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THE
MUNICIPAL MANUAL
A DESCRIPTION OF THE CON-
STITUTION AND FUNCTIONS OF
URBAN LOCAL AUTHORITIES
BY
ALBERT E, LAUDER
Solicitor
LONDON :
P. S. KING & SON
ORCHARD HOUSE
WESTMINSTER
1907
*$
*
PREFACE.
The student of public affairs who aspires
to a professional appointment or an elective
office in the municipal service, naturally
seeks a popular manual which will give him
an introduction to the scheme and work of
English local government. To his surprise,
he finds that no such handbook exists.
There is a plenitude of legal text books and
treatises, appalling in their size and measure-
less in their profundity; but these appear
rather as fortresses guarding the path of
inquiry from attack than as the gateways to
knowledge. This little book is therefore
issued in the hope that it will be useful to all
those who desire to make an acquaintance
with the subjects which, in practice, call for
the attention of members of local authorities,
municipal officers, and others engaged in
the public work of our towns.
At the outset, one is confronted with
284219
vi PREFACE.
the difficulty of dealing with the subject
in such a manner as to give the reader
a clear view of the whole ground. Local
government may be treated from many points
of view — for example, area, or structure, or
function. In any event, overlapping can
hardly be entirely avoided. The method I
have adopted has been to give a preliminary
sketch of the constitution of the authorities
responsible for the government of our towns,
and then to classify their duties in a few
large groups. The Acts of Parliament
under which their powers are conferred
are indicated in the footnotes. The latter
will be useful to the student who desires
further information than this book can
afford.
The reader should be warned of the multi-
tude of varying powers in force in different
classes of urban areas. Rousseau described
government as "the science of combinations,
applications and exceptions." Unfortu-
nately, local government seems to be
burdened with more than its fair share
of exceptions. General laws there are, it
is true, which are applicable to the whole
of the English towns, but even these vary
PREFACE. vii
according to whether the town is a county
borough, an ordinary borough, or an urban
district ; while in other cases the possession
of a court of quarter sessions, or the num-
ber of the population, creates important
distinctions. General legislation has also
been totally inadequate to keep pace with
urban needs ; and new requirements have
in many cases been met by Parliament, in
somewhat timorous fashion, with discre-
tionary Acts, which are only operative in
towns where the town or district councils
have formally adopted them. In addition to
this element of confusion, numerous private
Acts, containing many provisions of great
importance, have been obtained by the more
enterprising and wealthy councils. The
costly procedure of Private Bill legislation,
of course, keeps these powers out of the
reach of the smaller authorities, however
much they need them. The medley is
intensified by provisional orders of a legis-
lative nature applying to specific districts,
issued from time to time by the Local
Government Board and the Board of Trade.
Local authorities also all possess the power
of enacting bye-laws (subject to approval or
viii PREFACE.
to disallowance by Government depart-
ments) with regard to various subjects
within their jurisdiction, and it is only
natural that the local requirements in these
matters differ with the circumstances of
each town.
It is not suggested that uniformity is
either possible or desirable in this connec-
tion, but the present condition of affairs is
unnecessarily complex, and is quite be-
wildering to the average citizen. Many
of the powers which the larger towns have
secured by private Acts are obviously
needed also by the smaller areas. A Bill
to codify the law of public health and to
make some of these powers of universal
application has, it is understood, been in
preparation for the last few years. If
Parliament bore more resemblance to a
business assembly, and less to a debating
society, the promised measure would doubt-
less already have become law, and many of
the existing anomalies would have been
swept away.
I trust that the various enterprises of
modern municipalities have been adequately
treated. I have not, however, devoted any
PREFACE. ix
special chapter to what is loosely called
municipal trading, as in my opinion there is
no operation now carried on by local bodies
that is properly described by such a title.
The essential characteristic of trading is
the production and exchange of commodities
or services for the purpose of making a
profit. Even to the etherealised trader of
Ruskin, profit is a " due and necessary
adjunct." It is quite obvious, of course,
that if the private trader fulfils useful
functions in society, he deserves some
remuneration for his labour, his risk and
his ingenuity.
The basis of municipal enterprise, how-
ever, is in no sense the making of pecuniary
profit, although local authorities are, perhaps,
justified in seeking to rectify the inequitable
system of rating by obtaining revenue from
some of their undertakings. The citizen
may prefer to relieve his rates by paying
more than is necessary for the services
rendered by his tramway system, his electric
lighting installation, or his gas or water
works, but, so soon as any such institution
is brought under public ownership, other
considerations are forced to the front. The
x PREFACE.
business prosperity of the town, or the con-
venience of its inhabitants, demands that
certain branches of work shall be entered
upon that cannot possibly exhibit favourable
results upon a cash balance sheet. Tram-
ways are required to develop outlying
portions of the district ; improved public
lighting is called for; consumers clamour for
a reduction in the price of gas or water, with
a voice that is far more effective in the council
chamber than in the board room of a com-
pany; and the usual demands of labour for
more adequate remuneration are backed by
its voting power. Criticism of inefficiency
or price, that is silent before the obvious fact
that a company exists for the purpose of
making dividends, becomes shrill and insis-
tent when an undertaking passes into public
hands.
In view of these circumstances, it is per-
haps surprising that municipal incursions
into the supply of commodities are as finan-
cially successful as the returns of the Board
of Trade prove them to be. This is, to some
extent, due to the fact that at present muni-
cipal trading has dealt only with monopolies,
in respect of which the charges can be
PREFACE. xi
raised or lowered to meet fluctuations in
cost. Occasionally a loss has to be admitted,
but public enterprise, even if subject to the
test of profit, is no more to be judged by a
few sporadic failures, than private trading is
to be condemned on account of the bank-
ruptcies and liquidations which occupy the
attention of the courts. The return issued
by the Local Government Board in 1902
with regard to municipal reproductive
undertakings (which, in spite of its age and
its limitation to municipal boroughs, has not
yet been revised or extended), shows that,
taken as a whole, no loss is incurred. The
student should also remember that many
operations which figure on that return, such
as the provision of baths and wash-houses,
workmen's dwellings, docks, harbours, and
burial grounds, have only been undertaken
publicly because private enterprise ascer-
tained by painful experience that they were
not remunerative. Moreover, it should be
borne in mind that in the more profitable
undertakings, the operations of local
authorities are restricted to areas the
boundaries of which were largely settled
in the days of the Heptarchy, when our
xii PREFACE.
counties and parishes first assumed definite
shape, or in less remote times, when any
conception of the modern town and its
social and industrial needs was clearly
impossible.
The object of this book being merely to
describe in general terms the existing law
and practice of municipal government, the
more attractive fields of the history and
economics of local administration have been
left untouched. That there is to-day a
general trend towards investing public bodies
with greater powers of rendering service to
the citizen, and supplying his necessaries
and even his luxuries, is manifest. Public
opinion is gradually widening its estimate
of the minimum level of subsistence which
should be guaranteed to every member of
the community who performs his share of
the necessary labour of the world. So far
as local authorities are concerned, the result
is seen in the improved standard of public
health, the provision of housing accom-
modation, education and recreation, the
feeding of necessitous school children, the
provision of work for the unemployed, and,
in many cases, the establishment of a
PREFACE. xiii
minimum wage for municipal workmen. The
cause is doubtless as much economic as it
is altruistic. With the increasing complexity
of production and distribution, the growth
of large urban communities and the inter-
dependence of their various units, society is
assuming the form of an organism in which
the interests of each member are identical
with those of the rest of the body politic;
and collective action becomes in many
instances both practicable and desirable.
In this country social tendencies do not, as
a rule, work themselves out to their appa-
rently logical end, but it may well be that
the prevailing course of economic evolution
will continue until all the basic needs of life
are supplied by collective effort. Whether
that point will be reached depends on the
relative merits of production for use and
production for profit. The speculation is
interesting, but the remorseless process of
natural selection, and not the views of the
theorist or the desires of the financier, will
decide the point.
Unfortunately for the reputation of local
authorities, duties of an entirely unremune-
rative character are continually being cast
xiv PREFACE.
upon them, and increased efficiency is for
ever demanded, without any new and legiti-
mate source of revenue being opened. As
a consequence, we have the universal outcry
against the rising rates, — a complaint which
is so general that it is almost as strong
in towns where wise administration has kept
local contributions stationary, as it is where
they have been doubled within a few years.
It is quite certain that if the burdens of
municipal government are to be adjusted in
proportion to ability to pay, and to benefit
received, an alteration in the system of rating
and a revision of local areas are inevitable.
Albert E. Lauder.
August, 1907.
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
PAGE
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES — CONSTITUTION
AND GENERAL POWERS J
i. The Town Council— 2. The Urban District Council
— 3. General Powers of Town and Urban District
Councils— 4. The Metropolitan Borough Council
— 5. The County Council.
CHAPTER II.
PUBLIC HEALTH ........ 4O
i. Adoptive and Local Acts — 2. Sewerage — 3. Drain-
age and Public Conveniences — 4. Collection of
Refuse — 5. Nuisances — 6. Offensive Trades —
7. Notification of Infectious Diseases, etc. —
8. Provision of Hospitals, Disinfection, etc. —
9. Interment of the Dead — 10. Unsound and
Adulterated Food — 11. Housing — 12. Factories
and Workshops — 13. Dairies, Cowsheds, and
Milkshops — 14. Port Sanitary Authorities —
15. Miscellaneous.
CHAPTER III.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION ....
1. Highways — 2. Streets — 3. Locomotives, etc.—
4. Communication and Transit.
104
xvi CONTENTS.
CHAPTER IV.
PAGE
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS . . 1 35
i. Police and Administration of Justice — 2. Protection
from Fire — 3. Diseases of Animals — 4. Weights
and Measures — 5. Testing of Gas — 6. Employ-
ment of Children — 7. Shop Hours and Shop
Seats — 8. Care of Lunatics — 9. Storage and
Sale of Petroleum — 10. Explosives— 11. Slaughter-
houses— 12. Game Licences — 13. Emigration
Agents, etc. — 14. Pleasure Boats — 15. Race-
courses — 16. Pawnbrokers' Certificates — 17.
Licensing of Theatres and Music Halls — 18.
Analysis of Fertilisers, etc. — 19. Mid wives —
20. Steam Whistles — 21. Charities— 22. Protec-
tion of Wild Birds and Fisheries — 23. Railway
Rates.
CHAPTER V.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS AND SERVICES . . l6l
i. Water Supply — 2. Gas Works — 3. Electricity
Supply —4. Telephones — 5. Public Baths and
Wash-houses — 6. Public Pleasure Grounds —
7. Commons — 8. Allotments — 9. Small Holdings
— 10. Public Libraries — 11. Museums and Gym-
nasiums—12. Markets and Fairs — 13. Slaughter-
houses and Knackers' Yards — 14. Unemployed
Workmen — 15. Assistance in Purchasing Small
Dwellings — 16. Provision of Military Lands —
17. Inebriates' Reformatories and Retreats—
18. Ancient Monuments — 19. Advertising.
CHAPTER VI.
FINANCIAL l88
i. Rates — 2. Government Payments, etc. — 3. Loans
— 4. Accounts and Audit.
CONTENTS. xvii
CHAPTER VII.
EDUCATION 215
i. Education Authority and Committee — 2. Elementary
Education — 3. Secondary Education — 4. London
— 5. Default of Authority — 6. Finance — 7. Pro-
vision of Meals for School Children.
CHAPTER VIII.
POOR LAW 237
1. Poor Law Unions and Boards of Guardians —
2. Relief of the Poor — 3, Pauper Lunatics —
4. Registration of Births, etc. — 5. Vaccination —
6. Infant Life Protection — 7. Financial Contracts,
etc. — 8. The County of London.
INDEX 263
M.M.
ABBREVIATIONS
USED IN THE FOOTNOTES.
A. A. . . . Allotments Act.
C. E. A. . . County Electors Act.
E. A. . . . Education Act.
E. E. A. . . Elementary Education Act.
F. and W. A. . Factory and Workshop Act.
G. C. O. . . General Consolidated Order.
H. A. . . . Highways Act.
H. and B. A. . Highways and Bridges Act.
H. and L. A. . Highways and Locomotives Act.
H. W. C. A. . Housing of the Working Classes Act.
I. D. N. A. . . Infectious Disease (Notification) Act.
I. D. P. A. . . Infectious Disease (Prevention) Act.
L. A. . . Locomotives Act.
L. B. A. . . London Building Act.
L. G. A. . . Local Government Act.
M. C. A. . . Municipal Corporations Act.
M. M. A. . . Metropolis Management Act.
M. P. A. . . Metropolitan Poor Act.
P. A. A. . . Parochial Assessment Act.
P. H. A. . . Public Health Act.
P. H. (L.) A. . Public Health (London) Act.
P. L. A. . . Poor Law Act.
P. R. A. and C. A. Poor Rate Assessment and Collection
Act.
S. F. D. A. . . Sale of Food and Drugs Act.
T. I. C. A. . . Towns Improvement Clauses Act.
W. and M. A. . Weights and Measures Act.
THE
MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
CHAPTER I.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES— CON-
STITUTION AND GENERAL POWERS.
i. The Town Council. 2. The Urban District Council.
3. General Powers of Town and Urban District
Councils. 4. The Metropolitan Borough Council.
5. The County Council.
i. The Town Council.
The fabric of local government in England has
been greatly simplified by the legislation of the
last quarter of a century. For all practical pur-
poses it may be regarded as consisting of two
departments, represented by the county and the
district. In rural areas the unit of administration
is the parish, the strictly local affairs of which are
managed by the parish council, or, if the population
is less than 300, the parish meeting. For more
general matters, parishes are grouped into rural
districts, under rural district councils, and these
M.M. B
2 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
districts in their turn are included in administrative
counties (which are not necessarily identical with
geographical counties), the business of which is
transacted by the county councils.
In urban districts, the unit is the town, governed
by a town council or an urban district council.
In most cases the town is also included in the
county area, and the county council have juris-
diction for certain purposes. Some 73 large towns,
however, each of which either has a population of
50,000, or is an ancient local government " county,"
are county boroughs; their councils are endowed
with county powers, and they are practically inde-
pendent of the administrative counties surrounding
them.
London has received special attention from the
Legislature. It is divided into the City of London,
ruled by the unreformed corporation, and twenty-
eight metropolitan boroughs (including the City of
Westminster), created by the London Government
Act, 1 899, and managed by borough councils. The
whole area forms the Administrative County of
London, the governing body of which is the
London County Council.
Excluding the metropolis, our modern English
towns are divided into two classes — municipal
boroughs and urban districts.
The former are of high and ancient lineage,
some of them claiming a continuous corporate life
of a thousand years. The latter are the offspring
of recent legislation.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 3
The borough derives its existence from the
incorporation of the inhabitants of a town (either
by prescription or charter) into a municipal cor-
poration, which is a body legally distinct from any
of its individual members — an entity constituted
for the purpose of carrying out certain defined
duties imposed upon it by law, possessing a capacity
for holding property, and capable of suing and
being sued in the courts of justice.
The power to create a municipal corporation is
nominally a royal privilege. All petitions for
incorporation are referred to a committee of the
Privy Council, who usually hold a local inquiry
into the matter, and, following upon their report,
the prayer of the petition is refused, or a charter
of incorporation is issued, dividing the borough
into wards, fixing the number of councillors for
each ward, and settling other necessary details.1
The number of petitions for incorporation is
restricted by the fact that the costs of unsuccessful
applications have to be borne by the petitioners.
The amount of these costs, of course, varies accord-
ing to the strength and persistence of the oppo-
sition. If the petition is acceded to, they are paid
out of the borough fund of the newly constituted
borough.2
There are no statutory requirements as to the
area, population or rateable value which must be
attained by a town before it may be granted a
1 Municipal Corporations Act, 1882, ss. 210 — 218.
aM. C. A., 1882, sch. 5.
B 2
4 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
charter of incorporation, but the Privy Council do
not, as a rule, recommend the issue of a charter to
a town possessing a population of less than 20,000.
The boundaries of a borough may be revised,
and any consequential alterations made in the
arrangement of the wards, by a provisional order of
the Local Government Board, confirmed by an
Act of Parliament.1 Apart from such an altera-
tion of the borough boundaries, the number and
extent of the wards may be varied by the Privy
Council, the new ward boundaries and the re-appor-
tionment of the councillors being then settled by
the Home Office.2
The title of the corporation is " The Mayor,
Aldermen and Burgesses of the Borough," or, if
the town is a city, " The Mayor, Aldermen and
Citizens of the City",3 and it is to the burgesses
or citizens that the local government of the town
is primarily entrusted. Although all the inhabi-
tants of the borough collectively constitute the cor-
poration, a burgess (or citizen) must be specially
qualified by being of full age, and having occupied
in the borough a building of any value, or land of
the yearly value of £10, duly rated to the poor rate,
for one year ending on the previous 15th July.
Throughout this period he or she must have
resided in the borough or within seven miles of
its boundaries, and the rates due in respect of the
1 Loc. Gov. Act, 1888, s. 54.
2 M. C. A., 1882, s. 30 ; M. C. A., 1893.
8 M. C. A., 1882, s. 8.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 5
property must be paid. If the qualification of the
burgess is the occupation of land, or of a building
of the yearly value of £10, the assessed taxes must
also have been paid, but the period of residence
(not occupation) is reduced to six months. Women
are included, if fully qualified, and unmarried, but
not otherwise. A burgess need not, of course,
necessarily have been in occupation of the same
property during the whole of the qualifying period,
if no interval has elapsed between vacating one
set of premises and occupying another.1
The occupation of a dwelling-house by virtue of
any office, service or employment (which might give
a right to vote at a Parliamentary election), does not
entitle the occupier to be enrolled as a burgess.
In no case is an alien, or a person who has received
parochial relief (other than medical relief) within
the twelve months already referred to, entitled to
be enrolled.2
Lists of persons duly qualified are prepared by
the overseers and posted on the doors of the
churches, chapels and public offices of the borough
before the 25th August in each year. These lists,
together with the claims of any persons whose
names are omitted, and objections to the insertion
of any names that are included, are subsequently
settled by the Revising Barrister before the 12th
October, and published by the town clerk on or
1 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 9, 33, and 63 ; County Electors Act,
1888, s. 3.
2 M. C. A, 1882, s. 9; Medical Relief Disqualification
Removal Act, 1885.
6 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
before the 20th October. The burgess roll thus
formed comes into operation on the ist November,
when the annual election of town councillors is
held, and continues valid for twelve months.1
The town council, who administer local affairs in
a borough, consist of the mayor, aldermen and
councillors. Membership of the council is re-
stricted to males who are enrolled and entitled to
be enrolled as burgesses, or who would be so
entitled if they resided within seven miles of the
borough, but who actually reside within a further
radius of eight miles. In this last case, however,
a property qualification is also necessary.
Certain persons are specially disqualified, from
various reasons, including anyone holding a place
of profit under the council (other than that of
mayor or sheriff), clergymen, and persons having,
directly or indirectly, an interest in a contract with,
or employment by, the council. This last restric-
tion is, of course, very wide, and it has therefore
been modified to make an exception in favour of
contracts with regard to the leasing or purchase of
land, or the loan of money, or interests in news-
papers inserting the council's advertisements, or in
companies supplying water or light in the borough,
or insuring any part of the borough against fire,
railway companies, ordinary joint stock companies,
and industrial and provident societies.2
1 Pari, and Mun. Registration Act, 1878 ; M. C. A., 1882,
ss. 44, 45 ; C. E. A., 1888, s. 4 ; Registration Order 1895.
a M. C. A., 1882, ss. 10—12 ; M. C. A. 1906.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 7
The councillors are all elected for a period of
three years, and one-third of them retire on the
1st November in each year, and are eligible for
re-election.1
The aldermen are a body equal in number to
one-third of the councillors. They are elected by
the council, and hold office for a period of six years,
one half of them retiring on the 9th November
every third year.3 They have nominally no direct
connection with any special ward of the borough,
but it is a custom of many councils to pay regard
to ward representation when electing aldermen,
while upon other councils seniority or special service
is the principal ground upon which the matter is
decided.
The whole council, as thus constituted, is presided
over by the mayor. Usually the aldermen and
mayor are chosen from amongst the elected mem-
bers of the council, but anyone who is qualified to
be a councillor is eligible for either office. The
mayor is the civic head of the borough, and is
entitled to the courtesy title of " Worshipful." If
the town has a separate commission of the peace,
he is chairman of the borough justices during his
year of office, and continues to be a justice for the
ensuing year. The mayor of a non-county borough
is also, during his mayoralty, a justice for the county
in which the borough is situate. In any event, the
s. 13.
2 lb., ss. 14 and 60.
8 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
mayor is chief magistrate of the town during his
term of office.1
The council are empowered to pay the mayor a
salary,2 as a considerable expenditure is often con-
sidered necessary to keep up the dignity of the
office and to meet the calls of local philanthropic
and other institutions. Upon the chief magistrates
of a few of the largest towns in the kingdom, such
as Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Bristol,
Sheffield, York, Leeds, and Cardiff, the title of
Lord Mayor has been conferred by letters patent.
The mayor is at liberty to appoint a member of
the council to act as his deputy during his illness
or absence, but such appointment does not authorise
the deputy mayor to preside at a meeting of the
council, or to act as a justice of the peace.3
The mayor is returning officer at municipal
elections if the borough is not divided into wards.
If it is so divided, the council must, at their annual
meeting on the gth November, assign an alderman
to act as returning officer in respect of each ward.4
In practice, the principal duties of the returning
officer are to superintend the detailed arrangements
for ward elections (which are conducted by ballot),
and to declare and publish the results. He may
also give a casting vote, in the event of a poll
resulting in a tie between two or more candidates.
1 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 15, 61, 155, and sch. 2.
3 M. C. A., 1882, s. 15.
8 lb., ss. 16 and 67.
4 lb., ss. 53, 57, 58, and 67.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 9
Town councils usually meet fortnightly or
monthly. It is compulsory upon them to meet
at least quarterly, one of such meetings being an
annual meeting to be held at noon on the
9th November, at which the mayor and aldermen
are elected, and the committees of the council are
usually appointed. The dates of all the other
meetings may be settled by resolution of the town
council, and special meetings may be called by the
mayor, or by any five members, if the mayor
refuses to comply with a requisition, signed by
them, asking him to call a meeting. At least one-
third of the members must be present to constitute
a valid meeting, but, providing this number is in
attendance, all matters coming before the council,
with a few special exceptions, are decided by a
bare majority of those voting, the chairman always
being entitled to a casting vote in the event of an
equal division.1 The detailed conduct of the busi-
ness is left for the members themselves to determine,
and is generally regulated by standing orders which
they frame with this object. A member of the
council, however, is not allowed to vote or take
part in the discussion of a matter under considera-
tion by the council or a committee, in which he
has a direct or an indirect pecuniary interest.2 No
remedy is provided for a breach of this rule, and
although the chairman should refuse to permit such
a member to vote or speak, it is difficult to see
1 M. C. A., 1882, sch. 2.
2 M. C. A., 1882, s. 22.
io MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
how he can be fully aware of the financial
investments of all the gentlemen over whom he
presides.
Minutes of all the proceedings of the council
have to be kept, and any burgess may, on. payment
of a fee of one shilling, inspect and make a copy of
those minutes, or of the minutes of committees
which have been submitted to the council for
approval.1
The council have full power to appoint com-
mittees from amongst their own members, to deal
with any matters which they consider will be better
regulated and managed by such bodies, but it is
essential that the acts of those committees (with
certain special exceptions to be noticed later) shall
be submitted to the council for approval.2 Under
the usual form of standing orders, the whole of the
ordinary business of local government is first
referred to various committees, each entrusted with
special branches of the work. Large powers in
dealing with minor matters are, as a rule, delegated
to them, but on more important questions no action
can be taken until the committee have reported to
the council, and their recommendations have been
considered. The invariable custom is for their
reports to be printed, and sent to each member of
the council a few days before the meeting of the
latter body, at which those reports are discussed,
1 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 22, 233, and 235, sch. 2 ; Williams
v. Mayor of Manchester.
3 M. C. A., 1882, s. 22.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES, n
and the recommendations adopted, amended, or
rejected. It follows, therefore, that although the
public are usually admitted to the meetings (unless
for any special reason the council resolve to meet
in camera) , it is not always possible for the
spectators to follow the proceedings when they
have not had the advantage of reading the reports.
Of course, any member is able to propose a motion
relative to the affairs of the borough, after due
notice, and the question covered by such motion
will thus come directly before the council, but it is
important to remember that the greater part of the
work is, in the first instance, examined and dis-
cussed by committees, whose recommendations
always receive due weight, as they are presumably
founded upon a close examination of the details.
A person who is elected mayor, alderman,
councillor or elective auditor (to be referred to
later on) must make a declaration before two
members of the council, or the town clerk,
formally accepting the office, in order to be
qualified to act in his new capacity. If he fails to
make this declaration within five days of notice of
his election, or if he resigns his office, he is liable
to pay a fine to be fixed by the council, which is
usually £i, but may be as high as £50, or, in the
case of a mayor, gfioo.1 A member of the council
will also cease to hold office if he is declared
bankrupt, or makes an arrangement with his
1 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 34—36 and 239, sch. 8.
12 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
creditors by deed or under the Bankruptcy Act,
or if he is continuously absent from the borough
(unless he is ill or on active military service) * for
more than six months, or, in the case of the
mayor, for more than two months. A member
disqualified by absence is liable to pay the fine
due on resignation, but he again becomes eligible
for election upon his return to the borough. The
penalty for acting in a corporate office without
being properly qualified is £50, which any burgess
may recover by action.2
A bankrupt is also incapable of being elected to
the council for a period of five years after he has
obtained his discharge, unless his bankruptcy is
annulled, or is, upon discharge, certified to be due
to misfortune and not to misconduct.3
As already stated, some large towns, besides
being municipal boroughs, are also county
boroughs, and their councils possess nearly all
the powers, rights and duties of the council of an
administrative county. Provision is made for the
promotion of any other municipal borough to the
rank of a county borough, when its population
attains the figure of 50,000.
Application for this purpose must be made by
the county council or town council to the Local
Government Board, who hold an inquiry into the
1 Members of Local Authorities Relief Act, 1900.
3 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 39 and 41.
8 Bankruptcy Act, 1883, ss. 32 and 34 ; Bankruptcy Act,
1890, s. 9.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 13
matter, and, if satisfied that the alteration is
desirable, make a provisional order to that effect,
and introduce into Parliament a bill to confirm the
order.1
A few ancient towns are, by royal favour,
counties of cities or counties of towns, and have
the constitution in some respects of a geographical
county. The chief distinction between these and
other boroughs is that the council have power to
appoint a sheriff, who must be elected at the
annual meeting on the 9th November.8
The gift of the freedom of the borough is now
of a purely honorary nature, and carries with it no
right to vote in the local elections or to share in
the corporate property, except in the city of
London. Persons of distinction, and others who
have rendered eminent service to the borough, may
be admitted as freemen by a resolution passed at
a meeting of the council at which not less than
two-thirds of the members are present and vote.3
There are 324 municipal boroughs, of which 73
are county boroughs. In size, the boroughs
vary from Liverpool with a population of 739,180
and a rateable value of £4,587,393, to Hedon
(Yorkshire) with a population of 1,010 and a
rateable value of £3, 329.
The smaller boroughs, of course, obtained their
corporate existence many years ago, when t they
/
1 Local Government Act, 1888, ss. 31 and 54, sch. 3.
* M. C. A., 1882, s. 170.
8 Honorary Freedom of Boroughs Act, 1885.
/
i4 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
were relatively far more important than they are
to-day.
2. The Urban District Council.
Urban districts are quite recent creations of the
Legislature. They were brought into existence by
the Local Government Act, 1894, in place of
the local boards of health and improvement
commissioners, who formerly governed towns not
sufficiently large to be incorporated under the
Municipal Corporations Acts.
The council for the urban district are the local and
sanitary authority for the district. They have no
powers or duties under the Municipal Corporations
Acts, but, so far as the provisions of the Public
Health Acts are concerned, there is very little dis-
tinction between ordinary urban districts and muni-
cipal boroughs — in fact, the town council of a
municipal borough act as the urban district council
for the town.
The Local Government Act, 1888 (s. 57), provides
machinery for the creation of an urban district.
Application must be made to the county council,
who may hold an inquiry into the matter, take a poll
of the electors thereon, and afterwards make the
necessary order constituting the urban district,
p?6^i4!nS f°r its division into wards, and settling
the nun^ber of councillors for each ward, and other
details. \
\
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 15
Government Board before it becomes operative.
The Board are entitled to disallow it, after a local
inquiry, if they receive a petition against it from
the council of any district affected, or from one-
sixth of the electors of any ward or district con-
cerned. If no such petition is presented the Board
are bound to confirm the order, but they may
introduce into it various modifications which they
consider desirable.
An urban district may be divided into wards, or
existing wards may be varied in number or extent
and the councillors re-apportioned among the new
wards, or altered in number, by an order of the
county council, made after holding a local inquiry
into the matter.1
The register of those entitled to vote in the
election of urban district councils is much wider
than that of the burgesses in a municipal borough.
Instead of the burgess roll, the urban district has a
list of parochial electors, which comprises occupiers
who would be burgesses if the town were a borough
and all persons who are on the parliamentary
register, thus including those qualified in respect
of ownership of property, the service occupiers
already alluded to, and lodgers who have a parlia-
mentary vote. In urban districts a woman elector
is not disqualified by reason of marriage, although
husband and wife may not both be on the register
in respect of the same property. The disqualifica-
1 L. G. A., 1888, s. 57.
1 6 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
tion of infants, paupers and aliens applies as in a
borough.1
The parochial register is prepared by the over-
seers, settled by the revising barrister as described
on page 5, published by the clerk of the peace for
the county, and comes into force on the 1st January
in each year.
The members of the council must either be
parochial electors or have resided in the district for
the twelve months preceding their election.
Women may be elected, whether married or
single.2
The elections take place on the first Monday in
April, or, if that day happens to be Easter Monday,
on the last Monday in March, but for special
reasons the county council may fix the date between
the preceding Saturday and the following Wednes-
day. The clerk of the council acts as returning
officer.
The persons who are elected must either accept
office, or, if they have consented to be nominated
as candidates, pay a fine (which the council may
fix as high as £50), as in the case of town coun-
cillors. A similar fine is payable upon resignation.
Their term of office is three years, and usually one-
third of the whole number go out of office on the
15th April in each year, but the county council
may, upon a resolution of the urban council, passed
1 County Electors Act, 1888 ; Loc. Gov. Act, 1894, ss. 23,
43, 44, and 75.
3 L. G. A., 1894, s. 23.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 17
by a two-thirds majority, order that the whole
council shall retire on that date every third
year.1
The chairman is appointed annually, and, if not
a woman or otherwise disqualified, is by virtue of
his office a justice of the peace for the county. He
need not be an elected councillor.2 There are no
aldermen upon an urban district council.
The disqualifications referred to on pages 6 and
1 1 apply in the case of urban district councils, but
clergymen are eligible for election. The rule as to
absence is more stringent, for a member who is
not present at any meeting for more than six con-
secutive months loses his seat, unless his absence is
due to illness, active military service,3 or some
reason approved by the council.
A sentence of imprisonment with hard labour,
without the option of a fine, for a criminal offence,
also carries with it disqualification for membership
for a period of five years.4
The proceedings at the meetings of the council
must be transacted in accordance with rules laid
down in schedule 1 of the Public Health Act, 1875,
and the regulations which the council are empowered
by that schedule to frame for their own guidance.
Meetings must be held at least once a month.
1 L. G. A., 1894, ss. 23 and 48 (4) ; Urban District Coun-
cils Election Order, 1898.
a L. G. A., 1894, ss. 22 and 59.
3 Members of Local Authorities Relief Act, 1900.
4 L. G. A., 1894, s. 46.
M.M. C
1 8 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The quorum of members which is necessary to con-
stitute a valid meeting is one-third of the whole
council, or seven members if the total number is
over twenty-one. With a few special exceptions,
every question coming before the council must be
decided by a majority of the members present at the
meeting and voting on the matter, but in the case
of an equal division the chairman may give a casting
vote.1
The council have power to refer any of their
business to committees (upon which persons who
are not councillors may be appointed), except the
power of raising a loan, making a rate, or entering
into a contract. The acts of these committees
must, however, be submitted to the council for
approval.2
There are no less than 818 urban districts in
England and Wales, ranging from Willesden in
Middlesex, with a population of 140,879 and a
rateable value of £8 1 1,861, to places such as Kings-
bury, in the same county, which has a population
of 780 and a rateable value of £6,530 ; or Childwall,
in Lancashire, with a population of 218 and a
rateable value of £4,178.
1 Public Health Act, 1875, s- J99» sch. 1; L. G. A., 1894,
s. 59.
9 L. G. A., 1894, s. 56.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 19
3. General Powers of Town and Urban
District Councils.
Joint Action.
All councils, whether of municipal boroughs or
urban districts, are authorised to combine for the
benefit of their districts. To a joint committee so
formed, the councils concerned may delegate any
powers in which they are mutually interested,
except those of borrowing money and making
rates.1
The county council may also appoint the town or
district council to be their agents in transacting
any administrative business in the town or district,
such as the granting of licenses to perform stage
plays.2
Joint boards (as distinct from committees) may
be formed by a provisional order of the Local
Government Board, confirmed by Act of Parlia-
ment. These boards are corporate bodies, charged
with special functions which it is considered may
be more conveniently or economically carried out
by one authority for the combined district ; and
they consist of ex-officio members and elected
representatives from the various constituent autho-
rities, as laid down in the provisional order. This
order also sets out the duties of the board, and
usually provides that their expenses shall be met
by contributions from the associated districts in
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 131 and 285 ; L. G. A., 1894, s. 57.
a L. G. A., 1894, s. 64.
C 2
20 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
proportion to their rateable value. Sewerage
boards, water boards, hospital boards, and joint
port sanitary authorities are cases in point.1
The Local Government Board may order any
two or more councils to act together for the pur-
pose of the prevention of epidemic diseases, and
may also unite districts for the appointment of a
medical officer of health.2
Officers.
The council have full power to engage all the
officers they may consider to be necessary, but
there are certain officials whom it is essential that
they should appoint.3
The town council of a municipal borough must
appoint a town clerk, who must not be a member
of the council, or treasurer, or an elective auditor.
In all important towns the council stipulate that
he should be a solicitor. He has charge of the
charters, deeds, records, and documents of the
borough, and acts as legal adviser and chief officer
of the council. A deputy town clerk may also be
appointed, to act during the absence or illness of
the town clerk, with authority to do all things
which may legally be done by the town clerk.
The town council must also appoint a fit person
to be treasurer of the borough. In many cases,
the nominal treasurer is the local manager of the
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss- 279 — 284 anc* 297.
a P. H. A., 1875, ss. 139 and 286.
3 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 17—21 ; P. H. A., 1875, ss. 189—196
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 21
bank with whom the council place their funds, and
the financial work is carried out by the borough
accountant, or, in small towns, by the town clerk.
An urban district council must also appoint
separate persons as clerk and treasurer.
The council of either a borough or an urban
district must appoint a duly qualified medical
practitioner as medical officer of health, and a sur-
veyor, and an inspector of nuisances. The same
person may be medical officer of two or more
districts, or the council may, by arrangement with
the county council, utilise the services of the
medical officer for the county. The Local Govern-
ment Board have issued regulations, by their general
order of the 23rd March, 1891, with regard to
the appointment and duties of medical officer and
inspector of nuisances, and, if these regulations are
complied with and the appointment is approved
by the Board, a grant amounting to half the
salaries of those officials is made by Parliament to
the county council, who (except in the case of the
county boroughs) pay over to the town or district
council their share of such grant.1 In this case
the officers cannot be dismissed without the
sanction of the Local Government Board, but to
overcome any possible difficulty which might thus
arise, they are often appointed by the council
merely for the term of one year, and afterwards
re-appointed annually. The majority of councils
1 L. G. A., 1888, ss. 17, 18, and 24.
22 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
now stipulate that the person appointed as inspector
of nuisances shall have gained a certificate of some
recognised sanitary institution, such as the Royal
Sanitary Institute.
There are, of course, many other officers whom
it is necessary to appoint if the council undertake
certain branches of the work of local government,
such as chief constable, public analyst, inspectors
of foods and drugs, or weights and measures,
superintendents of public baths, fire brigade, or
cemetery, public librarian, etc.
It is illegal, as a general rule, for the officer of
a council to be interested in any contract with
them. Exceptions are made, however, in the case
of contracts for the purchase or hiring of offices or
lands if two-thirds of the council who are present at
the meeting considering the matter consent to
such a contract, and also in the case of contracts
in which the officer is merely concerned as a
shareholder in a joint-stock company.1
The Public Bodies Corrupt Practices Act, 1889,
contains stringent provisions for the prevention or
punishment of bribery on the part of members or
officials of public authorities.
The council cannot, under the general law, grant
superannuation to their officers, but, in the case
of a few large boroughs, power to establish pension
schemes has been obtained by local Acts.
Notices issued by the council under the Public
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 193 ; Public Health (Members and
Officers) Act, 1885.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 23
Health Acts may be authenticated by the signature
of the town clerk, clerk, surveyor, or inspector of
nuisances, and the council may carry on legal pro-
ceedings by the clerk or other duly authorised
officer.1
Purchase of Land.
The council may, of course, purchase, lease, sell
or exchange land within or without their district
for the purpose of fulfilling the duties imposed upon
them by Parliament. They have, however, no statu-
tory power to hold land in order to derive revenue
from it, and, generally speaking, any land purchased
by them and found not to be needed for the express
purpose for which it was acquired must now (unless
the Local Government Board otherwise direct) be
sold at the best price to be obtained for it).2
Many ancient boroughs, however, have large
estates, the rents from which result in a considerable
relief of the rates.
A town council have special power to purchase
five acres of land in order to erect a town hall or
similar public building. They may not sell or
mortgage any corporate land already in their
possession, nor let it for a longer term than thirty-
one years, or, if upon a building lease, seventy-five
years, without the consent of the Local Government
Board.3
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 259 andi266.
2 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 175 and 177.
3 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 105—108.
24 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
It often becomes necessary for the council to
secure from Parliament power to acquire land
compulsorily. This is usually done by a private
Act of Parliament, or by a provisional order from
the Local Government Board (which must be con-
firmed by an Act), incorporating, with or without
modifications, the provisions of the Lands Clauses
Consolidation Acts, 1845, 1860,1869,1883 and 1895.1
The Act of 1845 not only empowers the compulsory
purchase of land required for purposes laid down
in the special Act or Order, upon payment of a
price to be settled by agreement or arbitration, but
enables the council to acquire such land when the
owner is missing, or is under disability, or has only
a limited interest in the property. It further
provides for the disposal of the purchase money in
such cases, and settles the method of awarding
compensation. The powers must be exercised
within three years ; otherwise they lapse, unless the
confirming Act gives a different period.
Before such a provisional order can be obtained,
it is necessary to give full public notice and to
serve a special notice upon all persons interested in
the land and premises, and the Board also hold an
inquiry into the application for the order. The
confirming Act of Parliament is obtained by the
Board, unless the Bill for the Act is opposed, when
the council must take it in charge.
Land which is thus purchased under compulsory
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 176 and 297.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 25
powers cannot, as a rule, be used for purposes
other than that for which it was acquired.
Legislation.
The council have an inherent power to oppose
any local Bill introduced into Parliament which
threatens their property or their rights.
They may also promote Bills in Parliament, but
in this case the procedure under the Borough
Funds Acts, 1872 and 1903, must be strictly
observed, in order that the expenses incurred may be
payable out of the public funds. These Acts provide
that a special resolution of the council, authorising
the promotion of the Bill, must be passed by a
majority of the whole council, duly advertised, and
confirmed by another special resolution fourteen
days after the deposit of the Bill in Parliament. The
approval of the Local Government Board is to be
obtained, and the Board may hold a local inquiry
with regard to the matter. The Bill must also be
submitted to a meeting of the parochial electors
for approval or rejection. If the decision of this
meeting is considered unsatisfactory, a poll may be
demanded by one hundred electors, or, if the total
number of electors is under 2,000, by one-twentieth
of them, or the council may themselves demand a
poll by passing a resolution to that effect. The
poll is taken by ballot, and if there is a majority
against the Bill, it must be withdrawn, but the
costs of promotion up to that stage may be paid
out of the rates. The council may divide the Bill
26 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
into separate parts, and take the decision of the
electors on each part, in order that the whole Bill
need not be abandoned, if only a portion of it is
rejected.
It is worthy of notice that the question of pro-
moting a Bill in Parliament is now the only specific
matter which is submitted directly to the vote of
the whole of the electors.
The same procedure applies if the council desire
to oppose a local Bill in Parliament which does
not directly threaten their rights or interests. No
second resolution of the council, or meeting or poll
of the electors is, however, necessary to support
such an opposition.
Provisional Orders.
There are numerous instances in which the
council may secure legislation by means of a pro-
visional order. Examples may be found in the
compulsory acquisition of land, already referred to,
the conversion of an ordinary municipal borough
into a county borough, the establishment of gas-
works, the execution of an improvement scheme
under the Housing of the Working Classes Acts,
the constitution of joint boards, and the repeal or
amendment of certain local Acts.
The order must be obtained from a Government
Department, usually the Local Government Board,
and must be confirmed by Parliament, except in a
few cases which will be noticed later. The Depart-
ment may hold a local inquiry into the matter, and
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 27
full provision is made for the service of proper
notices upon all persons interested, before the
order is granted. The confirming Act is obtained
from Parliament by the Department if the Bill is
unopposed, but if opposition is raised, it must be
supported by the council at their own expense.1
Bye-laws.
By various Acts of Parliament, the council
have had conferred upon them extensive powers
of making bye-laws for the regulation of certain
matters within their district. All such bye-laws
must be made under the seal of the council, after
public notice, and copies must be kept open for
inspection at the council's offices. The statutes
authorising the bye-laws specify the maximum
penalties for offences against them, and provide
for their summary recovery.
Most of the bye-laws made by the council must
receive the sanction of the Local Government
Board before they become operative, but those
made by a town council " for the good rule and
government of the borough," must be submitted
to the Home Office, who may disallow them. In
the case of an urban district which is not a
borough, the latter bye-laws can only be made by
the county council.2
The Local Government Board and the Home
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 297 and 298.
a P. H. A., 1875, ss. 182—188; M. C. A., 1882, ss. 23 and
24; L. G. A., j888, s. 16.
28 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Office have both issued model sets of bye-laws for
the guidance of local authorities.
All bye-laws must, of course, be within the
power of the council ; otherwise they will be void,
in spite of official approval.
Contracts.
It is a rule of law that the contract of a
corporate body must be made under seal. It is
also specially enacted that a contract entered into
by the council under the Public Health Acts, of
which the value or amount exceeds £50, will only
be binding when made in writing and under the
common seal of the council. If the value or
amount is £100, the council must give ten days'
public notice, inviting tenders for the work required
to be done, and also take security for the due
performance of the contract. They must also
obtain an estimate and report from their surveyor
before entering into any contract for the execution
of works under the Public Health Acts.1
Legal Proceedings.
The council are invested with full discretion to
take legal proceedings for the enforcement of their
powers and duties. Under the Borough Funds
Act, 1872, they may also institute or defend legal
proceedings which may be necessary for the
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 173 and 174.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 29
promotion or protection of the interests of the
inhabitants, at the cost of the rates.
So far as legal proceedings against the council
are concerned, valuable assistance is given by the
Public Authorities Protection Act, 1893. This
enacts that all proceedings against the council for
any act, neglect or default in the execution of any
Act of Parliament or any public duty, must be
commenced within six months of the act, neglect
or default, or, in the case of the continuance of
the injury or damage, within six months of its
cessation. In such an action for damages, tender
of amends by the council before the action is a
good defence, and judgment for the defendants
carries costs as between solicitor and client.
Similar costs may also be granted if the plaintiff
(although successful) does not give the defendants
sufficient opportunity of tendering amends before
commencing the action.
