shall find for the defendant: and every such action and proceeding shall be brought or commenced within six months next after the accrual of the cause of action or ground of claim or demand, and not afterwards, and every such action shall be laid and tried in the county or place where the cause of action occurred, and not elsewhere. And the defendant shall in any such action be at liberty to plead the general issue, and give the said recited Acts, and this Act, and all special matter in evidence thereunder. And it shall be lawful for the board or vestry or any person to whom such notice is given as aforesaid to tender amends to the plaintiff, his attorney or agent, at any time within one month after service of such notice, and in case the same be not accepted to plead such tender in bar, and (by leave of the court) with the general issue or other plea or pleas; and if upon issue joined upon any plea pleaded to the whole action the jury find generally for the defendant, or if the plaintiff be nonsuited or discontinued, or if the judgment be given for the defendant, then the defendant shall be entitled to full costs of suit and have judgment accordingly. And in case amends have not been tendered as aforesaid, or in case the amends tendered be insufficient, it shall be lawful for the defendant, by leave of the court, at any time before trial, to pay into court under plea such sum of money as he may think proper, and (by the like leave) to plead the general issue or other plea or pleas, any rule of court or practice to the contrary notwithstanding.

3.—PROPOSED NEW CLAUSES, & SUGGESTIONS FOR THE SAME

Any person who shall draw or drive any wheeled Bath or invalid chair, or perambulator, upon any footway or curb stone, shall be liable to a penalty not more than forty shillings.

Every person sweeping or placing, or causing to be swept or placed, any mud, dirt, rubbish, filth, soil, saw dust, shavings, straw, or refuse from shops, into or upon any thoroughfare, or into or upon any channel, or gutter on the side of any street, shall be liable to a penalty not more than forty shillings.

Every person placing or causing to be placed any dung upon any thoroughfare, or in any stable yard or mews, except into dung pits constructed to the satisfaction of the vestry or district board, as the case may be, shall be liable to a penalty not more than forty shillings.

Every person who shall affix any posting bill or other paper against any street post, lamp post, or public lamp, shall be liable to a penalty not more than forty shillings.

Every person who shall keep pigs upon premises, after notice from a vestry or district board to discontinue such keeping, shall be liable to a penalty not more than five pounds.

And be it enacted, That all doors, gates, and bars, not being underground doors, hereafter to be erected within the limits of this Act, leading to any house, building, yard, or land, and which shall open upon or towards any public street, not being a stable yard or mews, shall be constructed so as to open into or towards such house, yard, building, or land; and if any such door, gate, or bar shall be constructed so as to open in any other manner, the person who shall have caused such door, gate, or bar to be so constructed, shall be liable to a penalty not exceeding forty shillings.

And be it enacted, That if any such door, gate, or bar already erected, shall have been so constructed as to open outwards towards or upon any public street, it shall be lawful for the vestry or district board to alter the same, so that no part thereof opening or when open shall project over any public way.

And be it enacted, That when any house or building, any part of which now projects beyond the regular line of the street, or beyond the front of the house or building on either side thereof in any street, shall be taken down to be rebuilt or altered, the same shall be set back to the line of the street or the line of the adjoining house or building in such manner as the vestry or district board shall direct for the improvement of such street, and when the next house or building shall not adjoin the house or building to be so taken down, but shall be separated therefrom, then the same shall be set back to the line of such street: Provided always, that the vestry or district board shall make full compensation to any such owner for any loss or damage he may sustain in consequence of his house being set back according to the provisions herein contained.

And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the vestry or district board to allow any building to be advanced for the purpose of improving the line of the street or place in which such building may be situate or any building adjacent thereto.

And be it enacted, That the owner or occupier of every house or building in or adjoining any street within the limits of this Act shall, within twenty-one days next after service of any order of the vestry or district board for that purpose, put up and for ever afterwards keep in good condition, proper and sufficient pipes to carry off the water from the roof thereof into the common drains or sewers. And be it enacted, That when any opening is now or shall hereafter be made in the pavement or soil of any pavement or footpaths within the limits of this Act, as an entrance into any vault, cellar, or area, a door covering or grating shall be made by the occupier of such vault or cellar, of iron or such other material and in such manner as the vestry or district board shall direct; and such door covering or grating shall from time to time be kept in good repair by the occupier of such vault, cellar, or area, and if the occupier of any such vault, cellar, or area, shall not within a reasonable time make such door, covering or grating, or shall make any such door covering or grating contrary to the directions of the vestry or district board, or shall not keep the same when made in good repair, he shall forfeit for every such offence a sum not exceeding five pounds.