There are numerous offences under the Public
Health Acts for which the council may recover
penalties by summoning the offender before the
magistrates in petty sessions, or before a stipen-
diary magistrate. The penalties recovered by the
council are payable to the fund applicable to their
general expenses. All such summary proceedings
must be commenced within six months from the
time when the offence was committed, or the
termination of a continuing offence, unless some
other period is specially laid down by the statute
referring to the matter. The fact that a justice is
3o MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
a member of the council, or a ratepayer in the
district, does not disqualify him from adjudicating
upon the matter in dispute. In actual practice,
of course, a justice who is a member of the
prosecuting authority will often retire from the
bench.1
An appeal against any order or conviction of
the magistrates under the Public Health Acts lies
to the next ensuing court of quarter sessions for
the borough or county.2
The council may take proceedings in the county
court for the payment of any sum under £50,
which they are authorised to recover in a summary
manner, but the six months' limitation before
alluded to applies to such proceedings, just as
though they had been commenced before the
magistrates.8
In many instances, such as the repair of private
streets and structural alterations of premises, the
owner of the premises is liable for the expense
incurred by the council. In all such cases the
council may recover the amount, with 5 per cent,
interest, from the person who was the owner when
the works were completed, and, until recovery }
such expenses form a charge on the premises, and
the owner for the time being is therefore also
liable to pay them. The council have power to
declare the amount due to be private improvement
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss- 251—265.
a P. H. A., 1875, ss. 99 and 269 ; P. H. A. A., 1890, s. 7.
8 P. H. A. 1875, s. 261.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 31
expenses, payable by instalments within a period
not exceeding 30 years, with 5 per cent, interest.
The instalments and interest may be recovered
from the owner or occupier, but, in the latter case,
three-fourths of the amount paid may be deducted
from the rent. The charge on the premises can,
of course, be enforced in the High Court, and if
the amount to be recovered does not exceed ,£500,
proceedings may also be taken in the county
court. There is no special limit of six months to
such an action.1
In all cases where the council are authorised to
recover expenses by summary proceedings, or to
declare them to be private improvement expenses,
an appeal against their decision may be made to
the Local Government Board within twenty-one
days after the person aggrieved receives notice of
it. Immediately such an appeal is lodged with
the Board, other proceedings which have been
commenced by the council in the matter must be
stayed. The Board may make any order which
appears to them to be equitable, and there is no
appeal from their decision.2
Although it is compulsory upon the council to
carry out the duties imposed upon them by statute,
they are not thereby authorised to create any
unnecessary nuisance. It is expressly enacted
that if any person sustains damage by reason of
the exercise of the powers of the Public Health
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss- 2I4 and 257.
8 lb., s. 268.
32 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Acts, where he is not himself in default, full com-
pensation must be made to him by the council.
The amount of such compensation, if disputed, is
to be ascertained by a single arbitrator, if both
parties concur, or, if they do not, by an arbitrator
appointed by each of them, with an ultimate refer-
ence to an umpire appointed by the arbitrators or
by the Local Government Board. If the claim does
not exceed £20, either party may require it to be
settled by the local magistrates.1
It need hardly be said that members and officers
of the council are not personally liable for acts
done in the bona fide execution of their duty, except
that, as shown later, they may, in a few boroughs,
and in all urban districts, be surcharged for making
improper payments.2
As the council have frequently to take pro-
ceedings against persons whose identity it is
difficult to discover, it has been specially provided
that notices may be addressed to the " owner " or
" occupier " without further description, and served
upon the premises.8
Default,
If default is made by the council in enforcing
the provisions of the Public Health Acts, complaint
may be made to the Local Government Board,
who may, after an inquiry, order the council to
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 179— 181, and 308.
a lb., s. 265.
8 lb,, s. 267.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES 33
perform the duty within a limited time. Should the
council disobey that order, the Board may enforce it
by mandamus, or by the appointment of a person
to carry it out at the expense of the council.1
4. The Metropolitan Borough Council.
The latest local government areas to be created
were the metropolitan boroughs, into which the
London Government Act, 1899, transformed the
parishes and districts in the metropolis which were
formerly governed by vestries and boards of works.
There are twenty-eight of these boroughs, covering
the whole of the administrative county of London,
except the city of London. One of the boroughs,
Westminster, has the rank of a city, whilst another,
Kensington, has secured from the Privy Council the
right to the prefix " Royal."
The local authority of the metropolitan borough
is the borough council, composed of the mayor,
aldermen and councillors. The constitution of
this body is very similar to that of the town council
of a municipal borough, and it is therefore merely
necessary to indicate the points with regard to
which special provision has been made for the
metropolis. The mayor (who may be paid a
salary) is elected annually on the 9th November,
and is an ex-officio justice of the peace for the
county. The aldermen are only equal in number
to one-sixth of the councillors, and sitting aldermen
may not vote in the election of other aldermen.
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 299—302.
M.M. D
34 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The quorum of the council is one-third of the
total membership. The mayor and aldermen
may be selected from the councillors or persons
qualified to be councillors. The councillors, who
must be parochial electors or have resided within
the borough during the previous year, are elected
by the parochial electors, referred to on page 15,
for the usual term of three years, and, under
an order issued by the Local Government Board,
they all retire upon the 1st November every third
year. Clergymen are eligible, but otherwise the
ordinary disqualifications prevail.
The town clerk is the returning officer at such
elections. All members of the council who have
been nominated with their consent must accept
office within a month, or else pay the fine which is
due on resignation, and vacate their seats. The
amount of the fine is fixed by each council, but
must not exceed £$0. Six months' absence from
the meetings of the council, unless on account of
illness or active military service, or for some reason
approved by the council, vacates the seat of the
absentee member.1
Minutes of the meetings of the council must be
made and kept open to public inspection.
The powers of the overseers are vested in the
council, and the town clerk is charged with the
duty of preparing the lists of electors, which are
revised and published as in the case of a municipal
borough.
1 London Election Order, 1897.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 35
The powers of a town council with regard to the
appointment of committees and delegation of
business are also enjoyed by a metropolitan
borough council. The appointment of a finance
committee, who have special functions alluded to
later, is essential. All committees must report
their proceedings to the council, but, to the extent
to which the latter body so direct, their approval
is not required to the acts of the committees. The
power to borrow money or make a rate, however,
cannot be delegated.
The council possess the ordinary powers of local
authorities to purchase land for the purpose of
carrying out their duties, and they may sell any
land they hold, with the consent of the Local
Government Board. The London Government
Act, 1899, specially states, however, that it does
not authorise them to alienate open spaces
dedicated to the use of the public or held on trusts
which prohibit building.
The provisions already noticed with regard to
appointment of officers, legal proceedings, the
promotion of and opposition to Parliamentary
bills, and the making of bye-laws, are generally
applicable to borough councils. Any bye-laws
which they may make for the good rule and
government of the borough under the Municipal
Corporations Act, 1882 (s. 23), must not be incon-
sistent with similar bye-laws made by the London
County Council.
The Local Government Board have power, on
D 2
36 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
the application of the London County Council and
of the majority of the borough councils, to transfer
to the latter bodies any powers exerciseable by the
county council, or vice versa, and to authorise
similar transfers, as between the county council
and the common council of the city, upon an
application from both bodies.
5. The County Council.
The county council are charged with the conduct
of the general business of an administrative county.1
This district is in most cases identical with the
geographical county, excluding county boroughs,
but in seven instances a geographical county has
been divided into two or more administrative
counties.
County councillors are elected by the county
electors, whose qualification is similar to that of a
burgess already described, the county being sub-
stituted for the borough as the place of residence,
etc. The list of electors is prepared by the over-
seers, and revised by the revising barrister, in the
same way as the burgess roll. It must be published
by the clerk of the peace on the 20th December,
and comes into force on the following 1st January.
In a municipal borough, however, the burgess roll
which operates from the 1st November also takes
immediate effect for any county council election
which may afterwards be held.
1 Loc. Gov. Act, 1888; County Electors Act, 1888;
County Councils (Elections) Acts, 1891 and 1900.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 37
Any county elector, except a woman, whether on
the local government or parliamentary ownership
register, is eligible for election. Clergymen are
not disqualified, and peers owning property within
the county may also be elected. The administra-
tive county is divided into a number of electoral
divisions, each of which returns one member.
Generally speaking, the provisions of the Municipal
Corporations Act apply to the election of county
councillors, so far as taking the poll is concerned.
The council appoint the returning officer, except in
the case of a municipal borough, when the mayor
acts in that capacity. A county councillor has
three months within which to accept office, and
twelve months' absence from the county (subject
to the usual exemptions) will automatically dis-
qualify him. The other ordinary disqualifications
resulting from bankruptcy, interest in a contract
with the council, etc., also apply to county councils.
The councillors are elected for three years from the
8th March, at the end of which period they all
retire. The triennial elections must be held on
such date as the council may fix, between the 1st
and the 8th March.
The aldermen, who number one quarter of the
entire council, as in a municipal borough, hold
office for six years, half of them retiring every
third year. Anyone who is qualified to be a coun-
cillor may be elected an alderman, but it is the
invariable custom for aldermen to be chosen from
amongst those who have previously served the
38 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
office of councillor. They are elected by the
councillors only, and not by the entire council, as
in the case of a borough.
The annual meeting of the county council, at
which the chairman, and, if thought desirable, a
vice-chairman, are appointed, may be held in
March, April, or May, except in the triennial year
of election, when it must be held between the 8th
and 1 8th March. The chairman (who may be
paid a salary) is a justice of the peace for the
county, by virtue of his position. He need not be
an elected member of the council.
The council are only bound to hold four meetings
yearly, including the annual meeting, and it is the
practice of many councils to confine their gatherings
to the minimum number, and entrust the greater
part of the detailed business to committees. In no
case, however, may these latter bodies borrow
money or make a rate. The quorum of the
council at their meetings is one-fourth of the whole
membership.
The county council and the county justices each
elect half of a standing joint committee, who control
the police force of the county outside the metro-
politan police district and boroughs possessing
their own police. This committee also elect the
clerk of the peace, who is, by virtue of that office,
clerk of the county council. The other chief
officers of the council are usually the surveyor,
treasurer, and medical officer ; they are, of course,
appointed directly by the council.
URBAN LOCAL GOVERNING BODIES. 39
The county council have the usual power of
making bye-laws and purchasing land. They may
also oppose or promote bills in Parliament, without
submitting the matter in either case to a vote of the
electors.1
The constitution of the council for the adminis-
trative county of London differs in some respects
from that of other county councils.2 Each parlia-
mentary division in the county sends two members
to the council, with the exception of the city,
which sends four, making a total of 118 councillors.
In addition to these, there are nineteen aldermen,
elected as in the case of other county councils.
Under sec. 77 of the Local Government Act,
1888, the London county electors include all those
otherwise qualified, who reside within fifteen miles
of the county ; and by the London County Council
(Electors' Qualification) Act, 1900, all parochial
electors may vote at elections of the councillors.
The London County Council are specially
authorised to appoint a deputy-chairman, who
need not be an elected member, and who may be
paid a salary.3 The office of clerk to the council is
separate from that of clerk of the peace. The
appointment is made by the council alone.
1 County Councils (Bills in Parliament) Act, 1903.
2 L. G. A., 1888, ss. 40—45.
8 L. G. A., 1888, s. 88.
CHAPTER II.
«
PUBLIC HEALTH.
i. Adoptive and Local Acts. 2. Sewerage. 3. Drainage
and Conveniences. 4. Collection of Refuse. 5. Nui-
sances. 6. Offensive Trades. 7. Notification of
Infectious Diseases, etc. 8. Provision of Hospitals,
Disinfection, etc. 9. Interment of the Dead.
10. Unsound and Adulterated Food. 11. Housing.
12. Factories and Workshops. 13. Dairies, Cow-
sheds and Milkshops. 14. Port Sanitary Authorities.
15. Miscellaneous.
The primary function of local authorities is the
preservation and improvement of the public health.
Town councils and urban district councils are the
sanitary authorities under the Public Health Acts
for their respective towns, and their powers and
duties in this respect are practically identical.
Dealing with these general powers, it should be
pointed out that in conferring some of them
Parliament has used the word "shall," and it is
therefore incumbent upon the council to exercise
such powers, whilst others are preceded by the
word * may," and their operation is left to the
discretion of the council.
Attention should, however, be called to sect. 7
of the Housing of the Working Classes Act, 1885,
PUBLIC HEALTH. 41
which is sometimes overlooked by those responsible
for the public health. It states that " It shall be
the duty of every local authority entrusted with
the execution of laws relating to public health and
local government to put in force from time to time,
as occasion may arise, the powers with which they
are invested, so as to secure the proper sanitary
condition of all premises within the area under the
control of such authority."
1. Adoptive and Local Acts.
Most of the powers of the council of a municipal
borough or urban district in this matter are con-
tained in the Public Health Act, 1875, and the
numerous amending Acts which have been sub-
sequently passed. Two of these latter measures,
however, are adoptive, that is, they are of no effect
in any district until the council have passed
a formal resolution adopting them. Nearly all
important urban authorities have taken advantage
of this permissive legislation. At present there
are 1 142 town and urban district councils in Eng-
land, and 955 have adopted, wholly or in part, the
Public Health Acts Amendment Act, 1890, and
687 have adopted the Infectious Diseases (Preven-
tion) Act, 1890, the two statutes referred to.
It will be seen, therefore, that those Acts are
nearly of universal application in the towns, and
any legislation which codifies the law of public
health will probably extend them compulsorily to
42 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
the few small districts from which they are still
excluded.
Several of the larger councils have also found it
necessary to secure, by local Acts of Parliament
relating to their respective towns, much wider
powers of control with regard to the public
health than have been generally conferred by the
Legislature.
In the administrative county of London, the
principal statutes dealing with sanitary matters are
the Metropolis Management Acts, 1855, 1858,
1862, and 1890, the Public Health (London) Acts
of 1 891 and 1896, and the London Building Act,
1894.
2. Sewerage.
The largest department of sanitation is naturally
connected with the sewerage system, and the disposal
of waste matters of all kinds. The council of a
municipal borough or urban district are bound to pro-
vide and maintain all sewers necessary to effectually
drain their area. For this purpose they may carry
their sewers under any street or through any lands
in their district, in each case paying proper com-
pensation for damage done. All sewers within
the district (with the slight exception of those con-
structed for private profit, or for the purpose of
irrigating land, etc.) vest in the council, and are
therefore repairable at the public expense.1 Drains,
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 13—16.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 43
on the other hand, are private property, and must
be kept in order by the owner or occupier of the
premises to which they are connected. It is impor-
tant, therefore, to appreciate the technical difference
between a sewer and a drain. Section 4 of the
Public Health Act, 1875, clearly lays down that a
drain means any drain 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 a sewer, while a
" sewer " is stated to mean sewers and drains of
every description, except drains to which the above
definition applies, or which belong to a road
authority other than the council.
The distinction between a drain and a sewer,
however, has been greatly complicated by sect. 19
of the Public Health Act, 1890, which states that
" where two or more houses belonging to different
owners are connected with a public sewer by a
single private drain," the council may recover
from the owners of the premises any expense to
which they have been put in carrying out repairs
to that drain. What is precisely a " single private
drain " has been the subject of much legal conflict,
and depends largely upon the particular facts of
each case.
To protect the sewers, the council may prevent
buildings being erected over them. They may
also make bye-laws as to the mode of drainage,
prescribing the material to be used and the method
of constructing the drains, and frame regulations
44 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
as to the manner in which the drains are to be
connected with the sewers.1
The compulsory portion of the council's duty
covers the disposal of ordinary sewage matter,
including surface water, but although they are
bound to give facilities for taking liquids from
factories, they need not receive anything which
would be injurious to the sewers or to the sewage,
or which would prejudice the ultimate disposal of
the latter.2 Indeed, by the adoptive Act of 1890
(s. 17), before referred to, it is expressly enacted
that no injurious matter, chemical refuse, steam,
etc., is to be turned into the sewers. The council
must not discharge unpurified sewage into any
stream or lake, and they have no power to create
a nuisance.3 Several of the larger rivers are pro-
tected in this matter by local Acts, under which
restrictions are placed upon the passing of sewage
effluent into them. The Thames, the Lea, and
the rivers in the West Riding of Yorkshire, for
instance, have special conservancy boards appointed
to protect their purity and flow, and to regulate
their use.
Nor are the council confined to their own district
in order to make their system of sewerage complete.
After proper notice, they may construct works of
sewerage or sewage disposal outside their area, and,
if any objection is raised, the Local Government
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 21, 26 and 157.
3 Rivers Pollution Prevention Acts, 1876 and 1893.
8 P. H. A., 1875, s. 17.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 45
Board hold an inquiry into the matter, and
adjudicate between conflicting authorities.1
Any owner or occupier in the district can, of
course, drain into the public sewers, if he complies
with the regulations of the council.
He may also require the council to make the
necessary connections, on paying the estimated
cost of the work.2 Owners or occupiers of premises
outside the district have the right to take their
drains into the district, and connect them with the
public sewers, upon terms, which in case of differ-
ence are to be settled by the local magistrates or
by arbitration, as laid down in the Public Health
Act.3 Adjoining local authorities may, with the
sanction of the Local Government Board, connect
their sewers with their neighbours' system, provid-
ing they can agree upon terms.4
Sewers in new streets, or in private streets which
are not maintainable by the council, must be made at
the expense of owners of the land abutting upon such
streets,5 in exactly the same manner as the streets
themselves, — a subject which will be referred to
later on.
With regard to the cleaning of sewers, it should
be noted that water companies supplying water in
towns under any Act incorporating the Water-
1 P. H. A. 1875, ss. 16, 27, 32—34 and 285.
» P. H. A., 1875, s. 21 ; P. H. A., 1890, s. 18.
8 P. H. A., 1875, s. 22.
* P. H.A., 1875, s. 28.
6 P. H. A., 1875, s. 150; Private Streets Works Act,
1892.
46 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
works Clauses Act, 1847, are required by s. 38 to
fix fire plugs on their system at the expense of the
council, and, where these plugs are provided, they
must also keep a supply of water constantly laid
on for cleansing the sewers and drains, watering
streets and supplying public pumps, baths and
wash-houses, on terms to be agreed upon or, in
default of agreement, settled by two magistrates.
In the exceedingly rare contingency of the
council neglecting to provide proper sewers for
their district, the Local Government Board may,
upon a properly supported complaint being made
to them, order the duty to be done within a limited
time, and, if the council still remain recalcitrant,
the board may either appoint a person to carry out
the work, and direct all expenses to be paid by the
council, or apply to the High Court for their order
to be enforced by mandamus.1
One of the most onerous tasks imposed upon the
council is the disposal of sewage matter. A wail
of regret is continually going up from sanitarians
and economists at the valuable manurial products
annually finding their way, by more or less devious
routes, to the sea, or which are otherwise practically
wasted. Although many different methods of
sewage disposal have been tried, up to the present
no process has been introduced which combines
the speedy clearance and profitable utilisation of
the injurious matter.
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 299.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 47
The council have power, for the purpose of
sewage disposal, to buy land and to farm it them-
selves or to lease it. In many cases two or more
councils have combined to form a joint board or
joint committee for the disposal of sewage. The
actual methods adopted vary, of course, according
to the circumstances of each locality.1
The administrative county of London differs
considerably from other districts with regard to
these matters. The main sewers are vested in and
must be maintained by the London County Coun-
cil, but the local sewers are in the hands of the
city and borough councils. Both bodies have practi-
cally the same power of carrying sewers through
streets and private land as are possessed by a
town council, but in other respects the county
council exercise wide control over the borough
councils. Their approval is required to any new
sewers, upon which subject they may make bye-
laws (which do not apply, however, to the City of
London). They may declare any local sewers to
be main sewers, and take under their jurisdiction
any other matters in relation to sewerage or drain-
age which may be vested in a borough council, and
they may give directions to those bodies as to the
construction, repair and intercommunication of
their local sewers. With their consent, a borough
council may transfer to them the powers of local
sewerage, by a resolution passed at a meeting at
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 29, 175 and 176.
48 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
which two-thirds of the members of the borough
council are present.1
The definitions of the words " sewer" and
" drain " are practically the same as in other
urban districts, but " drain " also includes " any
drain used for draining any group or block of
houses by a combined operation " under the order
of the borough council.2
The county council and the borough councils
have the usual power to prevent injury to their
sewers by the erection of buildings over them, or
otherwise.8 Trespassers in the sewers are dealt
with by the London County Council (General
Powers) Acts, 1890 and 1893, and injurious matters
may be excluded by the operation of Part 4 of the
London County Council (General Powers) Act,
1894.
Upon the county council is cast the task of dis-
posing of the sewage,4 which is deodorised, and the
resultant sludge shipped to sea. The purity of the
Thames is protected by the Rivers Pollution
Prevention Acts, 1876 and 1893, and the Thames
Conservancy Act, 1894.
Any owner or occupier of premises in the county
1 Metropolis Management Acts, 1855, ss. 68—72, 89,
135, 137 and 138 ; 1862, ss. 28, 45 — 58 and 83 ; L. G. A.,
1888, s. 40; M. M. A., 1890, City of London Sewers Act,
1897 ; Lon. Gov. Act, 1899.
a M. M. Acts, 1855, s. 250 ; 1862, s. 112.
8 M. M. Acts, 1855, ss. 83, 204 and 205 ; 1862, ss. 68
and 69.
' M. M. A., 1855, s. 135 ; M. M. A., 1858.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 49
may connect his premises with the local sewer,
subject to obtaining the consent of the borough
council to plans of the proposed work, and to com-
plying with their requirements ; and the latter
authority may do the work at his expense.1
Sewers in new streets may be constructed by the
borough council at the cost of the owners of the
land abutting upon those streets, but the council
may contribute towards the expense of this
work.2
No special remedy is provided by the Metropolis
Management Acts for the default of the county
council in executing their duties as to sewerage.
The common law right to apply to the High Court
for a mandamus to compel them to act is, however,
at the disposal of any aggrieved ratepayer. An
appeal against any order or act of a borough
council with regard to sewerage or drainage may
be made to the county council, whose decision is
final.
3. Drainage and Public Conveniences.
Turning to the duty of the private citizen in
this matter, he is, of course, bound to properly
drain the premises for which he is responsible as
owner or occupier. No special method of carrying
out this liability is laid down, and in sparsely popu-
lated districts it is quite common to drain houses
1 M. M. A., 1855, s. 79 ; M. M. A., 1862, ss. 47—51 and 61 ;
M. M. A., 1890, ss. 4 and 5.
* M. M. A., 1862, ss. 44 and 52 — 57.
M.M. E
5o MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
into cesspools. Even in some of our large towns
there was, until recently, no general system of
drainage, but in whole districts each house was
visited after dark by the public collectors of night
soil.
In the case of premises without sufficient drains,
the council of a municipal borough or urban district
must enforce proper drainage into a covered cess-
pool, or into a public sewer, if there is one within ioo
feet of the premises. Should there be greater expense
in connecting the drains of two or more of such
houses with a sewer than in providing a new sewer,
they may construct the latter and recover payment
from the owner or occupier of the premises con-
nected with it. New houses must be drained into
a public sewer if there is one within a distance of
ioo feet, and the council may make bye-laws
governing the drainage of all new buildings.1
The council may also enforce the provision of a
proper water-closet, earth-closet, or privy in all
dwelling houses, and they may make bye-laws
compelling a supply of water to be provided for
flushing water-closets. It is specially enacted that
an earth -closet shall be sufficient if it is approved
by the council.2
By the Public Health Act, 1890 (s. 22), or, if
that has not been adopted, the Factory and Work-
shop Act, 1 90 1 (s. 9), separate water-closet
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 23, 25 and 157.
3 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 35—37 J P. H. A., 1890, s. 23.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 51
accommodation must be provided for each sex in
factories where persons of both sexes are employed.
The council have power to keep drains, water-
closets, etc., in good condition, and for that
purpose they may, on taking certain formal steps
as to notice, etc., enter upon private premises to
ascertain what is required, and afterwards compel
the execution of the necessary work by the owner,
or do it themselves and recover the cost from him.1
The obligations upon owners and occupiers of
premises in the administrative county of London,
as to drainage, and the powers of the metropolitan
borough councils as to defective drainage, cor-
respond to those in force in municipal boroughs.2
The borough council must insist upon the provision
of a proper water-closet to each new house, in
accordance with the bye-laws of the county
council, and they must make bye-laws with respect
to keeping water-closets supplied with sufficient
water. Separate accommodation for each sex is,
of course, required at any factory or workshop
where both men and women are employed. An
appeal by any person aggrieved by a notice or act
of the borough council with regard to these
matters may be made to the county council, whose
decision is final.3
The council of a municipal or metropolitan
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 40 — 42.
2 M. M. A., 1855, ss. 73—75 and 82— 84 ; M. M. A., 1862,
ss. 64 and 66.
3 P. H. L. A., 1891, ss. 2, 37—46 and 126.
E 2
52 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
borough or urban district may establish sanitary con-
veniences for public accommodation, and regulate
by bye-laws the use of those buildings, and charge
fees for the use of the water-closets. For the purpose
of the erection of these conveniences, the subsoil of
any road (exclusive of the footway adjoining any
building or the curtilage of a building) is vested in
a metropolitan borough council, but not in other
councils. It is illegal for anyone to erect a public
convenience in or accessible from a street without
the consent of the council, which may be given, of
course, upon terms as to the repair and removal of
the building. A railway company constructing a
convenience in their station yard or its approaches
is exempt from this provision.1
4. Collection of Refuse.
The collection of house refuse forms a humble
but very necessary part of the routine work of the
council. The duty of collecting such refuse is not
actually compulsory outside London, but although
the collection is often less frequent than it should
be in the interests of the public health, it is never
disregarded altogether. If it is neglected, com-
plaint may be made to the Local Government
Board, who may order the council to collect the
house refuse free of charge.2 It should be remem-
bered, however, that " house refuse " does not
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 39 ; P. H. A., 1890, s. 20; P. H. L. A.,
1891, ss. 44 and 45.
a P. H. A., 1875, ss. 42—44-
PUBLIC HEALTH. 53
include what is manifestly trade refuse or garden
rubbish, for the collection of which the council
may make a charge — if they undertake the work
at all.
With the growth of the large towns, and the
higher standard of sanitation observed, it is
increasingly difficult to find methods of disposing
of house refuse. This was formerly much in
demand by builders, but in recent years the
councils have either had to arrange for its disposal
or to pay large sums to have it taken away. The
more enterprising authorities have erected dust
destructors, in which the refuse is burned, and the
resultant heat is utilised for various municipal
purposes.
The council may make bye-laws as to the
removal of offensive or noxious matter through
the streets. If they undertake or contract for the
removal of house refuse themselves, they may
make bye-laws casting upon occupiers any duties
which would facilitate that work, and if they do
not undertake or contract for the removal, they
may make bye-laws imposing the whole duty on
the occupiers. They may also compel the pro-
vision of a proper ash-pit or dust-bin to every
house within their district.1
In the administrative county of London, the
duty of removing house refuse falls upon the
borough councils, and they may also be required
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 36 ; P. H. A., 1890, ss. 11 and 26.
54 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
to remove trade refuse upon being paid a reason-
able sum (to be settled, in case of dispute, by a
Petty Sessional Court) for that purpose. The
county council must make bye-laws (which the
borough councils are to enforce) as to the provision
of dust-bins, the removal and disposal of the
refuse, the duties of occupiers of premises in
connection with such removal, and with regard to
the carriage by road or water of offensive or
noxious matters or liquids.1
5. Nuisances.
The council have exceedingly wide powers to
restrict or abate certain nuisances of an insanitary
nature. It is often hastily assumed that they are
in some vague way responsible for the continuance
of any and every unpleasant state of things within
their district, and many are the sins of omission
which are laid to their charge, but of which they
are entirely guiltless.
In the words of Blackstone, a nuisance signifies
" anything which worketh hurt, inconvenience or
damage." There is, however, a great distinction
between public nuisances and private nuisances.
The first class are those which injuriously affect
the public in general, whilst the second class are
confined to acts or omissions which merely injure
the person or property of a particular individual or
restricted class of persons. The distinction is
especially important when the method of abating a
1 P. H. L. A., 1891, ss. 16, 22, 29—36, 39, and 141.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 55
nuisance is considered. A public nuisance may be
remedied by the personal action of those who are
inconvenienced by it (as, for example, the removal
of an obstruction on a public right of way by
people who are properly using the way), or by an
indictment for misdemeanour at common law, or
restrained by injunction at the instance of the
Attorney-General, or, of course, proceedings may
be taken in some way authorised by statute, as
under the Public Health Acts. A private nuisance,
on the other hand, can be abated by the act of the
person annoyed (as where one resident cuts away
branches of his neighbour's tree which overhang
his land) or by an injunction or action for damages,
or both the latter combined.
The nuisances which the council can deal with
are not identical with the class of public nuisances,
but are practically limited to those specifically
referred to in the various Acts of Parliament from
which they derive their powers. Of course, they
can also take action to remedy nuisances affecting
their corporate property, and they can sometimes
assist in maintaining private rights, which happen
also to be public rights, as in the case of a right of
common injuriously affected by a nuisance.
Section 91 of the Public Health Act, 1875, sets
out the following varieties of nuisance, which
frequently occur, and which may be dealt with by
the council : —
Premises in such a state as to be a nuisance
or injurious to health.
5 6 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
A pool, ditch, gutter, watercourse, privy,
urinal, cesspool, drain or ash-pit, accumulation
or deposit, so foul or in such a state as to be a
nuisance or injurious to health.
(In this case, however, no penalty can be
imposed if the accumulation or deposit is
necessary for carrying on a business or manu-
facture, and has not been kept longer than
is needful, and the best available means have
been taken for preventing injury to the public
health.)
Any animal kept so as to be a nuisance or
injurious to health, or any house so over-
crowded as to be dangerous or injurious to the
health of the inmates.
Any domestic factory, workshop or work-
place in which similar overcrowding takes
place, or which is not kept in a cleanly state,
or not ventilated so as to render harmless any
gases, dust, etc., that would otherwise be a
nuisance or injurious to health.
Any fireplace or furnace used in connection
with steam engines or factories which does not
as far as practicable consume its own smoke,
and any chimney (except that of a private
dwelling-house) sending forth black smoke in
such quantity as to be a nuisance.
It may here be mentioned that the Railway
Clauses Act, 1845, s. 114, requires locomotive
engines to be constructed so as to consume their
PUBLIC HEALTH. 57
own smoke, and the Regulation of Railways Act,
1868, s. 19, makes it an offence for a railway com-
pany or their servants to permit a properly con-
structed engine to emit smoke. Locomotives
used on highways must also be constructed so as
to consume their own smoke, and it is an offence
for such an engine to send forth smoke.1
Many other nuisances besides those particularly
mentioned above come within the jurisdiction of
the council, either by general or local Acts, and
are referred to elsewhere in this book. It should
always be borne in mind that even though a par-
ticular state of affairs may appear at first sight to
be a nuisance, the question whether it is really a
"nuisance or injurious to health" is a matter of
fact which the council (or the responsible com-
mittee) must be prepared clearly to prove if the
case should eventually be brought before the
magistrates.
The council have large powers of making bye-
laws dealing with nuisances arising from snow,
filth, dust, ashes and rubbish, with regard to the
keeping of animals, the condition of tents, vans,
sheds and similar structures used for human
habitation, and as to offensive trades. The council
of a borough or county may also make bye-laws
for the prevention and suppression of nuisances
not already punishable in a summary manner.2
1 Highways and Locomotives Act, 1878, s. 30.
* P. H. A., 1875, ss. 44 and 113 ; Housing of Working
Classes Act, 1885 ; M. C. A., 1882, s. 23 ; L. G. A. 1888, s. 16.
58 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The council must not rely upon aggrieved
persons bringing the existence of nuisances to
their notice, but it is their duty to cause their
district to be properly inspected, in order to ascer-
tain what nuisances exist.1 For this purpose it is
important that they should have a sufficient staff
of sanitary inspectors, under the direction of the
medical officer or of the inspector of nuisances.
One of the results of the increased vigilance
devoted to this matter in recent years has been the
appointment of several properly qualified women
as sanitary inspectors, whose work has been
specially successful in promoting cleanliness and
health, and decreasing the infantile death rate.
In order that the inspection shall be thorough,
the council are given a right of access to private
premises where a nuisance is suspected, and if this
is refused by the occupier, a magistrate's order can
be obtained to effect an entrance.2
Upon the existence of a nuisance being ascer-
tained, the council must serve a notice upon the
person by whose act, default or sufferance it arises
(or, if he cannot be found, upon the owner or
occupier of the premises), requiring him to abate it
within a reasonable time to be named in the notice.
If the nuisance is caused by the defective con-
struction of the premises, or if the premises are
unoccupied, the owner is the only person who
should be served. The council may themselves
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 92.
9 P. H. A. 1875, ss. 41, 102 and 103.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 59
abate the nuisance if the person causing it cannot be
found, and the owner or occupier are not in fault.1
It will be easily realised how difficult it is to
ascertain the true owner of the classes of property
where such nuisances as those referred to are most
likely to exist. It is therefore provided that the
" owner" for the purposes of the Public Health
Acts is the person receiving the rack rent, whether
on his own account or as agent, or who would
receive it if the premises were let at a rack rent.2
Should the notice not be complied with, the council
may summon the person upon whom it is served
before the local magistrates, who may order the
immediate abatement of the nuisance, and impose
a penalty not exceeding £$, besides making the
defendant in a suitable case pay the costs of the
council. If he still persists in his refusal to do the
work, he may incur a daily penalty of 10s. (or £i,
if the magistrates' order of prohibition is wilfully
disobeyed), and the council may do the work and
recover from him the expenses to which they have
been put. Such expenses must not, however,
exceed one year's rack rent of the premises. They
have an alternative right to recover the amount from
the occupier, who may deduct it from the rent due to
the owner, subject, of course, to any contract between
the parties. An appeal from the decision of the
magistrates lies to the next court of quarter sessions.3
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 94-
9 P. H. A., 1875, s. 4.
3 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 95—100, 104 and 269.
60 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
In a suitable case, the council may take pro-
ceedings in the High Court to obtain an abatement
of the nuisance. They may also restrain a nuisance
in their own district, although it arises from causes
beyond their boundaries.1
Anyone aggrieved by a nuisance which the
council can deal with, or any owner or occupier in
the district, may, if he thinks fit, make direct com-
plaint to the justices, but this course is scarcely
ever followed. If the council refuse to move in the
matter, the subject should be brought to the notice of
the Local Government Board, who may authorise
a police officer to take the necessary action. They
have also the same powers to compel the council
to act with regard to a nuisance, as they have if
that body neglect to provide proper sewers, etc.2
It is the express duty of the council to see that
all drains, water-closets, earth-closets, privies, ash-
pits and cesspools in their district are constructed
and kept so as not to be a nuisance or injurious to
health. If they receive written notice of such a
nuisance, they may give their surveyor or inspector
of nuisances authority to enter the premises upon
twenty-four hours' notice to the occupier (or without
notice, in case of emergency), and open the ground
in order to ascertain the facts. If no nuisance is
discovered, the council must make good the damage
done, but if a nuisance does exist they may serve
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 107 and 108.
2 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 105, 106 and 299.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 61
notice upon the owner or occupier to do the
necessary work, and he is liable to a daily penalty
of ios. if he disobeys. In that event the council
may also do the work themselves, without taking
any proceedings before the magistrates, and recover
the cost from the owner, or declare it to be private
improvement expenses.1
They have similar summary powers with regard
to nuisances caused by the keeping of swine, or
stagnant water in a dwelling-house, or the over-
flowing of the contents of a water-closet or cesspool,
or on receiving notice from their medical officer or
two medical practitioners that a house is in a filthy
or unwholesome condition, or that whitewashing,
cleansing and purifying the premises will tend to
prevent or check infectious disease.2
The inspector of nuisances may order the removal
of accumulations of manure or filth, and if his notice
is not complied with the council may dispose of
such accumulations, and recover the expenses
from the person responsible. They are further
empowered to issue public notices requiring the
periodical removal of manure and refuse matter
from stables and other premises, under pain of
penalties for non-compliance.3
The definitions of nuisances in the administrative
county of London, and the steps to be taken for
their abatement, are similar to those above referred
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 40 and 41.
8 P. H. A., 1875, ss- 46 and 47.
3 P. H. A., 1875, ss- 49 and 5°-
62 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
to. The borough councils must make bye-laws
for the prevention of nuisances arising from snow,
rubbish, filth, etc., in the street, or from offensive
matter running out of factories, butchers' shops,
etc., as to the keeping of animals in such a manner
as to be a nuisance, or injurious or dangerous to
health, and similar matters.1
They may also make bye-laws for the prevention
and suppression of nuisances not already punishable
in a summary manner, but those bye-laws must
not conflict with similar bye-laws made by the
county council.2
Large powers of supervision over the borough
councils are given to the county council in these
subjects.3 If it is proved to the satisfaction of the
latter body that a borough council have neglected
to do their duty with respect to the removal of any
nuisance, the institution of proceedings, or the
enforcement of bye-laws, the county council may
act in the matter at the cost of the borough council.
If the neglect cannot be remedied in this manner,
the county council may complain to the Local
Government Board, who may order the duty to be
performed, and enforce their order by mandamus
or by authorising the county council to take the
necessary steps at the cost of the borough council.
These powers of the county council, however, do
not apply to the common council of the city. If
1 P. H. L. A., 1 891, ss. 2—24, 48, 95 and 120.
9 Lon. G. Act, 1899, sch. 2, part 2.
8 P. H. L. A., 1891, ss. 100 and 101.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 63
this body make default in executing the provisions
of the Public Health (London) Act, 1 891, complaint
may be made direct to the Board, who may then
authorise the police to act, or issue their usual
order and enforce it by mandamus, or by the
appointment of some person to carry it out at the
expense of the council.1
6. Offensive Trades.
In a municipal borough or urban district it is
illegal to establish a noxious or offensive trade,
business, or manufacture, such as the boiling of
blood, bones, soap, or tripe, unless the consent of
the council has first been obtained. If a nuisance
is caused by any offensive trade, and is brought to
the notice of the council by the medical officer, or
by two medical practitioners, or ten inhabitants,
they must summon the person responsible before
the magistrates, who may impose a penalty of £5
upon him unless they are satisfied that he has
already used the best practicable means of prevent-
ing or abating the nuisance. The council are not
restricted to their own district, if the injurious
effects of a nuisance from such a trade in a neigh-
bouring district are felt within their area. They
may also make bye-laws with regard to offensive
trades, with a view to preventing or diminishing
their noxious or injurious effects.3
1 P. H. L. A., 1891, ss. 133—135.
3 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 112— 115.
64 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
In the administrative county of London, the
establishment anew of the business of a blood, bone,
or soap boiler, tallow melter, manure manufac-
turer, or knacker, is prohibited. The consent of
the county council is requisite before the business
of a fellmonger, tripe boiler, or slaughterer of cattle
or horses, can be started, and, with the sanction of
the Local Government Board, the council may add
any other similar business to this latter list. Bye-
laws as to offensive trades are made by the county
council and the common council of the city, but
proceedings with regard to nuisances from such
trades may be taken by the borough councils, under
provisions similar to those in force in other urban
districts, and referred to above.1
The London Building Act, 1894, ss. 118 to 121,
also contains provisions specially applicable to the
metropolis, as to noxious businesses.
The inspection of alkali works is carried out by
the Local Government Board, but if the council of
a municipal or metropolitan borough or urban
district are of opinion that the Board's staff is not
sufficiently large to properly attend to their district,
the Board may appoint an additional inspector
upon the council agreeing to pay at least one-half
of his salary. The council have also power to
complain to the Board, if any alkali work is carried
on in such a manner as to cause a nuisance, and,
upon receipt of such a complaint, the Board must
1 P. H. L. A., 1 89 1, ss. 19 — 22 ; Lon. G. A., 1899, s. 6.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 65
hold an inquiry, and afterwards take any necessary
proceedings in the matter.1
7. Notification of Infectious Diseases, etc.
The powers of the council of a municipal borough
or urban district with regard to the prevention and
extinction of infectious disease are chiefly contained
in the Public Health Act, 1875 5 tne Infectious
Disease (Notification) Acts, 1889 and 1899; an<^
the Infectious Disease (Prevention) Act, 1890.
The last-named Act must be adopted by a special
resolution of the council before it can be put into
force, but, as previously stated, no less than 687
town and urban district councils out of a total
number of 1,142 have already adopted it.
In the case of a patient suffering from small-pox
diphtheria, cholera, membraneous croup, erysipelas,
scarlet or other infectious fever, the medical man
attending the case must notify the existence of the
disease to the medical officer. If there is no
medical man in attendance, the duty falls on the
head of the family, or the nearest relative who
happens to be present, or the person in charge of
the patient, or the occupier of the house in which
the disease occurs.2
In the case of a common lodging-house, the
notification must be made by the keeper.3
The council may also, by a special order, which
1 Alkali Works Act, 1906.
2 I. D. N. A., 1889, ss. 3—6.
8 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 84— 86.
M.M. F
66 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
must be approved by the Local Government Board,
extend the Act to cover any other infectious
diseases, either for a limited period or permanently.1
Such orders have from time to time been made in
many cases, chiefly with regard to measles, chicken-
pox, and whooping cough.
Similar provisions for the notification of infectious
diseases in the administrative county of London
are contained in the Public Health (London) Act,
1 89 1, and are carried out by the borough councils.
A medical officer of such a council, upon receiving
a notification, must send a copy of it to the Metro-
politan Asylums Board, and, if the patient is a
child, or resides with a child, a copy must be sent
to the head teacher of the school at which the child
attends. The Asylums Board must then forward
to the county council any return required by the
latter authority as to the notifications. These
returns are examined by the county medical officer
and he institutes inquiries if he considers the
number of notifications in any district is unduly
high. Both the county council and the borough
councils have power to extend the list of notifiable
diseases, with the sanction of the Local Government
Board.2
8. Provision of Hospitals, Disinfection, etc.
The council of a municipal borough or urban
district have full power to provide accommodation
1 I. D. N. A., 1889, s. 7.
3 P. H. L. A., 1891, ss. 55—57.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 67
for the sick (not merely for persons suffering from
infectious diseases) by building hospitals or
arranging for the use of hospitals, or by com-
bining with any other authority for this purpose.
The latter method is very frequently adopted, and
joint hospital committees are formed by agreement.
The council or committee may recover the cost of
accommodation and attendance from the patient, if
they think fit to make a charge.1
With the consent of the Local Government
Board, the council may also provide a temporary
supply of medicine and medical assistance for the
poorer inhabitants of the district.3
Provision is also made by the Isolation Hospitals
Acts, 1893 and 1901, for the formation of joint
hospital districts within an administrative county,
other than a county borough. The county council
may hold an inquiry, either on the application of
one or more town or district councils, or on their
own initiative, if their medical officer reports that
it is desirable to establish a hospital within a certain
district. As a result of that inquiry, they may
make an order constituting a portion or the whole
of the county into a hospital district, the councils
of which must provide and maintain the necessary
hospital, through the agency of a joint committee.
An appeal against the order of the county council
may be made to the Local Government Board
within three months.
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 131 and 132.
■ P. H. A., 1875, s. 133-
F 2
68 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The county council determine the constitution of
the joint committee, consisting of representatives
from the constituent authorities, and also from the
county council if they contribute towards the
expenses of the hospital. The order settles the
proportions in which the expenses are to be
defrayed.
No borough containing a population of 10,000
can be included in the order without the consent
of the town council, or, if the population is less
than 10,000, unless the Local Government Board
so direct.
The joint hospital committee is an incorporated
body, and may exercise the powers of the Public
Health Acts as to the provision and maintenance
of hospitals. Their hospitals, however, can only
receive patients suffering from the infectious
diseases set out on page 65, or any other disease
which the county council, by resolution confirmed
by the Local Government Board, may decide to
add to that list.
The county council may also contribute towards
the expenses of any hospital established by a local
authority, for the treatment of such infectious
diseases, either within or without the county.
There are several cases in which the removal
and detention in a proper hospital of a patient
suffering from an infectious disease is authorised.
If there is a hospital within a convenient distance,
an infected person without proper lodging or
accommodation, or living in a room containing
PUBLIC HEALTH. 69
more than one family, or on board ship, may
be removed there, by a magistrate's order, upon
the certificate of a medical practitioner, and
with the consent of the superintending body
of the hospital. A similar order may be given
by the council if the patient is in a common
lodging-house.1
A magistrate may also direct the continued
detention in a hospital, at the cost of the council,
of any person suffering from an infectious disease,
if such person would not, on leaving the hospital,
be provided with proper lodging and accommoda-
tion, in which precautions could be taken to prevent
the spread of the disorder.2
If a case of infectious disease occurs on a canal
boat, the council may remove the patient to a
hospital and detain the boat for disinfection.3
With a view to preventing the spread of disease,
it has been made an offence for an infected person
to expose himself, without taking proper precau-
tions, in any street, shop, inn, or public conveyance,
or to expose infected articles, or to permit any of
these offences to be committed. Before an infected
person enters a public conveyance, he must give
notice of his disease to the owner or driver, who
must, after the journey is finished, disinfect the
vehicle, and may insist upon being paid the cost of
the disinfection before allowing the sufferer to
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 124.
a I. D. Prevention Act, 1890, s. 12 (adoptive).
8 Canal Boats Act, 1877, s. 4.
70 MUNICIPAL MANUAL
enter it.1 The adoptive Prevention Act of 1890
(s. n) also makes similar provision for the con-
veyance (except in a hearse) of the body of a
person who has died of an infectious disease.
The landlord of a house (including apartments,
or a room at an inn) in which there has been
infectious disease, must not let it until it has been
disinfected to the satisfaction of a medical prac-
titioner, nor in any subsequent letting may he
make a false answer to a person who inquires if
infectious disease has occurred on the premises
within the previous six weeks.2 Under the Pre-
vention Act of 1890 (ss. 7 and 14), it is an offence
for the occupier of a house in which there has been
such a disease, to cease to occupy it within a period
of six weeks unless he properly disinfects it, or
gives the owner notice of the existence of the
disease.
Upon the certificate of the medical officer or of
a medical practitioner that the cleansing and dis-
infection of any house or article therein will tend
to prevent or to check infectious disease, the
council may, after notice to the occupier, carry out
the work at his expense, unless he does it himself.
Notice to him may be dispensed with, and the
disinfection performed at the cost of the council,
if the occupier consents, and in the opinion of the
council or their medical officer he is unable to do
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 126 and 127.
9 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 128 and 129.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 71
the necessary work.1 In towns where the Prevention
Act has been adopted, the clerk of the council
must, immediately upon receipt of the medical
certificate, serve notice to disinfect within twenty-
four hours. In that case, however, the council
must provide accommodation for those who leave
their dwellings to enable disinfection to be carried
out.2
The council may direct the destruction of
infected articles, and give compensation for the
same, and they are empowered to provide a
disinfecting plant, and to disinfect articles free of
charge.3 Under the Prevention Act (s. 6) either
the council or the medical officer may require
bedding, clothing, etc., which has been exposed to
infection, to be handed over for free disinfection,
but they must make compensation for any
unnecessary damage that is done. By the same
Act (ss. 1 3 and 1 5), it is an offence to throw infectious
rubbish into ash-pits or dust-bins, unless it has
previously been disinfected.
In accordance with the Cleansing of Persons Act,
1897, the council may provide appliances and
attendants for the purpose of cleansing persons
infested with vermin. The extent to which this
Act has been put into force varies greatly. In
some localities, such as the metropolitan borough
of St. Marylebone, advantage has been taken of it
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 120.
2 I. D. P. A., 1890, ss. 5, 15, and 17.
3 P. H. A., 1875, ss- I21 aml I22-
72 MUNICIPAL MANUAL
to afford extensive facilities for free bathing both
to adults and children.
In towns where the Prevention Act (s. 4) is in
force, if infectious disease is suspected to have arisen
from any milk supply or dairy, the medical officer
may, by a magistrate's order, inspect the dairy and
the cows. In the latter case, he must be accom-
panied by a veterinary surgeon. Upon receiving
the report of the officer, the council, after giving
the dairyman an opportunity of making an
explanation, may prohibit him from supplying
milk within their district. They must give notice
of any such decision to the Local Government
Board, and to the council within whose district the
dairy is situate.
Under the same statute (ss. 8, 9 and 10) the body
of a person who has died of an infectious disease
must not be retained for a longer period than forty-
eight hours in a room used as a dwelling or sleeping
place, or as a workshop, unless by permission of
the medical officer or a medical practitioner. If
this certificate is not obtained, or if there is danger
to health, or in any case where immediate burial is
necessary, a magistrate may order the body to be
removed to a mortuary, and to be buried within a
limited time by the persons responsible for that
duty, or by the relieving officer, at their expense.
The medical officer cr a medical practitioner may
also require the body of a person who has died
from infectious disease in a hospital to be taken
direct to burial, or removed to a mortuary.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 73
Slightly less stringent provisions are in operation,
by virtue of s. 142 of the Public Health Act, 1875,
in the towns where the Prevention Act has not yet
been adopted.
The council are empowered to provide a
mortuary, and they must do so, if required by
the Local Government Board. They may also
arrange for the burial of any body which may be
received at that place.
The council may also provide a post-mortem
examination chamber, but it must not be at a
workhouse or a mortuary.1
It should be added that the medical officer of
health is bound to send to the county council a
copy of every periodical report made by him.2 If
it then appears to the county council that the
Public Health Act, 1875, nas not keen properly
enforced, or that any other matter affecting the
public health of the district requires to be remedied,
they may make a representation to the Local
Government Board, who may take action similar
to that already referred to with regard to default
in providing sewers.
Hospital accommodation in the administrative
county of London is provided by the Metropolitan
Asylums Board and the borough councils.3
The borough councils are charged with duties as
to disinfection and the prevention of the spread
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 141 and 143.
8 L. G. A., 1888, s. 19.
3 Met. Poor Act, 1867 ; P. H. L. A., 1891, s. 75— 81.
74 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
of infectious diseases similar to those of the
council of a municipal borough. If they do not
put their powers into force, recourse may be had
to the county council, as already noticed with
regard to nuisances.1
They must provide mortuaries, and (if required
by the county council) post-mortem chambers,
but, with the permission of the latter body,
they may combine for both these purposes. It
is the duty of the county council to provide
coroners' courts, and they may also establish
mortuaries for the reception of unidentified dead
bodies.2
In addition to the powers of local authorities,
the Local Government Board may make regula-
tions as to the treatment of cholera, or other
epidemic, endemic, or infectious disease. If any
part of England is threatened with a formidable
infectious disease, the Board may also make
regulations for such matters as the interment of
the dead, house to house visitation, provision of
medical aid and accommodation, cleansing, ventila-
tion, disinfection, etc., and the council must see
that such regulations are complied with. The
board have power to require any two or more
councils to combine for the prevention of epidemic
diseases.8
1 P. H. L. A., 1891, ss. 58—74, 100 and 101.
a P. H. L. A., 1891, ss. 88—93.
8 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 130, 134, 140; P. H. A., 1896, s. 1 ;
P. H. L. Act, 1891, ss. 82 and 113.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 75
9. Interment of the Dead.
Provision for the interment of the dead may be
made either under the Burial Acts, 1852 to 1906,
or under the Cemeteries Clauses Act, 1847, and
the Public Health (Interments) Act, 1879.
Under the Burial Acts, which had to be adopted
by a special resolution of the vestry of a parish,
an elective burial board was constituted, who were
empowered to provide a burial ground. The
council may, however, by resolution take over the
powers of an existing burial board,1 and the result
is that in most towns the council are the burial
board, the detail work being referred to a
committee.
A cemetery may be provided by the council of
a municipal borough or urban district under the
Cemeteries Acts, without the Burial Acts being
adopted, and although the council may not be the
burial board.
The powers of the Burial Acts enable the
council to establish a burial ground, either within
or outside the borough, and to purchase any exist-
ing cemetery. They may make bye-laws for the
preservation of the burial ground, and the Local
Government Board may make regulations for the
protection of the public health and the maintenance
of public decency. The council must appoint an
officer to register all burials taking place in the
ground.
1 L. G. A., 1894, s. 62.
76 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Under the Cemeteries Clauses Act, 1847, and
the Public Health (Interments) Act, 1879, the
council may purchase land, within or without their
district, by agreement, or compulsorily if they
secure a provisional order for this purpose, in
order to provide a cemetery for their district, and
they may make bye-laws for the control of the
ground.
There is now very little difference in practice
between a burial ground and a cemetery. Neither
institution can be constructed within one hundred
yards of a dwelling-house without the written con-
sent of the owner, lessee, and occupier of the house.1
The council may (subject to the approval of the
Local Government Board) fix the fees payable for
interments, and also (subject to the approval of the
Home Office) the fees which they may receive on
behalf of ministers of religion for their services in
conducting funerals.
Those incumbents who held their benefices before
the passing of the Burial Act, 1900, however, are still
entitled to receive from the council the fees which
were formerly paid to them in respect of such
matters as the erection of monuments or the grant
of exclusive rights of burial in a burial ground (as
distinct from a cemetery). The right to receive
these fees, which, of course, had no relation to
actual services rendered, but was based on the
receipt of similar fees with regard to the use of
1 Burial Act, 1906.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 77
churchyards, will terminate with each incumbency,
or, at the latest, in 1915.1
The council may grant the exclusive right of
burial in any portion of the burial ground or
cemetery.
They may erect a chapel upon an unconsecrated
and unreserved portion of the burial ground or
cemetery, but they cannot now provide and main-
tain such a building for the special use of any
denomination, unless the residents belonging to
such denomination require them to do so, and
furnish the necessary funds.2 They may have a
portion of the ground consecrated, and the Home
Secretary may compel them to do so, if satisfied
that a reasonable number of the inhabitants desire
it, and will pay the expenses of the ceremony.
Under no circumstances may the entire ground
now be consecrated.
In the administrative county of London, the
borough councils are the authorities for providing
burial grounds, but they have no powers under the
Cemeteries Clauses Act, 1847, or the Public Health
(Interments) Act, 1879.
Cremation.
Any council acting as a burial board or maintain-
ing a cemetery may also provide and maintain a
crematorium.3 The site and plans of the building
1 Burial Act, 1900, s. 3.
a Burial Act, 1900.
8 Cremation Act, 1902.
78 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
must be approved by the Local Government Board,
and the process of cremation must be carried out
in all respects in accordance with regulations made
by the Home Secretary, and without creating a
nuisance. The fees fixed by the council for crema-
tion must be approved by the Local Government
Board. Cremated remains are usually buried in a
burial ground or cemetery, and clergymen may,
with the consent of their bishop, perform the burial
service at a cremation or such an interment, but
they are not under any obligation to do so.
10. Unsound and Adulterated Food.
The powers of the council (whether in London
or the provinces) as to unsound and adulterated
food are wide,1 and are likely to be extended by
Parliament in the near future.
The medical officer or inspector of nuisances
may inspect and seize any unsound article sold or
exposed for sale and intended for the food of man,
and bring it before a magistrate, who may order it
to be destroyed and impose a fine or imprisonment
upon the owner, or the person in whose possession
it has been found, or (in London) upon the person
from whom the latter purchased it in an unsound
state. He may also order the destruction of the
food before seizure, upon proper evidence of its
condition, and he may grant a search warrant on
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 116— 119; P. H. A., 1890, s. 28;
P. H. (London) Act, 1891, s. 47.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 79
being satisfied that there is reason for believing
that unsound food is concealed.
If a person is twice convicted within twelve
months, in London, of wilfully committing an
offence with regard to unsound food, the court
may order a notice of the facts to be affixed to his
premises for a period not exceeding twenty-one
days.
These provisions were at first left for the ordinary
sanitary staff to carry out, but the recent dis-
coveries as to the danger of unsound meat have
caused special attention to be devoted to that
commodity, and several councils have appointed
experienced persons to act only as meat inspectors.
Such an officer has power, in addition to the
medical officer and inspector of nuisances, to enter
a butcher's shop or slaughter-house, and seize any
part of a carcase which appears to be unfit for
food, and to take it before a justice for condemna-
tion.1
Any person exposing unwholesome meat or
provisions for sale in a market or fair is also liable
to a penalty, and a council owning a market may
make bye-laws for preventing such sale or
exposure.2
The sale of adulterated food is dealt with by the
Sale of Food and Drugs Acts, 1875, 1879 and 1899,
and the Margarine Act, 1887. These Acts apply
both to London and provincial towns. " Food " is
1 Towns Improvement Clauses Act, 1847, s. 131.
2 Markets and Fairs Clauses Act, 1847, s. 15.
80 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
defined as including every article used by man for
food or drink, other than a drug or water, and any
article which is ordinarily used in the composition
of human food, and flavouring matters and con-
diments. "Drug" includes medicine for internal
or external use.1
The council of a metropolitan borough or of a
borough having a population of 10,000 and a court
of quarter sessions or a separate police establish-
ment, must appoint an analyst for the borough,
subject to the approval of the Local Government
Board. In other urban districts the analyst
appointed by the county council acts.2
Samples of articles of food or drugs may be pur-
chased by the medical officer, the inspector of
nuisances, inspector of weights and measures,
or any police constable or private person, for
analysis, but upon doing so, the purchaser must
notify to the vendor his intention to have the
sample analysed, and must then divide it into three
parts, one of which is to be given back to the
vendor, one sent to the analyst, (who is entitled to
charge ios. 6d. for the analysis) and one retained.8
A sample of butter or margarine, or of milk in
the course of delivery to a purchaser, may be taken
without notification of the intention to analyse,
and, in the case of milk, without division into three
1 S. F. D. A., 1875, s. 2 ; ditto, 1899, s. 26.
9 S. F. D. A., 1875, ss. 10 and II j L. G. A., 1888, ss. 3,
38, and 39.
8 S. F. D. A., 1875, ss. 12—15-
PUBLIC HEALTH. 81
parts. A portion of the sample, however, must be
sent to the consignor, if his name and address appear
on the package. Upon request, or with the consent,
of the purchaser or consignee, samples of other
foods and drugs may be taken at the place of
delivery, without notification or division.1
The offences under the Acts are many, and
include the adulteration of food so as to render it
injurious to health, or of a drug so as to injuriously
affect its quality or potency; selling, to the prejudice
of a purchaser, a food or drug not of the nature,
substance and quality demanded ; giving a false
warranty ; keeping margarine in packets not
properly labelled; obstructing or bribing the officers
of the council ; or refusing to sell for analysis or to
allow a sample of milk to be taken.2
Proceedings must be instituted within twenty-
eight days of the sample being taken, and a copy of
the analyst's certificate must be served with each
summons. The vendor has a good defence if he
proves that he purchased the article with a written
guarantee as to its quality, and sold it without
alteration. He must, however, give full particulars
of the warranty to the purchaser within seven days
after the service of the summons.3
1 S. F. D. A., 1879, ss. 3 and 4 J Margarine Act, 1887,
s. 10 ; S. F. D. A., 1899, ss. 10 and 14.
2 S. F. D. Acts, 1875, 1879, and 1899; P. H. A., 1875,
ss. 118 and 119 ; Markets and Fairs Clauses Act, 1847, s. 15 ;
Towns Improvement Clauses Act, 1847, s. 131.
8 S. F. D. A., 1875, ss. 20—26 ; S. F. D. A., 1899, ss. 19
and 20.
M.M. G
82 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Should the council neglect their duty in the
inspection of food, the Local Government Board
and the Board of Agriculture have both power to
appoint an officer to execute the provisions of the
Acts at the expense of the council.1
Manufacturers of and wholesale dealers in
margarine, whose premises are situate within a
metropolitian borough or a borough having a
population of 10,000 and a court of quarter sessions,
must register such premises with the town council,
and elsewhere with the county council.2
Vendors of horse flesh must indicate the nature
of their business by a conspicuous notice outside
their premises. It is an offence to supply such
flesh for human consumption to a person who has
asked for other meat. Any horse flesh intended
for human food, the nature of which is not properly
indicated, may be seized by an officer and brought
before the magistrates for condemnation, and the
magistrates may grant a search warrant if they
have reason to believe that such flesh is concealed
and intended for sale as human food.3
According to the report of the Local Government
Board for 1905 — 06, the samples analysed under the
Food and Drugs Acts during 1905 numbered
86,182, of which nearly a half consisted of milk.
The analysts reported against 7,099 of these
samples ; and proceedings were taken with respect
1 S. F. D. A., 1899, s. 3.
2 Margarine Act, 1887, s. 9 ; S. F. D. A., 1899, s. 7.
8 Sale of Horse Flesh Act, 1889.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 83
to 3,581, and in 2,672 cases convictions were
obtained and fines imposed.
n. Housing.
One of the most valuable departments of the
work of the council is that of improving the
housing of the inhabitants generally, and especially
the poorer class of the residents within their
district.
In a municipal borough or urban district they
have power to make bye-laws with regard to the
erection of new buildings, including the method of
construction and the materials to be used, air space
around the building, drainage, height, etc., but not
with respect to the elevation or appearance of the
buildings or as to the air space within the rooms-
Such bye-laws may also govern the structure of
floors, height of rooms and paving of yards, the
provision of secondary means of access, etc. No
building may be erected on ground which has been
filled up with faecal, animal, or vegetable matter,
unless such matter has been removed or rendered
innocuous. It is also illegal to erect a new building
over a sewer, or to construct a vault, arch or cellar
under the carriage way of a street without the
consent of the council in either case, and a new
house must not be erected unless it is drained to
the satisfaction of the council, and furnished with
a proper closet or privy and an ash-pit1
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 25, 26, 35, and 157 ; P. H. A., 1890,
ss. 23 and 25.
G 2
84 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The bye-laws are invariably based upon models
issued by the Local Government Board, and they
always provide that plans of a new building shall
first be submitted to the council for their approval,
but the latter must signify their decision thereon
within a month. If the building is erected before
being approved, or after disapproval, and is not in
accordance with the bye-laws, the council may,
after notice, have it pulled down, and recover from
the owner the cost of the work, in addition to any
penalty imposed by the bye-laws, not exceeding
£5. Should the work be continued in such a state
as to be an offence against the bye-laws, a daily
penalty of 40s. or less may be recovered for a
period not exceeding one year, if imposed by the
bye-laws.1
Any building converted into a dwelling-house, or
re-erected is a " new building " under the Public
Health Acts, but this definition is extended in
many towns by local acts.2
Considerable dissatisfaction has recently been
expressed at the stringency of the bye-laws, especi-
ally in rural districts. It should be noted that the
bye-laws cannot be made to apply to buildings
belonging to the Government, or to a railway
company, and used for the purposes of the
railway.
A building already in existence, which is described
in the deposited plans as not being a dwelling-
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss- J58 and l83-
» P. H.A., 1875, s. 159.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 85
house, must not be used for human habitation.
except by a caretaker, until the necessary altera-
tions have been carried out, after the plans have
been approved by the council.1
In the administrative county of London, the
erection of new buildings is chiefly under the juris-
diction of the county council, and is regulated by
the London Building Acts, 1894 and 1898, and
other metropolitan Acts, and by bye- laws which,
subject to those Acts, have been made by the
county council.
The occupying of a cellar (that is, " passing a
night ") as a separate dwelling-house is forbidden,
both in London and the provinces. If the council
secure two convictions in three months in respect
of the occupation of the same cellar, the magis-
trates may direct the cellar to be closed altogether.
Cellars must also be provided with proper doors,
and kept repaired and sufficiently protected from
causing danger to persons using the streets.2
The overcrowding of dwelling-houses has been
dealt with in the chapter relating to nuisances.
Common lodging-houses require special atten-
tion. The council must cause them to be inspected,
and must register each house, and the person in
charge of it, before it can be used. They must
insist upon the walls and ceilings being lime-
1 P. H. A., 1890, s. 33.
9 Met. Paving Act, 18 17, s. 70 ; Towns Improvement
Clauses Act, 1847, s. 73 ; Towns Police Clauses Act, 1847,
s. 28 ; M. M. A., 1855, ss. 101 and 102 ; P. H. A., 1875,
ss. 71—75 ; P. H. A., 1890, s. 35 ; P. H.(L.) A., 1891, ss. 96—98.
86 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
washed in April and October of every year, and
they may also make bye-laws enforcing other
reasonable requirements to secure the health and
decency of the occupants. Should one of the
lodgers be attacked by an infectious disease, the
keeper must give immediate notice to the medical
officer, and also to the relieving officer of the board
of guardians. He must also permit the house to
be inspected at all times by an officer of the council.1
On several occasions the law courts have been called
upon to decide knotty points as to what consti-
tutes a common lodging-house, but it has been laid
down by the law officers of the Crown that the
expression means a house in which poor persons
are received for short periods and allowed to
inhabit a common room.
The London County Council are the authority
charged with the duty of licensing and inspecting
common lodging-houses within the county. They
may make bye-laws and regulations for securing
proper order and the separation of the sexes in
those houses.2
The council of a metropolitan or municipal
borough or urban district may make bye-laws as
to other houses which are let in lodgings, but
which do not come within the description of
common lodging-houses.
These bye-laws may regulate the number of
1 P. H. A. 1875, ss. 76—89.
1 Com. Lodg. House Acts, 1851 and 1853 ; L. C. C. (Gen.
Pow.) Act, 1902, Part 9.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 87
lodgers, and the cleaning, drainage, etc., of the
houses. Under the model bye-laws issued by the
Local Government Board, exemption is provided
for premises outside the county of London, above a
certain rateable value, or where the rent paid by
the lodgers exceeds a certain minimum.1
The council may also make bye-laws for pro-
moting cleanliness in tents, vans and sheds used
for human habitation, for securing the decent lodg-
ing of persons engaged in hop picking and fruit pick-
ing, and, if the district includes a sea-port, relating
to seamen's lodging-houses. These latter bye-laws,
however, require the approval of the Board of
Trade instead of the Local Government Board.2
A canal boat must not be used as a dwelling
unless it is registered with the council of a district,
prescribed by the Local Government Board, abut-
ting on the canal on which it plies. The Local
Government Board have made regulations (dated
20th March, 1878) governing the registration and
use of such boats, and every council (including a
metropolitan borough council) whose district in-
cludes part of a canal must make an annual return
to the board, stating the manner in which they
have carried out those regulations. They should
also appoint an inspector of canal boats.3
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 90 ; P. H. (London) Act, 1891, s. 94.
2 H. W. C. A., 1885, ss. 8, 9, and 10 ; P. H A., 1875,
s. 314 ; P. H. (Fruit Pickers' Lodgings) Act, 1882 ; P. H.
(L.) A., 1891, s. 95 ; Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, s. 214.
3 Canal Boats Acts, 1877 and 1884.
88 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Cases of infectious disease occurring upon a canal
boat may be dealt with as described on page 69.
Private enterprise failed many years ago to pro-
vide healthy homes for the working classes at
reasonable rents, and Parliament had constantly to
arm the local authorities with power to improve the
housing of the very poor. These attempts at legis-
lation culminated in the Housing of the Working
Classes Act, 1890, an Act which, though incom-
plete in its scope and cumbersome in its machinery,
has done much to raise the standard of health and
comfort among the poorer classes. It has since
been amended by the Acts of 1894, 1900, and 1903.
The first part of the Act aims at the clearance of
slum areas. If it appears to the medical officer
that the houses, courts or alleys in any such area
are unfit for human habitation, or that the con-
dition or arrangement of the streets and houses is
dangerous or injurious to the health of the inhabi-
tants, he may make a representation to this effect
to the council. Upon two justices or twelve rate-
payers complaining to him of the unhealthiness of
an area, he is bound to inspect it, and report on
its condition to the council. Should he neglect his
duty in this respect, or report that the area is not
unhealthy, any twelve ratepayers may appeal to the
Local Government Board, who may inquire into
the matter, and themselves make a representation to
the council.1
1 H. W. C. A., 1903, s. 4.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 89
If the council are satisfied of the truth of the
representation made to them, and of the sufficiency
of their resources, they must make a scheme for
the demolition of the defective dwellings and the
provision of accommodation for the persons dis-
placed. In default of doing so, they must report
their grounds for inaction to the Local Government
Board, who may inquire into the matter, and order
the council to prepare a scheme. This order may
be enforced by a mandamus1 The scheme may
provide for its being carried into effect by the
owners of the area.
After serving notices on the owners and occupiers,
and also giving public notice by advertisement, the
council may apply to the Local Government Board
for a provisional order to confirm the scheme, but
before deciding upon the application, the board
will hold a public inquiry. If the order should be
granted, it must be confirmed by Act of Parlia-
ment, unless it is not proposed to take lands com-
pulsorily, or no objection from an owner of land to
be taken compulsorily is received within two months
of notice being served upon him. The amount and
manner of re-housing which must be provided
is in the discretion of the Local Government
Board.2
It may here be noted that whenever any autho-
rity, company or person acquire land under legisla-
tive powers, and in so doing displace thirty or more
1 H. W. C. A., 1903, s. 4.
8 H. W. C. A., 1903, ss. 3 and 5, and schedule.
9o MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
persons of the working class, they must provide a
re-housing scheme for such persons, to the approval
of the Local Government Board, unless the Board
decide that a scheme is unnecessary. The Board
must take into consideration not only the persons
occupying the dwellings proposed to be dealt with,
but any others who may have been displaced
within the previous five years, in view of the
acquisition of the land by the authority or
company, etc.1
In the execution of the scheme, the council may
lay out streets and pull down buildings, but, unless
they obtain the approval of the Board, they cannot
take any further steps with regard to the area, but
must sell or let the land to others to carry the
scheme into execution. They may, of course,
impose conditions as to the buildings which are to
be erected.
For the purposes of providing dwellings for the
persons displaced, the council have power to appro-
priate suitable land in their possession, or to pur-
chase land by agreement.
Should the council themselves erect dwellings
for the purposes of re-housing, they are bound to
sell those buildings within ten years of completion.
If within five years of the clearance of the area,
they have not sold or let the land set aside for re-
housing, or made arrangements for the erection of
workmen's dwellings, the Board may order it to be
1 H. W. C. A., 1903, ss. 3 and 5, and schedule.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 91
sold, subject to conditions as to the erection of
suitable dwellings.
When the scheme is confirmed, the council are
empowered to put into force the provisions of the
Lands Clauses Act for the compulsory purchase of
the property at its fair market value, having regard
to its condition. In default of agreement, the pur-
chase price and the compensation payable in respect
of lands injuriously affected are settled by an arbi-
trator appointed by the Local Government Board.
No additional allowance need be made for enforced
purchase, or with regard to any improvement made
after notice of the scheme. As a factor in ascer-
taining the price, it may also be shown that the
value of the property has been enhanced by its
being used for illegal purposes, or by overcrowding,
or that it is in such a condition as to be a nuisance,
or is in bad repair or unfit for human habitation.
Special provision is made with regard to the
operation of Part 1 of the Act in the metropolis.
The London County Council is the authority
empowered to prepare and execute a scheme.
They may also appoint medical practitioners to
make representations as to unhealthy areas, and
otherwise to carry the Acts into effect.1 The county
council cannot deal with any representations which
refer to ten houses or less, but in such a case they
must direct the medical practitioner to bring the
representation before the local borough council, in
1 H. W. C. A., 1903, s. 2 ; Order in Council, 27th Feb.,
1905.
92 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
order that the latter may carry out a re-construc-
tion scheme under Part 2 of the Act of 1890.
With regard to any improvement scheme framed
by the county council, it is necessary that they
should provide re-housing accommodation within
the area itself, or in the vicinity, for all persons
displaced, unless the Local Government Board
relax the stringency of this provision upon its
being proved to their satisfaction that sufficient
accommodation is otherwise provided, or will be
provided.
Part 2 of the Act of 1890 confers upon the
council special powers for dealing with specific
premises which are so dangerous or injurious to
health as to be unfit for human habitation. If
four householders complain to the medical officer
that any particular house is in such a condition, he
must inspect it and report to the council, and if the
latter refuse for three months to take action, those
householders may appeal to the Local Government
Board, who may order the council to proceed. The
council are also bound to cause their district to be
properly inspected, in order to ascertain whether
any houses should be dealt with under this part of
the Act.
If by any of these means it is found that a
house is in a sufficiently bad condition, the council
must take proceedings before the magistrates, who
may order the owner to close the premises against
further hah'tation. Should the premises then not
be placed in a proper state of repair, and still be
PUBLIC HEALTH. 93
dangerous or injurious to health, the council may
order them to be demolished, subject to the owner
first being given an opportunity to object, or to
put the place in repair. If he does not comply
with this order, the council may demolish the
building and recover the cost from him, or by
selling the materials. The owner may, however,
appeal to quarter sessions within one month
against the order of the council.
In suitable cases, the council may make a
scheme for the reconstruction of dwellings or
dedication of portions of the site as open spaces,
provided that the whole site is too small to be
dealt with as an unhealthy area under Part 1.
Neighbouring lands may be included in the
scheme, if necessary to make it efficient, but the
usual allowance of 10 per cent, for compulsory
purchase must be paid in respect of such lands.
The procedure is otherwise similar to that under
Part 1, with regard to the confirmation of the
scheme, compensation to be paid to owners, etc.1
Proceedings may also be taken by the council
for the demolition of a building which obstructs
ventilation, or which, by its peculiar situation,
helps to make other buildings unfit for habitation,
or dangerous or injurious. They must, however,
give the owner an opportunity of objecting, and
they must either purchase his land and buildings,
or compensate him if he pulls the buildings down
1 H. W. C. A., 1903, s. 7.
94 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
An interesting section of the Act (s. 38 (8) )
provides that if the demolition adds to the value
of neighbouring buildings, the arbitrator may
order that the owners of those buildings shall pay-
to the council the amount by which such value is
increased.
In the metropolis, the borough councils are the
authorities who should take action under Part 2
of the Act, but they must report fully to the
county council when they receive representations
as to buildings, and the latter body must carry out
a reconstruction scheme if the borough council
neglect to do so, or if the scheme deals with more
than ten houses.
Part 3 of the Act contains powers under
which the council (including the London County
Council or any metropolitan borough council) may
build houses for the working classes, although no
demolition of other dwellings has been undertaken.
This part of the Act must be adopted by a special
resolution of the council, and the necessary land
(which may be either within or outside the
council's district) 1 is usually purchased by agree-
ment, but it is possible to secure compulsory powers
by a provisional order of the Local Government
Board, as previously referred to. With the consent
of the Board, the council may appropriate for the
erection of such houses any other land vested in
them. They may also purchase or lease houses
1 H. W. C. A., 1900, s. 1.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 95
already built, and they have power to furnish and
supply their houses with all requisite furniture,
fittings and conveniences. If the premises are
considered too expensive, after being established
for seven years, they may, with the permission of
the Board, be sold.
A person who receives parochial relief, either by
himself or his wife, except in respect of an
accident or temporary illness, is disqualified from
occupying such a house whilst the relief is being
given.
The council may, of course, make bye-laws to
regulate the tenancy of the houses provided by
them.
In some towns advantage has been taken of this
part of the Act, or of special legislation, to build
and maintain large common lodging houses.
The Housing Acts make an important addition
to the common law with regard to the letting of
any workmen's dwelling. It is enacted that upon
the letting of a house with an annual rental below
£8, or ;£io in Manchester or Birmingham, £13 in
Liverpool, or £20 in the metropolis, there is an
implied condition (which cannot be excluded by
any agreement between the parties) that the
premises are at the commencement of the tenancy
reasonably fit for human habitation.1 The tenant
is thus enabled to obtain damages from his land-
lord, if he can prove that the house was not in
1 H. W. C. Acts, 1890, s. 75, and 1903, s. 12.
96 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
such a reasonable state when he commenced
occupation. As, however, few persons occupying
this class of house are aware of the statutory-
provision for their protection, it has not hitherto
been largely taken advantage of.
It should be added that the maximum period
allowed for repayment of loans raised for carrying
out improvement schemes or the erection of
dwellings under the Housing of the Working
Classes Acts is 80 years instead of the usual term
of 60 years.1
12. Factories and Workshops.
The council of a municipal or metropolitan
borough or urban district have certain duties with
regard to factories and workshops.2 The principal
distinction between a factory and a workshop is
that mechanical power is not used in the latter,
and a workshop is more under the control of the
council than is a factory. Laundries are included
in both terms, unless the only persons employed
number two or less, or are members of the same
family, dwelling on the premises, or inmates of a
religious or charitable institution, or a prison
reformatory, industrial school or similar place,
subject to inspection under some measure other
than the Factory Act of 190 1.
The council must keep a register of all the
1 H. W. C. A., 1903, s. 1.
9 Factory and Workshop Act, 1901.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 97
workshops in their district. To them is entrusted
the task of securing reasonable means of escape
from factories and workshops in case of fire, and
they can compel such means of escape to be
provided in the case of a factory or workshop
occupied by more than forty persons. They may
also make bye-laws dealing with the matter. In
the administrative county of London, however,
this subject is under the control of the London
County Council.
Factories and workshops must be kept free from
effluvia arising from drains, and proper drainage
must be provided if the work carried on renders
the floors wet. Should these provisions not be
complied with, the council can deal with the
matter as a nuisance, in the case of a workshop or
a domestic factory. The latter term covers build-
ings which would be factories but for their
occupation by members of the same family,
dwelling on the premises, and using no mechanical
power. Other factories fall within the jurisdiction
of the Home Office, and are inspected by
inspectors on the staff of the Factories Depart-
ment. If one of those inspectors discovers a
sanitary defect which is remediable under the
Public Health Acts, and not under the Factory Acts,
he must give notice to the council, whose duty it
then is to take the necessary action and inform
him of what they have done. If the council do
not move in the matter, the inspector may do what
is necessary at their expense.
M.M. H
98 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
As already stated, separate w.c. provision for
each sex must be provided in factories and work-
shops where males and females are employed.1
Amongst other offences which may be dealt
with by the council as nuisances are : keeping a
domestic factory or workshop in an uncleanly state
or overcrowded, or not ventilated so as to render
harmless, as far as possible, the impurities which
are generated by the work carried on ; not keeping
a workshop ventilated in accordance with the
standard prescribed by the Home Secretary ; using
a fireplace or furnace not constructed so as to
consume, as far as practicable, its own smoke, or
permitting a chimney to send forth black smoke.2
By section 3 of the Factory Act, 190 1, over-
crowding exists (with certain exceptions which
may be made by the Home Secretary) when there
is less than 250 cubic feet of space to each person,
or, during overtime, less than 400 cubic feet.
The council may compel the owner or occupier
of a workshop to lime-wash, cleanse or purify it, if
the medical officer or inspector of nuisances
certifies that such work is necessary for the health
of the persons employed.
If work is given out from a factory or workshop,
a list of the out-workers and their addresses is to
be kept by the occupier of the factory, and a
copy of such list sent to the council before
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 38; P. H. A., 1890, s. 22;F.andW.A.,
1901, s. 9 ; P. H. L. A., 1891, s. 38.
2 P. H. A., 1875, s- 91 i P- H- L- A., 1891, ss. 2 and 24.
PUBLIC HEALTH.
99
the 1st February and the 1st August in each
year.
The Home Secretary has specified certain
occupations, in which, if the place where the work
is carried on is dangerous to the health of the
out-workers, the council may require the occupier
of a factory to cease giving work out to any
specified address after a month's notice. In any
event, such an occupier must not allow wearing
apparel to be made up or repaired at any place in
which he knows that a person is suffering from
fever or small-pox ; and if work is carried on in a
house where an inmate is suffering from a notifiable
disease, the council, or two members on the advice
of the medical officer, may forbid work on wearing
apparel, or other work included in the Home
Secretary's order, to be sent there.
The powers of the officers of the council to
enter workshops are similar to those possessed by
inspectors of the Home Office with regard to
factories. They may, for instance, enter a work-
shop at any reasonable hour of the day or night,
and also enter at any time during the day a place
believed to be a workshop.
The medical officer must report annually to
the council on the administration of the Factory
and Workshop Act, 1901, in workshops in their
district.
Bakehouses must be periodically cleansed, and
may not be used if they have a closed ash-pit or
open drain in them. If the floor of a bakehouse
H 2
ioo MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
is more than three feet below the surface of the
adjoining street or nearest ground, it may only be
used if occupied as a bakehouse before the 17th
August, 1901, and even in that case it must be
certified by the council to be suitable for the
purpose, so far as construction, ventilation and
light are concerned. An appeal against the
decision of the council may be made to the local
magistrates.
13. Dairies, Cowsheds, and Milkshops.
Orders with regard to dairies, cowsheds, and
milkshops were made in 1885, 1886, and 1899 by
the Privy Council and the Local Government
Board. The powers of the former body have now
been transferred to the latter authority, so far as
this subject is concerned.1
In accordance with these orders, the council of a
municipal borough or urban district must keep a
register of all persons engaged as cow-keepers,
dairymen, or purveyors of milk. It is an offence
to carry on such a trade without being registered,
except in the case of cows or a dairy kept merely
for the purpose of making butter or cheese. It is
incumbent upon the council to give public notice of
the necessity of registration.
The orders contain a number of provisions as to
lighting and ventilation of dairies and cowsheds,
1 Contagious Diseases (Animals) Acts, 1878, s. 34, and
1886, s. 9.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 101
and they make it an offence for an infected person,
or anyone who has recently been in contact with
such a person, to milk cows or assist in the dis-
tribution or storage of milk. The council are
given powers to make regulations with regard to
the inspection of cattle, as to the lighting, ventila-
tion, drainage, and water supply of dairies and
cowsheds, for securing the cleanliness of milkshops
and milk vessels, and for taking precautions against
infection by persons retailing milk. These regula-
tions are to be sent to the Local Government
Board a month before they come into operation,
and the Board may revoke any regulation which
they consider objectionable.
The orders are enforced in the administrative
county of London by the common council in the
city, and by the county council in the remainder
of the county, but the borough councils must also
see that the regulations of the latter body are
carried out. The premises of dairymen must be
registered by the borough councils. Cow-houses
must be licensed by the county council.1
14. Port Sanitary Authorities.
For the purpose of regulating the sanitary con-
dition of a customs port, the Local Government
Board may constitute any local authority whose
district forms the whole or part of the port into a
1 P. H. L. A., 1891, ss. 20 and 28 ; Lon. G. A., 1899, s. 6.
io'2 : MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
port sanitary authority, or they may combine two
or more authorities for this purpose. The order
does not require the confirmation of Parliament,
unless any riparian authority who are required to
contribute to the expenses of the new body give
notice of objection. The constitution and duties
of the authority or joint board, as the case may be,
the area over which they have jurisdiction, and the
method of raising the necessary funds, are usually
set out in the order.1 The city council are the
sanitary authority for the port of London.
15. Miscellaneous.
There are many instances in which the councils
have undertaken works beyond their strictly legal
powers, but with beneficial results to the public
health. Over a hundred authorities have published
posters setting forth the effects of intemperance
(and, in a few cases, improper feeding and juvenile
smoking) upon the human system.
Several councils of municipal and metropolitan
boroughs have also established depots from which
sterilised milk is supplied at or below cost price to
infants of the poorer class, with a view to lessening
the excessive mortality amongst those children.
To the same end, some councils have initiated a
system of voluntary notification of births, in order
that a lady health visitor may attend upon the
1 P. H. A., ss. 287—292; P. H. (Ships) Act, 1885 ; P. H.
(Ports) Act, 1896.
PUBLIC HEALTH. 103
mothers at the earliest possible moment with
advice. In 1906, Parliament sanctioned an experi-
ment in this direction, by passing a local Act
which makes such notification compulsory in
Huddersfield within forty-eight hours of birth, the
first person giving the desired information being
rewarded by the corporation with a shilling.
CHAPTER III.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION.
I. Highways. 2. Streets. 3. Locomotives, etc. 4. Com-
munication and Transit.
i. Highways.
Scarcely less important than sanitation is the
duty of maintaining public highways and other
means of communication.
In its widest sense, a highway is a thoroughfare
over which every subject of the Crown may lawfully
pass — indeed, it may, strictly speaking, not even be
a thoroughfare, as in the case of a cul-de-sac. The
right of the public, however, is often confined to an
easement or right of passage only. Unless the
land itself is vested in the local authority, it
remains the property of the former owner, who
may maintain an action for trespass against any
member of the public acting in excess of his right
to use the highway for the purpose of passage.
Thus, it was held in the case of Harrison v. Rutland,
where a farmer remained on a public highway
running across a grouse moor, in order to interrupt
the flight of the birds, that " If a person uses the
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 105
soil of the highway for any purposes other than
that in respect of which the dedication was made
and the easement acquired, he is a trespasser-
The easement acquired by the public is a right to
pass and repass at their pleasure for the purpose
of legitimate travel, and the use of the soil for
any other purpose, whether lawful or unlawful,
is an infringement of the rights of the owner
of the soil, who has, subject to this easement,
precisely the same estate in the soil as he had
previously to any easement being acquired by the
public."
The law with regard to highways in municipal
boroughs and urban districts is principally contained
in the Highways Acts, 1835, 1839, 1862, 1863,
1864, and 1885; the Highways and Locomotives
Act. 1878 ; the Highways and Bridges Act, 1891 ;
the Locomotives Acts, 1861, 1865, 1896, and 1898 ;
the Local Government Acts, 1888 and 1894; and
the Public Health Act, 1875.
It is the duty of every town and urban district
council to repair all the highways in their district,
except main roads or highways repairable by
certain persons under Acts of Parliament or by
reason of their tenure of land (ratione tenurae),
or which have been dedicated to the public
since the passing of the Highways Act, 1835,
and have not been formally adopted by the
council or their predecessors, and are not, there-
fore, repairable by the inhabitants at large,1
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss- x44 an<l 149.
106 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
although they may be public highways in other
respects.
Main roads (which, in the whole of England and
Wales, are over 4,000 miles in extent) are repaired
at the cost of the county council or the council of a
county borough.1
To aid the council in performing the duty of
repair, extensive powers of collecting and taking
materials on commons and private lands have been
conferred upon them, but these are of little
importance in a town.2
It has on several occasions been judicially decided
that no civil action can be maintained against the
council for damages resulting from the mere non-
repair of a highway, unless they are under some
special liability in the matter. Under certain
circumstances, however, they may be indicted at
quarter sessions or assizes for neglecting their duty
to repair, or complaint may be made to the Local
Government Board, as in the case of sewers. They
are, of course, liable in the ordinary way for the
results of work improperly or illegally carried out.
The council may erect direction posts indicating
the localities to which roads lead, and they are
compelled to do so if the justices in petty sessions
require it. They may also put up milestones, and
fence dangerous places.3
1 L. G. A., 1888, s. 11.
2 Highways Act, 1835, ss- 51 — 57 ; Commons Act, 1876,
s. 20.
8 H. A., 1835, s. 24; Highway Rate Assessment Act,
1882, s. 6.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 107
It is a rule of law that " once a highway, always
a highway." The council may, however, divert a
highway by securing from two justices a certificate
that the new highway to be substituted for the old
one is nearer or more commodious, and afterwards
obtaining an order of quarter sessions authorising
the closing of the old highway. If any person
interested in the matter desires to oppose the
diversion, he may appeal to a jury at the quarter
sessions. Similar proceedings may be taken to
stop up an unnecessary highway.1 A highway may
also be closed by authority of an Act of Parliament,
or it may cease to exist by such natural causes as
an inundation of the sea, etc.