And be it enacted, That when any building materials, rubbish, or other things shall be laid, or any hole or excavation shall be made, in any of the streets within the limits of this Act, the person causing such materials or other things to be so laid, or the said hole or excavation to be made, shall at his own expense cause a sufficient light to be fixed in a proper place upon or near the same, and continue such light every night from sun setting to sun rising during the time such materials, hole, or excavation, shall remain; and such person shall, at his own expense, cause such materials or other things and such hole or excavation, to be sufficiently fenced and inclosed until such materials or other removed, or the hole or excavation filled up or otherwise made secure; and in case such person shall refuse or neglect so to light, fence, or inclose such materials or other things, or such hole or excavation, every person so offending shall for every such offence forfeit a sum not exceeding five pounds; and in every such case of refusal or neglect, it shall be lawful for the vestry or district board to cause such light to be so fixed and continued during the time aforesaid, and such materials and other things, hole or excavation, to be sufficiently fenced and enclosed; and all charges and expenses thereof shall be paid by the persons causing such materials or other things to be so laid, or such hole or excavation to be so made as aforesaid.

And be it enacted, That in no case shall any such building materials or other things, or such hole or excavation, be permitted to remain for an unnecessary time, under a penalty not exceeding five pounds, to be paid by the person causing such materials or other things to be laid, or such hole or excavation to be made, for each week during which the same building materials or such hole or excavation shall so remain: and in any such case proof of the necessity of a continuance thereof respectively shall be upon the person so causing such materials or other things to be laid, or causing such hole or excavation to be made.

And be it enacted, That if any building or excavation on any land or place contiguous to any street within the limits of this Act shall for want of sufficient repair, protection, or inclosure, be dangerous to the passengers along such street, the owner thereof shall be liable to a penalty not more than five pounds.

And be it enacted, That it shall be lawful for the vestry or district board during such time as any street within the limits of this Act is being made or repaired, or during the making of any sewer or drain by the vestry or district board, or when they shall consider it expedient to close such street, or any part of the same, by such ways or means as they shall think fit.

Every vestry and district board shall have full power and authority to pave, if they think fit, any uninclosed space which may have been the forecourt of any house or building in any street, and the same shall thenceforward become the public highway, and whenever the fence or other enclosure shall have been removed, it shall not be lawful for the owner or occupier of the said house or building again to enclose the said space.

* * * * *

_From the Vestry Clerk to the Clerk of the Metropolitan Board of Works_.

December 29th, 1859.

Dear Sir,—I am directed by the Vestry of this parish to request that, when your Board shall apply to Parliament for the further Amendment of the Metropolis Local Management Act, a clause may be introduced, enacting that so much of the provisions of the 67th and 68th sections of the 57th George the III., cap. 29, being “An Act for better paving, improving, and regulating the streets of the Metropolis, and removing and preventing Nuisances and Obstructions therein,” as relates to the nuisance arising from hog styes, and to the breeding, feeding, and keeping of swine, and suffering them to stray, be extended to the following parishes and places within the Metropolis, which were not, at the time of the passing of the said Act, included in the Weekly Bills of Mortality: that is to say,—Paddington; Camberwell; Chelsea; St. Mary Abbot, Kensington; Woolwich; St. John, Hampstead; St. Paul, Deptford, including Hatcham; St. Nicholas, Deptford; Greenwich; Clapham; Tooting Graveney; Streatham; St. Mary, Battersea, excluding Penge; Wandsworth; Putney; including Roehampton; St. Mary, Stoke Newington; St. Peter and St. Paul, Hammersmith; Fulham; St. Mary, Stratford-le-Bow; and St. Leonard, Bromley: also enacting that the penalties imposed by these sections may be recovered in the manner provided by the 227th section of the Act for the better Local Management of the Metropolis, 18th and 19th Vict., cap. 120.

I have the honor to be, dear Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
CHAS. LAHEE,
Vestry Clerk.

J. Pollard, Esq., Metropolitan Board of Works, 1, Greek Street, Soho.

* * * * *

December 29th, 1859.

Dear Sir,—I am directed by this Vestry to request that when your Board shall apply to Parliament for the further Amendment of the Metropolis Local Management Act, 18 and 19 Vict., cap. 120, the 85th section of that Act may be altered by the insertion after the first word “works” of words to the following effect: viz.:—

“And in the case of combined drainage such notice may require that
each house of any block of houses drained in combination, or so many
thereof as the Vestry or Board shall see fit, shall be drained
separately into a sewer.”

I have the honor to be, dear Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
CHAS. LAHEE,
Vestry Clerk.

J. Pollard, Esq., Metropolitan Board of Works, 1, Greek Street, Soho.

* * * * *

January 23rd, 1860.