The council have wide powers for the protection
of their highways, and may, by summary pro-
ceedings, compel the removal of obstructions or
encroachments, and require the pruning or lopping
of trees and hedges if they obstruct a highway or
exclude the sun or wind from the surface. They
may also take all necessary steps for draining their
highways.2 Unfenced quarries and mines, and
barbed wire fences which are likely to injure
persons or animals using a highway, may be dealt
with by them, and a magistrate's order obtained
directing fences to be provided, or barbed wire to
be removed.3 Such orders may be carried out by
1 H. A, 1835, ss. 84—93.
a H. A., 1835, ss. 26, 65 and 66; H. A., 1864, s. 51;
L. G. A., 1894, s. 26.
3 Quarry Fences Act, 1887 ; Barbed Wire Act, 1893.
108 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
the council if the person to whom they are directed
does not obey them. To make an excavation near
a highway, which is a nuisance to the public, is an
offence indictable at common law.
The Highways Acts, 1835 and 1864, create a
number of offences in relation to highways, such as
injuring the surface, riding or driving any horse,
cattle, or vehicle on the footpath ; discharging guns,
pistols, or fireworks; laying materials or suffering
offensive matter to flow on a highway ; allowing
cattle to stray, using a vehicle without the owner's
name and address being painted on the off side of
it ; driving on the right-hand side of the road when
meeting any person, vehicle, or cattle ; preventing
any person from properly using the highway ; or
furiously riding or driving so as to endanger the
life or limb of any passenger. Other offences
which may be committed on unfenced land near
the highway, such as sinking shafts, erecting steam
engines, or making fires, are perhaps of more
importance in a rural than in an urban district.
If the council fail to maintain or repair any of
their highways, the county council may make an
order limiting the time within which the work is to
be done, and if such order is not obeyed, the latter
body may appoint some person to carry it out,
and direct that the expenses shall be paid out of
the funds of the negligent council. Should this
authority dispute their liability, the matter must be
decided by trial at the assizes.1 It is needless to
1 Highways and Locomotives Act, 1878, s. 10.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 109
say that, as the council of a county borough
possess practically all the powers of a county
council, they are not in this matter subject to any
other authority.
Although main roads are, as previously stated,
prima facie vested in and maintainable by the
county council, the town or urban district council
have in many cases elected to repair them, or the
county council have required them to do so, and
in those instances they carry out the work in
return for an annual contribution from the county
council, the amount of which is settled by the
Local Government Board, in case of dispute.1
The responsibility for the condition of those
roads rests, of course, primarily upon the county
authority, who are empowered to make bye-laws
as to their use, the size of the wheels which may
be used, the method of descending hills, and other
matters.2 The widening of main roads is often
carried out by town or urban district councils, who
bear the greater portion of the expense, and are
content to receive the balance as a contribution
from the county authority.3
The county council (including the London
County Council) have also power to contribute
towards the repair and improvement of any high-
way or footway in the county.4 The lighting of
1 L. G. A., 1888, s. 11.
* Highways and Locomotives Act, 1878, s. 26.
3 Highways and Bridges Act, 1891, s. 3.
4 L. G. A., 1888, ss. 11 and 41.
no MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
main roads is wholly within the jurisdiction of the
town or urban district councils.
Occasionally, of course, changes in population
lead to alterations in the character and importance
of a road, and the county council may in such
cases declare any particular highway to be a main
road, or apply to the Local Government Board for
an order reducing a main road to the status of an
ordinary road. If the latter is within a municipal
borough, however, the consent of the town council
must be obtained to the alteration.1
Should any council charged with the repair of a
highway consider that such highway has become
unnecessary, they may ask a court of summary
jurisdiction to declare that it need not be repaired
at the public expense. The decision of the magis-
trates is subject to an appeal to the county council,
who may restore to its former position a highway,
the repair of which has been discontinued, upon
proof that the circumstances under which the
justices made their order have changed.2
The Highways Act, 1835, applies to the
administrative county of London. Both main
and local roads are, however, vested in and repair-
able by the borough councils. The councils
have the same immunity from actions for damages
resulting from non-repair as are enjoyed in other
urban districts. The stopping up or diversion of
1 H. and L. A., 1878, ss. 15 and 16; H. B. A. 1891,
s. 4.
* H. and L. Act, 1878, s. 24 ; L. G. A., 1888, s. 3.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION, in
highways is carried out by the method already
referred to.1
The provisions of the Barbed Wire Act, 1893,
are applicable to the county of London, the
borough councils being the bodies authorised to
carry it into execution.
2. Streets.
Public Streets.
Since the abolition of turnpike roads, practically
all highways are streets, but in much of the recent
legislation on such matters specially applicable to
urban areas, the latter term has been employed.
" Street " is defined in sect. 4 of the Public Health
Act, 1875 (which applies, of course, to all municipal
boroughs and urban districts), as including " any
highway and any public bridge (not being a
county bridge), and any road, lane, footway,
square, court, alley or passage, whether a thorough-
fare or not."
All public streets, i.e., those maintainable by
the inhabitants at large, vest in the council.2 This
vesting, however, is confined to the surface of the
streets, which they must keep in good condition.
The soil beneath does not necessarily pass to them,
but usually remains the property of the persons to
1 M. M. A., 1855, ss. 96 and 98 ; Lon. Gov. Act, 1899,
ss. 6 and 7.
* P. H. A. 1875, s. 149-
ii2 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
whom the adjoining land belongs, and who may
work the minerals, providing they do no damage
to the surface.1
The council have power to purchase land for
improving public streets, or, with the sanction of
the Local Government Board, for making a new
street. They may, by agreement with the owners,
adopt and maintain streets or bridges privately
constructed, or undertake to repair them. They
may also construct a bridge at the expense of a
canal, railway or tramway company, or, with the
consent of two-thirds of the council, contribute
towards the construction or alteration of a private
street or bridge.3
Compulsory powers for the purchase of land in
order to construct new streets or widen existing
streets may be obtained by provisional order or
Act of Parliament.
In the event of a house or building, or the front
of a house or building, in an existing street, being
pulled down, the council of a municipal borough or
urban district may prescribe the line at which it is
to be rebuilt, but they must compensate the owner
for any injury suffered by him in consequence of
their decision.3 The land thus rendered vacant
remains, of course, the property of the owner of the
house, and is not included in the street. The
consent of the council must also be obtained before
1 Highways and Locomotives Act, 1878, s. 27.
a P. H. A., 1875, ss. 147, 148 and 154.
3 P.H.A., 1875,5.155.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 113
any building in a street may be erected or brought
forward beyond the front main wall of the house or
building on either side of it.1
The council may plant trees and provide refuges
and cabmen's shelters in the public streets, and
make regulations and charge fees for the use of the
shelters. They may also permit statues and monu-
ments to be erected in the streets, and maintain
and remove them afterwards.2
The council are responsible for the efficient
lighting of the streets in their district, and although
they may compel owners of land fronting upon
private streets to provide proper means of lighting,
they rarely do so, but light those streets at the
public expense. They may contract for the supply
of gas or electricity, if they are not themselves
empowered to supply either of those illuminants,
and they can, of course, provide lamps and lamp-
posts. In the unlikely event of no company or
person being authorised to supply gas for public or
private purposes within the district, the council
may do so.3
They are also enabled to provide public clocks
in the streets, and they may maintain and light any
public clock in their district, although it may not be
actually vested in them.4
Bye-laws may be made by the council to prevent
1 Public Health (Buildings in Streets) Act, 1888.
2 P. H. A., 1890, ss. 39—43.
8 P. H. A, 1875, s. 161.
4 P. H. A, 1875, s. 165 ; P. H. A, 1890, s. 46.
M.M. I
ii4 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
danger or obstruction to streets from telegraph
or telephone posts and wires (except when erected
by the Postmaster-General or by undertakers
under the Electric Lighting Acts), to impose the
duty of cleansing the footways and pavements
on the occupiers of adjoining premises, and for
the prevention of nuisances in streets arising
from snow, rubbish, etc.1
The Local Government Board have power to
confer upon the council the powers of a parish
council, under which they may undertake the
repair of any public footpath in their district,
although they may not be legally liable for such
repair.2
The council have important powers with regard
to the use of the streets. If the district is not
within the area of the metropolitan police (which
includes the whole of Middlesex and portions
of Surrey, Kent, and Essex within fifteen miles
of Charing Cross), they may issue orders for
regulating the street traffic during public proces-
sions, etc., and near churches and places of public
worship during divine service on Sundays and
other holy days. They may also give directions
to the police as to the method of keeping order
in the vicinity of places of public resort. Their
annual licence is necessary to enable any hackney
carriage, omnibus, wagonette, etc., to ply for hire,
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 44 ; P. H. A., 1890, ss. 13—15.
3 L. G. A., 1894, ss. 13 and 33.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 115
and a similar licence must be obtained by the
driver of such a vehicle, or the proprietors, drivers,
and conductors of any horse, pony, mule, or ass
standing for hire. The council may make bye-laws
for regulating the conduct of such persons, and
revoke or suspend a licence if the holder is con-
victed a second time for an offence against the
bye-laws or any statute relating to carriages,
omnibuses, etc.1
The metropolitan police deal with these matters
in the metropolitan police district.
The council must name the streets and number
the houses within their district, but they can
compel the occupiers of the houses to affix the
numbers. They are also empowered to remove
projections in streets, at the expense of the person
offending, to compel occupiers of cellars to provide
proper doors if opening on to the street, to enforce
the provision of suitable waterspouts to buildings,
in order to prevent water falling upon pedestrians
or flowing over the footpath, and the provision
of hoardings, with lighted and railed platforms for
foot passengers, where the construction, repair
or demolition of a building obstructs the public
footpath.2
The council may compel an owner to protect
dangerous buildings or holes near a street, and
1 Towns Police Clauses Act, 1847, ss. 21, 22, 37 — 52
and 68 5 T. P. C. A., 1889 ; P. H. A., 1875, ss. 171 and 172.
8 Towns Improvement Clauses Act, 1847, ss. 64 — 80 ;
P. H. A., 1875, s. 160; P. H. A, 1890, s. 34.
I 2
n6 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
to light and protect the deposit of building
materials or rubbish, or any excavation.1
The surveyor of the council may require ruinous
and dangerous buildings to be pulled down or
repaired. If default is made in compliance with
his notice, he may summon the person responsible
before the magistrates, who are empowered to
order the work to be carried out. Should the
order not be obeyed, the council may do the work,
and recover the expense by selling the materials,
or by proceeding against the owner.2
These powers are in addition to those conferred
by the Housing of the Working Classes Acts, with
regard to dangerous buildings, and referred to
on page 92.
The Towns Police Clauses Act, 1847, s- 2^>
provides a punishment for a number of common
offences in the street, with many of which a local
authority is often compelled to deal, such as
laying rubbish on streets, placing goods on the
footway, erecting blinds and other projections
so that they are less than eight feet from the
ground, etc.
The definition of a " street " within the county
of London is very similar to that in other urban
districts.3 All streets vest in the city and
borough councils, who are charged with the duty
1 T. I. C. A., 1847, ss. 81—83.
2 T. I.C A., 1847, ss. 75— 78.
8 M. M. A., 1855, s- 25° J M- M. A., 1862, s. 112 ; Lon.
Bldng. Act, 1894, s. 5 ; P. H. L. A., 1891, s. 141.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 117
of repairing, lighting and cleansing them.1 The
London County Council may make, widen or
improve any of the streets in the county, and,
with their consent, the borough councils may also
do so. The county council may, of course, agree
with any one or more of the borough councils
to share the cost of an improvement which is for
the benefit of the whole county as well as of
the boroughs in which the street is situate.
For the purpose of altering or improving a
public street, the borough councils have power
to acquire land or buildings compulsorily, without
the necessity of obtaining a provisional order. If
their offer to purchase is refused, the amount of
compensation to be paid by them is settled by a
jury.3
In the event of a street being within the area of
more than one borough, the county council may
order it to be repaired and lighted by the council
of one of those boroughs, and adjust the expense.3
The county council have power to prevent the
erection of buildings beyond the general line of
building frontage, outside the city, in the same
way as the council of a municipal borough, already
referred to.4
Vaults and sewers under the public streets
1 M. M. A., 1855, ss- 9°> 96, 98, 130 and 144 ; M. M. A.,
1862, s. 72 ; P. H. L. A., 1891, s. 29.
2 Met. Paving Act, 1817, ss. 80—82 ; M. M. A., 1862, s. 73.
8 M. M. A., 1855, ss. 140 and 160 ; M. M. A., 1862, s. 86 ;
Lon. Gov. Act, 1899, s. 6.
4 Lon. B. Act, 1894, part 3.
n8 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
cannot be constructed without the consent of the
borough council, and must be kept in proper repair.
The council can also require the removal of pro-
jections into streets, and their licence must be
obtained to the erection of hoardings, which must
be provided when building works are carried on
adjoining any public street, and the footway is
thereby rendered inconvenient, or when buildings
or walls are taken down within ten feet of a public
thoroughfare.1
The council may stipulate, as a condition of
their licence, that advertisements shall not be
exhibited on the hoardings, or they may permit
such advertisements on payment of an agreed
sum.2
The borough councils and metropolitan police
have also wide powers of dealing with other
encroachments upon, or obstructions in, the streets,
including the collection of money for charitable
purposes, etc.3
The borough councils may make bye-laws for the
prevention of nuisances arising from snow, rubbish,
etc., and the county council may make bye-laws as
to overhead wires.4
Before the Postmaster- General can construct a
1 Met. Paving Act, 1817, ss. 70, 71 and 75; M. M. A.,
1855, ss. 101, 102, 119 — 123 ; L. C. C. Act, 1890, s. 32 ; Lon.
Bldng. Act, 1894,5.90.
2 Advertisement Stations Rating Act, 1889.
8 Met. Pav. Act, 181 7, s. 65 ; Met. Police Act, 1839, s. 60 ;
L. B. A., 1894, s. 73 ; Met. Streets Act, 1903.
4 P. H.L.A.,i89i,s. 16; London Overhead Wires Act, 1 891.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 119
telegraphic or telephonic line over, along, or across
any street, whether in London or the provinces, he
must obtain the consent of the council in whose
district it is situate.1 If this consent is refused, or
conditions are attached to it which the Postmaster-
General considers are unreasonable, he may appeal
to the judge of the local county court, or to the
stipendiary magistrate, if one has been appointed
for the district. A further appeal from either side
may be made to the Railway Commissioners. Any
of these latter authorities may, of course, attach
conditions if they sanction the erection of the line.
The work of breaking up the roads may only be
undertaken after due notice to the council, who
may carry out the excavation and re-instatement
at the expense of the Post Office. In many cases,
the council endeavour to insist that the wires shall
be laid underground, in order to avoid the erection
of unsightly poles, but where they recognise that
an appeal to a higher authority on this point would
be useless, or where such an appeal is unsuccessful,
they often agree to carry out the road work at their
own expense, if that will induce the Post Office to
place the lines underground.
Private Streets.
In all towns which are in course of development,
a large part of the work of the council is concerned
with the construction of new streets by private
1 Telegraph Acts, 1878 and 1892.
120 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
owners and builders.1 They have power to make
bye-laws to regulate this matter, including require-
ments as to level, width, and sewerage. These
streets are not repairable by the council unless that
body have formally adopted them, but they may
undertake the work by agreement with the person
or company owning them or responsible for their
repair. They may also compel the owners of
premises abutting on such streets to do the neces-
sary sewering, levelling, paving, metalling, flagging,
and channelling, and to provide means of lighting.
Notices must be served upon the owners requiring
them to carry out the work, but the council must
at the same time prepare plans and estimates
showing what is needed, and the probable expense
involved. The usual practice is for the owners to
ignore these notices, whereupon the council must
make up the streets, and recover the cost from the
owners, according to the extent of their frontage,
or declare the expenses incurred to be private
improvement expenses due from the owners. The
incumbent or minister of any church, chapel, or
place appropriated to public religious worship,
which is exempt from the payment of poor rate, is
not liable for such expenses.
When some or all of these works have been
carried out, the council may by resolution declare
the street to be a highway repairable by the
inhabitants at large, but this resolution has no
*? P. H.A., 1875, ss. 148—157.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 121
effect if within a month a majority in number or
value of the owners object in writing.1
These provisions as to making up and adopting
private streets have been the subject of much
litigation, and the Private Street Works Act, 1892,
was passed with a view to improving matters in
this respect. This Act is only in force in the
470 districts where the council have adopted it by
special resolution. In those cases, the council may
resolve to carry out the necessary repairs to the
street without previously requiring the owners to
do so. The usual plans and preliminary estimate,
however, must be prepared. The owners have a
month in which to object to any of the proposed
works, or to the expense which will be incurred,
and any such objection is summarily decided by
a reference to the magistrates. The council are
empowered, in adjusting the apportionment of the
expense upon the frontagers, to have regard to the
greater or less degree of benefit derived by the
premises from the works, and the amount or value
of the work already done by the owners or occupiers,
whilst they can also obtain a contribution from the
owner of premises to which access is obtained from
the new street. Upon the completion of the works,
the surveyor of the council must make a final
apportionment, showing the amount due in respect
of each property. Any owner may, within a month,
object to this apportionment, and the matter is
1 P. H. A., 1890, s. 41.
122 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
decided by the magistrates n the same way as an
objection to the preliminary estimate or specifica-
tion.
Under this Act, the council are also empowered
to contribute to the expense of repairing a new
street, and the trustee, as well as the minister, of a
place of public worship, is relieved from payment
in respect of that building. The council may
adopt the street as a public street, although all the
usual works may not have been completed, and
although the owners may object — in fact, if the
whole of the works mentioned in the Act are
carried out, and the majority in value of the
owners request the council to take the road over,
they must do so.
Railway and canal companies benefit by this
Act, as they are not liable to pay in respect of
their land fronting to the street if it is used by
them solely as a part of their undertaking, unless
and until they make an entrance to the street.
The cost which would otherwise be paid by the
company is divided amongst the other frontage
owners. In the case of a place of religious worship,
however, the amount involved is defrayed by the
council.
The procedure for the recovery of expenses
incurred by the council for the repair of private
streets and other matters is dealt with on page 30.
Occupiers of property in private streets are, of
course, liable to pay full rates, although those
streets are not repaired by the council.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 123
In the administrative county of London, the
county council have made bye-laws with regard to
the construction of new streets, and plans of the
work must be approved by them before the streets
can be commenced.1
The borough councils may enforce the repair of
new streets within their area at the expense of
the frontage owners, and for that purpose they
have powers akin to those of the councils of other
boroughs. They can collect the estimated cost
before actually commencing the work, but when
the repair of a street is completed, they must
continue to maintain it at the public expense.
Owners of land abutting on private streets may be
charged at a lower rate than owners of houses.
The councils may also agree to take payment by
instalments spread over a period not exceeding
twenty years.2
A metropolitan borough council may also repair,
at the expense of the frontage owners, any carriage
road within their district which has been open to
public traffic for at least six months, but which it
is not deemed advisable to take over as a public
street, without in any way prejudicing their right
to subsequently put it in the same condition of
efficiency as the other roads in the borough, at the
cost of the owners. The liability of railway
1 M. M. A., 1855, s. 105 ; M. M. A., 1862, ss. 77 and 80 ;
Lon. Bldng. Act, 1894, part 2.
2 M. M. A, 1855, s. 105 ; M. M. A., 1862, s. 77 ; M. M. A,
1862, Amendment Act, 1890.
i24 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
companies whose land abuts upon such a road is
no greater than under the Private Street Works
Act, 1892, already referred to.1
No portion of the subsoil of a private street may
be taken away, so as to alter the level of the street,
without the consent of the borough council. An
appeal against the refusal of the latter authority in
this matter may be made to the county council,
whose decision is final.2
3. Locomotives, etc.
The duty of a highway authority is merely to
keep it in a proper condition for the ordinary
amount of traffic which may be expected, and if
the road suffers from unusual weight or extra-
ordinary traffic, the council may recover the extra
expense occasioned by such weight or traffic from
the person by or in consequence of whose order
it has occurred. Legal proceedings in the matter
must, however, be commenced by the council
within twelve months of the damage being com-
mitted, or within six months of the completion of
the contract or work in connection with which such
damage was done.3
Damage by extraordinary traffic is usually caused
by locomotives, and special provisions (which
operate within the metropolis, as well as in other
1 M. M. A., 1890, s. 3.
a M. M. A., 1890, s. 6.
• H. and L. Act, 1878, s. 23 ; Locomotives Act, 1898, s. 12.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 125
towns and districts) have been made by the
Legislature with regard to those vehicles.
With the exception of light locomotives, to be
dealt with later, their speed is restricted to two miles
an hour in a town or village, and four miles an hour
in other districts. They must also be constructed
so as to consume their own smoke. Detailed regula-
tions have been laid down as to the weight, wheels,
tyres, and method of driving such locomotives.1
Locomotives used solely by a road authority or
for agricultural purposes, or which are not used for
haulage, must be registered with the council of the
county or county borough in which they are used.
All other heavy locomotives must be licensed by
such a council, and, if used in any other district,
must also be licensed there, or payment of a daily
fee must be made. Steam rollers belonging to the
council and used in their district are exempt from
both registration and licensing.2
The council of any county or of a municipal borough
with a population of 10,000 may make bye-laws
prohibiting or restricting the use of locomotives on
certain highways and bridges, and regulating their
use generally, but any district council or owner
concerned may appeal to the Local Government
Board against those bye-laws.3
The council, or any other authority having the
1 Locomotives Act, 1861, s. 4 ; Locomotives Act, 1865, s. 4;
Locomotives Act, 1878, ss. 28 and 30.
2 Locomotives Act, 1898, ss. 9 and 10.
8 L. A., 1898, s.6.
126 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
repair of a bridge, may prohibit the passing of a
locomotive over it by posting a notice stating that
it is insufficient to carry weights beyond the
ordinary traffic of the district, and, if the alleged
insufficiency is questioned, the matter must be
decided by the Local Government Board. In any
event, no such locomotive may be allowed to meet
a similar vehicle whilst on the bridge. The owner
and person in charge of a locomotive are also liable
for any damage it does to a river, canal or railway
bridge while crossing.1
Light locomotives (or motor cars) are specially
dealt with by the Locomotives on Highways Act,
1896, and the Motor Car Act, 1903. They must
be under five tons in weight unladen, and not be
used for the purpose of drawing more than one
vehicle (which may bring the total unladen weight
up to six and a half tons), and must also be so
constructed that no smoke or visible vapour is
emitted, except from temporary or accidental
cause. The council of any county or county
borough may make bye-laws preventing or restrict-
ing the use of such vehicles on bridges, if damage
to the bridges or danger to the public is anticipated,
and the Local Government Board may make regu-
lations with respect to their use on highways, their
construction, and the conditions under which they
may be used. On the application of the council,
the Board may also prohibit or restrict the use of
1 L. A., 1861, ss. 6 and 7 ; L. A., 1898, ss. 7 and 8.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 127
the cars in crowded streets or in other places where
they may cause danger to the public.1
Motor cars must be registered with the council
of a county or county borough, upon payment of a
fee of 20s., or $s. for a motor cycle. The Local
Government Board have issued regulations assign-
ing to each of the registration councils an index
mark consisting of some letter or letters of the
alphabet, and this mark, with the number of the
car in the register of the council, must be affixed to
the card, in accordance with such regulations.
Drivers of motor cars must also take out an annual
licence from the council of the county or county
borough in which they reside, at a cost of $s. each.
The Motor Car Act, 1903, creates a number of
offences with regard to the use of unlicensed cars,
failure to affix the plate showing the index mark
and number, driving recklessly, or negligently, or
dangerously to the public, or at a speed greater
than twenty miles an hour, or exceeding any rate of
speed prescribed by the Local Government Board
on the application of the council of a county or of
a municipal borough with a population of 10,000,
or the common council of the city of London.
These councils must set up sign posts in their
districts to denote dangerous corners, cross roads
and precipitous places, and give public notice of
any regulations made by the Board with regard to
their area.
1 L. A., 1896, ss. 1 and 6 ; Heavy Motor Car Orders, 1904
and 1907.
128 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The Board have issued a special heavy motor car
order as to the construction of cars weighing more
than two tons unladen, imposing restrictions as
to their speed, varying with weight, up to a
maximum of twelve miles per hour.
Cycles.
Cycles are included as carriages within the
meaning of the Highways Acts. Any cyclist using
a highway must carry a lighted lamp between one
hour after sunset and one hour before sunrise, and
must signal his approach by sounding a bell or
whistle, etc., when overtaking any foot passenger,
beast of burden, or vehicle.1
Although this provision only applies to cycles,
the council of any borough or county may deal
with the question of lights being carried by other
vehicles after dark, under their power to make
bye-laws for " the good rule and government " of
their district.2 A return issued by the Home
Office in August, 1906, showed that the councils of
all the administrative counties in England and
Wales (except Merionethshire) and the councils
of 245 out of 325 boroughs had made bye-laws
providing that lights should be affixed to vehicles
from an hour after sunset until an hour before
sunrise. These bye-laws, however, differed con-
siderably in the stringency of their terms.
1 L. G. A., 1888, s. 85.
8 M. C. A., 1882, s. 23 ; L. G. A., 1888, s. 16.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 129
4. Communication and Transit.
Tramways.
Tramways may be constructed by the council or
by a company under powers conferred upon them
by Act of Parliament, or by a provisional order
granted by the Board of Trade and confirmed by
Parliament.1 An application by the council for
such an order must be authorised by a resolution
passed at a special meeting attended by two-thirds
of their members. If a company are the applicants,
they must obtain the consent of the council, but
the Board of Trade have power to dispense with
this consent if the tramways are to be constructed
in more than one district, and the sanction is
obtained of councils of the districts in which at
least two-thirds of the tramways will be laid. It is
obvious that the necessity of obtaining the consent
of the council gives the latter an opportunity of
making conditions advantageous to the residents
in the district, such as the reduction of fares for
workmen, frequency of running trams, widening of
streets, etc.
The Board of Trade usually hold a local inquiry
into any application for a provisional order which
they receive. The Tramways Act, 1870, lays down
details as to the advertising of the scheme, and the
notices which have to be given ; and the Board
have also made rules as to the procedure to be
1 Tramways Act, 1870.
M.M. K
i3o MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
followed. The provisional order always contains
regulations as to the nature of the tramway, the
charges which are authorised, etc., but it does
not give powers for the compulsory acquisition
of land.
The standing orders of both Houses of Parliament
provide that before any private Bill authorising
tramways can be introduced, the consent of the
local authority must be obtained, in the same
manner as though the matter were being dealt with
by provisional order.
A company constructing a tramway must
observe the provisions of the Tramways Acts, 1870,
for the protection of the council, with regard to
breaking up streets, and they are also liable to
repair to the satisfaction of the council the track
between each pair of rails, the roadway within
eighteen inches of the outside rails, and the road-
way between pairs of rails, if there is a distance of
not more than four feet between each of them.
If the company cease to work the tramway for
three months, except for some reason beyond their
control, the Board of Trade may recall their
powers and authorise the council to remove the
tramway at the expense of the company. Under
these circumstances the council may, with the
approval of the Board, purchase the undertaking
so far as it is within their district, or used for the
purposes of the tramways within their district, the
price to be the value of the property purchased,
exclusive of allowance for profits or compulsory
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 131
sale. The council may also purchase the under-
taking on the same terms at the expiration of
twenty-one years after the granting of the com-
pany's powers, or at the end of any subsequent
period of seven years, if they resolve to do so at a
meeting consisting of two-thirds of their members,
summoned after a month's notice. They may
acquire the undertaking by agreement, after it has
been opened for six months.
The council of a municipal borough or urban
district, or of the administrative county of
London, may make bye-laws (which may be dis-
allowed by the Board of Trade) with regard to the
speed of the trams and other details, and (subject
to the approval of the Local Government Board)
as to the carriages, drivers and conductors, and
they may license the carriages and drivers, if their
district is outside the metropolitan police area.
The owners of the tramway undertaking may make
bye-laws (which may be disallowed by the Board
of Trade) with regard to the conduct of passengers
and others on the carriages.
The council have no power under a provisional
order or the Tramways Act, 1870, to work their
tramways, but they must lease them to a com-
pany unless they obtain a special Act giving them
permission to work the undertaking themselves.
In the county of London, tramways are in the
hands of the London County Council and private
companies. In constructing new tramways, the
former body are obliged to obtain the consent of
K 2
1 32 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
the borough councils, who are the road authorities,
just as though they were a company.
The return of the Board of Trade for 1905-6
showed that local authorities in England owned
162 tramway undertakings (of which they operated
113 and leased the remainder). Their capital
outlay was £30,533,309, and their tramways carried
1,244,220,700 passengers, at an average fare of
i*o8d., resulting in a net revenue of £2,060,951, or
a return of 6f per cent, on the capital of the under-
takings worked by the councils.
Companies owned 106 undertakings, and worked
102, including those leased from local authorities,
the remainder being apparently not in use. Their
capital outlay was £16,785,251, and their tramways
carried 559,757,126 passengers, at an average fare
of i*2 id., earning a net revenue of £960,304, or
a return of 4J per cent, on the capital of the whole
of the undertakings worked by companies.
Light Railways,
The council of any county, municipal borough
or urban district may obtain from the Light Rail-
way Commissioners a provisional order, which
must be confirmed by the Board of Trade,
authorising them to construct a light railway.1
A light railway is a tramway worked by steam
or electric power upon the public highways, and the
commissioners will not, as a rule, grant a pro-
visional order for such transit entirely within a
1 Light Railways Act, 1896.
HIGHWAYS AND COMMUNICATION. 133
borough or an urban district, on the ground that
it should be dealt with as a tramway.
The application for an order may be made by
the council either alone or jointly with any com-
pany. If the commissioners refuse the order, an
appeal may be made to the Board of Trade, who
may send the matter back to the commissioners.
An order granted to a company may authorise the
council to advance a limited sum of money towards
the expenses of a railway, on condition that they
are represented on the directorate. If the council
apply for an order, and the railway extends beyond
their district, it must be worked jointly with the
council of the neighbouring district, or the Board
of Trade will limit their expenditure to their own
district. Any two or more councils may appoint
joint committees with regard to light railways.
Canals^ etc.
The council have no general power to construct
or acquire a canal. In some few instances, how-
ever, councils have obtained special Parliamentary
permission to assist in the support or maintenance
of a canal which is considered to be necessary for
the welfare of the district, a notable example
being an investment of some £5,000,000 by the
corporation of Manchester in the Manchester
Ship Canal.
Under the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888,
s. 45, a company owning a derelict canal may
obtain from the Board of Trade a warrant releasing
i34 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
them from their liability to maintain it, and the
Board may impose upon them a condition that the
canal shall be transferred to the county, town or
district council.
The London County Council own and maintain
a fleet of passenger steamers on the Thames, under
the Thames Steamboat Service Act, 1904. By
virtue of special powers, the same authority and
several other councils also provide ferry-boats to
ply upon rivers within their boundaries.
Omnibuses.
The general law does not enable the council to
run omnibuses, either alone or in connection with
their tramway undertaking. Some few authorities,
however, such as the corporations of Eastbourne
and Todmorden, maintain a service of motor
omnibuses by authority of local Acts of Parliament
or otherwise.
CHAPTER IV.
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS.
i. Police and Administration of Justice. 2. Protection
from Fire. 3. Diseases of Animals. 4. Weights and
Measures. 5. Testing of Gas. 6. Employment of
Children. 7. Shop Hours and Shop Seats. 8. Care
of Lunatics 9. Storage and Sale of Petroleum.
10. Explosives. II. Slaughter-houses. 12. Game
Licenses. 13. Emigration Agents, etc. 14. Pleasure
Boats. 15. Race-courses. 16. Pawnbrokers' Certifi-
cates. 17. Licensing of Theatres and Music Halls.
18. Analysis of Fertilisers, etc. 19. Midwives.
20. Steam Whistles. 21. Charities. 22. Protection
of Wild Birds and Fisheries. 23. Railway Rates.
i. Police and Administration of Justice.
The establishment and maintenance of the
police force is one of the duties of the town
council in most large towns. The area within the
county of Middlesex and a radius of fifteen miles
from Charing Cross, however, including fifty
boroughs and urban districts, is policed by the
metropolitan police force, which is under the direct
control of the Home Office. The city of London
136 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
is served by a force which is organised by the
common council of the city.1
A few small boroughs with populations below
10,000, each of which formerly possessed a local
police force, were merged into the surrounding
county for this purpose by the Local Government
Act, 1888 (s. 39). Several of the other boroughs
have, by arrangement, consolidated their police
force with that of the county ; and the establish-
ment of a separate force is prohibited in newly con-
stituted boroughs having a population of less than
20,0O0.2
The control of the force is a duty which must be
delegated to the watch committee, a special body
which the council are compelled to appoint.3 This
committee is an executive authority, as it is not
included in the enactment which provides for all
acts of committees being submitted to the
council for approval. The membership of the com-
mittee must not exceed one-third of the whole
number of the council, and three members at least
must be present before the committee can act.
In boroughs policed by the county police, and in
all urban districts which are not boroughs, the
police force is under the control of the standing
joint committee, composed of an equal number of
representatives from the county council and the
county justices.
1 Met. Police Acts, 1829 and 1839.
2 County Police Acts, 1840, s. 14, and 1856, ss. 5 and 20;
M. C. A., 1882, s. 215.
3 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 190 and 191.
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 137
One half of the cost of the pay and clothing of the
police is granted by the Government, if the force is
certified by the Home Office inspector to be in an
efficient state. The grant to non-county boroughs
is made in the first instance to the county councils,
but the latter must pay it over in due course if the
necessary certificate is given.1
Nearly all boroughs having any claim to impor-
tance have secured a separate commission of the
peace, under which justices are appointed to act
within the borough. Where such a commission
has been granted, the Lord Chancellor may appoint
any person to be a borough justice, but the latter
cannot act unless he is a resident or occupier of
premises in the town or within seven miles thereof.2
These appointments are often made on the recom-
mendation of the town council, or by the influence
of a political association. The justices appoint
their clerk, but his salary is fixed by the Home
Secretary, and is paid by the council.3
In boroughs and urban districts not having
separate commissions of the peace, the county
justices act. They are appointed by the Lord
Chancellor, usually on the recommendation of
the Lords Lieutenant of the counties, and need not
possess any special property qualification.4
Some few boroughs have, on special grounds,
1 Loc. Gov. Act, 1888, ss. 20 — 25.
8 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 156—160.
8 Crim. Justice Administration Act, 1851 ; Justices' Clerks
Act, 1877 ; M. C. A., 1882, s. 159.
* M. C. A., 1882, s 154 ; Justices of the Peace Act, 1906.
138 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
obtained the appointment of a stipendiary magis-
trate. Such an official is appointed by the Crown,
upon the advice of the Home Secretary, to whom
any request by the council for the appointment of
a paid magistrate must be made. The person
appointed must be a barrister of seven years' stand-
ing, and his salary is fixed by the Home Secretary
and paid from the borough fund.1 Stipendiary
magistrates act in the metropolitan police courts
outside the city of London. They may also be
appointed for any urban district having a popula-
tion of 25,ooo.2
The fines recoverable in a summary manner
before the borough justices, and for the applica-
tion of which no special provision has been made
by Parliament, are payable to the treasurer of the
county, unless the borough has a separate court of
quarter sessions, when they go to the borough
treasurer.8
The Crown may grant a special court of quarter
sessions for a borough. The Recorder, who is
appointed by the Lord Chancellor, is judge at the
sessions, and receives a salary settled by the Home
Office and paid from the borough fund. The clerk
of the peace, who is clerk to the court, is appointed
by the council. The Recorder has precedence in
all places within the borough next after the
Mayor.4
1 M.C.A., 1882, s. 161.
2 Stip. Mag. Act, 1863.
8 Sum. Juris. Act, 1848, s. 31 ; M. C. A., 1882, s. 221.
4 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 162—169.
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 139
The town council of a county borough are liable
to pay the expenses attending the prosecution of
any felony committed in the borough, or other
offence of which the expenses of prosecution are
payable as in the case of a felony. In other
towns these expenses are paid out of the county
fund.1
The quarter sessions of the administrative county
of London are presided over by a chairman or
deputy chairman, who are appointed by the Home
Department, and whose salaries are paid by the
county council. The latter body are responsible
for the expenses of prosecution in cases of felony
and similar offences committed within the county.2
The council of a quarter sessions borough, with
a population of 10,000, which is either a county
borough or received its grant of quarter sessions
prior to 1888, must appoint a fit person (who cannot
be a member of the council) to be coroner. In
other districts, including the county of London,
inquests are held by the coroners appointed by the
county council.3
2. Protection from Fire.
The council of a municipal borough or urban dis-
trict may establish a fire brigade, and provide fire
1 M. C. A., 1882, s. 169 ; L. G. A., 1888, s. 35 (5).
9 L. G. A., 1888, s. 42 ; London (Quarter Sessions) Act,
1896.
3 M. C. A., 1882, s. 171 ; L. G. A., 1888, ss. 5, 34 and 38.
i4o MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
engines and all the necessary appliances for extin-
guishing fires. The brigade may attend fires outside
the district, but in this event the owners of the
premises where fires occur must pay the reasonable
expenses of the brigade. No charge can be made
for attending fires within the district of the
council.1
In boroughs where a separate local police force
is maintained, the constables may be employed as
members of the fire brigade.2
It is the duty of the council to secure an adequate
provision of water for the purpose of extinguishing
fires, and also to cause proper fire plugs to be fitted
on the water system for use at fires. Water com-
panies governed by the Waterworks Clauses Acts
are bound to fix such plugs, and to supply the
necessary water at the expense of the council.3
The council may enter into an agreement with
any neighbouring parish council for the use of the
fire engines in such a parish.4
It is an offence to set a chimney on fire, or
negligently permit it to catch alight, or to give a
false alarm of fire.6
The council's bye-laws as to new buildings may
be made, amongst other purposes, with a view to
1 Towns Police Clauses Act, 1847, ss« 32 an<l 33*
2 Police Act, 1893.
8 P. H. A., 1875, s. 66; Waterworks Clauses Act, 1847,
ss. 37—43-
4 Parish Fire Engines Act, 1898.
8 Towns Police Clauses Act, 1847, ss. 30 and 31 ; False
Alarms of Fire Act, 1895.
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 141
the prevention of fires, and bye-laws may also
be made to secure reasonable means of escape in
case of fire at factories and workshops.1
The metropolitan fire brigade is under the
control of the London County Council.2
3. Diseases of Animals.
The council of a municipal borough having a
population of over 10,000 is entrusted with the
task of dealing with contagious diseases of animals,
and with enforcing the orders made by the Board
of Agriculture to prevent the introduction of
destructive insects.
In other towns the matter is in the hands of the
county councils, and the common council act for
the city, and the county council for the remainder
of the administrative county of London.3
The council must elect an executive committee,
the membership of which may include any rated
occupier in the district, and this committee must
appoint a veterinary inspector, who has full powers
of entry upon premises where animals are kept, in
order to carry out his duties. The diseases which
may be dealt with are cattle plague, pleuro-pneu-
monia, foot and mouth disease, sheep-pox, sheep-
scab, and swine fever, and any other disease which
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 157; Factory and Workshop Act, 1901,
s. 14.
a Met. Fire Brigade Act, 1865.
8 Destructive Insects Act, 1877; Diseases of Animals
Acts, 1894, 1896 and 1903.
i42 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries may add to
this list. Immediately such a disease occurs, the
owner of the animal affected must separate it from
healthy animals, and inform the police. The
veterinary inspector, or an inspector of the Board,
may declare the premises containing the animal to
be an infected place, and if the disease spreads the
Board may schedule a wider district as an infected
area, from or into which animals may not be moved
without compliance with conditions laid down by
the Acts, or by orders of the Board. The Board
may cause infected or suspected animals to be
slaughtered, upon payment of a limited amount of
compensation, and may also issue orders requiring
or authorising the councils to have such animals
slaughtered on payment of compensation out of
the local rates. Other orders which the Board
have power to issue relate to the temporary pro-
hibition and regulation and cleansing of markets,
the disinfection of infected places or areas, the
muzzling of dogs, seizure of stray dogs,1 and the
issue of authority to the councils to make regula-
tions for any of the purposes of the Acts. The
chief orders already made by the Board are the
Cattle Plague, the Pleuro-pneumonia, Foot and
Mouth Disease, and Sheep-pox Orders of 1895 ;
the Sheep-scab Orders of 1905, 1906, and 1907 ; the
Swine Fever Orders of 1894, 1901-2-3-4, and 1906 ;
the Glanders Order of 1894; the Rabies Order of
1 Dogs Act, 1906.
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 143
1897 ; the Anthrax Order of 1899 ; the Epizootic
Lymphangitis Order of 1905 ; and the Dogs Order
of 1906. Copies of these orders may be obtained
from the Board of Agriculture, Whitehall, S.W.
The council may establish a place for the recep-
tion, sale, and slaughter, etc., of foreign cattle, and
charge tolls for the use of the accommodation thus
provided.
Two or more councils may combine for the
formation of a joint committee to administer the
Acts. If any council fail to carry out their duties
with regard to the diseases of animals, the Board
of Agriculture may appoint a person to do the
work at their expense. It should be added that
the Board, through their district inspectors, exercise
keen supervision over local authorities in order to
prevent or diminish the amount of infectious disease
amongst animals, and it is claimed that, in spite of
the number and variety of the orders they have
issued (which must be bewildering to the agricul-
turists chiefly concerned), their efforts have been
rewarded with marked success.
4. Weights and Measures.
The local authorities entrusted with the work of
putting into execution the law relating to weights
and measures are primarily the town council in a
municipal borough with a population of 10,000, the
common council in the city of London, and else-
where (including London) the county council.
i44 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Unless the borough has a court of quarter sessions,
however, the council must pass a formal resolution
undertaking to act in the matter ; otherwise the
county council will be the authority in their
district.1
The authority under the Act must provide local
standards of weights and measures (which must be
verified at least once every five years in the case of
weights, and every ten years in the case of
measures), and appoint a proper number of in-
spectors.2 The chief duties of these officials are to
verify and stamp weights and measures brought to
them for that purpose (for which work the council
may charge fees8), and to inspect the district, seize
false weights and measures, and prosecute the
persons using them.
The council may make bye-laws and regulations,
which require the approval of the Board of Trade,
with regard to the comparison of weights and
measures with the local standards, etc., and as to
the duties of the inspectors.4
The sale of coal by retail is specially dealt with
by Part 2 of the Act of 1889, under which the
council have power to make bye-laws (also to be
approved by the Board of Trade) for regulating the
sale in quantities not exceeding two hundred-
weight, and with regard to weighing instruments to
1 Weights and Measures Act, 1878, s. 50, sch. 4 ; L. G. A.,
1888, s. 39.
3 W. and M. A., 1878, ss. 40—49-
8 W. and M. A., 1904, s. 9.
4 W.andM.A., 1878,5.53; W.andM. A., 1889, ss. 1 and 9.
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 145
be carried in vehicles containing coal for sale or in
course of delivery to a purchaser.
The financial adjustment between counties and
non-county boroughs whose councils carry out the
Acts is provided for by the Weights and Measures
Act, 1893.
The exercise of the powers of the council is
carried on under the general supervision of the
Board of Trade, who hold examinations for the
purpose of granting certificates of proficiency to
persons desirous of becoming inspectors of weights
and measures.1
The testing and stamping of gas meters is carried
out by the councils of counties, and of municipal
boroughs where the Sale of Gas Act, 1859, nas
been adopted, but in boroughs where the supply of
gas is in the hands of the council, the matter is
dealt with by the justices.2 Boroughs with a
population of 10,000 form part of the county for
this purpose.
5. Testing of Gas.
Gas companies deriving their powers under
private Acts incorporating the Gas Works Clauses
Act, 1 87 1 (as is the case with most companies in
provincial towns), must provide and maintain
proper premises and apparatus for testing the
illuminating power of their gas, and for detecting
1 W. and M. A., 1889, ss. 10 and 11 ; W. and M. A.,
1904, ss. 5, 7 and 8.
2 L. G. A., 1888, ss. 3, 34 and 39; W. and M. A., 1889, s. 15.
M.M. L
t46 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
the presence of sulphuretted hydrogen, which is
forbidden. The illuminating power is usually
regulated by the private Act, but, if not, it must
be in accordance with the detailed standard con-
tained in the Clauses Act. Where the latter
measure is not in force, provisions of a similar
nature, with regard to the examination of gas, are
included in local Acts, or special measures such as
the London Gas Act, i860.
6. Employment of Children.
The council of a borough containing a population
of over 10,000, or of an urban district containing a
population of over 20,000, and elsewhere the county
council, may make bye-laws (subject to confirma-
tion by the Home Secretary) to prohibit, restrict,
or regulate the employment of children under
fourteen years of age, and street trading by children
under sixteen years of age, under the Employment
of Children Act, 1903, and the Prevention of Cruelty
to Children Act, 1904. It is their duty also to
enforce many of the provisions of the former Act.
In the administrative county of London the
county council are the authority for this matter,
except in the city, where it comes within the
control of the common council.
7. Shop Hours and Shop Seats.
The Shop Hours Act, 1904, enables orders with
regard to the closing of shops to be issued by
the council of every municipal or metropolitan
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 147
borough, and of every urban district with a popula-
tion of 20,000, and in other towns by the county
council. The term "shop" includes every place
where retail trade is carried on, with certain excep-
tions, such as a post-office, chemist's shop or
dispensary, refreshment house, tobacco dealer's,
newsagent's, etc. Before issuing an order, the
council must publish notice of their intention,
consider any objections that may be received, and
then be satisfied that it is expedient, and that the
occupiers of at least two-thirds of the shops affected
approve the order. When the order is made, it
must be confirmed by the Home Secretary, after
which it has the force of an Act of Parliament,
unless an address to the Crown is presented against
it by either House of Parliament. The Home
Secretary may make regulations as to the method
of obtaining an order, and also hold a local inquiry
as to any proposed order.
The order may fix the hour at which all shops
or shops of a particular class are to be closed, either
throughout the district or in any part of it. Such
hour is not to be earlier than seven, except upon
one day in the week, when it may be as early as
1 p.m.
The Act does not appear to have been very
successful in securing the compulsory earlier closing
of shops. In May, 1907, the Home Secretary
stated that 112 closing orders had been made,
affecting 9,000 shops, and perhaps 1 5,000 persons
out of a possible total of 800,000 persons, and that in
L 2
1 48 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
districts where the Act was more seriously wanted
than anywhere else (such as the metropolis) it had
been practically inoperative.
The Shop Hours Acts, 1892 and 1895, limit the
time during which a person under eighteen years
of age may be employed in or about a shop (with
certain defined exceptions) to seventy-four hours
per week, including meal times, and make it com-
pulsory for a notice to this effect to be exhibited in
every shop employing such a person. These latter
Acts are carried into effect by the town and county
councils, but if an order under the Act of 1904 is
in force in any metropolitan borough, or urban
district which is not a borough, the county council
can delegate their powers under the Acts of 1892
and 1895 t0 the council of such borough or district.
Shop Seats.
The council of any county or of any municipal
borough may appoint an inspector to enforce the
provisions of the Seats for Shop Assistants Act,
1899, which requires one seat to be provided for
every three female assistants employed at a retail
shop.
8. Care of Lunatics.
The council of every county and county borough,
and of some twenty-eight small but ancient boroughs
specified in the fourth schedule of the Lunacy Act,
1890 as amended by the Lunacy Act, 1891, are
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. i4q
charged with the duty of providing asylum accom-
modation for pauper lunatics within their districts.1
For this purpose they are given power to purchase
land and to build or enlarge asylums, and to pur-
chase houses licensed for the reception of lunatics.
Any two or more authorities may, with the sanction
of the Home Secretary, unite for the purpose of
jointly carrying out their duty in this matter.
Some of the non-county boroughs, referred to
above, have since become merged into their counties
for lunacy purposes.
The council must appoint a visiting committee,
consisting of not less than seven members, two of
whom must visit the asylum and see each of the
patients at least once every two months. The
committee must make an annual report to
the council, and the task of providing asylum
accommodation may be delegated to them.
The Commissioners in Lunacy, who are appointed
by the Lord Chancellor, exercise considerable con-
trol over the acts of the visiting committee and the
council. Their approval is required, through the
Home Secretary, to the plans of new asylums,
contracts for the reception of lunatics from other
localities, and many other matters, while they may
also compel any defaulting authority to enforce the
provisions of the Lunacy Act.
Non-pauper patients may be received into the
asylums upon terms to be arranged, if there is
room for them.
1 Lunacy Act, 1890.
150 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The visiting committee must fix a weekly sum,
not exceeding 14s. per head (payable by the
guardians), as the cost of maintenance, and of all
other expenses, of each inmate of the asylum, but
the council themselves may increase this sum.
The deficiency, if any, is defrayed by the
council from the borough rate, to be referred to
later.
Pauper lunatics may be detained in the work-
house in suitable cases, upon the certificate of the
medical officer of the workhouse and a justice's
order, but the Lunacy Commissioners may remove
such lunatics to an asylum.
The Lunacy Act, 1890, contains a number of
detailed provisions which must be observed in the
conduct and management of asylums.
The last published report of the Lunacy Com-
missioners, for the year 1906, showed that there
were then no less than 121,979 lunatics, of whom
89,342, or 73*2 per cent, were in the eighty-nine
county and borough asylums, while 17,742 were
in workhouses and in the asylums of the Metro-
politan Asylums Board, and the remainder were
in registered hospitals, state asylums and licensed
houses. The average weekly cost per head in the
county and borough asylums was 14^. 4^., of
which 4s. was in respect of the sinking fund and
interest on £18,981,039, the cost of land and
buildings. The expenditure upon maintenance
of lunatics was chiefly defrayed by £1,592,232
taken from the rates, £289,163 received from
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 151
patients or their relatives, and ^745,802 from
Parliamentary grants and payments from the
Exchequer Contribution Account.
9. Storage and Sale of Petroleum.
The annual license of the council of a municipal
borough or urban district is necessary to the
storage of more than three gallons of petroleum,
but a person who is refused a license has a right
of appeal to the Home Secretary.1 The licensee
may hawk petroleum in quantities of twenty
gallons or less, under the conditions laid down in
the Petroleum Acts, providing that he also has a
hawker's license.
The Home Secretary has made regulations
under the Locomotives on Highways Act, 1896,
permitting the owner of a motor car to store sixty
gallons of petroleum for the purposes of those
vehicles, but if the storage is within twenty feet
of a building, or of inflammable material, notice
must be given to the council in January of each
year.
Most councils employ petroleum inspectors to
ensure that the Acts are not infringed. An
inspector may obtain a search warrant from the
magistrates if he believes petroleum to be wrong-
fully kept in any particular place, but there is
unfortunately no provision compelling wholesale
dealers in petroleum to notify the council or
1 Petroleum Acts, 1871, 1879 and l8Sl*
152 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
inspector of any deliveries they make in the
district.
The licensing authorities for the administrative
county of London are the common council for the
city, and the county council for the remainder of
the county.
10. Explosives.
The local authorities under the Explosives Act,
1875, are tne councils of counties and county
boroughs, and the common council of the city of
London.1 They may issue annual licenses for the
manufacture of fireworks, and their assent is required
to the establishment of an explosive factory or
magazine, which must be licensed by the Home
Office, but an appeal against the decision of the coun-
cil in this matter may be made to that department.
It is also the duty of the council to license
stores for explosives and to register the names
and addresses of shopkeepers and others who keep
explosives on their premises. With the consent
of the Home Office, they may themselves establish
a magazine for the storage of explosives, if this
course of action will conduce to the safety of the
public.
The council should appoint inspectors to prevent
the manufacture or storage of explosives on
unlicensed premises, but the powers of those
inspectors do not include entry on factories and
1 L. G. A., 1888, ss. 3 and 7.
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 153
magazines licensed by the Home Secretary. In
all cases, the regulations made by Orders in
Council and by the Home Office must be complied
with.
11. Slaughter Houses.
A private slaughter house or knacker's yard
which existed prior to 1848 need only be registered
with the council. Any other slaughter house or
knacker's yard must be annually licensed by them,
and all such places must be carried on in accord-
ance with the bye-laws on the subject made by the
council.1
In the county of London these matters are dealt
with by the common council in the city, and
elsewhere by the county council, but the inspectors
of the borough councils have a right of entry
to slaughter houses in order to enforce the
observance of the statutory provisions and the
bye-laws.2
12. Game Licenses.
A person who deals in game (including hares,
pheasants, etc.) must obtain the license of the
council before he can purchase the necessary
excise license. The former license expires in July/
each year, and must therefore be renewed annually.8
y\
1 Towns Improvement Clauses Act, 1847, ss. ^25 — 12&;
P. H. A., 1890, s. 29 — 31 /
3 P. H. (London) Act, 1891, s. 20. /
8 Game Act, 1831 ; Local Gov. Act, 1894, ss.. 27 and 32.
154 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Game licenses are granted by the magistrates
within the adminstrative county of London.
13. Emigration Agents, Etc.
Emigration agents, known as passenger brokers
and emigrant runners, must be licensed annually
by the council of the borough or district in which
they have their place of business, or by the
justices in the administrative county of London.1
Gang-masters of agricultural gangs must be
licensed by the council every six months.1
14. Pleasure Boats.
The council of a municipal borough or urban
district may license proprietors of pleasure boats
and vessels, and persons in charge of the latter,
and may make bye-laws on the subject, including
stipulations as to the number of persons to be
carried, the rates of hire, and the qualification of
boatmen, etc.2
Traffic on the Thames is regulated by the
Thames Conservancy.8
15. Racecourses.
It is unlawful to hold a horse race within ten
m-iiles of Charing Cross without a license from
1 Mei-Chant Shipping Act, 1894, ss. 341—348 j Agricultural
Gangs Aa* l867 . L. G. A., 1894, s. 27.
*p.h a> l8y
3Th.Con..Ac^l894:
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 155
the council of the county or county borough in
which the course is situated.1
16. Pawnbrokers' Certificates.
Pawnbrokers' certificates are issued annually
by the council of a municipal borough or urban
district, and (except in the case of a pawnbroker
established in 1872, or his executors, assigns or
successors), the necessary excise license can only be
obtained from the Inland Revenue authorities on
production of the council's certificate.2 The Pawn-
brokers' Act of 1872 contains a form of the certificate,
and lays down the procedure which the applicant
must follow. The council can only refuse an
application if he does not produce satisfactory
evidence of good character, or if his shop or any
adjacent place owned or occupied by him is
frequented by thieves or bad characters, or if the
formal steps as to the notice are not complied with.
An appeal against the refusal can be made to
the quarter sessions.
Pawnbrokers' certificates are issued by the
magistrates within the county of London, outside
the city.
17. Licensing of Theatres and Music
Halls.
Before any premises can be used for the public
performance of stage plays, it is necessary that
1 Racecourse Licensing Act, 1879 ; L. G. A., 1888, s. 3 (5).
a Pawnbrokers' Act, 1872 ; Loc. Gov. Act, 1894, ss. 27
and 32.
156 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
they should be licensed, unless they are carried on
under the authority of letters patent from the
Crown. Licenses for the performance of stage
plays are issued annually by the councils of
counties and county boroughs (or the bodies to
whom they delegate this duty l), except in certain
districts in London, and in places where the King
resides, when the matter is within the jurisdiction
of the Lord Chamberlain.
Music and dancing licenses are granted by the
magistrates in towns where sect. 51 of the Public
Health Act, 1 890, has been adopted, but when the
premises are within twenty miles of the cities of
London and Westminster, or in Middlesex, the
councils of the counties or county boroughs issue
them.2
18. Analysis of Fertilisers, etc.
Under the Fertilisers and Feeding Stuffs Act,
1906, a county council must, and the council of a
county borough may, appoint an official agricultural
analyst, and one or more official samplers, to take
and analyse samples of fertilisers and feeding stuffs.
For the purpose of making these appointments,
which are subject to the approval of the Board of
Agriculture, two or more councils may combine.
The Act also gives authority for a council to con-
tribute towards the expenses incurred by any
1 Theatres Act, 1843 ; L. G. A., 1888, ss. 3 and 7.
* Disorderly Houses Act, 1 75 1 ; Music Licenses (Middlesex)
Act, 1894.
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 157
agricultural body or association in causing samples
to be taken.
19. MlDWIVES.
The councils of counties and county boroughs
are local supervising authorities under the Mid-
wives Act, 1902, but county councils may delegate
their powers and duties under the Act to the
council of any municipal or metropolitan borough
or urban district.
A woman may not use the title of midwife
unless she holds a certificate from the Central
Midwives Board. After April 1st, 1910,110 woman
will be permitted habitually and for gain to attend
other women in childbirth, otherwise than under the
directions of a qualified medical practitioner, unless
she is certified and has given written notice to the
local supervising authority of her intention to
practise. The Authority exercise control over the
conduct of all midwives, whom they may suspend
from practice if necessary to prevent the spread of
infection. A copy of the roll of midwives is kept
by each Authority.
20. Steam Whistles.
The sanction of the council of a municipal or
metropolitan borough or urban district must be
obtained to the use of steam whistles or steam
trumpets used to summon or dismiss workmen*
If the sanction is given, the Local Government
158 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Board may revoke it on the representation of any
person prejudicially affected.1
21. Charities.
The Local Government Board may issue an
order conferring upon the council of a borough or
urban district the powers of a parish council,
enabling them to administer non-ecclesiastical
charities.2 In most large towns, however, the local
charities are managed by charity trustees, in
accordance with a scheme approved by the Charity
Commissioners. The council are usually entitled
to a limited number of representatives upon any
such board of trustees.
The council of a county or county borough are
expressly authorised to pay or contribute towards
the cost of inquiries by the Charity Commissioners
into the public charities of their districts.8
22. Protection of Wild Birds and
Fisheries.
The Wild Birds Protection Act of 1880 prohibits
the taking of the birds described in the schedule
to the Act, during certain seasons of the year.
The council of a county or county borough may
apply to the Home Secretary to extend the list of
1 Steam Whistles Act, 1872.
a L. G. A., 1894, ss. 8, 14, 33, and 75.
3 Charity Inquiries Act, 1892.
PROTECTIVE AND REGULATIVE POWERS. 159
birds so protected, and to issue an order prohibiting
the taking or destroying of specified eggs of wild
birds. If such an order is issued, it is the duty of
the council to give public notice of it.1
Upon the application of the councils of a county
or of a borough with a population of 20,000, whose
area includes part of the sea coast, the Board of
Agriculture may make an order creating a sea
fishery district, under the control of a committee
consisting of members of the council or councils
concerned, and others representing the persons
interested in the fishery. Such an order must be
confirmed by Parliament. The committee have
power, amongst other matters, to make bye-laws
regulating the sea or shell fishing within their
district, and to stock a fishery for shell-fish.2
Upon a similar application from a county council
the Board may create a fishery district to include
the rivers mentioned in their order. Fishing in
those rivers will then be under the control of a
board of conservators, made up of nominees of the
council and representatives of others interested in
the fishery, as proprietors, occupiers, or licensees-
The powers of the Board will include the issue of
licenses to fish, and the making of bye-laws
regulating the period during which fishing may be
carried on.3
1 Wild Birds Protection Acts, 1880, 1881, 1894, 1896, 1902
and 1904.
2 Sea Fisheries Acts, 1888, 1891 and 1894.
8 Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Acts, 1865, 1873, 1876,
1878, 1884, 1886 and 1892; Board of Agriculture Act, 1903.
160 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
23. Railway Rates.
Under the Railway and Canal Traffic Act, 1888,
the council of a county, borough, or urban district
may lodge an official complaint with the Board of
Trade as to unfair or unreasonable charges made
by a railway company within their district, and the
Board may then endeavour amicably to settle the
matter between the parties, and, in any event, must
report upon the subject to Parliament.
CHAPTER V.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS AND SERVICES.
i. Water Supply. 2. Gas Works. 3. Electricity Supply.
4. Telephones. 5. Public Baths and Wash-houses.
6. Public Pleasure Grounds. 7. Commons. 8. Allot-
ments. 9. Small Holdings. 10. Public Libraries.
11. Museums and Gymnasiums. 12. Markets and
Fairs. 13. Slaughter-houses and Knackers' Yards.
14. Unemployed Workmen. 15. Assistance in Pur-
chasing Small Dwellings. 16. Provision of Military
Lands. 17. Inebriates' Reformatories and Retreats.
18. Ancient Monuments. 19. Advertising.
i. Water Supply.
The supply of pure water is naturally a subject
within the jurisdiction of the council of a muni-
cipal borough or urban district. They are bound to
require every house in their district to be furnished
with a proper water supply if it can be provided at
a reasonable cost. If the existence of a house
without such a supply is discovered, they must
serve notice on the owner to lay on the supply, and
if that notice is not complied with, they may them-
selves do the work and recover the expense from
him, or the local water company may supply him
with water and recover their usual charges.1 The
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 62 ; P. H. (Water) Act, 1878, ss. 3
and 11.
M.M. M
1 62 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Local Government Board have the same powers of
compelling the council to perform their duty in
this matter as they have with regard to the
provision of sewers.1
If a company have already obtained power to
supply the district with water, the council may take
on lease any existing waterworks, or (with the
sanction of the Local Government Board) purchase
such works or any rights of the company. They
may also purchase any water mills, dams, weirs,
etc., which would interfere with the supply, or
they may buy water in bulk. Compulsory powers
for the purchase of land for the purposes of a
water undertaking may be obtained by means of a
provisional order or a local Act.2
If the company fail to give a proper and sufficient
supply for all reasonable purposes, the council may,
after proper notice, supply water without obtaining
any special powers.3
A council supplying water usually recoup them-
selves by charging water rates for the domestic
supply, and rents agreed upon with the consumer,
or charged by meter, for water used for special
purposes, such as dairies, breweries, or gardens.4
In practice a profit is often made, which is either
employed in extending the undertaking, or reduc-
ing the water rates, or in relief of the general
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 299.
2 P. H. A., 1875, ss- 5!> 63 and !75-
8 P. H. A., 1875, s. 52.
* P. H. A., 1875, ss. 56—60.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 163
district rate. Unless, however, the council possess
special powers under local Acts or otherwise, they
cannot, for the purpose of making a profit, legally
charge higher rates than are actually necessary.
The council have the same power to lay water
mains within and without their district as they
have in the case of sewers, and they may also, with
the sanction of the Local Government Board,
supply water to another local authority. They are
not bound to provide water for public baths or for
manufacturing purposes, even in their own district,
but they may, if they choose, supply such baths
free of charge.1
Stringent provisions are contained in various
Acts of Parliament against polluting the water
supply, and the council have special powers (which
may also be exercised by the county council) to
protect streams and watercourses. All public
pumps and wells used for a gratuitous supply of
water automatically vest in the council (and in a
borough council in the county of London), and they
may take proceedings before the magistrates to
secure the closing of any polluted well or tank.
They may also provide and maintain public
fountains.2
The water supply to the county of London and
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 54, 61, and 65.
2 P. H. A., 1875, ss- :7> 64, 68—70 ; Rivers Pollution Acts,
1876 and 1893; Waterworks Clauses Act, 1847, ss. 61 — 67;
Waterworks Clauses Act, 1863, ss. 16 and 17 ; P. H. A., 1890,
s. 47; P. H. L. A., 1891, ss. 48— 54.
M 2
1*4 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
the outlying districts, which were formerly supplied
by the various metropolitan water companies, is
now provided by the Metropolitan Water Board, a
body consisting of forty members, fourteen of
whom are appointed by the London County Council,
two by the Common Council of the City, two by the
City Council of Westminster, one by each of the
remaining metropolitan borough councils, and the
remainder by the local authorities of the districts
outside the county of London, but included within
the metropolitan water area.1
No government department issues a periodical
return as to water undertakings, but it appears
that, outside London, the supply in over half the
towns is in the hands of the council, or a joint
committee of two or more councils. The amount
of capital sunk in such undertakings exceeds
£55,000,000, and the annual average surplus of
gross income over expenditure is about £2,000,000.
The debt of the Metropolitan Water Board, which
consists chiefly of the compensation paid to the
defunct companies, and the debenture stock of
those bodies which was taken over upon their
undertakings being transferred to the board, is
£47,415,652. Some idea of the magnitude of the
board's work may be gathered when it is mentioned
that during the year 1905-6 they gave an average
daily supply of 218,007,041 gallons, or 32 J gallons
per head to an estimated population of 6,747,196.
1 Metropolis Water Act, 1902, s. 1.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 165
2. Gas Works.
We have already seen that the council may con-
tract for the supply of an illuminant for the purpose
of lighting their streets, and if no company or
person is authorised to supply gas for private or
public purposes within the district, the council may
do so. In this event, however, they require special
legislative powers to enable them to break up the
streets for the purpose of laying pipes, etc.
The council may also purchase by agreement
the undertaking of any gas company. They may
acquire powers to supply gas within their district,
and to lay their mains in the public streets, by a
provisional order obtained from the Local Govern-
ment Board under the Gas and Water Facilities
Acts, 1870 and 1873 (which do not apply to the
metropolis), and confirmed by Parliament. They
may also obtain compulsory powers to establish or
acquire a gas undertaking, by means of a local Act
of Parliament. l
The supply of gas in the administrative county
of London is in the hands of companies.
The return of the Board of Trade with regard to
statutory gas undertakings for 1905-6 showed
that 221 local authorities in England and Wales
carried on such undertakings. They supplied gas
at an average charge of 2s. ^\d. per thousand feet,
and made a net revenue of £2, 120,529, this being
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss- l6j and l62-
1 66 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
a return of 6f per cent, upon a capital outlay of
£31,225,432.
The undertakings owned by companies numbered
467. The average cost of their gas was 2s. 8%d.
per thousand feet, and their net revenue was
£4,085,433, or a return of 5 per cent, upon a capital
outlay of £83,095,335.
3. Electricity Supply.
The council of a municipal or metropolitan
borough or urban district may obtain authority to
supply electricity for the purposes of lighting or
electric power in their district by provisional order
granted by the Board of Trade, and confirmed by
Parliament, under the Electric Lighting Acts,
1882 and 1888, or by a special Act of Parliament,
or by licence from the Board of Trade for a limited
term of years. If they have obtained the neces-
sary powers, they may contract with a private com-
pany for the execution and maintenance of the
works, but any transfer of their legal rights or
liabilities must receive the consent of the Board of
Trade.
The Board of Trade cannot grant a provisional
order to a company except with the consent of the
council, unless that consent is refused and the
Board are of opinion, on special grounds, that it
should be dispensed with. The consent of a
council is also necessary to a licence for the supply
of electricity being given to a private company or
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 167
person. In cases where the supply of electricity is
in private hands, by the operation of any provi-
sional order or Act of Parliament, the council may
purchase it at the end of forty- two years, at the
fair market value of the undertaking, without any
addition for compulsory purchase, prospective
profits or goodwill, unless a shorter period or a
different price is specified in the order or Act. In
the event of a dispute as to the market value, the
matter is to be determined by arbitration.
It should be added that the grant of a provi-
sional order or a licence to either the council or a
company does not confer a monopoly upon them.
In the administrative county of London electri-
city is supplied by sixteen borough councils and
thirteen companies.1
No recent return has been issued by the Board
of Trade showing the comparative results of the
supply of electricity by local authorities and com-
panies. It appears, however, that nearly 500 local
authorities have obtained powers of supply, and 200
of them carry on electric lighting works. In the
remaining cases the powers are either in abeyance
or arrangements have been made for electricity to
be supplied by companies.
4. Telephones.
The Postmaster-General may grant to the
council of any borough or urban district a licence
1 Lon. Elec. Lighting Areas Act, 1904.
168 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
to provide a system of public telephones for a
limited period, and within an area defined in the
licence, which may extend beyond the boundaries
of the borough or district.1 The licence of any
existing telephone company serving the same area
must also be extended for the whole of the period
specified in the council's licence if the company
undertake not to favour or give preference to any
person in the area, and to maintain their charges
between certain minimum and maximum rates
prescribed by the Postmaster-General.
The metropolitan telephone area, which extends
for a considerable distance beyond the boundaries
of the county of London, is served by the systems
of the General Post Office and the National
Telephone Company.
The extension of municipal telephones has been
curtailed by the decision of the Post Office to
acquire the undertaking of the National Telephone
Company in 191 1, and their opposition to the
granting or extension of licences to municipalities
beyond that period. With two exceptions, the
councils who originally embarked upon a tele-
phone undertaking have since sold their plant to
the Post Office or to the National Telephone
Company.
5. Public Baths and Wash-houses.
Before the council can undertake the provision
of public baths and wash-houses, it is necessary
1 Telegraph Act, 1899,
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 169
that they should adopt the Baths and Wash-
houses Acts, 1846, 1847, l878, 1882, 1896, and
1899. They have then full power to erect such
buildings, or to provide open-air bathing places
and drying grounds, and all necessary furniture
and appliances. They may also purchase or lease
existing baths, either within or near their district1
The swimming baths may be closed for a period
of not more than five months in the year, beginning
at November, and used as gymnasiums or recrea-
tion rooms, or for the purposes of music and dancing,
if licensed, subject to the condition that no money
may be taken at the doors. If any baths which
have been provided by the council and maintained
for a period of seven years are found to be un-
necessary, or too expensive, they may be sold,
with the approval of the Local Government
Board.2
The council have, of course, power to make bye-
laws for the regulation of the baths, and to fix
charges for their use, within the maximum amount
allowed by the Acts of 1847 ancl 1878.3
In the administrative county of London, all
the borough councils have adopted the Public
Baths Acts.
If any part of the sea-shore or strand of a river
within a municipal borough or urban district is
1 Baths, etc., Acts, 1846, ss. 1, 25 and 27 ; 1878, s. 3 ; 1882,
s. 2.
2 Baths Acts, 1846, s. 32 ; 1878, s. 5 ; 1896, s. 2 ; 1899, s. 2.
8 Baths Act, 1878, s. 6.
170 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
used as a bathing place, the council may make
bye-laws as to the method of bathing therefrom.1
6. Public Pleasure Grounds.
The council of a county or of a municipal borough
or urban district have extensive powers of providing
pleasure and recreation grounds.2 They may
purchase or lease any land, within or without their
district, suitable for this purpose, make bye-laws for
regulating the use of the grounds, and contribute
towards the support of any other lands used by
the public as pleasure grounds. They may also
provide or arrange for the provision of boats to be
let on hire for use on any lake in a pleasure ground
under their jurisdiction. They may close any of
their grounds on special days, not exceeding twelve
in any one year, or on four consecutive days, and
grant the use of such grounds gratuitously or for
payment to a public institution, or for a public
purpose. No ground, however, is to be closed on
a Sunday or on a public holiday.3
In the administrative county of London, pleasure
grounds are provided by the county council
and the city and borough councils, under the
Open Spaces Act, 1906, the Metropolitan Manage-
ment Acts, and various Acts obtained by the
county council.
Trustees of open spaces and squares may transfer
1 Towns Police Clauses Act, 1847, s. 69.
8 P. H. A., 1875, s- l64 ! Open Spaces Act, 1906.
8 P. H. A., 1890, ss. 44 and 45.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 171
them to the council of a borough, district, or county,
permanently or for a term of years, with a view to
their enjoyment by the public, upon complying
with certain conditions as to the consent of the
persons for whose benefit they were originally
provided. The freeholder of a closed churchyard
or disused burial ground is also given similar
powers, but if such a ground is consecrated the
license or faculty of the bishop of the diocese is
necessary.1
If an enclosed garden or ornamental ground in
a borough has been irrevocably set apart for the
use of the inhabitants, and it is neglected, the
council may take charge of it.2 The common
council are the authority in this matter for the city,
and the London County Council for the remainder
of the administrative county of London.
Bands of Music.
There is no general legislative power enabling a
council to maintain or subsidise a band of music
out of the rates, but many councils have obtained
private Acts of Parliament which permit them to
do so, and in other cases arrangements are made
by which bands play in the recreation grounds
either gratuitously, or in return for permission to
sell programmes, or to make a charge for the use
of chairs which they provide. The latter practice
is not, perhaps, legally correct.
1 Open Spaces Act, 1906.
2 Town Gardens Act, 1863.
172 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
7. Commons.
Commons may now be regulated or enclosed by
provisional order made by the Board of Agricul-
ture and confirmed by Act of Parliament. At the
public inquiry which the Board hold before
making the order, the council of any borough or
urban district with a population of 5,000, within
six miles of the common, may be represented.
Such a council may also acquire a common or
common rights, and contribute towards works to
be carried out in connection with the regulation of
a common for the benefit of the town.1
The council may aid persons in maintaining
rights of common where the extinction of such
rights would be prejudicial to the public, but the
consent of the county council must be obtained,
except in the case of a county borough.2
The council may also make schemes for the
regulation of commons within their district, subject
to the consent of the Board of Agriculture, and to
no objection being received from the owner of the
soil of the common, or from the owners of one-third
in value of the interests in the common.3
The commons within the metropolitan police
district are regulated by schemes made under the
Metropolitan Commons Acts, 1866, 1869, 1878,
and 1 J
1 Enclosure Act, 1845; Commons Act, 1876.
a L. G.A., 1894, s. 26.
3 Commons Act, 1899.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 173
8. Allotments.
The council of a municipal borough or urban
district have power to provide agricultural allot-
ments for the use of the inhabitants of their town.
If they receive a written representation from six
resident Parliamentary electors or ratepayers,
stating that allotments are required, they must
inquire into the matter, and, if they find that the
representation is correct, and allotments cannot be
provided by voluntary arrangement, they must
purchase or hire an adequate area of land, either
within or outside their boundaries, and let it in
allotments to persons belonging to the labouring
population. They must be careful to secure the
land at such a price that the whole of the expenses
(other than making public roads) may be recouped
out of the rents.1
Should it be necessary to acquire land com-
pulsorily, the council may petition the county
council (and, on their refusal, the Local Govern-
ment Board) for an order authorising the purchase
of specified land, under the Lands Clauses Con-
solidation Acts, but no park or garden, or land of
a railway or canal company required for the pur-
poses of their undertaking, may be taken, and the
convenience of the landowner whose property is
dealt with must be studied. Both the county
council and the Board may hold local enquiries
into the matter. The provisional order need only
1 Allotments Act, 1887, s. 2.
i74 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
be confirmed by the Board, but it must be laid
before Parliament if the decision of the county
council has been over-ruled. In a county borough
the order can only be granted by the Board.1
If the council of an urban district which is not
a borough do 'not act on the representations of the
six persons above referred to, the latter may
petition the county council, who may then assume
the powers of the district council in the matter,
although they may afterwards delegate the manage-
ment of the allotments to the latter body, and also
re-transfer their powers when they think fit.2
The town or district council may also obtain
from the county council a provisional order, to
be confirmed by the Local Government Board,
giving power to hire land compulsorily, for the
purpose of allotments, for a period of fourteen to
thirty-five years.3
Every county council must appoint an allot-
ments committee, not exceeding one-fourth of their
whole number, to whom all petitions with regard
to allotments must be referred in the first instance.
The county councillor representing the division
from which a petition is sent is, for that special
matter, an additional member of the committee.4
Land which has been purchased for allotments
and is not required for that purpose may, with the
1 A. A., 1887, s. 3 ; L. G. A., 1894, s. 9.
a A. A., 1890, ss. 2 and 4.
3 L. G. A., 1894, ss. 10 and 33.
4 Allotments Act, 1890, s. 3.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 175
sanction of the county council, be sold, let or
exchanged.1
The area of each allotment must not exceed one
acre, and sub-letting and the erection of buildings
(other than the necessary sheds or fowl-houses, etc.)
are prohibited. The council may make regula-
tions for governing the allotments, subject to
confirmation by the Local Government Board, and
they may appoint and remove allotment managers.
The rent of each allotment must be such as to
ensure the council against loss, and must therefore
cover payment of interest (but not sinking fund)
in respect of any loan that may be raised.2 Upon
giving up an allotment, the holder is entitled to
compensation from the council, notwithstanding
any agreement to the contrary, for fruit trees and
bushes, and drains and structural improvements
planted or made with the written consent of the
council, and also for crops (including fruit) growing
in the ordinary course of cultivation, and labour
expended upon, and manure applied, since the
taking of the last crop, in anticipation of a future
crop.3
The Allotments Acts do not apply to the
administrative county of London, except the
metropolitan borough of Woolwich. Any metro-
politan borough council may, however, secure
from the Local Government Board an order
1 A. A., 1887, s. 11.
2 A. A., ss. 6 and 7.
8 Allotments Compensation Act, 1887.
176 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
investing them with power to obtain a provisional
order for hiring land compulsorily for the purposes
of allotments.1
9. Small Holdings.
The council of a county or of a county
borough may also provide small holdings, which
are defined as meaning plots of land between
one acre and fifty acres in extent, or over fifty
acres if the annual value of such a plot does not
exceed £50.* The council of a county must, and
the council of a county borough may, appoint a
small holdings committee. Any county elector
may petition the council to put their powers into
force, and his request is thereupon referred to the
committee for report, but the councillors repre-
senting the electoral divisions or wards from which
the petition is sent, and any alderman residing
therein, must be added to the committee for this
purpose.
Upon the recommendation of the committee,
the council may, by agreement, purchase suitable
land for the purpose of selling it in small holdings
to persons desirous of buying and personally culti-
vating those plots. The council may also carry
out any works or erect any buildings necessary to
make the land available for this purpose. One
fifth of the purchase money at least must be paid
down by the purchasers, but the council may agree
1 L. G. A., 1894, ss. 10 and 33.
a Small Holdings Act, 1892.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 177
to allow one-fourth to remain on perpetual rent
charge, and to accept the balance by instalments
spread over a term of not more than fifty years.
The council may also take on lease land suitable
for small holdings, and in this case, or where a
prospective tenant is unable to purchase, they may
let it in plots instead of selling it. A single holding
which is let, however, must not be larger than fifteen
acres, unless its annual value does not exceed £15.
Land must not be acquired by the council
except at such price as will, in their opinion,
enable all expenses to be recouped out of the
purchase money or rent, which they must fix at
such a reasonable amount as will guard against
loss. In no case may the charge on the rates in
carrying out the Act exceed the amount produced
by a penny rate.
The Small Holdings Act, 1892, contains a
number of conditions under which the holdings
must be occupied and cultivated. The county
council may delegate, with or without restrictions,
their powers as to the sale, letting or management
of the holdings to a committee consisting of mem-
bers of the county council and members of the
council of a non-county borough or persons
appointed by the council of an urban district,
in which the land is situate.
10. Public Libraries.
The various statutes with regard to public
libraries were codified by the Public Libraries Act,
M.M. N
178 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
1892, which may now be adopted by the council of
a municipal or metropolitan borough or urban
district without taking a poll of the voters, as was
formerly necessary.1 The rate to be raised for
library purposes must not exceed id. in the pound,2
except in the city of London and in thirty towns
where this limit has been raised or removed by
local Acts. Having adopted the Act, the council
may erect all necessary buildings, and supply
books, newspapers, maps, etc. They may also
establish public museums, science and art schools,
or art galleries, either in connection with a library
or otherwise. The use of the libraries is, of course,
free to inhabitants of the district, but charges may
be made to persons residing elsewhere. The
museums provided under the Act must be open
free of charge,
The Libraries (Offences) Act, 1898, deals with a
number of offences in relation to libraries. The
council may also make bye-laws, to be confirmed by
the Local Government Board, for securing the proper
use of the library, museum, etc. The manage-
ment of the institutions may be entrusted to a
committee, who need not all be members of the
council. Two or more councils may combine in
the provision of a joint library for their districts.
The Libraries Acts have been put into operation
in no less than 375 provincial towns, and twenty-
five metropolitan boroughs.
1 P. L. Acts, 1893 and 1901.
* P. L. A., 1892, s. 2.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 179
11. Museums and Gymnasiums.
Museums and gymnasiums may be provided by
any council who have adopted the Museums and
Gymnasiums Act, 1891. A museum which is pro-
vided under the powers of this Act must be open
free of charge for at least three days in each week,
and a gymnasium must be open free of charge for
at least two hours a day during five days in the
week. The council may regulate the admission at
other times as they please, and may close a gym-
nasium and grant its use for the purposes of
lectures, exhibitions, etc., for not more than
twenty-four days in the year, nor more than six
consecutive days.
The expenses are not to exceed the amount
produced by a halfpenny rate for the museums, and
a similar amount for the gymnasiums. The council
may sell the institutions, with the consent of
the Local Government Board, if they are found
to be unnecessary, or too expensive, after seven
years' trial. They may, of course, make bye-laws
for governing the use of the museums and
gymnasiums.
The report of the Local Government Board for
1905-6 stated that the Museums and Gymnasiums
Act had been adopted by forty-four councils,
while twenty-seven other councils had adopted the
portion relating to museums only, and four councils
N 2
180 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
had limited their adoption to the provision of
gymnasiums.
The Act does not extend to London.
12. Markets and Fairs.
The council of a municipal borough or urban
district have power to provide a market for the use
of the residents in their district, but, in doing so,
they must not interfere with the market rights of
others, and, in any event, their action must be
sanctioned by a majority of two-thirds of their
number in a municipal borough, and by the owners
and ratepayers, as set out in schedule 3 of the
Public Health Act, 1875, in an urban district
which is not a borough.1
The tolls and bye-laws framed by the council
must be approved by the Local Government
Board. The council may also buy a market or
market rights from any trading company. Any
market which they establish or purchase is subject
to the Markets and Fairs Acts, 1847, 1887 and
1891.
Reference to markets is also made in the
chapters dealing with the inspection of food supply
and diseases of animals.
Two hundred and ninety-seven markets are at
present owned by local authorities, but many of
them are comparatively unimportant, especially in
the smaller towns.
The principal metropolitan markets are owned
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss.]i66 and 168.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 181
by the Common Council of the City of London,
but others belong to private persons or companies,
and in three cases a market is the property of a
borough council.
The council have no general power to hold a
fair, but they may make representations to the Home
Secretary with a view to the abolition of any fair,
with the consent of the owner, or as to altering the
days upon which certain fairs are held.1
13. Slaughter-houses and Knackers'
Yards.
The council of a municipal borough or urban
district have power to provide slaughter-houses
and knackers' yards, but if they do so, they must
also make bye-laws with regard to the management
of such institutions and the charges to be made for
their use.2 The number of councils at present
carrying on slaughter-houses is sixty-nine.
14. Unemployed Workmen.
A new departure in municipal work was
authorised by the Unemployed Workmen Act,
1905. For many winters various local authorities
had endeavoured, by hastening their ordinary
works or undertaking larger works than would
otherwise have been the case, to provide for those
1 Fairs Acts, 1871 and 1873; Loc. Gov. Act, 1894, s. 27.
* P. H. A., 1875, s. 169.
1 82 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
who honestly sought employment, but were unable
to obtain it, owing to bad weather or depression in
trade. The Act referred to was a somewhat partial
and hurried recognition of the fact that the ordinary
poor law was insufficient to meet the problem of
unemployment. It enabled the Local Government
Board to establish distress committees in every
borough or urban district with a population of
50,000, and in other boroughs and urban districts
with a population of 10,000, if the council requested
the Board to make such an order.
These committees must consist, in proportions
determined by the order of the Board, of members
of the council and of the local poor law guardians,
and of persons experienced in the relief of distress.
One member at least must be a woman. Their
duty is to make themselves acquainted with the
conditions of labour within their area by estab-
lishing, taking over or assisting labour exchanges
or employment registers. If they are satisfied of
the bona fides of any applicant for work, and
consider his case is more suitable for treatment
under the Act than under the poor law, they may
endeavour to obtain employment for him. They
may aid in emigrating or removing such an
applicant and his dependents to a more suitable
district, and they may also provide or contribute
towards the provision of temporary work.
Their funds are furnished by voluntary contri-
butions, by grants from the Government (through
the Local Government Board) and from the rates.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 183
The latter, however, must only be expended in
paying the establishment expenses (including the
costs of a labour exchange), the cost of emigration
or removal of suitable persons, and the cost of
acquiring land with the sanction of the Local
Government Board. The total amount that can
be received from the rates must not exceed the
produce of a halfpenny rate, or, with the sanction
of the Board, a penny rate. Assistance under the
Act does not disenfranchise the recipient, as would
similar assistance from poor law sources. The
Local Government Board have issued detailed
regulations as to the method of work which should
be adopted by committees, the qualifications which
must be possessed by persons relieved, etc.
In the metropolis a distress committee has been
constituted for each borough, but their powers are
restricted to collecting information and inquiring
into any cases referred to them from the London
Unemployed Body. The latter are a committee
established for the whole of the administrative
county of London, composed of members selected
by the London County Council and the various
borough distress committees, or nominated by the
Local Government Board, and suitable persons
who may be co-opted to membership, but the
nominated and co-opted members may not exceed
one-fourth of the whole number. The central
body have power to provide temporary employment,
to establish and take over labour exchanges, etc.,
and aid emigration and removal in suitable cases.
184 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The Local Government Board may, on the appli-
cation of the council of a borough or urban district
near London, extend the Act to that district as
though it were a metropolitan borough.
In cases where no distress committee are
appointed, the council of a county or county
borough must form a special committee (who have
power to co-opt additional members to the extent
of one-fourth of the whole number), in order to
collect information as to the conditions of labour
in their district, by means of labour exchanges,
employment registers or otherwise.
The Act expires on the nth August, 1908,
unless it is then renewed by Parliament.
Apart from the above Act, metropolitan borough
councils were authorised to establish labour bureaux
by the Labour Bureaux Act, 1902.
15. Assistance in Purchasing Small
Dwellings.
Under the Small Dwellings Acquisition Act,
1899, the council of a county, or of a municipal or
metropolitan borough, or of an urban district, may
assist residents to become the owners of the houses
they occupy. Except in the case of a county or
county borough, however, it is necessary that the
council should first pass a formal resolution under-
taking to act in the matter, and, if the population
is less than 10,000, the consent of the county
council is required. If this consent is refused, an
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 185
appeal may be made to the Local Government
Board.
No house of a higher value than £400 can be
dealt with, but otherwise the council may advance
to the intending purchaser any sum not exceeding
four-fifths of the value. In no case, however,
may the advance be more than £300 in respect of
a fee simple, or a leasehold with an unexpired term
of ninety-nine years to run, or ^"240 in other cases.
The loan must bear interest not greater than 10s.
per cent, above the rate at which the council can
borrow money from the Public Works Loan Com-
missioners, and must be repaid within thirty years.
The borrower must reside in the house, and must
not be the owner of a similar house. He must
insure the premises against fire, and keep them in
good sanitary condition and repair. The Act
contains provisions as to transferring the owner-
ship of the house by leave of the council, and with
regard to the council taking possession or selling
the house if the repayment is not properly made.
When the total expenses under the Act exceed
the product of a halfpenny rate, or twice that
amount in a county or county borough, no further
advance can be made by the council for five years.
Comparatively few councils have taken action
under the Act. The Report of the Local Govern-
ment Board for the year 1905-6 showed that
sanction for 114 loans for the purchase of small
dwellings, amounting to £82,679, had been granted
to twenty-three urban and rural local authorities.
1 86 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
16. Provision of Military Lands.
The council of a county or of a municipal borough
may, at the request of one or more volunteer corps,
purchase or hire land (for a period of at least
twenty-one years) on behalf of the corps for
military purposes, and may either hold the land
themselves or lease it to the corps for a term
not exceeding ninety-nine years. They may
also contribute towards the expenses incurred by
any similar council in purchasing or hiring such
land. The hiring of the land by the council must
be by agreement, but compulsory powers of
purchase, under the Lands Clauses Consolidation
Act, 1847, may be- acquired by a provisional order
issued by the Secretary of State for War.1
17. Inebriates' Reformatories and
Retreats.