Dear Sir,—The Metropolitan Association of Medical Officers of Health have brought under the consideration of this Vestry the desirability of extending to the cow houses within the Metropolis, the system of annual licenses, as it prevails with regard to slaughter houses, and they have directed me to acquaint you, for the information of the Metropolitan Board of Works, that if a proposal is made to provide for such an extension of the law, in their forthcoming amendment Bill, this Vestry, upon the recommendation of their Medical Officer of Health, will give such proposal their cordial support.

I beg to send you a copy of the Report of Dr. Barclay, our Medical Officer of Health, above alluded to.

I have the honor to be, dear Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
CHAS. LAHEE,
Vestry Clerk.

J. Pollard, Esq., 1, Greek Street, Soho.

* * * * *

_Extract from the Report of the Medical Officer of Health to the Vestry
of the Parish of Chelsea_.

22nd November, 1859.

At your last meeting I was requested to report upon a suggestion made to this Vestry by the Metropolitan Association of Medical Officers of Health, to the effect that you should unite with other vestries in the endeavour “to procure insertion in the proposed bill for amending the Metropolis Local Management Act, of a clause relating to the annual licensing of Cow Houses.” I was also requested to consider the propriety of extending the system of licensing to the keeping of pigs.

With reference to these two questions, I have to observe, that the grounds upon which such a proposition rests are mainly two; viz.:, the _necessity for_ such a business being carried on where it now is, and the probability that such a business may, if carelessly conducted, be a nuisance to the neighbourhood. For by the very fact of the license being granted, the option of endeavouring to remove the cause of nuisance altogether is entirely given up. This authority is accorded to the magistrate, by the Nuisances Removal Act, but is very rarely exercised in cases brought before the Metropolitan Police Courts, because it has generally been held that its powers were not intended to be used for the suppression, but only for the regulation of offensive trades.

In regard to the keeping of cows throughout the Metropolis, a necessity exists from which, under present circumstances, we cannot escape, because, in hot weather, neither milk nor cream can be brought from a distance in a perfectly sweet and fresh state, and at no time of year can good cream be obtained from milk (as I am informed) after a journey. At the same time, cow houses badly kept in a town are liable to become a nuisance, 1st by effluvia from the building itself; 2nd, by accumulations of dung, and annoyances during their removal, of which we have had several examples in this parish; 3rd, by injury to the health of the cows, which will consequently yield a supply of unhealthy milk, or may become the means of diseased meat being sold at the inferior butchers’ stalls. Under such circumstances, it seems not unreasonable that the vestry should seek by conceding the necessity for their permanence and granting a license, to place them more completely under the control of their officers.

* * * * *

_Letter from W. Tite_, _Esq._, _to the Vestry Clerk_.

My dear Sir,

* * * * *

Mr. Woolrych asks me whether the vestry can suggest a clause to meet the case of combined drainage when it has appeared to become public drainage by the ill advised arrangements of the late Commissioners?

This was the point on which I saw him some months since, and if the vestry wish it, I will try what is to be done; you had better perhaps give me a call any morning you please.

Yours truly,
WILLIAM TITE.

* * * * *

_From the Vestry Clerk to W. Tite_, _Esq. M.P._

PIPE SEWERS.

January 14th, 1860.

Sir,—Not being a lawyer I speak with great diffidence on the subject of your note of the 7th, but it appears to me that if an alteration were made in the interpretation clause of the Local Management Act, as to the meaning of the word “drain,” it would accomplish what we wish.

It now runs thus, “the word ‘drain’ shall mean and include any drain of and used for the drainage of one building only, or premises within the same curtilage, and made merely for the purpose of communicating with a cesspool or other like receptacle for drainage, or with a sewer into which the drainage of two or more buildings or premises, occupied by different persons, is conveyed, _and shall also include any drain for draining any group or block of houses by a combined operation_, _under the order of any vestry or district board_.” I would suggest that the following words be added “or under the order, sanction, or direction of any Commissioners of Sewers, acting within the metropolis previous to the passing of the Act for the better Local Management of the metropolis, 18 and 19 Vic. Cap. 120.”

COMBINED DRAINAGE.
PIG STY REGULATIONS.

These two matters formed the subjects of my communication to Mr. Pollard, of the 29th ultimo, and copies of them were on the same day sent to you. They both have reference to the amendment of the Act, and were recommended to the vestry by Dr. Barclay, the Medical Officer of Health.

I am, Sir,
Your obedient Servant,
CHAS. LAHEE,
Vestry Clerk.

William Tite, Esq., M.P. &c. &c. 42, Lowndes Square.

* * * * *

_The Vestry Clerk to the Solicitors_.

May 2nd, 1860.