The council of a county or of a municipal
borough may provide, or contribute towards the
provision of, an inebriates' reformatory which is
certified by the Home Secretary. They may also
contribute towards the establishment of a retreat
under the Inebriates Acts, 1879 and 1888, and in
any case their licence is necessary to the establish-
ment of such a retreat.2
18. Ancient Monuments.
A county council have power to purchase any
1 Military Lands Acts, 1892, 1900 and 1903.
2 Inebriates' Act, 1898.
EXTRA-MUNICIPAL POWERS, ETC. 187
ancient monument in their own or an adjoining
county, or, at the request of the owner of such a
monument, to maintain and preserve it, or aid in
doing so.1
19. Advertising.
The councils of several towns which are resi-
dential centres or holiday resorts find it of
advantage to advertise the attractions of the
locality. In order to expend money from the
rates upon this branch of municipal enterprise,
however, they must obtain special Parliamentary
powers. Where this is too costly, arrangements
are sometimes made for the issue of local guide
books by private firms, who publish and distribute
copies free of charge in return for the receipts they
derive from advertisements in such books. Local
traders also occasionally form a committee to
defray, at their own cost, the expense of advertising
and of increasing the attractions of their town.
1 Ancient Monuments Protection Acts, 1882 and 1900.
CHAPTER VT.
FINANCIAL.
i. Rates. 2. Government Payments, etc. 3. Loans.
4. Accounts and Audit.
The expenses of the council are defrayed from
various sources, which may be broadly divided into
three classes : —
1. Rates levied upon owners or occupiers of
property within the district.
2. Contributions from Government, county
council, police court fines, etc.
3. Income from public property and public
undertakings, such as water, gas, and electric
lighting works, tramways, markets, etc.
1. Rates.
The rates usually levied in a municipal borough
or urban district are the poor rate, made by the
overseers, and the general district rate, made by
the council. In some towns, however, special pro-
visions exist with regard to the incidence of rating,
as a result of local Acts of Parliament.
Poor Rate.
In spite of its name, over half the produce of the
FINANCIAL. 189
poor rate is expended on other public matters than
the relief of the poor.
In a borough certain expenses, such as the salary
of the mayor, the costs of municipal elections,
education, public libraries, etc., are payable out of
the borough fund. This fund consists of the rents
and profits of corporate land, interest on securities,
fees paid for burgess rolls, fines on resignation,
and other similar receipts. If it is more than suffi-
cient for the purposes to which it is applicable, the
surplus may be used by the council for the public
benefit of the inhabitants and the improvement of
the borough.1 In cases where it is insufficient (as
it almost invariably is), the town council may make
a borough rate by estimating the amount they
require to make up the deficiency, dividing it
amongst the various parishes in the borough
according to their assessable value, and serving
upon the overseers of each parish a precept, requir-
ing them to pay their proportions of the whole
amount out of the poor rate, or, if the parish is not
wholly within the borough, either out of the poor
rate or to collect it as a separate rate. If the
overseers consider that their parish is aggrieved
by a borough rate, they may appeal to quarter
sessions.8
The contributions of the district to the board of
guardians are collected by means of similar precepts
served upon the overseers. The county council
1 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 139 — 143, schedule 5.
1 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 144—149.
i9o MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
also serve a precept upon the board of guardians
for the amount of their expenditure, and the
board include such amount in their demands
upon the overseers.1
The overseers, who must be " substantial house-
holders," and are usually two in number, were
formerly appointed by the local magistrates from a
list of names submitted to them by the vestry,2
but the Local Government Board have power to
transfer the appointment to the council.3 The
same remark applies to the assistant overseer, who
is the paid official of the overseers.4
It is the duty of the overseers to prepare the
annual valuation list upon which the poor rate is
levied.5 This should consist of a list of the premises
and land in the district, with a note of the gross
estimated rental of each property (that is, the rent
at which it might reasonably be expected to let
from year to year, free of all usual tenant's rates
and taxes and tithe rent charge), and the rateable
value, which is the gross value, with a deduction
for the probable annual average cost of repairs,
insurance and other expenses necessary to properly
maintain the premises.6 The rateable value of
agricultural land must be shown separately from
that of other hereditaments.
1 County Rates Act, 1852, s. 26.
a Poor Relief Act, 1601.
8 Loc. Gov. Act., 1894, s. 33.
4 Poor Relief Act, 18 19.
6 Union Assessment Act, 1862.
6 Parochial Assessment Act, 1836, s. 1.
FINANCIAL. 191
This valuation list is kept by the overseers for
public inspection during fourteen days, and is then
submitted to the assessment committee for approval
or alteration. The committee, consisting of from
six to twelve members, are appointed by the board
of guardians, or, where a poor law union is co-
extensive with a borough, by the guardians and
the town council in equal proportions. An objec-
tion to the valuation of the overseers may be made
to this committee by any dissatisfied ratepayer, and
a further appeal lies to the justices in special ses-
sions, and then to the quarter sessions, with an
ultimate appeal upon a point of law to the High
Court. The overseers may also appeal to quarter
sessions against the list as altered by the assess-
ment committee, or against the valuation list of
any other parish in the same union, as the lists are
the basis upon which are settled the proportions
due from each parish towards the common fund of
the union. The committee may correct the list on
their own initiative, and, with the consent of the
guardians, employ an expert valuer to advise
them.1
As the borough rate is collected as part of the
poor rate, it is thus usually based on the valuation
of the overseers, but if the council think this is not
a fair criterion of value, they may have an indepen-
dent valuation made.2
After the assessment committee have settled the
1 P. A. A , 1836; Union Assessment Acts, 1862 and 1864.
1 M. C. A., 1882, s. 144.
192 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
list, it is re-deposited with the overseers for public
inspection, in order that any objections to the altera-
tions may be made and considered before the com-
mittee finally approve the list.
The overseers may at any time make a supple-
mental valuation list, and they must do so if the
assessment committee order it. The county
council may also cause a special list to be prepared
for the purposes of the county rate, which, as already
remarked, is collected by means of a precept served
by the county council upon the various boards of
guardians within their area.
When the valuation list is finally settled by the
assessment committee, and the overseers are aware
of the amounts of the various demands made upon
them, it is their duty to formally make the poor
rate for the parish, and to collect the same. The
rate is usually made half-yearly, to meet the pre-
cepts and expenses for which the overseers are
responsible during the ensuing six months. An
appeal against the rate may be made to quarter
sessions if a preliminary objection has been made
to the assessment committee.
Before the rate becomes enforceable, it must
receive the consent of two justices of the peace,
and on the following Sunday it must be published by
posting notices on or near the doors of the churches
and chapels in the parish.1
The poor rate is not levied equally upon all
1 Poor Relief Act, 1601 ; Poor Law Act, 1844, s. 63 ; Parish
Notices Act, 1837.
FINANCIAL. 193
classes of property. Agricultural land (excluding
parks, gardens, pleasure grounds and racecourses)
is only liable to the extent of one half the rate in
the pound which is payable by other premises. To
make up the deficiency which would thus be created
in the funds of the authorities depending upon the
poor rate, a sum equal to one-half the amount con-
tributed by agricultural land in 1895-6 is granted
annually by the Government to those public bodies.1
The ordinary rateable value of each parish, less
half the value of such agricultural land, is the
assessable value upon which, as we have seen, the
borough rate is apportioned upon the parishes
within each borough.
The owner of a tithe rent charge attached to
a benefice must pay poor rate, but only at half
the usual rate in the pound. The remaining moiety
is payable by the commissioners of inland revenue.2
The person usually liable to pay poor rate is the
occupier, for such period as he occupies the premises.
Unoccupied premises are exempt from rating, but
they must be included in the rate when it is made,
in order that any incoming tenant may be called
upon for his proportion of the rates due.3
The overseers may agree to accept payment
by instalments, and in any event, an occupier for a
term of three months or less cannot be compelled
1 Ag. Rates Act, 1896.
9 Tithe Rent Charge Rates Acts, 1899.
8 Poor Rate Assessment and Collection Acts, 1869 and
882.
M.M. O
194 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
to pay in one sum a greater amount of poor rate
than would be due for one quarter of the year, and
he may deduct the amount of the rate from the
rent due to his landlord.
The owner of premises of which the rateable
value does not exceed ^"20 if situated in the
administrative county of London, £13 in Liver-
pool, ;£io in Manchester or Birmingham, or £8
elsewhere, may, by agreement with the overseers,
undertake to pay the rates on such property
whether it is occupied or empty, in consideration
of a commission which must not exceed 25 per
cent, of the rates payable by him. The parish
vestry (or the council, if the powers of the vestry
have been transferred to them under sect. 34 of the
Local Government Act, 1894) may also order that
the owners of all such premises (providing the latter
include dwelling-houses) shall be rated, instead of
the occupiers, but in such a case they must allow a
deduction of 15 per cent, off the rates, and the
owner may also elect to pay whether his property
is empty or let, in consideration of which he will
be entitled to a further deduction, to be fixed by
the overseers, but not exceeding 15 per cent.1
Places of religious worship, voluntary (or non-
provided) schools, and premises occupied and used
by literary, scientific and artistic societies, premises
occupied by the Crown, and recreation grounds
which must be maintained for ever for the use of
1 Poor Rate Assessment and Collection Act, 1869, ss. 3
and 4.
FINANCIAL. 195
the public, are exempt from rating to the poor
rate.1 The Government usually make a contri-
bution in aid of local rates in respect of Crown
property.
Sporting rights are rateable by the Rating Act,
1874, and advertising hoardings by the Advertising
Stations (Rating) Act, 1889.
A burial ground used for the purposes of the
Burials Act must not be assessed to any local rate
at a higher value than when first acquired.2
If the poor rate is not made payable by
instalments, it becomes due immediately it is
published on the church and chapel doors, but,
of course, a demand must be served upon the
occupier before proceedings can be taken for its
recovery. Payment may be enforced by a
justice's warrant, empowering the overseers to
distrain and sell the goods of the defaulting
ratepayer, or, if he does not possess sufficient
goods, application may be made to commit him
to prison for a term not exceeding three months.3
If the owner of small tenements who has been
rated, or has agreed to pay, does not do so, similar
proceedings may be taken against him, or the
money may be recovered from the occupier so
far as any rent is due from him to the owner,
but he may deduct the amount from such rent.4
1 Poor Rate Exemption Act, 1833 J Voluntary School Act,
1897; Scientific Societies Act, 1843.
a Burial Act, 1855.
8 Distress for Rates Act, 1849.
1 P. R. A and C. A., 1869, s. 12.
O 2
196 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
General District Rate.
The only rate which is directly levied by all
town and urban councils is the general district
rate.
The council must form a district fund, into
which they must pay all monies received by them
under the Public Health Acts, e.g., from the sale
of surplus lands, penalties for offences, and
profits (if any) from the sale of house refuse, etc.1
From this fund are to be made payments for
expenses incurred under the Public Health Acts,
and also under the Acts relating to baths and
wash-houses, cemeteries, allotments, housing of
the working classes, etc.
The general district rate is levied to defray
any expenses which the district fund is unable
to meet. The rate is usually made annually or
half-yearly, and may be made to provide for future
requirements of the council, or retrospectively,
but in the latter case only to meet expenses
which have been incurred within the previous six
months. It may be remarked in passing that,
so far as possible, it is a principle of municipal
legislation that the ratepayers for the time being
are merely to be called upon to meet the current
expenditure, from which it is obviously intended
that they should benefit.
Proper notice of intention to make the rate
must, of course, be given by the council, and the
1 P H. A^ 1875, ss« 207—209.
FINANCIAL. 197
rate must be published in the same manner as
the poor rate.
The general district rate is primarily leviable
upon the occupiers of property within the district,
for the term of their occupation. For the sake
of uniformity, the poor rate valuation list is
adopted, and the occupier is assessed upon the
rateable value as ascertained by that list.
Before making a general district rate, the council
must cause an estimate to be prepared and kept
open for public inspection, showing the sums
required, the rateable value of the property to be
rated, and the amount of the rate in the pound.1
The council may lay down the dates at which
the rate shall commence and be payable, and
they have also authority to reduce or remit
payment from a poverty-stricken ratepayer.2
Any person who deems himself aggrieved by
the rate may appeal against it to quarter sessions.3
The council have not the same powers for the
recovery of the general district rate that the
overseers have with regard to the poor rate.
They may summon a defaulter before the magis-
trates, and obtain from the court an order for
payment. If this is not complied with, the court
may issue a distress warrant, but the defendant
cannot be imprisoned.4 These proceedings must
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss- 210—222.
3 P. H. A., 1875, ss- 222 and 225-
8 P. H. A., 1875, s. 269.
4 P. H. A., 1875, s. 256.
198 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
be commenced within six months from the date
of the demand of the rate.
The provisions of the Agricultural Rates and
Tithe Rent Charge Rates Acts, before referred to,
do not apply to the general district rate. Neverthe-
less, certain classes of property are especially
favoured. Thus, an owner of tithes or tithe rent
charge, or an occupier of meadows, woodlands,
market gardens or nursery grounds, or land
covered with water, or used as a railway, is only
to be assessed at one quarter of the net annual
value of such property.1 The classes of property
exempt from payment of general district rate
are similar to those exempt from payment of poor
rate.
The council may rate the owner instead of the
occupier if the rateable value of premises does
not exceed £10 per annum, or if the premises
are let to monthly or weekly tenants or in separate
apartments, or the rents are payable or collected
for any shorter period than quarterly. In such
a case the council must allow the landlord a
discount of not less than one-fifth nor more than
one-third from the net annual value. They may
also require him to pay rates whether his property
is occupied or unoccupied, and in that event they
must increase the discount allowed him to a total
of one-half.
If the council have declared any sums due to
1 P. H.A., 1875,5.211.
FINANCIAL. 199
them to be private improvement expenses (such
as the cost of repairing private roads), they are
entitled to recover payment by levying a rate
upon the occupier of the premises concerned, but
it must be sufficient to discharge the expenses,
with interest not exceeding 5 per cent., within
a period of thirty years or less. Should the
premises become unoccupied whilst the rate is
in force, it is payable by the owner. Either the
owner or occupier, however, may redeem it in
full by paying the balance due to the council.
When such a rate is levied on an occupier who
holds at a full rack rent, he is entitled (in the
absence of any agreement to the contrary) to
deduct from his rent three-quarters of the amount
of the rate, and any under-lessee who holds for
an unexpired term of less than twenty years may
also deduct a similar proportion from the rent
due to his superior landlord.1
Water rates have been dealt with on page 162.
In the distribution of the property of a bankrupt,
or the assets of a company which is being wound
up, taxes and local rates for the previous twelve
months must be paid in priority to ordinary debts.2
London.
In the county of London the general rate,
levied by the borough councils, is substituted for
the general district rate and the poor rate,
1 P. H. A., 1875, as. 213—215.
3 Preferential Payments in Bankruptcy Acts, 1888 and 1897.
200 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
and is assessed, made, published, levied and
collected in a similar manner to the poor rate
in other urban districts. The area for which the
rate is made is the parish, and the total amount
of rates required from the borough is apportioned
by the council amongst the various parishes
according to their rateable value. There is thus
usually a slight difference in the rate levied in the
various parishes in the same borough.
The expenses of the county council (for both
county and education purposes), the boards of
guardians, and the metropolitan police are paid
to those authorities by the borough council, in
response to precepts served upon them. The
council act as the overseers, and they also appoint
the assessment committee in cases where the
borough includes the whole of one or more poor
law unions. In other unions the guardians
appoint this committee, as elsewhere.1
The valuation list is made by the overseers on
principles similar to those in operation in other
parts of the country. It is revised every fifth
year, but in other years a supplementary valuation
list must be prepared, containing particulars as
to new and improved properties, and a provisional
list may also be drawn up at any time, when
necessary.2
After the list has been amended or approved
by the assessment committee, particulars of it
1 London Government Act, 1899, ss. 10 — 13.
2 Valuation (Metropolis) Act, 1869.
FINANCIAL. 201
are sent to the surveyor of taxes, the various
overseers in the county, the county council, the
common council of the city, the metropolitan
police, and the Metropolitan Asylums Board, all
of whom are interested in the matter, as they
assist in contributing, or share in receiving, revenue
derived from the rating of the county as a whole.
Appeals against any item in the list may be made
to the justices in special sessions or to quarter
sessions, but appeals against the total valuation
of a parish may only be made to the latter court.1
The provisions of the Agricultural Rates Act,
1896, the Tithe Rent Charges Act, 1899, and the
Preferential Payments in Bankruptcy Acts, 1888
and 1897, already referred to, apply to the county
of London. The properties which are relieved
from payment of poor rate are also exempt from
rating in the county.
The general rate is usually made payable half-
yearly, and may be recovered in the same manner
as the poor rate, that is, by proceedings before
the justices, and distraint or imprisonment.
Under the London (Equalisation of Rates) Act,
1894, a half-yearly rate of 3d. in the pound is included
in the general rate, and the proceeds are paid to the
county council and distributed by them amongst the
various city and borough councils in proportion
to their population, thus benefiting the poorer
and populous districts at the expense of their
more wealthy neighbours.
1 L. G. A., 1888, s. 42.
202 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
2. Government Payments, Etc.
Contributions made by the Government to the
funds of the council consist principally of grants
under the Agricultural Rates Act, 1896, and Tithe
Rent Charge Rates Act, 1899, already dealt with,
grants towards the cost of education, which will
be referred to later on, grants in lieu of rates on
Government property, and grants from the local
taxation account. This account is a fund consist-
ing of the proceeds of local taxation licences for
the sale of alcoholic liquors, tobacco, game, etc.,
or with regard to dogs, guns, carriages, etc., or
licences to act as pawnbrokers or auctioneers, a
large portion of the proceeds of the estate duty
derived from personal property, and taxes on beer
and spirits.1 The council of each county or county
borough are entitled to the fees paid for licences
taken out within their area, and the other monies
are shared by those authorities in the same
proportions as the various Parliamentary grants
which they received in the year 1887- 1888. From
the sums so received, however, the county councils
have to make to the councils of non-county
boroughs and urban districts within their area
various payments for repair of main roads, police,
salaries of medical officers and inspectors of
nuisances, etc., and to the boards of guardians
in respect of the maintenance of lunatics, salaries
1 Loc. Gov. Act, 1888, ss. 20 — 27; Local Taxation
(Customs and Excise) Act, 1890.
FINANCIAL. 203
of the registrars of births and deaths and other
officers, and the cost of vaccination.
The grants made to local authorities from the local
taxation account during the financial year 1905-6
amounted to £8,333,370, or about 7 per cent, of
the total local revenue, and equivalent to a rate
of iofd. in the pound. The imperial budget for
1907-8, however, contained a proposal for abolishing
these grants, and substituting for them the payment
of a fixed annual sum.
In the county of London, the county council
make contributions to the borough councils towards
the cost of street improvements, and one-half
of the salaries of the medical officers of health
and sanitary inspectors, and to the boards of
guardians towards the maintenance of lunatics,
etc., but in the whole of the metropolitan police
area the maintenance of police is in the hands of
the Home Office.
The receipts of the councils from such municipal
undertakings as water works, gas works, electric
lighting works, tramways, etc., have previously
been referred to.
3. Loans.
For the purpose of carrying out works of a
permanent character, the council of a municipal
borough or urban district are empowered to borrow
money upon the security of their funds or of the
rates (or, in the case of a municipal borough, of
their corporate land), with the sanction of the
204 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Local Government Board. The total amount of
such loans, if borrowed for the purposes of carrying
out the Public Health Acts, must not exceed the
assessable value of the district for two years, and,
when the town's debt exceeds one year's value, the
Local Government Board must hold a local
inquiry before granting their sanction to an
additional loan for those purposes.1
The various Acts authorising the council to
carry out works invariably confer borrowing powers,
and usually, but not always, apply the provisions
of the Public Health Act, 1875, with regard to
those loans.
The limit of time during which repayment must
be made is fixed by the Board, who have regard
to the estimated life of the works, but they must
restrict the period to sixty years. An exception
exists in the case of expenditure under the Hous-
ing of the Working Classes Act, 1890, for which
eighty years is the maximum period allowed for
repayment of loans.2
The council may repay any loans by equal
annual instalments of principal, or of principal
and interest, or they may make periodical pay-
ments to a sinking fund, and invest the accumulated
proceeds in authorised securities, so as to pay off
the whole of the outstanding loan at the end of
the period sanctioned.3 They are bound to keep
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss. 233—244 j M. C. A., 1882, ss. 106, 1 1 1
and 119.
2 Housing of Working Classes Act, 1903.
8 P. H. A., 1875, s. 234.
FINANCIAL. 205
a register of mortgages, which must be open to
public inspection.
The power to invest the accumulated sinking
fund in other securities has led to many councils
raising loans by borrowing such sinking funds
from other authorities. They may also exercise
their borrowing powers by the issue of terminable
annuities, debentures, or (if specially empowered)
debenture stock.1
The Public Works Loan Commissioners, who
are entrusted annually by Parliament with large
sums of money, are also authorised to lend to local
authorities, on the security of the rates, at a rate of
interest which is fixed by the Treasury from time
to time.2
Joint boards, port sanitary authorities, and
similar bodies have power to borrow in the same
way as a council under the Public Health Act.3
If the council are fortunate enough to own any
land or other property for the purposes of sewage
disposal, they may mortgage it in order to raise a
loan for expenses under the Public Health Acts,
and in this case no sanction of the Local Govern-
ment Board is necessary. This power has occa-
sionally proved very valuable to authorities who
are anxious to carry out works for which the
sanction of the Board is not desired, or cannot
be obtained. An additional advantage is that the
1 Local Loans Acts, 1875 and 1885.
a Pub. Works Loans Acts, 1875 to 1906.
3 P. H.A., 1875, s. 244.
206 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
loans so raised, if they do not exceed three-fourths
of the purchase-money of the lands, are not included
in the amount to which the council are confined
under the Public Health Acts.1
The council may, with the sanction of the Local
Government Board, exercise their powers of borrow-
ing by the creation of stock, subject to regulations
issued by the Board.2 Most of the councils of the
larger towns have also secured Parliamentary
powers to issue stock on various terms, and, in the
same manner, have obtained special borrowing
powers for specific purposes.
The power of the metropolitan borough councils
to borrow differs considerably from that of the
councils of municipal boroughs. The sanction of
the county council is necessary in most cases, but
loans for the provision of burial grounds, public
baths, libraries, sanitary conveniences, and certain
other objects under the Public Health (London)
Act, 1 89 1 (s. 105), must receive the consent of the
Local Government Board. In each case, the
sanctioning authority fixes the period of repay-
ment, the maximum limit being the eighty years
under the Housing Acts before referred to.3 If the
county council refuse their consent to a loan, or do
not give it within six months of receiving the
application, or attach unsatisfactory conditions to
1 P. H. A., 1875, s. 235.
8 P. H. A., 1890, Pail 5.
8 M. M. A., 1855, s. 183 ; M. M. A., 1862, ss. 72 and 100 ;
Treasury Powers Act, 1906.
FINANCIAL. 207
their consent, an appeal may be made by the
borough council to the Local Government Board,
whose decision is final.1 The actual loans are
largely raised from the county council, who are
authorised by various metropolitan Acts to lend
to the borough councils. The latter bodies have
no power to issue stock.
The borrowing powers of the county council
(which may be carried out by the issue of stock)
are exercised under sanction of the Local Govern-
ment Board. The statutory securities for repay-
ment are the county fund and the county rate, and
the net debt (except for special purposes, such as
education, small holdings, and advances to parish
councils) is limited to one-tenth of the rateable
value of the county. Any loans beyond this
amount can only be authorised by a provisional
order of the Local Government Board, confirmed
by Parliament.2 The maximum period for repay-
ment is thirty years, except in cases where
Parliament has specially granted a longer period.
The London County Council have special borrow-
ing powers under various metropolitan Acts.
4. Accounts and Audit.
The accounts of the council of a municipal
borough are made up half-yearly, while those of
an ordinary urban district council are made up
1 Lon. G. A., 1899, s. 4.
2 L. G. A., 1888, ss. 69 and 70.
208 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
annually, but in both cases the financial year
terminates on the 31st March.1
Special accounts must be kept upon various
matters, such as loans from the Public Works
Loan Commissioners, or as to income and expendi-
ture under the Acts relating to burial grounds,
allotments, baths and wash-houses, libraries, work-
men's dwellings, etc.
In a municipal borough, two auditors are elected
by the burgesses, and one is appointed by the
mayor. The latter must be a member of the
council.2 The Public Health Act, 1875 (s. 246),
provides that these auditors shall audit the accounts
of the town council acting as an urban authority
(z.e.y as a district council) in exactly the same
manner as those of a town council acting as a
municipal authority, and shall be paid not less
than £2 2s. per day for their work on this task.2
They have no power of surcharge, their restriction
on illegal expenditure being limited to the publicity
they can cast on the matter by reports made to
the council or to the public.
An illegal payment may, however, be restrained
by the order for payment being removed upon a
writ of certiorari into the High Court, where it
may be wholly or partially disallowed or confirmed.3
It has also been judicially held that the Attorney-
General may, at the relation of an interested party,
1 M. C. A., 1882, ss. 26—28; P. H. A., 1875, s. 245;
L. G.A., 1894, s. 58.
2 M. C. A., 1882, s. 25.
* M. C. A., 1882, s. 141 ; P. H. A., 1875, s- 246-
FINANCIAL. 209
obtain an injunction to restrain an illegal payment
by the council.1
Several town councils have engaged professional
accountants as auditors, to examine and report
upon their accounts, some councils even going so
far as to secure special Parliamentary powers to
enable them to do so.
After the audit, the abstract of the treasurers'
accounts is to be printed, and to be open to the
inspection of all ratepayers, who are also entitled
to receive copies on payment of a " reasonable
price." The town clerk must annually make a
return of the receipts and expenditure to the Local
Government Board.2
Members of the council may, of course, inspect
the original accounts, and make copies of extracts
from them.2
In all ordinary urban districts, in some half-
dozen boroughs which have been dealt with by
local Acts, and in all boroughs so far as income
and expenditure on education are concerned, the
accounts are audited by the district auditors of the
Local Government Board. Fourteen days' public
notice of the audit is to be given by the council,
and for seven days the rate-books and a copy of
the accounts and vouchers must be kept open for
public inspection. Any ratepayer has a right to
be present at the audit, and to object to the
accounts. The auditor must disallow every illegal
1 Tynemouth v. Att.-Gen., 1899, A. C.,293.
* M. C. A., 1882, ss. 27, 28 and 233.
M.M. P
210 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
item in the accounts, and every deficiency incurred
by negligence or misconduct, and surcharge the
same upon the person responsible, but he must
give his reason for taking that step. Persons
aggrieved by his decision (including any ratepayer)
may appeal to the Local Government Board, who
have power to allow the appeal on equitable
grounds, although the expenditure may not be
legally authorised. Application may also be made
to the King's Bench Division of the High Court
for a writ of certiorari to remove the disallowance
or allowance into court, and have it quashed.1
Under the Local Authorities Expenses Act, 1887
(s. 3), the Board may, prior to an audit, sanction
expenditure by a council (including the council of
a county or of a metropolitan borough, to be
alluded to later) which would otherwise be illegal.
The district auditor has then no power to disallow
such items, or to make a surcharge in the matter.
The Board have intimated that they do not regard
the Act as enabling them to supply the want of
legislation, or to give prospective sanction to
recurring expenses.
When the audit is concluded, the auditor must
report to the clerk of the council, who must publish
an abstract of the accounts in a local newspaper.1
Each metropolitan borough council must appoint
a finance committee. They cannot make any order
for payment except in pursuance of a resolution
1 P. H. A., 1875, ss- 247> 249 and 250.
FINANCIAL. 211
passed on the recommendation of this committee,
and no costs, debt, or liability exceeding £50 may
be incurred unless an estimate has been submitted
by the committee. The notice of a council meet-
ing at which it is proposed to pass a resolution
authorising any payment, except of an ordinary
periodical nature, or to incur any costs, debt, or
liability exceeding £50, must give full particulars
of such payment or costs, etc. The payment of
money in accordance with a precept from another
authority is not included in these provisions.1
It will be seen that the powers of other com-
mittees to make payments, under any authority
delegated to them by the borough council, is thus
considerably restricted.
An order of a borough council for payment of
any money may be removed into the High Court
by a writ of certiorari, and wholly or partially
disallowed or confirmed.1
The financial year of the metropolitan borough
councils terminates on the 31st March. Special
accounts must be kept by them of receipts and
expenditure with regard to baths, libraries, burial
grounds, electricity supply, etc., and, of course, the
accounts must show the amount debited and credited
to each parish. The accounts are audited by a dis-
trict auditor of the Local Government Board in
the same manner as the accounts of an urban
district council, previously referred to.2 An abstract
1 L. G. A., 1899, ss. 8 and 9.
3 L. G.A., 1899, s. 14.
P 2
212 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
of the accounts is usually included in the annual
report of the council, copies of which may be
obtained by the public at a price not exceeding
twopence per copy.1
The common council of the city possess special
powers, obtained by prescription, charter, or Act of
Parliament, which enable them to borrow without
obtaining the sanction of any higher authority,
unless they proceed under the ordinary statutory
powers possessed by other councils. They are
large owners of land and markets, and the rents
thus obtained form a considerable portion of their
revenue. Their accounts are not subject to any
statutory audit.
The financial year for county council accounts
also ends on the 31st March. The provisions
with regard to an annual return to the Local
Government Board, and inspection of accounts by
ratepayers in a municipal borough, apply to the
accounts of a county council, but the audit is carried
out in the same manner as in an urban district.2
A similar enactment to that in force within the
metropolitan boroughs, precluding orders for pay-
ment being made except upon the recommendation
of the finance committee, or liabilities exceeding
£50 being incurred except upon their estimate,
applies to county councils, but not to the councils
of county boroughs. Orders for payment passed
by the county council may also be removed into
1 M. M. A., 1855, s. 198.
a L. G. A., 1888, ss. 7 1—74.
FINANCIAL. 213
the High Court by certiorari, and wholly or partly
disallowed or confirmed.1
The last published summary of the Local Taxa-
tion Returns, covering the year 1903-4, contains
interesting particulars as to the financial position
and transactions of local authorities. The rateable
value of England and Wales was £202,835,295, the
value of the urban areas being as follows : —
Administrative county of London, £42,182,490;
county boroughs, £49,905,135; other boroughs,
£ 21, 330,241 ; and urban districts, £35,966,796.
The income and expenditure (excluding loans)
of all the local authorities was as follows : —
Income.
Expenditure.
£
£
County councils
• 18,426,394
18,605,076
Councils of municipal boroughs
1 47,847,006
47,167,253
Urban district councils
. 9,770,078
9,598,757
Rural district councils
4,088,441
4,043,190
Poor law authorities
. 16,082,359
15,819,135
Miscellaneous
• 17,373.257
15,250,292
Total -
£113,587,535 i
;i 10,483,703
Of the revenue, 517 per cent, came from rates,
15*2 per cent, was paid from grants out of imperial
funds, and 24*1 per cent, was received from repro-
ductive undertakings. The largest items in the
expenditure were : — Interest and repayment of
loans, 22 per cent; education, 13*9 per cent.;
highways, 10*2 per cent. ; and poor relief, io*i per
cent.
1 L. G. A., 1 888, s. 80.
214
MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The average rate in the pound was 6s. gd. in the
administrative county of London, js. in the county
boroughs, and 6s. 2d. in the ordinary boroughs and
urban districts.
During the year under notice loans were raised by
local authorities to the amount of £ 3 1 , 279,470 ; and
the outstanding indebtedness at the close of the year
was £393,882,146, made up as follows: —
County councils . . . . . . 48,558,632
Councils of municipal boroughs . . 227,023,715
Urban district councils .. .. 32,325,061
Rural district councils . . . 4*597,057
Poor law authorities . . . . 15,092,222
Miscellaneous bodies . . . . 66,285,459
One-third of the whole debt had been borrowed
for the purpose of undertakings of a more or less
reproductive character.
CHAPTER VII.
EDUCATION.
i. Education Authority and Committee. 2. Elementary-
Education. 3. Secondary Education. 4. London.
5. Default of Authority. 6. Finance. 7. Provision of
Meals for School Children.
i. Education Authority and Committee.
The Education Act, 1902, reorganised the pro-
vision of education by constituting certain councils
as local education authorities. The council of a
borough with a population of over 10,000, or of an
urban district with a population of over 20,000, and
in other places the county council, are the authori-
ties charged with providing elementary education.
The council of a non-county borough or an urban
district may, however, by agreement approved by
the Board of Education, relinquish any of their
educational powers to the county council. The
members of a county council representing areas for
which separate education authorities are established,
cannot vote on questions relating to elementary
education which are brought before that council.1
The councils of counties and county boroughs
1 E. A., 1902, ss. 1, 20 and 23.
2i6 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
are the education authorities whose duty it is to
provide higher or secondary education.1
The education authorities have each established
an education committee, or committees, in accord-
ance with schemes approved by the Board of
Education.2 These schemes provide for the
appointment on the committee (by the nomina-
tion of other bodies where desirable) of persons of
experience in education, or acquainted with the
needs of the various kinds of schools, and also for
the inclusion of women. The majority of the com-
mittee must be members of the authority, except
when appointed by a county council. A person
who is disqualified from being a member of the
council, by reason of holding office under them or
having an interest in a contract or employment
with them, cannot be appointed upon the com-
mittee, but the holder of any office in a school or
college aided or maintained by the council is
specially exempt from this restriction. A joint
education committee may be formed by a combina-
tion of counties, boroughs, or urban districts. The
scheme may be revoked or altered by an amending
scheme.3
All matters relating to the exercise by the
council of their powers as to education, except the
power of raising a rate or borrowing money, are to
stand referred in the first instance to the committee,
1 E. A., 1902, s. 1.
2 E. A., 1902, s. 17.
3 E. A., 1902, ss. 21 and 23.
EDUCATION. 217
and before exercising any such powers the council
must receive and consider their report, unless the
matter is urgent. The council may also delegate
to the committee, with or without restrictions or
conditions, any of their educational powers, except
that of raising a rate or contracting a loan.1
2. Elementary Education.
It is the duty of the authority to maintain and
keep efficient all public elementary schools which
are necessary in their area, and to provide sufficient
public school accommodation for children over five
years of age, without payment of fees. The Board
of Education may require the authority to provide
any necessary additional accommodation.2 An
elementary school is a school at which elementary
education is the principal part of the education
given, but it does not include an evening school
carried on under the regulations of the Board of
Education, nor any school in which the fees from
each scholar amount to gd. per week.3
It must not be a condition of admission to such
a school that any pupil shall attend or abstain from
attending Sunday school or any place of religious
worship, or any instruction in religious subjects, or
attend school on a day exclusively set apart for
1 E. A., 1902, s. 17.
a E. A., 1870, ss. 18 and 19; E. A, 1902, ss. 5, 7 and 16,
sch. 3.
3 E. A, 1870, s. 3 ; E. A, 1902, s. 22.
218 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
religious observance by the body to which his
parent belongs. Religious instruction may only
be given at the beginning or end, or at both the
beginning and end, of a meeting of the school.1
The general instruction given must be in accord-
ance with the regulations of the Board of Education
(as contained in the Board's annual code), and
imparted by teachers duly qualified, as required by
those regulations.'2 The time-table of the various
lessons must be approved by the Board, and
exhibited in every schoolroom. The school is to be
open at all times to inspection by H.M. Inspectors
of Schools (who, however, are not to inquire into
the instruction given in religious subjects), and it
must be conducted in accordance with the con-
ditions which are required to be fulfilled by an
elementary school, in order to obtain an annual
Parliamentary grant. The children receiving
instruction should not be more than sixteen years
of age at the close of the school year, unless the
authority, with the consent of the Board of Educa-
tion, extend that limit on account of the lack of
suitable higher education within a reasonable
distance of the school.8
Schools erected by the authority, or transferred
to them by other bodies or by their predecessors,
the school boards, are known as provided schools ;
1 E. A , 1870, s. 7.
2 Code of Board of Education ; Regulations for Prelim-
inary Education of Elementary School Teachers, 1907.
8 E. A., 1902, s. 22.
EDUCATION. 219
and other elementary schools, erected by private
persons or associations, but maintained at the
expense of the authority, are termed non-provided
schools.
The authority have power to purchase or lease
land for the erection of new schools, and they may
obtain power to acquire land compulsorily under a
provisional order granted by the Board of Educa-
tion and confirmed by Parliament.1 Two or more
authorities may combine to provide schools common
to their districts, if the Board of Education sanction
such an arrangement.2
If the authority or any private person or associa-
tion intend to erect a new school, public notice
must be given, and the authority and the managers
of any existing school (where they are not them-
selves providing the new school) or any ten rate-
payers, may appeal within three months to the
Board of Education, on the ground that the pro-
posed school is not required, or that a provided
school, or a non-provided school, as the case may
be, would be better suited to the wants of the
district. Any school built in contravention of the
Board's decision is deemed to be unnecessary, and
cannot be maintained by the authority.3
The transfer or re-transfer of an existing school
to or from the authority is to be treated as the
provision of a new school, and the same remark
1 E. A., 1870, ss. 19 and 20; E. A., 1873, s- 1S-
2 E. A., 1870, s. 52.
8 E. A., 1902, ss. 8 and 9.
220 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
applies to an enlargement, if, in the opinion of the
Board, it amounts to the provision of a new school.
The Board may also decide any question as to
whether an existing school is necessary or not, if
the average daily attendance is less than thirty.
The detailed management of schools provided
by the county council in small urban areas is
entrusted to a number of managers, not exceeding
six, four of whom may be appointed by the council
or their education committee, and two by the
" minor local authority," who are either the town
council or the urban district council. Where the
education authority are the council of a borough or
urban district, the appointment of managers is a
matter which is left to their discretion.1
No religious catechism or religious formulary
distinctive of any particular denomination may be
taught in a provided school.2
With the sanction of the Board of Education, a
provided school may be discontinued, or a non-
provided school may be transferred to the authority
or re-transferred by them. The transfer must
receive any assent rendered necessary by the deeds
declaring the trusts of the school, and must also be
approved by two-thirds of the subscribers who are
present and vote at a meeting summoned for that
purpose.3
The local education authority are, as previously
1 E. A., 1902, s. 6.
a E. E. A., 1870, s. 14.
8 E. A., 1902, ss. 18 and 23.
EDUCATION. 221
stated, bound to maintain all non-provided elemen-
tary schools which are conducted in accordance
with the Education Acts and the regulations of the
Board. For each of these schools a body of
managers must be established, consisting of not
more than four foundation managers, appointed
under the provisions of the trust deed of the school,
and not more than two non-foundation managers,
appointed by the authority, except where the
county council are the latter body, when that
council and the minor local authority each appoint
one non-foundation manager. If the trust deed is
inapplicable to these provisions, or if there is no
trust deed, the Board of Education may make an
order for the purpose of meeting the case. The
authority may increase the total number of
managers beyond six if they consider it necessary,
but the statutory proportion of each class of
managers must be maintained. They may also
group a number of schools under one body of
managers, but in the case of non-provided schools
the consent of the managers must be obtained.1
The managers of a non-provided school have
control of the educational work of the school, but
they must carry out the instructions of the authority
as to education of a secular nature, including direc-
tions with regard to the number and qualifications
of the teachers, and tneir dismissal on educational
grounds. The consent of the authority is necessary
1 E. A., 1902, ss. 6, 11 and 12.
222 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
to the appointment of teachers, and to their dis-
missal, except on grounds connected with the
giving of religious instruction. The authority also
have power to inspect the school. The managers
must provide the school house, make such altera-
tions and improvements as may be required by the
authority, and keep the building in repair, but the
authority must make good any damage caused by
fair wear and tear.
The religious instruction given in such schools
should be in accordance with the terms of the trust
deeds under which they are established.1
The authority are entitled to use, upon educational
purposes, any room in a non-provided school, free
of charge, for three days a week, but not in school
hours, nor if the authority have suitable accommo-
dation in provided schools.1 This power has been
very useful to authorities who maintain evening
schools.
Any difference of opinion arising between the
authority and the managers, with regard to the
maintenance of a non-provided school, is settled by
the Board of Education.1
Provision is made by the Elementary School
Teachers Superannuation Act, 1898, by which
elementary school teachers, certificated by the
Education Department, may receive superannuation
at the age of sixty-five to the annual amount of
10s. for each year of recorded service, in addition to
1 E. A., 1902, s. 7.
EDUCATION. 223
payments of deferred annuity from a fund created by
the compulsory deduction from their salaries of £3
per annum in the case of a male teacher and £2 in
the case of a woman, or such higher rate as the
Treasury may determine. Participation in the
superannuation fund is not compulsory so far as
teachers who were certificated before the 1st April,
1899, are concerned. In other cases, the teacher's
certificate expires upon his attaining the age of
sixty-five, unless the Board allow it to continue for
a further limited period on account of his special
fitness. Provision is made by sect. 2 of the Act
for payment of a disablement allowance by the
Treasury to certified teachers of ten years' stand-
ing who are permanently incapacitated, owing to
infirmity of mind or body, and who otherwise
comply with the conditions laid down in the Act.
It is the duty of the authority to enforce the
legislative provisions as to school attendance con-
tained in the Education Acts, 1870, 1876, 1880,
1893 and 1900. They must, with the sanction of
the Board of Education, make bye-laws requiring
the parents of children between the ages of five and
either thirteen or fourteen to cause those children
to attend school, unless there is some reasonable
excuse, such as sickness, or the receipt by the child
of instruction in some other manner, or residence
more than three miles from the nearest school.
Provision must be made for the exemption of
children over twelve years of age, upon reaching a
specified standard of education. The bye-laws may
224 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
also contain a clause under which children of the
age of eleven years may be employed in agriculture
if they attend school 250 times a year up to the age
of thirteen, or under which a child of twelve may
claim partial exemption upon making 300 atten-
dances in not more than two schools during each
of five preceding years.
In order to secure the observance of the bye laws
and of the general law as to school attendance, the
committee usually appoint a school attendance
sub-committee, who have power to prosecute
offenders, and who control the school attendance
officers.
If a parent habitually and without reasonable
cause neglects to provide instruction for his child, or
a child is found habitually wandering, or not under
proper control, or in the company of rogues, vaga-
bonds, etc., the authority may, after warning the
parent, take proceedings against him before the
magistrates. The latter may then make an order
requiring the child to attend a specified school, and
if this order is not complied with, they may fine the
parent, or, upon being satisfied that he has used all
reasonable efforts to obey the order, send the child
to an industrial school. They may also fix the
amount of the parent's contribution to the child's
maintenance, not exceeding 5«y. per week.1
Any elementary education authority may, with
the consent of the Home Secretary, provide and
1 E. A., 1876, ss. 11 and 12.
EDUCATION. 225
maintain an industrial school certified by him, or
contribute towards the cost of such an institution.
Ordinary industrial schools are chiefly established
to deal with children who have been convicted of
certain offences, or have been found destitute,
begging or wandering, or in the company of thieves,
etc. The education authority have therefore been
given power to provide truant schools in accordance
with the sanction and regulations of the Home
Secretary. These buildings are industrial schools
specially adapted for the reception of children who
have failed to comply with attendance orders made
by the magistrates.1
The authority must make provision for the
education of non-pauper blind and deaf children,
the period of whose compulsory attendance at
school commences at five and seven years of age
respectively, and ends at sixteen years. For this
purpose the authority may provide schools them-
selves, or make arrangements, with the approval of
the Board of Education, for boarding out such
children at suitable schools provided by other
authorities or societies, and certified by the Board.
The parents of blind and deaf children are liable to
contribute towards any expenses incurred, the
exact sum being settled by the magistrates, in
default of agreement.3
Provision of a similar nature may be made by
1 Industrial Schools Act, 1866; E. A., 1870, ss. 27 and 28 ;
E. A., 1876, ss. 13, 15, 16 and 17.
1 El. Ed. (Blind and Deaf Children) Act, 1893.
M.M. Q
226 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
the authority for the education of children who are
physically or mentally defective, or epileptic, and
are between seven and sixteen years of age.1 They
may furnish guides or conveyances for children
who would otherwise be unable to attend school
by reason of physical defects, and also provide
vehicles and pay travelling expenses of teachers
and children when circumstances require.2
The question of the physical fitness of children
to receive elementary instruction afforded at the
public expense has been considered by many
education authorities, who have appointed medical
officers to examine the children.3 The special
attention which has thus been devoted to school
hygiene, the sight, hearing, teeth, and cleanliness
of the children, and the prevention of the spread of
infectious disease, has been productive of very
beneficial results, and Bills have from time to time
been introduced into the House of Commons to
confer wider powers in this respect.
3. Secondary Education.
The provision of secondary education is entrusted
to the councils of counties and county boroughs.
It is the duty of these bodies to supply, or aid in
the supply of, education other than elementary,
and to promote the general co-ordination of all
1 El. Ed. (Defective and Epileptic Children) Act, 1899.
8 Ditto, s. 3 ; E. A., 1902, s. 23.
8 E. E.A., 1870, s. 35.
EDUCATION. 227
forms of education.1 The powers granted to them
are very wide, including the maintenance of schools
and colleges, the training of teachers at colleges or
pupil teachers' centres, the provision of evening
schools, and classes in technical subjects, science
and art, and of educational lectures, extending, in
fact, to the supply of any education except that
given in a public elementary school. The authority
may provide scholarships for students ordinarily
resident within their area, at schools, colleges or
hostels, within or without such area, and pay or
assist in paying their fees, and they may make
provision for secondary education outside their
boundaries when they think it expedient to do so
in the interests of their area. They have also the
same powers to provide vehicles or to pay travelling
expenses of teachers or scholars as an elementary
education authority.2
The county council may, by arrangement with
the council of any borough or urban district, hand
over to the latter body the management of schools
or colleges established for the provision of
secondary education.3
No pupil may be excluded from, or placed in
an inferior position in, a school or college provided
by the council, on account of religious belief ; and
no catechism or distinctive religious formulary
may be taught there, except in special cases, and
1 Education Act, 1902, s. 2.
9 E. A., 1902, ss. 22 and 23.
8 E. A., 1902, s. 20.
Q 2
228 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
even then not at the expense of the council. In
granting permission for a religious service to be
held, unfair preference is not to be shown to any
religious denomination, and scholars are not to be
required to attend, or to abstain from attending,
any gathering called for religious observance or
instruction. The authority are also precluded
from requiring any particular form of religious
instruction to be taught or practised in a school or
college aided by them.1
The Board of Education may take power to
inspect secondary schools as a condition attaching
to the receipt of the monetary grant which is dis-
tributed by them, and they have power to inspect
certain endowed schools, under the Charitable
Trusts Acts. They may also inspect any secondary
school desiring to be inspected, and the authority
may pay the whole or part of the expenses incurred.2
4. London.
The Education Act of 1902 is applied to the
administrative county of London by the Educa-
tion (London) Act of 1903. The county council
are the local education authority for both elemen-
tary and secondary education, but in other respects
there are some important details as to which
special provision is made for the metropolis.
The number of managers, and the method of
1 E. A., 1902, s. 4.
8 Board of Education Act, 1899, ss. 2 and 3 ; Regulations
of the Board of Education as to Secondary Schools and
Further Education, 1907.
EDUCATION. 229
grouping provided schools, are determined by the
council of the metropolitan borough in which the
schools are situate, after consultation with the
authority, and with the approval of the Board of
Education. Two-thirds of the managers of those
schools are appointed by the borough council and
the remainder by the authority, but in each case
regard must be had to the inclusion of women, in
the proportion of not less than one-third of the
whole body of managers. In the case of non-
provided schools, one of the non-foundation
managers is appointed by the borough council
and the other by the authority.
The site of any proposed provided school must be
determined upon by the authority, after consulta-
tion with the borough council in whose district it
is situated. The Board of Education are also pre-
cluded from issuing a provisional order authorising
the compulsory purchase of land as the site for
a school, unless the proposal has received the con-
sent of the borough council, or the Board are
satisfied that such consent should be dispensed
with.
5. Default of Authority.
If an education authority fail to perform their
duty, the Board of Education may make an order
requiring them to act in the matter in which they
are negligent. This order may be enforced by
mandamus, obtained from the High Court of
Justice.1
1 E. A., 1902, s. 16.
230 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
In addition to other remedies, if the authority-
do not fulfil any of their duties with regard to an
elementary school, the Board may recognise as
managers of such a school any persons acting as
managers, and they may, by order, render valid
any act done by those managers which would
otherwise be invalid by reason of the default of
the authority. They may also pay to those
managers the amount of any expenses properly
incurred by them for which provision ought to
have been made by the defaulting authority. The
amount in question then becomes a debt due from
the authority to the Crown, and may be deducted
from Parliamentary grants payable to the former.1
6. Finance.
The expenses of the authority are defrayed by
Parliamentary grants, school fees, income from
endowments, and receipts from the rates. The
following is a list of the grants, which are paid by
the Board of Education from money annually voted
by Parliament for the purposes of elementary
education2 : —
Aid grant consisting of 4s. per scholar, and an
additional sum of \\d. per scholar, based upon the
relationship between the number of children and
the rateable value of the district.
1 Education (Local Authorities Default) Act, 1904.
9 E. E. A., 1870, ss. 96 — 99; E. A., 1902, s. 10; Code of
Board of Education.
EDUCATION. 231
Fee grant of 10s. per child, paid in respect of
schools in which fees are abolished or are in
accordance with the Elementary Education Act,
1891.
Attendance grant of ijs. for each unit of average
attendance in the infants' departments, and 22s. for
each such unit in other departments.
Special subject grants for courses of instruction
given in cookery, laundry work, combined domestic
subjects, gardening and handicrafts.
Grants to schools under the Education (Blind
and Deaf Children) Act, 1893, and the Education
(Defective and Epileptic Children) Act, 1899.
The imperial budgets of 1906 and 1907 also
provided for grants to unusually necessitous
districts, equal to three-quarters of the amount by
which their elementary education rate exceeded
is. 6d. in the pound.
By special permission of the Board of Education
the authority may establish higher elementary
schools for the instruction of children between
twelve and sixteen, and, in this event, they may
receive from the Board a special grant of 30$". for
each unit of average attendance in the first year,
45-r. for the second year, and 60s. for the third year
of the course.
The authority may charge fees for instruction
given in provided schools, or permit them to be
charged by the managers of non-provided schools,
but all fees must be approved by the Board of
Education. The authority and the managers
232 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
may agree as to the division of the fees, but if
they do not do so the Board will determine the
matter.1
The authority are entitled to the income of any
endowment of a school which is applicable to
purposes for which provision has to be made by
them. If only part of the income of an endow-
ment is in question, the authority and the managers
must agree as to the proportion which should be
paid to the former, or the matter will be determined
by the Board of Education.2
In a municipal borough the amount devoted to
elementary education from the rates comes from
the income of the borough rate, which is levied as
described on page 189, and in an urban district it
is taken from the proceeds of the poor rate, as a
result of a precept served by the council upon the
overseers. In small towns, where the county
council are the authority, it is raised from the
county rate.3
The council of a county or county borough must
apply, towards the expenses of secondary educa-
tion, the whole of the sum received by them from
the Government under the Local Taxation
(Customs and Excise) Act, 1890, as the residue of
the proceeds of certain duties on spirits and beer,
or any grant made by the Government in substi-
tution for that sum. They need not, however,
1 E. A., 1870, s. 17 ; E. A., 1902, ss. 7 and 14.
9 E. A., 1902, s. 13.
8 E. A., 1902, s. 18.
EDUCATION. 233
expend this amount in the specific year in which
it is received.1
Grants are made by the Government through the
Board of Education for secondary education and are
issued by the Board to the authorities in accordance
with regulations which the former have made as
to the various forms of instruction included in
secondary education.
The authority may also expend on secondary
education the produce of a rate of 2d. in the pound,
but they must not exceed this sum except with the
consent of the Local Government Board.
In the county of London, however, there is no
limit to the amount of this rate.
The council of any non-county borough or urban
district, although not the authority for the provision
of secondary education, may levy a rate of a penny
in the pound or less for the purpose of assisting in
the supply of such education.2
The education authorities have the same power
to borrow for expenditure upon works of a
more or less permanent nature as they have
for county or municipal purposes, previously
referred to.3
The accounts of the local education authority,
so far as they relate to receipts and expenditure
in connection with education, are annually audited
by the Local Government Board in the same
1 E. A., 1902, s. 2.
a E. A., 1902, ss. 2 and 3.
8 E. A., 1902, s. 19.
234 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
manner as the accounts of a county or urban
district council.1
7. Provision of Meals for School
Children.
An elementary education authority may aid in
the provision of meals for the children attending
their schools, by co-operating with a voluntary
school canteen committee, and supplying them
with the necessary land, buildings, furniture,
apparatus, officers or servants, for the purposes of
carrying out their work.2 The parents of the
children supplied with the meals must be charged
an amount to be determined by the authority, who
must take steps to recover it, except in cases where
they are satisfied that the parents are unable to
pay by reason of circumstances other than their
own default. The authority may, however, formally
resolve that any of the children attending one or
more of their elementary schools are unable, owing
to lack of food, to take full advantage of the
education provided, and that private funds are not
available or are insufficient to defray the cost of
the meals supplied. The Board of Education may
then authorise them to spend money on the pro-
vision of food for the children, but the total amount
so expended must not exceed the produce of a
halfpenny rate in the area of the authority, or, in
the case of a county other than London, in the
1 E. A., 1902, s. 18.
3 Education (Provision of Meals) Act, 1906.
EDUCATION. 235
parish served by the school mentioned in the
resolution of the authority.
The parent of a child thus receiving food at
the public expense is not disfranchised on that
account.
The importance of the educational functions of
local authorities may be measured from the figures
issued in-the Statistical Abstract of the Board of
Education for the year 1906. There are in
England and Wales 338 local education authori-
ties, having control of 6,800 provided schools, with
accommodation for 3,445,881 children, and 13,652
non-provided schools, with accommodation for
3,542,186 children. The average number of
children in attendance was 5,249,485. There are
also 32 higher elementary schools providing accom-
modation for 10,529 children, and 260 schools
capable of receiving 16,763 blind, deaf and
defective children. The total staff for the adminis-
tration of elementary education included 78,584
certificated teachers, 42,291 uncertificated teachers,
19,109 supplementary teachers, and 24,808 pupil
teachers and probationers.
Secondary schools recognised by the Board
numbered 689, and during the year the greatest
number of scholars taking an approved course of
education was 81,370, but there were in addition
many pupils in forms below or above those taking
such a course. There were also 23 technical
institutes with 2,509 pupils, 231 schools of art with
236 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
45,562 students, 21 schools in which technical
classes recognised by the Board were carried on
with 788 pupils, 97 day art classes with 2,576
students, and 5,706 evening schools with 718,562
pupils, whilst 30,674 pupil teachers were also
receiving instruction at centres and in classes.
CHAPTER VIII.
POOR LAW.
I. Poor Law Unions and Boards of Guardians. 2. Relief
of the Poor. 3. Pauper Lunatics. 4. Registration
of Births, etc. 5. Vaccination. 6. Infant Life
Protection. 7. Financial Contracts, etc. 8. The
County of London.
i. Poor Law Unions and Boards
of Guardians.
A POOR law union is usually formed by grouping
a number of parishes together for the purpose of
carrying out the Acts of Parliament for the relief
of the poor and other analogous matters. The
unions were constituted by the Poor Law Act of
1834, and in consequence of the varied principles
upon which their areas were then settled, and the
industrial and social changes which have since
occurred, they show much diversity in the matter
of population, rateable value and character. There
are at present 646 unions, but about a score of
them each consist of a single parish.
The authority charged with the administration
of the poor law are the board of guardians.
The Local Government Act, 1894, completely
altered the qualifications for membership of this
238 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
body, sweeping away its somewhat exclusive
character, and abolishing ex-officio members and
plural voting. The guardians are now elected by
the parochial electors of the parishes within the
union, and any of those electors, or any person
who has been resident in the union for twelve
months, is eligible for election.1 Clergymen and
women may thus become members. Most boards
of guardians include one or more of the latter,
whose work has been uniformly successful in the
departments of poor law work, such as the
administration of the workhouse and the care of
the children, for which they are specially qualified.
In the case of a parish wholly or partly within a
borough, anyone who may be elected a councillor
is qualified for the position of guardian.
In addition to the usual disqualifications of
bankrupts, minors, aliens, officers of the guardians,
and persons interested in contracts with the
guardians, or receiving a salary or emoluments
from the poor rate, any person who has received
poor relief within twelve months before the
election, or has, within the previous five years, been
convicted of a crime and received a sentence of
hard labour, is incapable of being elected.2
In rural districts the guardians are elected
primarily as rural district councillors, but they also
sit as members of the board of guardians for the
1 Local Government Act, 1894, s. 20.
a L. G. A., 1894, s. 46 ; Poor Law Act, 1842, s. 14.
POOR LAW. 239
parishes which they represent on the district
council.1
The number of guardians to be elected by each
parish, or ward within a parish, is fixed by the
council of the county or county borough in which
the union is situate, or, if it is partly in two or
more administrative counties, by a joint committee
appointed by the councils of those counties.2
The guardians are elected for three years, and
one-third of the whole body retire on the 15th
April in each year, unless the county council, at
the request of the board, make an order under
which all the members vacate office every third
year.3 The clerk of the board acts as returning
officer. The election must be held on the first
Monday in April, or, if that is Easter Monday, on
the last Monday in March, but for special reasons
the county council may order it to be held on a
day between the preceding Saturday and the
following Wednesday. In an urban district which
is not a borough the election of guardians and
urban district councillors must be held simul-
taneously. The successful candidates must for-
mally accept office within one month of receiving
notice of their election.4
The resignation of a guardian must be sent to
the Local Government Board, who can only accept
1 L. G. A., 1894, s. 24.
8 L. G.A., 1894, s.6o.
3 L. G. A., 1894, s. 20.
4 Guardians Election Order, 1898.
24o MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
it if a reasonable cause is shown to exist.1 Absence
from the meetings of the guardians for more than
six consecutive months, however, vacates the seat
of the absentee member, unless the absence is the
result of illness, or active military service, or is
excused by the guardians.2
The regulations governing the meetings of the
board of guardians, as to standing orders, quorum,
etc., are similar to those in force with reference to
the meetings of urban district councils.3 At the
annual meeting, which must be held as soon as
convenient after the 15 th April in each year, the
board must elect a chairman, and (if thought fit)
a vice-chairman, who need not be elected members.
The board may also co-opt as members not more
than two other persons who are qualified to act as
guardians.4 They cannot be compelled to admit
the public to their meetings.
The control of the Local Government Board is
much more stringent and direct with regard to the
poor law than it is in other branches of local
government.5 Many of the decisions of the
guardians must be approved by the Board before
they become effective. The latter authority have
also power to issue general and special orders
binding upon the guardians, and they supplement
1 P. L. A., 1842, s. 11.
9 L. G. A., 1894, s. 46; Members of Local Authorities
Relief Act, 1900.
8 L. G. A., 1894, s. 59.
4 L. G. A., 1894, s. 20.
8 P. L. Acts, 1834, 1842, 1844, 1848 and 1868.
POOR LAW. 241
those orders by frequent circular letters of
explanation and advice. Their inspectors have a
right to be present at the meetings of the guardians,
and to visit all poor law institutions, in order to
see that the Acts of Parliament and orders relating
to the poor law are complied with. The Board
may also at any time hold an inquiry into the
administrative work of the guardians.
The duties of the officers of the guardians, such
as the clerk, treasurer, medical officers, master,
matron and chaplain of the workhouse, and
relieving officers, have been prescribed by orders
of the Local Government Board.1 The engage-
ment of those officers, and any alterations in their
salaries, are subject to the approval of that depart-
ment, and, although the guardians may suspend
such an officer (other than the clerk, treasurer or
chaplain) for reasonable cause, he can only be
dismissed with the consent or by order of the
Local Government Board. The guardians may?
however, themselves dismiss collectors, porters,
nurses, and other subordinate officers.2
All poor law officers are entitled to super-
annuation upon becoming incapable of discharging
their duties by reason of infirmity of mind or body,
or old age, or upon attaining the age of sixty, if
they have completed forty years' service, or in any
event, upon reaching the age of sixty-five. The
1 General Consolidated Orders, 1847, 1866 and 1879;
Medical Officers' Orders, 1857, 1859, 1868 and 1869.
3 Subordinate Officers' Order, 1899.
M.M. R
242 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
amount of superannuation is regulated by the
salary and length of service of the officer concerned,
and is partly provided by deductions of two per
cent, from the salaries of officials appointed after
1896.1
The guardians may appoint committees for the
more convenient transaction of their business.
They must, at least, appoint a finance committee,
assessment committee, and a visiting committee to
inspect the various institutions under their control.
By permission of the Local Government Board,
they may appoint relief committees to deal with
applications for relief.
The Local Government Board may dissolve or
unite unions.2 They may also, with the consent of
the guardians concerned, combine two or more
unions for any purposes connected with the poor
law, and create a joint committee, the constitution
and duties of which are laid down in the order of
the Board.3
2. Relief of the Poor.
The principal function of the guardians is, of
course, to administer relief to the destitute. In
theory, any person who really needs such relief has
a right to receive it in the workhouse, temporarily
from the guardians of the union in which he
happens to be, and permanently from the guardians
1 Poor Law Officers' Superannuation Act, 1896.
2 P. L. Acts, 1834, s. 32 ; 1844, s« 36 ; 1868, s. 4, and 1904.
8 P. L. A., 1879, s. 8.
POOR LAW. 243
of the union in which he has resided for the
previous year,1 or acquired a settlement by (for
example) three years' residence. A wife takes her
husband's settlement, and a child has the same
settlement as the father, or, if illegitimate, as the
mother.
Although the guardians or their officials may lay
themselves open to criminal proceedings by
refusing assistance, it does not appear that the
right of the injured person to relief is one which he
could enforce by a civil action for damages. On
the other hand, the guardians may by statute
recover the cost of twelve months' relief given by
them, if the pauper should afterwards acquire
property, and it has been judicially decided that
upon the principles of simple justice they are not
limited to twelve months' relief in this respect.
They may recover contributions towards the cost
of relief from the parents, grandparents, children or
husband of a pauper, and also from the wife of a
pauper if she has private means. In granting
out-relief, they may declare it to be in the nature
of a loan, and recover the cost from the pauper if
he is afterwards in a position to repay it.2
An able-bodied person wilfully refusing to main-
tain himself and his family by work may be
1 Union Chargeability Act, 1865.
a Relief of Poor Act, 1601 ; P. L. A., 1834, ss. 56—
59; P. L. A., 1848, ss. 8 and 10; P. L. A., 1849, s. 16;
P. L. A., 1868, ss. 33 and 36; Divided Parishes Act, 1876,
ss. 19 and 23; Married Women's Property Act, 1882, ss. 20
and 21.
R 2
244 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
punished by the magistrates as an idle and dis-
orderly person if his wife or family receive relief
from the guardians.1
In the event of an illegitimate child under sixteen
receiving relief, the guardians may enforce against
the putative father any order of the magistrates
compelling him to contribute towards the support
of the child, or they may take independent pro-
ceedings against him to establish the paternity of
the child and secure such an order.2
Admission to the workhouse is usually granted
to destitute persons by an order of the board of
guardians, but provisional admission, pending a
meeting of the board, may be permitted by a
relieving officer or an overseer. The master or
matron of the workhouse is also required to admit
every applicant who appears to need relief through
sudden or urgent necessity. Upon entering the
house the pauper must be medically examined and
cleansed.3 The control of the workhouse is in the
hands of the master and matron, but must be
carried out in accordance with the directions of the
guardians and the orders of the Local Government
Board, which have been issued from time to time,
and limit the diet, etc., to be given to the
inmates.
Separate accommodation must be provided for
paupers of each sex, except in the case of married
1 Vagrants Act, 1824, ss. 3 and 4.
9 P. L. A., 1844, s. 7; Bastardy Law Acts, 1872 and 1873.
8 Gen. Con. Order, 1847.
POOR LAW. 245
couples over sixty years of age, for whom special
rooms may be set apart. Married couples, either
of whom is infirm, sick or disabled, or over sixty
years of age, may also be permitted by the
guardians to live together in the workhouse.1
Each sex in the workhouse must be further sub-
divided into infirm, able-bodied, children between
seven and fifteen years of age, and infants under
the age of seven. The guardians may also extend
their classification by paying regard to the moral
character, behaviour or previous habits of the
inmates, or to such other grounds as they deem
expedient.2 Indeed, the Local Government Board
have urged upon them the advisability of exercising
their powers in this direction, and have empowered
them to emphasise the classification by granting
a few petty privileges to deserving inmates.3
The guardians may permit the inmates of the
workhouse to be temporarily absent from that
institution for special reasons, such as to seek
employment or to visit friends.
A pauper may discharge himself from the work-
house upon giving reasonable notice, but the
guardians have power to fix the length of this
notice from 24 to 168 hours, according to the
number of occasions upon which the pauper has
previously entered and left the building.4
1 P. L. A., 1847, s. 23 : Divided Parishes Act, 1876, s. 10.
1 G. C. O., 1847.
3 Allowance of Tobacco, etc., Order, 1892; Ditto Tea, 1893.
4 Pauper Inmates Discharge Act, 1871, s. 4; P. L. A.,
1899, s. 4.
246 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
The master of the workhouse may punish dis-
orderly inmates by restricting their diet or by
placing them in confinement for twelve hours ; and
the guardians may inflict twenty-four hours' con-
finement, and a limited diet, upon refractory
paupers. Any further punishment can only be
imposed by a magistrate, upon a charge being
made in the usual manner at the police court,
under the Vagrancy Act, 1824, or otherwise.1
Aged inmates of the workhouse are often
employed on some light and useful occupation,
such as mat-making or wool-work, in which they
are instructed by members of the local branches
of an organisation known as the Brabazon Society.
The able-bodied are kept occupied in suitable tasks
of hard, and not over-dignified, labour.
Provision is made by the Poor Law Act, 1868,
for the religious worship or instruction of the
inmates in their own creeds.
The sick poor are maintained in infirmaries or
hospitals, which, from the scope of their operations,
are highly important features in the administration
of the poor law, both in urban and rural districts.
The visiting committee of the guardians must
visit and inspect the workhouse at least once every
week. The guardians may also appoint special
visiting committees, consisting of ladies, who need
not be members of the board, to visit their institu-
tions in which female paupers or children are main-
1 Gen. Con. Order, 1847.
POOR LAW. 247
tained. Any guardian may visit the workhouse
infirmary or school of his board at any time.1
The methods of dealing with the children under
the care of the guardians are many and various.2
The Local Government Board have power to form
and dissolve combinations of unions for the purpose
of educating such children. They are sometimes
maintained in large barrack-like schools, or in a
group of smaller houses, centering around the
educational buildings, and forming a petty village.
A third method is to erect scattered homes, con-
sisting of houses provided by the guardians in
various parts of their district, each house contain-
ing about a dozen children, who are under the care
of a matron, and are educated at the ordinary
public elementary schools. Children may also, of
course, be maintained at the workhouse, and sent
to the latter schools. A more distinct method is
to board them out with cottagers.
Considerable difference of opinion exists between
experts as to which course offers the most advan-
tages. The barrack schools are not now in favour,
owing to their depressing effect on the children
and their obvious disadvantages from a sanitary
point of view. Grouped schools are open to the
same objections, but to a lesser degree, and are
1 Visitation of Workhouses Order, 1893.
2 P. L. A., 1844, ss. 40 and 51 ; P. L. A., 1848 ; P. L. A.,
1850, ss. 3 and 4; P. L. A., 1866, s. 14; P. L. A., 1868,
ss. 10 — 23; Met. Poor Act, 1867, ss. 47 and 49 ; Met. Poor
Act, 1869, ss. 1 and 11 ; Elem. Ed. A., 1900, s. 2 ; Instruc-
tion of Children Order, 1897 ; P. L. A., 1903.
248 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
very costly. It is claimed that boarding-out is a
success, especially where keen supervision is exer-
cised by the local committees appointed by the
guardians, and that scattered homes, although
naturally expensive, combine both efficient training
and the elimination of undesirable pauper influences
and associations. Boarding-out is governed by the
Local Government Board's Order of 1889, if it takes
place within the union, and by their order of 1905,
if beyond the boundaries of the union. Only chil-
dren who are orphans or deserted by their parents,
or over whom the guardians have acquired parental
rights, may be dealt with. Committees (each of
which must include one woman member) must be
appointed to find suitable homes and to keep the
children under inspection. The maximum fee
which may be paid in respect of each child is 4s.
per week (or $s., if boarded beyond the limits of
the union), in addition to the cost of medical
attendance and an allowance of 10s. per quarter
for clothing.
Pauper children under the control of the
guardians, or whose parents consent, may also
be sent to schools provided by members of various
religious denominations and philanthropic societies,
and certified by the Local Government Board as
suitable for that purpose. Deaf and dumb or
blind children may be sent for maintenance to
schools properly adapted for their reception.1
1 P. L. (Certified Schools) A., 1862; P. L. A., 1868,
s. 42.
POOR LAW. 249
It is the duty of the guardians to see that
the children under their care are given a proper
start in life, and this is often done by providing
them with situations or apprenticing them to
a trade or to the mercantile marine. It is
also the practice of many boards of guardians
to emigrate children, on arriving at a suitable
age, to Canada and other places where it is con-
sidered they have a reasonable prospect of a useful
career.1
In most cases regard must be paid to the wishes
of the parents in dealing with the children, but the
guardians may, by resolution, assume all the rights
and powers of parents with respect to children
maintained by them, and under the age of eighteen
years, who are orphans or have been deserted by
their parents, or in cases where the guardians are
of opinion that on account of the mental deficiency,
vicious habits or mode of living, the parents are
unfit to exercise control, or where parents are
undergoing penal servitude or are detained under
the Inebriates' Acts, or have been sentenced to
imprisonment for an offence against their children.
An illegitimate child, whose mother is dead, is
treated as an orphan for this purpose. A similar
resolution may be passed with regard to children
whose parents are bedridden or permanently dis-
abled inmates of the workhouse, and give their
1 P. L. A., 1844, s. 12 ; P. L A., 1850, s. 4 ; P. L. A., 1876,
s. 28 ; Merchant Shipping Act, 1894, ss. 105 — 108 ; G. C. O.,
1847 ; Apprenticeship Order, 1898.
250 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
consent. The decision of the guardians may be
annulled by the local magistrates.1
Children under the care of the guardians may
be adopted by private persons, but an adopted
child must be visited by a competent person
appointed by the guardians at least twice a year
for three years, and the guardians may at any time
revoke the adoption.2
The guardians may direct proceedings to be
taken for assault, neglect or exposure of children,
and they must provide a place for the temporary
reception of children against whom such offences
are committed.3
Another duty of the guardians in the nature of
indoor-relief is to provide food and shelter for
vagrants, or, as they are described by sect. 3 of
the Pauper Inmates Discharge Act, 1871, " destitute
wayfarers and wanderers." 4 Casual wards are estab-
lished for this purpose. The character of these
institutions is somewhat varied. Some wards are
constructed on the cellular system, in which the
occupants are separated from each other at sleep
and at work, whilst in others there is no isolation
at work except so far as the sexes are concerned.
Admission is granted by the superintendent of the
1 P. L. Acts, 1889 and 1899.
* P. L. A., 1899.
3 Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act, 1904, ss. 5 and 21.
4 Pauper Inmates Discharge Act, 1871 ; Casual Poor Act,
1882; Metropolitan Houseless Poor Acts, 1864 and 1865;
Casual Paupers Orders, 1882, 1892 and 1897 ; ditto
(Metropolis), 1887.
POOR LAW. 251
casual ward, the master of the workhouse, a reliev-
ing officer or his assistant, or an overseer. The Local
Government Board have issued a general order
laying down the dietary to be given, and the work,
such as stone breaking or oakum picking for the
men, and domestic work or oakum picking for the
women, to be performed by the vagrants.
An inmate of the ward who breaks any of the
regulations, gives a false name, or refuses to perform
his task, may be punished by the magistrates.
Unless the guardians give special directions,
vagrants must remain in the casual ward for two
nights, and anyone who has been admitted to a ward
of the same union more than once in a month may
be detained in the ward or the workhouse until the
fourth day after admission. The metropolis forms
one union for this purpose.
Out-door relief, consisting of the grant of money,
goods or medical relief, may be granted by the
guardians to a limited extent.1 The Out-door Relief
Prohibitory Order of 1 844 forbids the grant of such
relief to the able bodied of either sex, except in
cases of sudden or urgent necessity, sickness or
accident, or bodily or mental infirmity affecting the
applicant or his family, and, under certain circum-
stances, widows, deserted wives, and wives of
soldiers and sailors, and persons in prison. The
Out-door Relief Regulation Order of 1852, which
applies to London and most of the large towns in
1 P. L. A., 1834, s. 52.
252 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
the provinces, and various out-door labour test
orders, permit such relief to be granted to unem-
ployed able-bodied men, in return for the per-
formance of a task prescribed by the guardians,
usually stone breaking. Half of the relief, how-
ever, must be given in goods of absolute necessity,
and the guardians must report full particulars of
the matter to the Local Government Board. In
many unions relief of this nature is given on a
somewhat large scale during periods when lack of
employment is widespread, owing to depression in
trade or severe weather.
The guardians may, at their discretion, grant
out-relief to a member of a friendly society,
although he is in receipt of money from the
society, and, in any event, they are not to take
into consideration any sum received from the
society, as sick pay, unless it exceeds 5^. per
week.1
Burial expenses, premiums for apprenticeship,
and cost of emigration may be granted as out-door
relief. In no case may any relief be given for
payment of rent, redemption of pawned articles,
purchase of tools, travelling expenses, in aid of
wages, or in order to establish an adult in a trade
or business.
If the guardians find it necessary to depart from
the regulations of the Local Government Board in
the matter of out-door relief, they must inform
1 Out-door Relief Acts, 1894 and 1904.
POOR LAW. 253
the Board within twenty-one days, and afterwards
comply with the directions of that department.
Out-door relief is given by the relieving officers
in cases of urgency. Other applications must be
dealt with by the guardians, or by the relief com-
mittees appointed for the purpose. It may, of
course, be granted as a loan.
The granting of outdoor relief is, of course,
entirely within the discretion of the guardians.
Some boards restrict it to the smallest limits, on
principle, whilst others consider that in suitable
circumstances, especially in the case of the aged
poor, it is both more economical and of greater
benefit to the recipient to give a certain amount of
out-door relief than to insist upon such persons
entering the workhouse.
The guardians may buy or lease fifty acres of
land, and provide the unemployed poor with
work on such land, but this power is rarely exer-
cised.1
Subject to the approval of the Local Govern-
ment Board, and to compliance with their regula-
tions, the guardians may afford relief by providing
for the emigration of destitute persons.
Under the Relief to School Children Order of
1895 provision is made for the guardians supply-
ing food to underfed children. If it is ascertained
that a child under the age of sixteen years attends
1 P. L. A., 1819, ss. 12 and 13; Poor Allotments Act, 1831 ;
P. L. A., 1 83 1 ; Allotment of Crown Land Act, 1831 ; Poor
Allotment Act, 1873; Allotments Act, 1887.
254 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
an elementary school without being properly fed,
the managers of the school, or a teacher empowered
by the managers, or an officer appointed for that
purpose by the local education authority, may
apply to the guardians to supply the child with
food. The relief given by the guardians to the
child may be made by way of loan, and the cost
recovered from the father in the county court, pro-
viding the guardians have, before supplying the
food, given the father an opportunity of doing so.
If the guardians are of opinion that the father
habitually neglects to provide adequate food, the
relief can only be given as a loan. In that case
he may be prosecuted under the Vagrancy Act,
1824, or the Prevention of Cruelty to Children Act,
1904. The guardians cannot continue to give
relief under one application for a longer period
than one month, but the application may, of course,
be renewed.
The receipt of poor law relief by a voter, either
in respect of himself, his wife, or children under the
age of sixteen, other than relief of a medical nature,
disqualifies the recipient, under various statutes,
from voting at Parliamentary, municipal, or other
local government elections during the following
year.1
Medical relief is granted more freely than other
forms of out-door relief. Each board of guardians
must appoint one or more district medical officers,2
1 Medical Relief Disqualification Removal Act, 1885.
* Medical Officers Orders of 1857, 1871 and 1880.
POOR LAW. 255
whose duty it is to give medical advice and treat-
ment to poor persons who have obtained the neces-
sary orders from the relieving officers, or, in case
of emergency, from the overseers or justices.1 The
guardians may also employ, directly or by arrange-
ment with a semi-private district nursing associa-
tion, nurses to attend upon the sick poor at their
own homes in cases of necessity.2
In this connection it may be mentioned that the
guardians may, with the sanction of the Local
Government Board, subscribe to the funds of
nursing associations, hospital committees, emigra-
tion societies, or similar bodies whose work is calcu-
lated to render useful aid in the administration
of the relief of the poor.3
3. Pauper Lunatics.
The guardians are responsible for the mainten-
ance of pauper lunatics, but not for the provision
of asylum accommodation. The relieving officers
usually secure the admission of such a lunatic, upon
a medical certificate and an order of the justices
after examination, to one of the lunatic asylums
already referred to. Many harmless incurable
lunatics, however, are maintained in the workhouse.4
4. Registration of Births, etc.
The registration of births, deaths, and marriages
1 P. L. A., 1834, s. 54.
2 District Nurses Order, 1892.
8 P. L. A., 185 1, s. 4 ; P. L. A., 1879, s. 10.
4 Lunacy Act, 1890.
256 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
in the union is carried out under the control of the
superintendent registrar, who is appointed by the
guardians, but can be dismissed by the Registrar-
General. The union is divided into sub-registra-
tion districts, to each of which the guardians
appoint a registrar. The boundaries of these
districts may be varied by the Registrar- General,
with the approval of the Local Government Board.
The superintendent registrar performs marriages at
his office, the ceremony being of an entirely
non-religious character.1
5. Vaccination.
It is the duty of the board of guardians to aid
in enforcing the vaccination of every healthy infant
in their district, except in cases where parents have
obtained a certificate of exemption within four
months of the birth of the child. Such a certificate
may be given by two justices or a stipendiary
magistrate, if satisfied that the parent applying for
it has a conscientious belief that vaccination would
be prejudicial to the health of the child.2 The
guardians must appoint and pay one or more duly
qualified medical men as public vaccinators for
their district, who are to vaccinate free of charge
any unvaccinated person presented for this purpose.
A vaccination officer must also be engaged to
keep the necessary registers, to bring to the notice
1 Registration of Births, etc., Acts, 1836, 1837, 1856, 1858
1874 and 1901 ; Union Chargeability Act, 1865, s. 1.
[867, 1 87 1, 1874 and 1898.
POOR LAW. 257
of parents the necessity of having their children
vaccinated, and to prosecute those who do not
comply with the law.1
6. Infant Life Protection.
Outside the administrative county of London
the guardians are the authority charged with
enforcing the provisions of the Infant Life Protec-
tion Act, 1897. Any person receiving more than
one child under the age of five years for nursing or
maintenance for a longer period than forty-eight
hours, in return for reward, must give full particulars
to the guardians, who may fix the maximum
number of children to be received in the same
house. A person adopting a child under the age
of two years, in consideration of the payment of
a smaller sum than £20, must give similar notice.
In both cases notice must also be given to the
coroner within forty-eight hours of such an infant
dying. The guardians should appoint inspectors
(either men or women) to see that the Act is com-
plied with, and if those inspectors find that an
infant, in respect of whom a notice should be given,
is kept by an unfit person, or in an unfit or over-
crowded house, the guardians may direct the
removal of the infant to the workhouse.
In the county of London the Common Council
of the City are the authority under the Act for the
city, and the London County Council for the
remainder of the county.
1 Vaccination Orders, 1898, 1905 and 1907.
M.M. S
258 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
7. Financial, Contracts, etc.
The expenses of the guardians are paid out of
the common fund of the union,1 formed by con-
tributions from the poor rates, levied by the over-
seers, as described on page 192. They also receive,
through the county councils, grants from the
Government in aid of the salaries of officers
medical expenses, maintenance of pauper lunatics
etc.
The guardians have power to borrow for purposes
requiring capital expenditure, such as the erection
of a workhouse, schools, etc. All loans must
receive the sanction of the Local Government
Board, who require to be strictly satisfied as to the
proper nature of the works, and who fix the period
of repayment, not exceeding sixty years.2 The
total debt of the guardians must not be greater
than one-fourth of the annual rateable value of the
various parishes comprised in the union, but this
limit may be extended to one-half of that rateable
value, by a provisional order granted by the Local
Government Board and confirmed by Parliament.
The managers appointed by the guardians of
unions included in united school or asylum districts
may also borrow to the extent of one-sixteenth of
the total rateable value of the combined district3
Unless they obtain the consent of the Local
1 Union Assessment Act, 1834, s. 28 ; Union Chargeability
Act, 1865.
2 Union Loans Act, 1869; P. L. A., 1879.
» P. L. A., 1889.
POOR LAW. 259
Government Board, the guardians cannot enter
into any contract for the supply of articles, the
cost of which is estimated to exceed £10 per
month, or £50 in one transaction, except upon
receipt of sealed tenders forwarded in response to
an advertisement inserted in a local newspaper.
The opening and selection of tenders must be
carried out by the board, and not by a committee.1
All debts due from boards of guardians must be
paid within three months of the close of the
financial half-year in which they were incurred, or
in such further period (not exceeding twelve
months from the date when the debts became due)
as the Local Government Board may allow.2
The accounts of the guardians must be kept in
accordance with orders issued by the Local Govern-
ment Board, and they are subject to the same audit
and surcharge by that Board as are the accounts of
urban district councils, previously referred to, except
that poor law accounts are audited half-yearly
instead of annually. Seven days prior to each audit
the accounts must be deposited in the union offices,
where any ratepayer may inspect them.3
The Local Government Board also have power
to hold an extraordinary audit of poor law accounts
upon giving three days' notice, where defalcations
are suspected.4
1 Gen. Con. Order, 1847; Contracts Order, 1877.
2 P. L. (Payment of Debts) Act, 1859.
3 P. L. A., 1844 ; P. C. (Audit) A., 1848 ; Accounts Order, 1867.
< P. L. A., 1866, s. 6.
S 2
26o MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
Poor law officers are personally responsible for
the proper expenditure of money entrusted to them,
and they are prohibited from carrying out an illegal
order, although given by the guardians.
The number of paupers relieved varies greatly
at different seasons of the year. The last published
report of the Local Government Board, for the year
1905-6, showed that on the 1st January, 1906,
relief was given to 927,520 persons, consisting of
262,214 inmates of workhouses, infirmaries, schools
etc. ; 16,823 vagrants ; 562,662 persons in receipt
of out-door relief; and 85,821 pauper lunatics.
The total expenditure upon the relief of the poor
and matters wholly connected therewith during the
financial year ending Lady Day, 1905, other than
that defrayed from loans, was £13,85 1,981. After
deducting receipts from relatives, sale of farm pro-
duce, etc., and Government grants received from
the county councils or directly from Government
departments, the net amount borne by the local
rates was £10,478,966.
9. The County of London.
For poor law purposes the administrative county
of London is divided into fifteen parishes and
sixteen union districts, each controlled by a board
of guardians. The members of those boards are
elected for three years, in accordance with an order
issued by the London County Council, under
sect. 20 of the Local Government Act, 1894. In
POOR LAW. 261
other respects, the provisions already noticed with
regard to the election and constitution of the boards
are operative in London.
A metropolitan common poor fund has been
established, to which the various parishes and dis-
tricts contribute according to their rateable value,
and from which is wholly or partly defrayed the
cost of the maintenance of pauper lunatics, fever
and small-pox patients, inmates of the workhouse
and pauper schools, medical relief, and the salaries
of officers.1
The Local Government Board may order the
guardians of any metropolitan parish or union to
provide medical dispensaries for the better regulation
of medical relief.2
The Metropolitan Asylums Board,3 consisting of
seventy-three managers, fifty-five of whom are
elected by the various metropolitan boards of
guardians in varying proportions, and eighteen of
whom are nominated by the Local Government
Board, are charged with the duty of providing
accommodation and care for the infectious sick,
the harmless insane, and certain pauper children
suffering from disease, infirmity, or mental defect.
The establishment and administration expenses
of the Board are borne by the various districts
1 Met. Poor Act, 1867, ss. 61—72 ; Met. Poor Act, 1870;
P. L. A. 1889; P. H.(L.)A., 1891.
2 M. P. A., 1867, ss. 38—46 ; M. P. A. 1869, ss. 13 and 14 ;
Dispensary Order, 1871.
8 M. P. Acts, 1867, 1869, and 1871, and subsequent Orders
of Local Government Board.
262 MUNICIPAL MANUAL.
according to their rateable value, and the main-
tenance of inmates of the hospitals, asylums, and
schools is paid out of the metropolitan common
poor fund.
Subject to the regulations of the Local Govern-
ment Board, the Asylums Board may also admit to
their hospitals, non-pauper patients suffering from
fever, small-pox, and diphtheria. The cost must be
paid to the Asylums Board by the guardians of
the union from which the patients are taken, who
may reimburse themselves from the metropolitan
common poor fund.1
Two sick asylum districts, the Poplar and
Stepney, and the Central London, have also been
formed, by orders of the Local Government Board,
for the reception and relief of paupers from the
parishes included in such districts who require to
be treated in a hospital or infirmary, but are not
suffering from infectious disease.
1 Poor Law Act, 1889; Public Health (London) Act, 1891,
ss. 79 — 81.
APPENDIX.
Legislation of Session 1907.
Whilst this volume was in the Press, the Royal
Assent was given to the following Acts of Parlia-
ment affecting local government, passed during
Session 1907 : —
C. 33. The Qualification of Women (County
and Borough Councils) Act provides that a woman
shall not be disqualified by sex or marriage for being
elected a councillor or alderman of a county or borough
council ; but it is expressly enacted that no woman
who is elected chairman of a county council or mayor
of a borough shall by virtue of such office be a justice
of the peace. See pp. 6 and 37.
C. 53. The Public Health Acts Amendment
Act, which is the most important addition made to
the statute book during 1907, so far as local govern-
ment is concerned, contains a number of provisions
which have from time to time been inserted in local
Acts.
The Act comes into operation on the 1st January,
1908, and does not affect the County of London.
Part I is introductory. Parts II, III, IV, V, VI and
X, or any section included in them, may be put into
264 APPENDIX.
force, upon the application of the town or district
council, by the Local Government Board ; and Parts
VII, VIII and IX, or any of their sections, may be put
into force under similar circumstances by order of the
Home Secretary.
In towns where Part II is operative, the council may
declare that their approval of the plans of new streets
and buildings shall be of no effect unless the work is
commenced within three years of the deposit of the
plans, or, if the plans have been deposited before the
Act comes into operation, within three years of the
latter event. Upon plans of a proposed new street
being deposited, the council may, with the object of
securing better communication with any other street,
or obtaining an opening at either end of the new street,
or complying with any enactment or bye-law, vary the
intended position, direction or termination, or level of
the street, and issue an order fixing the points at
which it shall be deemed to begin or end. This
modest instalment of " town planning " power is not,
however, exerciseable if it will entail the purchase of
additional land by the owners of the street, or the
exercise of works elsewhere than on their own land.
The council must also compensate any person
injuriously affected by their order. See pp. 84, 112
and 120.
If repairs are urgently required to private streets, to
obviate or remove danger to any passenger or vehicle,
the council may require the owners to execute such
repairs, and, upon their default, may do the work
themselves and recover the cost from the owners in
proportion to the frontage of their premises. A
majority in number or rateable value of the owners
may, however, call upon the council to repair the
street under the powers of the Public Health Act,
1875 (sect. 150), or the Private Street Works Act,
1892, and, when such repair has been completed, the
council must adopt the street as a public highway.
See pp. 1 19-122.
APPENDIX. 265
The council may alter the name of a street, with the
consent of two-thirds in number and value of the
ratepayers in the street. See p. 115.
They may also require the corner of any building
intended to be erected at the corner of two streets to
be rounded off, making compensation, of course, for
any loss sustained in consequence of their decision.