METROPOLIS LOCAL MANAGEMENT ACT AMENDMENT BILL.

Dear Sirs,—You may have observed that Mr. Tite introduced this Bill into the House of Commons on Monday evening, consequently no time must be lost in seeing him with reference to the following matters.

It is unfortunate that the Bill accompanying your letter of the 24th ultimo was not the last reprint: however, I beg to send you a copy of the last reprint, which you will observe differs in some particulars, and as to the numbers of the clauses, from the former one.

With reference to your letter of the 24th ultimo, and the Bill accompanying it, they were referred by the Vestry on that day to the Committee of Works, and they met yesterday to consider them.

I beg to send you an extract from the Minutes with reference to them.

I am, dear Sirs,
Your obedient Servant,
CHAS. LAHEE,
Vestry Clerk.

Messrs. Lee and Pemberton, 44, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, W.C.

* * * * *

_Extract from the Minutes of a Meeting of the Committee of Works and for
General Purposes_, _held in the Board Room_, _Manor House_, _Tuesday_,
_May_ 1_st_, 1860,

The Committee considered the letter of the Solicitors (Messrs. Lee and Pemberton), dated 24th of April, respecting the Bill for the Amendment of the Metropolis Local Management Act. The Clerk laid upon the table 12 copies of the last reprint of the Bill, and reported that the Bill had been introduced the previous evening in the House of Commons by Mr. Tite, M.P.

Resolved,—That this Committee _do not_ concur with the Solicitors in their remarks upon the Bill accompanying their letter respecting the following five clauses:—

CLAUSE 11, enacting that any Vestry or District Board may pay the precepts of the Metropolitan Board of Works out of any money in their possession, and reimburse themselves out of the Sewers Rate. _Remark referred to_:—‘We think this clause very objectionable; it appears to involve a breach of trust on the part of the Vestry. Funds raised for one purpose should not be applied to another; and the effect is to give the Metropolitan Board of Works a first charge on every Rate collected. What does the Poor Law Board say to it?’

CLAUSE 13, enacting that if any Vestry, &c., neglect to pay the money required by the precepts of the Metropolitan Board of Works, that Board may make a rate on default, without awaiting the expiration of the period fixed by the precept. _Remark referred to_:—‘Two months is not enough, it should at least be four.’

CLAUSE 41, relating to the case of a Vestryman—a member of a District Board—not attending meetings for six months. _Remark referred to_:—‘Or committee thereof. We think this inexpedient. The member should go out as if by rotation, and be ineligible for the vacancy so created.’

CLAUSE 60, relative to contributions to the cost of main sewers and sewers built since January 1st, 1856, or hereafter to be built. _Remark referred to_:—‘Leave out these words (lines 32 and 33, ‘at their discretion’).’

CLAUSE 62, prescribing the regulations to be observed in making openings into sewers. _Remark referred to_:—‘We think this clause is better out, unless it is made to go further. The Vestry should have power to alter old drains.’

_Resolved_,—That if in the opinion of the Solicitors further powers are requisite than are contained in the above clause, they be authorized to prepare such a clause.

_Resolved_,—That this Committee _do_ concur with the solicitors in their remarks respecting the following ten clauses, and authorize them to prepare clauses to give effect to their recommendations.

CLAUSE 22, relative to the recovery of moneys assessed by the Metropolitan Board of Works on extra parochial property for payment of debts. _Remark referred to_—‘Instead of ‘a justice’ should be ‘two justices or a police magistrate,’ the same error occurs in other parts of the Bill.’

CLAUSE 42, providing that owners and occupiers of land may execute drainage works at their own expense. _Remark referred to_:—‘We think the sewer when built should vest in the Vestry. It should be built under the superintendence of their Surveyor; and the party applying should find sureties for the performance of the work, under penalties, to be recoverable as liquidated damages.’

_Resolved_,—That in the opinion of this Committee the words in line 21 ‘hereinafter mentioned’ should stand, with the interlineation ‘_or_ that any Vestry may think proper to attach.’

CLAUSE 48, prescribing the regulations to be observed on abandonment, alteration, &c., of designs for sewers previously approved by the Metropolitan Board of Works. _Remark referred to_:—‘And in case they do there should be a heavy penalty recoverable by action.’

CLAUSE 66, empowering Vestries, &c., on neglect of owners, &c., to carry out works, pursuant to orders, to proceed for the penalties, or do the works themselves, and recover the cost. _Remark referred to_:—‘Line 27 erase ‘person or persons,’ insert ‘such owner or occupier.’ Line 37 insert ‘or occupier.’

CLAUSE 67, extending penalties to persons causing offences. _Remark referred to_:—‘And all penalties recoverable under this Act.’