See p. 84.
The definition of a " new building " is extended to
include the re-erection of a building of which the outer
wall has been demolished to within ten feet of the
surface of the ground, the conversion or re-conversion
of a building into a dwelling house, additions to an
existing building by raising the roof, altering a wall or
making a projection, or the covering up of an open
space between walls or buildings. It is also made
necessary to submit the plans of temporary buildings
to the council, and to obtain their consent to the work.
The decision of the council must be given within a
month, and their approval may include conditions as to
sanitary arrangements, protection from fire, and the
period during which the building shall be allowed to
stand. Bye-laws may be made with respect to the
height of chimneys and of buildings, and the structure
of chimney shafts for steam engines, factories, etc. ;
and the council may require the yards of dwelling
houses to be paved or provided with effectual means
of drainage. See pp. 83 and 84.
The consent of the council is required to deposits or
excavations being made in a public street ; and the
owner of a building, wall, pond, etc., which is dangerous
to persons using a street or public footpath, may be
called upon to repair or enclose such place. The
council may also obtain from the Local Government
Board power to compel the proper fencing of open
or insufficiently fenced land, adjoining a street, which
is a scource of danger to passengers, or is used for
immoral or indecent purposes. The use of a hoarding
or similar structure in or adjoining a street is forbidden,
266 APPENDIX.
unless it is securely fixed to the satisfaction of the
council. See pp. 115 and 116.
Part III of the Act is devoted to sanitary provisions.
Water cisterns used for domestic purposes, which
are likely to contaminate the water or to cause risk to
health, insufficient or defective gutters, stack pipes, etc.
or deposits of material causing damp in a building, are
made nuisances within the meaning of the Public
Health Act, 1875. See pp. 55.57.
A pipe used for carrying rain water from a roof
must not be used for the passage of soil or drainage
from a privy or water closet. See p. 50.
The council are given several additional powers for
securing proper sanitary conveniences, where a suffi-
cient water supply and a sewer are available. Within
a month after the deposit of plans of a new building,
they may require such building to be provided with
proper and sufficient water closets or slop closets
(i.e. : — closets used in connection with a water carriage
system, but flushed by slops, waste liquids or rain
water). They have similar powers with regard to
existing buildings, and may do the necessary work
themselves, if their requirements are not complied
with, and recover the cost from the owners ; but if
existing closet accommodation only needs alteration
they must bear half the cost out of the rates, and pay
the whole of it if the previous convenience was a
" pail closet." The council cannot take advantage of
the Act to turn a slop closet into a proper water closet,
without the special sanction of the Local Government
Board. A person aggrieved by the decision of the
council may appeal to the local magistrates. See
pp. 49 and 50.
The council may require the owners of any inn,
beer-house, eating house, place of public entertain-
ment, etc., to provide and maintain sufficient urinals,
and they may insist on the removal of any urinal or
other sanitary convenience opening on to a street if,
by its situation or construction, it is a nuisance or
APPENDIX. 267
offensive to public decency. Full power is given them
to provide lavatories and sanitary conveniences in the
public streets, and to let them for any period. See
P- 52.
The council may authorise the testing (except by
water pressure) of suspected drains, provided that the
consent of the owner or occupier is given, or an order
empowering them to act is issued by the local
magistrates. If defects are discovered, the council
may, of course, order the owner to do the necessary
work, failing which they may themselves do what is
needed and recover the cost from him. They may also
compel the filling up of any cesspool, ashpit or well
which is objectionable for sanitary reasons, and they
may require all buildings to be furnished with sinks or
drains to carry off refuse water. See p. 51.
The duty of removing trade refuse (other than
sludge) upon payment of a reasonable sum, is cast
upon the council upon receiving a request to that
effect from an owner or occupier. Any difference of
opinion as to the meaning of "trade refuse" must
be decided by the local magistrates. See pp. 52
and 53.
The council may provide and maintain an ambu-
lance service, for use in case of accidents, or other
sudden or urgent disability.
The council may, with the consent of the Local
Government Board, declare any trade to be an
" offensive trade," and therefore subject to the
restrictions mentioned on p. 63.
Part IV. deals with infectious diseases. It is made
an offence for a person who knows that he is suffering
from such a disease to engage in any occupation,
unless he can do so without risk of spreading the
infection. If a person in the district is suffering from
infectious disease which is suspected to be due to milk
supplied within the district, the council may require
the vendor of the milk to furnish a list of the sources
of his supply. A dairyman must also notify to the
268 APPENDIX.
medical officer of the district in which he sells milk
any case of infectious disease occurring amongst the
persons engaged at his dairy. Infected clothing must
not be sent to a laundry, unless sent for disinfection,
with proper precautions, and notice is given to the
laundry keeper of its condition. The council may, at
their own expense, cleanse or destroy any filthy article
upon receiving a certificate from their medical officer
that this proceeding is necessary. Children suffering
from infectious disease who have been excluded from
school by the medical officer must not return until
that officer certifies that there will be no risk of com-
municating the disease ; and the principal of a school
in which there is an infected scholar may be required
to furnish a list of the names and addresses of the
children attending the school, other than boarders.
Books may not be borrowed from or returned to
a library by an infected person. The council may
provide temporary accommodation for persons who
leave their houses to enable disinfection to be carried
out, although the Infectious Diseases (Prevention)
Act, 1890, has not been adopted. If such accommoda-
tion is provided they may, upon the order of two
magistrates, remove any person thereto, free of charge,
from infected premises. The conveyance of infected
persons in public vehicles is prohibited, but if it occurs,
the medical officer must be informed, and the vehicle
must be disinfected by the council, free of charge, if
the offence was committed unwittingly. The com-
pulsory removal of infected persons to hospital by
magistrates' order, referred to on p. 68, is extended
to all sufferers from dangerous infectious disease living
in premises where they cannot be effectually isolated.
Power is conferred upon the council to cleanse and
disinfect any house or to disinfect or destroy any
article, where the medical officer certifies that this
course will tend to prevent or check dangerous infec-
tious disease, the occupier of the house being given
twenty-four hours within which to do the work
APPENDIX. 269
himself. The council must make compensation
for unnecessary damage committed, or for articles
destroyed.
They may provide nurses for attendance on patients
suffering from infectious disease, who cannot be
removed to hospital owing to want of accommodation,
danger of infection, or to the patients' health, and they
may make reasonable charges for the services of such
nurses. It is made unlawful to hold a wake over the
body of a person who has died of infectious disease.
See pp. 66-73.
Part V. is concerned with common lodging houses.
The council are invested with discretion to refuse to
register a common lodging-house keeper, unless they
are satisfied with his character and fitness for his
position ; and registration of new keepers must be
renewed at least annually. Deputy keepers are also to
be registered. Every common lodging house must have
a sufficient number of suitable sanitary conveniences,
including — in houses where both sexes are received —
separate accommodation for each sex. See pp. 85 and 86.
Part VI. (Recreation Grounds) enables the council,
subject to any rules which may be prescribed by the
Local Government Board, to: —
1. Enclose part of a public park for the purposes
of skating, and charge for admission to one quarter of
the whole area of ice.
2. Fix portions of the ground to be used for specified
games.
3. Provide apparatus for games, and charge for its
use, or let the right to provide it.
4. Provide or contribute towards the expense of a
band of music to perform in the park (the cost not to
exceed the produce of a penny rate, or such lower
rate as may be fixed by the Local Government Board)
and also charge for admission to not more than one
acre of land enclosed for the convenience of persons
listening to music.
5. Charge for the use of seats in the park.
270 APPENDIX.
6. Provide reading rooms and pavilions, and charge
for admission, but in the former case on not more than
twelve days in a year, nor on more than four con-
secutive days.
7. Let pavilions and similar buildings for the pur-
pose of entertainments.
8. Provide and maintain refreshment rooms, or let
them for three years or less. See pp. 170 and 171.
Part VII. is mainly concerned with police matters.
Subject to the approval of the Home Secretary, the
council may regulate riding and driving at street
crossings or restrict heavy vehicles to particular por-
tions of the streets. They may also prescribe the
streets in which leading or driving of cattle may be
permitted between 9 a.m. and 9 p.m., subject to pas-
sage being allowed between railway stations and
markets, etc., and to slaughter houses and the premises
of cattle owners. See pp. 11 4- 116.
The councils of coast towns may make bye-laws as
to the erection of booths, tents, swings, roundabouts,
the hawking of articles, playing of games, riding or
driving, on the sea shore. Similar bye-laws may be
made by any council as to the use of esplanades and
promenades.
The council may license porters and public messen-
gers for a term not exceeding one year. Persons
keeping female domestic servants' registries or carry-
ing on the business of marine store dealers or dealers
in old metal, must register their names and addresses
with the council, and permit a duly authorised officer
of the council to inspect their premises.
Part VIII. (Fire Brigade) gives power to a police
constable, member of the fire brigade, or officer of the
council to break into any building reasonably supposed
to be on fire, and enables the officer in charge of the
police at a fire to stop or regulate the street traffic.
The chief officer of the council's fire brigade is given
full control of the operation of extinguishing the fire ;
and local authorities are authorised to arrange for the
APPENDIX. 271
common use of firemen, fire engines, etc. See pp. 139
and 140.
Part IX. prohibits the erection of sky signs, but
existing signs may, subject to certain stringent con-
ditions, and with the consent of the council, be
retained for three years.
Part X. (Miscellaneous) enables the council to
provide bathing sheds and life-saving appliances, and
to make bye-laws with regard to public bathing and
the provision of life-saving apparatus. See p. 169.
Further powers of licensing pleasure boats are given
to the council (in addition to those referred to on
p. 154), subject to an appeal to the local magistrates
against the refusal to issue such a licence. The letting
of unlicensed boats for hire is prohibited.
The last section of the Act enables land which is
not required by the council for purposes for which it
was acquired, to be used for other purposes approved
by the Local Government Board, subject to certain
restrictions, which prevent such land being appropriated
for a well, burial ground, dust destructor, electricity
station, sewage farm, or hospital, unless the Board
specially authorise this proceeding, after holding a
local inquiry. See pp. 24 and 25.
C. 21. The Butter and Margarine Act provides
that butter factories (i.e., premises on which butter is
blended, re-worked, or subjected to any other treat-
ment) and premises where milk blended butter is made
or dealt with wholesale, if situate in a metropolitan
borough, or a borough having a population of 10,000
and a court of quarter sessions or a separate police
establishment, must be registered with the borough
council, or, if situate elsewhere, with the county
council. Properly authorised officers of the Board of
Agriculture and Local Government Board may inspect
all such factories, etc., and any officer empowered to
obtain samples under the Foods and Drugs Acts may
be given similar powers by the local authority with
272 APPENDIX.
regard to taking samples from those premises. The
Act contains restrictions as to the adulteration of
butter, margarine and milk blended butter, and enables
the Local Government Board to prohibit the use of
preservatives in those preparations, and empowers the
Board of Agriculture to regulate the sale of milk
blended butter. It comes into operation on the ist
January, 1908. See pp. 80 and 81.
C. 39. The Factory and Workshop Act repeals
that portion of the Act of 1901 (referred to on p. 96)
which excluded from the operation of the latter
measure laundries in which not more than two non-
resident persons were employed. Special provisions
are also enacted by which the Acts apply to institu-
tions carried on for charitable or reformatory pur-
poses, with certain modifications. The new statute
comes into operation on the ist January, 1908.
C. 40. The Notification of Births Act is a per-
missive measure, and may be adopted, with the
approval of the Local "Government Board, by the
council of any borough or urban or rural district, or
by any county council, or it may be put into force by
the Board in districts where it has not been adopted.
In the county of London the authorities having power
to adopt the Act are the city council and the borough
councils.
The Act provides that in the case of every birth it
shall be the duty of the father of the child, if residing
in the house, and of any person in attendance on the
mother, to give notice of the birth to the medical
officer of health, within thirty-six hours. For this
purpose the council must supply stamped postcards
to medical practitioners and midwives residing or
practising in their district. In the County of London,
the medical officer of every borough in which the Act
is in force must forward to the county council a weekly
return of the notifications he receives. See p. 102.
APPENDIX. 273
C. 27. The Advertisements Regulation Act
enables the council of every municipal borough, or
of an urban district with a population of over 10,000,
and elsewhere the county council, to make bye-laws
for the regulation and control of advertising hoardings,
when they exceed twelve feet in height, and for
regulating, restricting, or preventing the exhibition of
advertisements if they injuriously affect the amenities
of a public park or pleasure promenade or disfigure
the natural beauty of a landscape. The bye-laws
must be confirmed by the Home Secretary, and must
provide for the exemption of existing hoardings and
advertisements for at least five years.
Bye-laws for the City of London may be made by
the common council, but in the metropolitan boroughs
the London County Council are the authority under
the Act, although it is the duty of the borough coun-
cils to enforce all bye-laws with regard to the regula-
tion of hoadings, as distinct from advertisements. See
pp. 115, 118 and 195.
C. 45. The Lights on Vehicles Act compels a
lamp to be provided to every vehicle in use on the
highways or streets between one hour after sunset and
one hour before sunrise ; but the Act does not apply
to cycles or locomotives (which are dealt with by
special legislation already referred to) or hand-driven
vehicles.
It comes into force on the 1st January, 1908, and
after that date all bye-laws made by local authorities
with regard to lights upon the vehicles dealt with by
the Act cease to have effect.
Any county council may issue orders exempting
from the operation of the Act vehicles used for harvest-
ing in their district, and, with the approval of the
Home Secretary, the council of any borough (or, in
London, the county council and the city council) may
make an order exempting vehicles containing specified
inflammable goods. See p. 128.
M.M. T
274 APPENDIX.
C. 15. The Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries
Act provides that on the application, inter alia, of a
county council or of a Board of Conservators (referred
to on p. 159) the Board of Agriculture and Fisheries
may, after holding a local inquiry, make a provisional
order (which must be confirmed by Parliament) for
the general regulation of fisheries specified therein.
The order may create and incorporate a Board of
Conservators, and confer upon them various powers,
including the compulsory acquisition of land under the
Lands Clauses Acts. See p. 159.
C. 54. The Small Holdings and Allotments
Act considerably amends the Small Holdings Act,
1892, referred to on p. 176.
The Board of Agriculture are to appoint Small
Holdings Commissioners, whose duty it will be to
ascertain, by conference with councils of counties or
county boroughs or otherwise, the demand which exists
for small holdings and the extent to which it is
reasonably practicable to satisfy it. It is the duty of
every borough or district council to furnish information
to the Commissioners, and they may also make
representations to them upon the matter. Any
information which the Commissioners receive as to the
demand for allotments must be passed on to the
council of the district concerned.
Upon receiving the report of the Commissioners, the
Board may forward it to the council of the county or
county borough to be dealt with, whose duty it then is
to prepare a scheme or schemes for the provision of
small holdings to give effect to such report. If they
decline to undertake the duty, or fail to prepare a
scheme within six months, or such other extended
time as may be allowed by the Board, the latter
authority may direct the Commissioners to prepare a
scheme. The council may draft a scheme without
waiting for the report of the Commissioners.
A scheme may specify the localities in which land is
APPENDIX. 275
to be acquired, and the nature of the holdings to be
formed. It must be duly published, and comes into
force upon being made by the Board of Agriculture,
who must first consider any objections that are offered
to it. The county council are entrusted with the task
of carrying out the scheme, but if they neglect this
duty their powers as to small holdings are transferred
to the Commissioners, who exercise them at the
expense of the council.
The county council may acquire land by agreement
or compulsorily for the purpose of letting it to persons
to cultivate as small holdings, the maximum period
for which the purchase money may be borrowed being
eighty years. Compulsory powers of purchase or hiring
under the Lands Clauses Acts come into operation
by an order made by the council and confirmed
by the Board of Agriculture. The arbitrator is
to be appointed by the Board, and no additional
allowance is to be made on account of the transaction
being compulsory. The hiring may be for any term
from fourteen to thirty-five years, and the lease may
be renewed by the council, the rent being then fixed
by a valuer appointed by the Board. The land which
may thus be dealt with is considerably restricted.
Holdings of fifty acres or less, and land used for parks,
gardens, pleasure grounds, or home farm purposes, or
required for amenity or convenience of a dwelling
house, or which is the property of public authorities
or used for a public undertaking, are excluded, and
the Board must have regard to the extent of land held
or occupied by any owner or tenant and to the
convenience of the owner or tenant of the land dealt
with.
The powers of the county council as to the acquisi-
tion, adaptation and management of the holdings may
be delegated to the council of any borough or urban
district in the county, who may undertake to bear any
loss incurred in connection with small holdings.
The powers of the Local Government Board with
T 2
276 APPENDIX.
respect to allotments (except those relating to finance)
are transferred to the Board of Agriculture. Five
acres is substituted for one acre as the limit of an
allotment which may be held by one person, and even
this area may be exceeded, with the consent of the
county council. Any council adapting land for
allotments may erect not more than one dwelling
house with an allotment of one acre.
Land may be acquired compulsorily for the purposes
of allotments in the same manner as for small holdings.
The appeal of six ratepayers to the county council, on
the neglect of an urban district council to provide
allotments, is abolished, and it is made the duty of the
county council to ascertain the demand for allotments
in such districts (not being boroughs) and the extent
to which it is reasonably practicable to satisfy that
demand. If the county council fail to fulfil their
obligations with regard to allotments, the Board
may transfer the council's powers as to allotments to
the Small Holdings Commissioners. In the county of
London allotments may be provided by the county
council.
A county council may promote the formation of, or
assist co-operative societies formed for the provision
or profitable working of small holdings and allotments,
and, subject to the consent and regulation of the Local
Government Board, make grants or advances or
guarantee advances, to such societies. Small holdings
or allotments may be let to these bodies if the division
of profits amongst the members is prohibited or
restricted.
Every county council must establish a small holdings
and allotments committee (which may contain a
minority of non-council members), to whom questions
affecting those subjects must stand referred in the first
instance (except in cases of urgency), and to whom
the powers of the council may be delegated. The
raising of rates or borrowing of money is expressly
reserved to the county council. The committee may
APPENDIX. 277
in turn delegate their powers to sub-committees,
which may include members of borough and district
councils. See pp. 173-177.
C. 43. The Education (Administrative Pro-
visions) Act gives to local education authorities the
same power for the purchase of land, either compul-
sorily or by agreement, for the purposes of secondary
education, as they have for elementary education.
With the consent of the Board of Education, they may
use for the former purpose land acquired for the latter
purpose, or vice versa ; and, with the consent of the
Local Government Board, they may use as an
education authority, land which they have obtained in
any other capacity. See p. 219.
The maximum period for which a county council
may borrow for educational purposes is extended from
30 to 60 years. See p. 233.
Local education authorities are also given power to
provide vacation schools, play centres or other means
of recreation for children during the holidays of the
elementary schools, or at other suitable times.
The duty is cast upon them of arranging for the
medical inspection of children upon their admission to
public elementary schools, and on such other occasions
as the Board of Education may direct ; and they may,
in their discretion, with the approval of the Board of
Education, attend to the health and physical condition
of such children by other methods. For the pur-
poses of such medical aid, they may encourage and
assist the establishment or continuance of voluntary
agencies. This section comes into effect on the 1st
January, 1908. See p. 226.
Distance is no longer an excuse for non-attendance
at school, where the local education authority supply
a suitable means of conveyance. See pp. 223 and 226.
C. 14. The Released Persons (Poor Law Relief)
Act enables a person about to be released from prison,
278 APPENDIX.
reformatory, industrial school or inebriates' reforma-
tory, who requires immediate poor law relief by reason
of infirmity of body or mind, to be removed to the
workhouse of the Poor Law Union in which he is
settled or to which he is chargeable, by order of a
justice of the peace. See p. 244.
C. 31. The Vaccination Act provides that a parent
who makes a statutory declaration that he conscien-
tiously believes vaccination would be prejudicial to
the health of his child shall be exempt from penalties
for the non-vaccination of such child. The declaration
must be made within four months of the birth of the child
referred to, and must be forwarded to the vaccination
officer of the district within seven days. The Act
comes into force on the 1st January, 1908, after which
the method of obtaining exemption by virtue of a
magistrate's certificate is abolished. See p. 256.
INDEX
Accounts : — Board of Guar-
dians, 259; County Council,
212 ; Metropolitan Borough
Council, 211, 212; Town
Council, 207, 208, 209 ;
Urban District Council, 207,
208, 210. See also Audit.
Acts of Parliament : — Adoptive
Acts, 41, 65, 263 ; Local Acts,
42
Administrative County, 2, 36
Adulteration. See Food.
Advertisements. See Hoard-
ings
Advertising attractions of town,
187
Agricultural Gangmasters,
Licensing of, 154
Agricultural Land, Rating of,
190, 193, 198, 201
Aldermen. See County, Metro-
politan Borough and Town
Councils.
Alkali Works, Regulation of,
64
Allotments : — Appointment of
Committee, 174, 276; Com-
pulsory Acquisition of Land,
173, 276 ; Provisions and
Regulation of Allotments,
173 — 176, 276 ; Rents of
Allotments, 173, 175. See
also Small Holdings.
Ambulance Service, 267
Analysis of Food, Fertilisers,
etc., 79 — 83, 156
Ancient Monuments, Purchase
and Maintenance of, 186
Animals, Diseases of : — Execu-
tive Committee, 141 ; Pre-
vention and Extinction of
Diseases, 141 — 143 ; Orders
of Board of Agriculture,
142 ; Neglect of Council,
143
Animals, Keeping of. See
Nuisances.
Appeal. See Legal Proceedings.
Appeal to County Council
against Metropolitan
Borough Councils, 49, 51,
62
Appeal to County Court as to
erection of Telegraph Posts,
etc., 119
Art Galleries, Provision of,
178
Ash-pit. See Dust-bin.
Assessable Value, Definition
of, 193
Assessment Committee: —
Appointment of, 191, 200;
Powers as to Valuation
List, 191, 200. See also
Poor Rate (Valuation).
Audit of Accounts : — Board of
Guardians, 259 ; County
Council, 212 ; Metropolitan
Borough Council, 211; Town
Council, 208 ; Urban District
Council, 209, 210
Auditors : — Elective, 208 ;
280
INDEX.
Local Government Board,
209 — 212 ; Mayor's, 208 ;
Professional, 209
Bakehouses : — Sanitary Con-
dition, 99 ; Underground, 100
Bankrupt's Rates, Payment of,
199, 201
Bankrupt, Disqualification for
Membership of Local
Authority, 11, 12, 17, 34,
37. 238
Barbed Wire, Removal of,
107, in
Bathing from Sea-shore, etc.,
Bye-laws and Provision of
Appliances, 169, 271
Baths andWash-houses : — Free
Admission, 72 ; Provision
and Regulation of, 168, 169 ;
Use of Buildings for Music,
etc., 169 ; Water Supply, 46,
163
Bills in Parliament, Promotion
of and Opposition to, 25, 35,
39
Birds, Wild, Protection of,
158. 159
Births :— Notification, 102, 272 :
Registration, 203, 256
Blind Children, Education of,
225, 248
Boarding-out of Pauper Child-
ren, 247, 248
Board of Agriculture : — Powers
as to Inspection of Food, 82,
271 ; Powers as to Diseases
of Animals, 143
Boats. See Pleasure Boats
and Steamboats.
Borough. See County Borough,
Municipal Borough, and
Metropolitan Borough.
Borough Accountant, Appoint-
ment and Duties of, 21
Borough Fund : — Constitution
of, 189 ; Payments from, 3,
189
Borough Rate. See Rate.
Brabazon Society (Employ-
ment in Workhouse), 246
Bribery of Members and
Officers, 22
Bridges: — Construction, 112;
Included in Definition of
Street, 111 ; Locomotives
on, 126 ; Repair, 126
Building Line in Streets, 112
117
Buildings, New : — Bye-laws as
to, 83, 84, 85,265 ; Definition,
84, 265 ; Erection on Un-
healthy Ground or over
Sewer, 83 ; Plans, 84, 264
Building, Use as Dwelling
House, 84
Burial Board, Formation and
Duties of, 75
Burial Grounds : — Consecra-
tion and Erection of Chapel,
77; Exclusive Right of Burial,
77 ; Fees Payable for Inter-
ments, 76 ; Provision and
Regulations of Grounds,
75—77 ; Rating, 195 ; Use
as Recreation Grounds,
171
Burial of Body received at
Mortuary, 73
Burial of Cremated Remains,
78
Burial of Infected Dead Body,
72
Butter, Adulteration of, 80, 271
Bye-laws, Making of, 27, 35, 39.
See also various headings, such
as Buildings, Good Rule
and Government, Recreation
Grounds, etc.
Burgesses, Qualification of,
4-6
Canal Boat : — Infectious
Disease, 69, 88 ; Inspection,
87 ; Registration, 87
Canals, Municipal Ownership
of, 133
Casual Wards. See Vagrants.
INDEX.
281
Cellar : — Closing of, 85 ; Con-
struction of, 83 ; Occupation
of, 85 ; Repair of Doors,
etc., 85, 115
Cemetery: — Consecration,
Erection of Chapel, etc., 77 ;
Exclusive Right of Burial
in, 77 ; Fees Payable for
Interments, 76 ; Provision
and Regulation of, 75 — 77
Charities:— Administration of,
158 ; Cost of Public Inquiries,
158
Children : — Adoption , Mainten-
ance and Education of
Pauper Children, 247—250 ;
Cruelty, 146, 250, 254 ;
Employment, 146, 249 ;
Feeding of School Children,
234> 253 i Infant Life Pro-
tection, 257 ; Medical Inspec-
tion of School Children,
226, 277. See also Schools.
Churchyard, Use as Recreation
Ground, 171
Cleansing of Persons Act, 1897,
7i
Clerk of the Peace, 38, 138
Clerk to : — Board of Guar-
dians, 241 ; County Council,
38, 39 ; Magistrates, 137 ;
Urban District Council, 21.
See also Town Clerk.
Clocks, Public, Provision and
Maintenance of, 113
Coal, Bye-laws as to Sale of,
144
Common Lodging House. See
Lodging.
Commons, Enclosure, Main-
tenance and Regulation of,
172
Compensation for Damage by
Council, 32, 42
Contracts : — Contracts with
Officers, 22, 238 ; Formalities
on Making of Contracts, 28,
258, 259
Coroner, Appointment of, 139
Coroner's Court, Provision of,
74
County : — Administrative
County, 2, 36 ; Geographical
County, 2, 13, 36
County Borough : — Creation
of, 12 ; Powers of Council,
2, 12
County of City, etc., 13
County Council : — Aldermen,
37 ; Chairman, 38 ; Com-
mittees, 38 ; Constitution,
36, 39 ; Disqualifications,
37 ; Elections, 37 ; Expendi-
ture, Special Provisions as
to, 212 ; Meetings, 38 ;
Qualifications, 37, 263 ;
Quorum, 38
County Electors, 36, 39
Cowkeepers. See Dairies.
Cremation, Provision of
Crematorium, 77
Dairies, etc. :— Dairies, Cow-
sheds and Milkshops Orders,
100, 101 ; Infected Person in
Dairy, 101, 267 ; Inspection,
72 ; Registration and Licen-
sing, 100, 101 ; Regulations
of Council, 101 ; Ventilation,
100, 101. See also Milk.
Deaf and Dumb Children,
Education of, 225, 248
Debts of Boards of Guardians,
Payment of, 259
Debts of Local Authorities.
See Loans.
Default of Council, with regard
to : — Collection of House
Refuse, 52 ; Diseases of
Animals, 143 ; Inspection of
Food, 82 ; Nuisance in
Factory or Workshop, 97 ;
Provision of Allotments,
174; Provision of Sewers,
46, 49 ; Execution of Public
Health Acts, 32, 73 ; Repair
of Highway, 106, 108; Water
Supply, 162
282
INDEX.
Delegation of Powers :— From
Council to Committees, 10,
J8. J9> 35> 38, 216, 242 ; from
County Council to Town and
District Councils, 19
Deputy. See Mayor and Town
Clerk.
Diseases. See Infectious
Disease, and Animals,
Diseases of.
Dispensaries, Poor Law, 261
Distress Committee (Unem-
ployed Workmen), 182, 183
Distress for Rates, 195, 197
District Fund, Constitution,
196; Payments from, 196
Dogs, Muzzling and Seizure
of, 142
Drainage : — Rights and Duties
of Owners and Occupiers,
45. 49. 50. 5i. 60, 266; Out-
side District, 45
Drains : — Bye-laws, 43, 50, 51,
83 ; Combined, 43, 48 ;
Definition, 43, 48; Repair,
43, 51. 60, 267
Drugs. See Food and Drugs.
Dust-bin : — Provision and
Regulation of, 53, 54, 60, 83 ;
Throwing Infected Rubbish
in, 71
Dust, Collection and Disposal.
See House Refuse.
Education Authority, 215
Education Committee: —
Accounts, 233 ; Constitution,
216 ; Default, 229, 230 ;
Expenses and Funds, 230 —
234 ; Powers and Duties,
216 — 236, 277
Education, Elementary : —
Expenses, 230 — 232 ; Local
Authority, 215, 228 ; Pro-
vision of, 215 — 226, 228,
229 ; Religious Instruction,
217, 218, 220, 222 ; Relin-
quishment of Powers, 215.
See also Schools.
Education, Secondary : —
Educational Lectures, 227 ;
Evening Schools, 222, 227 ;
Expenses, 233 ; Inspection
of Schools, 228 ; Local
Authority, 215, 226, 228 ;
Religious Instruction, 227,
228 ; Schools of Art, 227 ;
Secondary Schools, 227,
228 ; Technical Classes, etc.,
227 ; Travelling Expenses of
Students and Teachers, 227 ;
Training of Teachers, 227
Education, Statistics as to, 235
Education of Poor Law
Children, 247 — 250
Eggs of Wild Birds, Protection
of, 159
Elections. See Board of
Guardians, County, Metro-
politan Borough, Town,
Rural District and Urban
District Councils.
Electors. See Burgesses,
County Electors and Paro-
chial Electors.
Electricity : — Powers of Coun-
cil, 113, 166; Purchase of
Undertaking, 167; Supply of
Current, 166; Transfer of
Powers, 166
Emigration Agents, Licensing
of, 154
Emigration of Paupers, 249,
252, 253
Emigration of Unemployed
Workmen, 182
Employment of Children, 146,
249
Enclosure of Commons, 172
Endowment (Educational),
Application of, 232
Equalisation of Rates (Lon-
don), 201
Evening Schools, 222, 227
Executive Committee (Diseases
of Animals), 141, 143
Expenses, Recovery of. See
Legal Proceedings.
INDEX.
283
Explosives, Licence, etc., for
Manufacture and Storage of,
152
Extraordinary Traffic. See
Highway.
Factories andWorkshops : —
Cleansing, 98 ; Definitions,
96 ; Inspection, 97, 99, 272 ;
Means of Escape from Fire,
97 ; Nuisances, 97, 98 ; Out-
workers, Regulations as to,
98, 99 ; Overcrowding, 98 ;
Sanitary Conveniences, 50,
Si. 98
Fairs : — Abolition or Alteration
of, 181 ; Exposure of Un-
sound Food, 79
False Alarms of Fire, 140
Felony, Expenses of Prosecu-
tion for, 139
Ferries, Provision of, 134
Fertilisers, etc., Analysis of,
156
Fines at Police Court, Appli-
cation of, 138
Financial. See Rates, Loans,
and Local Taxation.
Fire : — Bye-laws as to Preven-
tion of and Escape from, 97,
140 ; Chimney on Fire, 140 ;
Engines, Use of, 140, 271 ;
False Alarms, 140 ; Fire Bri-
gade, Provision, etc., of, 139
— 141, 270 ; Fire Plugs, 46,
140
Fireworks. See Explosives.
Fisheries, Protection and
Regulation of, 159, 274
Food and Drugs : — Adultera-
tion, 79 — 83, 272 ; Analysis,
80 ; Definitions, 80 ; Prose-
cution, 81 ; Sale of Unsound
Food, 78, 79 ; Statistics, 82
Footpaths, Repair of, 109, 114
Fountains, Provision of, 163
Freedom of Borough, Grant
of, 13
Fruit Pickers' Lodgings, Bye-
laws as to, 87
Game, Licences to Deal in, 153
Gas: — Power to Supply, 113,
165 ; Purchase of Under-
taking, 165 ; Statistics, 165 ;
Testing, 145
Gas Meters, Testing of, 145
Good Rule and Government,
Bye-laws as to, 27, 35
Grants from Government : —
Agricultural Rates Act, 193 ;
Educational Grants, 202,
230, 231, 233 ; In Lieu of
Rates, 195 ; Local Taxation
Account, 202 ; Tithe Rent
Charges Rates Act, 193 ;
Total Amount of Grants,
213 ; Poor Law Grants, 258
Guardians, Board of : — Chair-
man, 240 ; Committees, 242 ;
Constitution, 237 — 240, 260 ;
Contracts, 258, 259 ; Co-
opted Members, 240 ; Dis-
qualifications for, 238 ;
Duties, 237 — 257 ; Elections,
239 ; Funds and Expenses,
189, 200, 258, 261 ; Meetings,
240 ; Number of Members,
239; Officers, 241, 256;
Qualifications for, 237, 238,
239 ; Quorum, 240 ; Repre-
sentation on Distress Com-
mittees, 182; Resignations,
239 ; Subscriptions to Philan-
thropic Associations, 255
Guide Books, Publication of,
187
Gymnasiums : — Provision and
Regulation of, 179 ; Limita-
tion of Rate for, 179
Hackney Carriages, etc.,
Licensing of, 114
Highways : — Closing of High-
way, 107 ; Definition, 104 ;
Dismaining Roads, no;
Excavations, Mines, etc.,
284
INDEX.
near Road, 107, 108, 265 ;
Extraordinary Traffic, 124 ;
Diversion of Highway, 107 ;
Direction Posts, Milestones,
etc., 106 ; Main Roads, 105,
106, 109, no, 202 ; Obstruc-
tions and Encroachments,
107 ; Offences on Highways,
108 ; Ownership of Soil, 104,
in ; Non-repair, 106, 108,
no; Repair, 105, 106, 109,
no, in, 124; Right of
Public, 104 ; Trees Over-
hanging Highway, 107. See
also Streets and Loco-
motives.
Hoardings in Streets : — Adver-
tisements on, 118, 273 ; Pro-
vision of Hoarding, 115, 265,
273 ; Rating, 195
Hop Pickers' Lodgings, Bye-
Laws, 87
Horseflesh, Sale of, 82
Hospitals for Sick and Infec-
tious Diseases: — Provision of
for Sick, 66, 67 ; Infected
Patients, 66—68, 73, 262 ;
Cost of Maintenance of
Patients, 67, 68 ; Joint Hos-
pital Committees, 67, 68 ;
Removal and Detention of
Patient, 68, 69, 268
House Refuse : — Bye-laws, 53,
54 ; Collection and Disposal,
52, 53 ; Definition, 52
Houses, Cleansing of, 61
Houses Let in Lodgings, Bye-
laws, 86
Houses, New. See Buildings,
New.
Houses, Small, Purchase of,
184, 185
Housing of the Working
Classes: — Clearance of In-
sanitary Area, 88-94 i Closing
and Demolition of Danger-
ous Premises, 92 — 94 ; Com-
pulsory Purchase of Land,
91, 94 ; Condition as to Fit-
ness on Letting Workmen's
Houses, 95 ; Erection, Pur-
chase and Sale of Houses,
94, 95 ; Loans, 96 ; Obstruc-
tive Buildings, 93 ; Re-con-
struction Scheme, 93, 94 ; Re-
housing Persons Displaced
by Scheme, 89, 90, 92
Illegal Payment, Restraint
of, 208, 210, 211, 212 ;
Sanctioned by Local Govern-
ment Board, 210
Infant Life Protection, 257
Industrial School, Provision
of, 224, 225
Inebriates' Reformatories and
Retreats, Provision and
Licensing of, 186
Infectious Disease : — Disinfec-
tion of Premises, Articles,
etc., 69, 70, 74 ; Exposure of
Infected Person or Article,
69, 267, 268 ; Infected Dead
Body, Retention and Burial,
72 ; Letting of Infected Pre-
mises, 70 ; Milk causing
Infection, 72, 267 ; Notifica-
tion of Disease, 65, 66 ; Pre-
vention of Disease, 20, 74,
268 ; Prohibition of Work
at Infected Premises, 99 ;
Schools, Disease at, 268 ;
Regulations of Local Gov-
ernment Board, 74. See also
Hospitals.
Infirmaries, Maintenance of
Sick Poor, 246
Inspector of Nuisances : —
Appointment, 21 ; Duties,
Salary, etc., 21, 202, 203
Intemperance, Posters as to,
102
Interment of the Dead. See
Burial and Cemetery.
Joint Committees (General),
Joint Boards, 19
INDEX.
285
Justices of the Peace. See
Magistrates.
Knackers' Yards, Licensing
and Provision of, 153.
Labour Bureaux, Provision
of, 182, 184
Lakes, Pollution of, 44.
Land : — Purchase, sale and
leasing of, 23—25, 35, 39,
253 ; Retention of, 23 ;
Restricted Use of ,25 , 271,277.
See also Provisional Orders.
Laundries, included as Fac-
tories or Workshops, 96, 272
Legal Proceedings : — Appeal
to Higher Courts, 30, 59 ;
Closing of Insanitary House,
92 ; Conduct by Authorised
Officers, 23 ; Erection of
Telegraph Posts, etc., 119 ;
Extraordinary Traffic on
Highways, 124; Infringement
of Building Bye-laws, 84 ;
Institution of Proceedings,
28 — 32, 35, 59 ; Limita-
tion of Time for Proceed-
ings, 29 ; Prosecutions as to
Nuisances, 59, 60, 61, 63 ;
Prosecutions as to Unsound
and Adulterated Food, 78,
79, 81 ; Protection of Local
Authorities, 29
Libraries, Public : — Limit of
Rate for, 178 ; Provision
and Regulation of, 177, 178
Licences : — Agricultural Gang-
masters, 154 ; Electricity,
Supply of, 166 ; Emigration
Agents, 154 ; Explosives,
Manufacture, Storage, etc.,
152 ; Fishing, 159 ; Game
Dealers, 153 ; Hackney
Carriages, 114 ; Horses, etc.,
Standing for Hire, 115;
Inebriates' Reformatories
and Retreats, 186 ; Knackers'
Yards, 153 ; Locomotives,
125 ; Motor Cars, 127 ;
Music and Dancing, 155 ;
Omnibuses, Tramcars and
Drivers, etc., 114, 131 ;
Passenger Brokers, 154 ;
Pawnbrokers, 155 ; Petro-
leum, Storage of, 151, 152 ;
Pleasure Boats, 154 ; Porters
and Messengers, 270 ; Race-
courses, 154 ; Slaughter-
houses, 153 ; Stage Plays,
Performance of, 155 ; Steam
Whistles, 157 ; Telephonic
System, 167
Lights on Vehicles, Bye-laws,
128, 273
Light Railways, Construction,
132 ; Definition, 132
Light Locomotives. See Motor
Cars
Loans : — Limits of, 204 — 207,
233, 258 ; Method of Re-
payment, 204 — 206, 233 ;
Period for Repayment, 204 —
207, 233, 258, 277 ; Sanctions
of Local Government Board,
etc., 204, 206, 233, 258 ;
Security for Loans, 203, 205,
233 ; Statistics, 214
Local Government Board : —
Control over Local Authori-
ties, Accounts, 209, 210 ; Ap-
pointment of Medical Officer,
20; Boards of Guardians, 239
— 241, 251 ; Collection of
House Refuse, 52 ; Execution
of Public Health Acts, 32,
62, 63, 73 ; Housing of the
Working Classes, 88, 89, 92 ;
Inspection of Food, 82 ;
Loans, 204, 207, 258 ; Non-
repair of Roads, 106 ;
Nuisances, 60, 62, 63 ; Pre-
vention of Disease, 20 ;
Private Improvement Ex-
penses, 31 ; Provision of
Hospitals, 67, 68 ; Regula-
tions as to Dairies, etc.,
101 ; Water Supply, 162
286
INDEX.
Local Taxation Account, 202,
203
Local Taxation Returns, 203,
213
Locomotives : — Bye-laws, 125 ;
Licensing, 125 ; Smoke, 56,
57, 125 ; Speed, 125 ; Regis-
tration, 125. See Motor
Cars
Lodging House, Common : —
Bye-laws, 85, 86 ; Cleansing
and Inspection, 85, 86 ;
Definition, 86 ; Infectious
Disease, 65, 69,86 ; Registra-
tion, 85, 269
Lodging House, Municipal, 95
Lodgings, Houses let in, Bye-
laws, 86
Lodgings of Fruit Pickers,
Seamen, etc., Bye-laws, 87
London : — Administrative
County, 2 ; City, 2 ; County
Council, Special Provisions,
39. See also County Council,
Metropolis, and Metro-
politan Borough.
Lord Mayor, Appointment,
etc., 8
Lunatic Asylum : — Inspection,
149 ; Provision of Asylum,
148, 149 ; Statistics, 150 ;
Visiting Committee, 149
Lunatics, Care of, 148 — 151,
255 ; Cost of, 202
Magistrates : — Borough, 7,
137 ; Clerk to, 137 ; County,
7, 17, 33, 38, 137 5 Stipen-
diary, 137, 138
Main Roads. See Highways.
Manure, Removal of, 61
Margarine : — Registration of
Manufacturers and Dealers,
82, 271 ; Sale of, 80, 81, 271
Marine Store Dealers, Regis-
tration of, 270
Markets : — Bye-laws, 180 ; Ex-
posure of Unsound Food,
79 ; Provision and Regula-
tion of Markets, 180 ; Pur-
chase of Market Rights, 180
Mayor, Appointment, Duties,
Salary, etc., 7, 8, 33 ; Deputy-
Mayor, 8
Meat, Inspection of, 79
Medical Inspection of
Children, 226, 277
Medical Examination of
Pauper, 244
Medical Officer of Health: —
Appointment, 20, 21, 38 ;
Duties, Salary, etc., 21, 65 —
74, 202, 203 ; Reports of, 73,
99
Medical Officers (Poor Law),
Appointment, etc., 254, 256
Medical Relief. See Poor
Relief.
Medicine, Temporary Supply
of, 67
Metropolitan Asylums
Board : — Constitution, 261 ;
Funds and Expenses, 261 ;
Notification of Disease to
and by the Board, 66 ; Pro-
vision of Hospitals, 261, 262
Metropolitan Borough, 2, 33,
263
Metropolitan Borough Coun-
cil : — Aldermen, 33 ; Chair-
man, 33 ; Committees, 35 ;
Constitution, 33 ; Disqualifi-
cations for, 34 ; Elections,
34 ; Expenditure, Special
Provisions, 210 ; Meetings,
34 ; Minutes, 34 ; Qualifica-
tions for, 34, 263 ; Quorum,
34 ; Resignations, 34
Metropolitan Common Poor
Fund, 261
Metropolitan Fire Brigade,
141
Metropolitan Police : — Area of
District, 114, 135 ; Expenses
of, in County of London,
200 ; Licensing of Carriages,
etc., 114, 115 ; Regulation of
Street Traffic, etc., 114
INDEX.
287
Metropolitan Water Board : —
Constitution, 164 ; Statistics,
etc., 164
Midwives, Issue of Certificates
for, 157
Military Lands, Purchase of,
186
Milk : — Adulteration, 80 ; In-
fectious Disease caused by,
72, 267 ; Sterilized Milk,
Sale of, 102. See also
Dairies.
Milkshops. See Dairies.
Monuments, Ancient, Pur-
chase and Maintenance of,
186
Mortuary, Provision and Regu-
lation of, 73, 74
Motor Cars : — Bye-laws 126 ;
Licensing of Drivers, 127 ;
Registration, 127 ; Regula-
tions, 126, 127 ; Speed, 127,
128 ; Storage of Petrol, 151 ;
Weight, 126, 128
Municipal Borough :— Bound-
aries, 4 ; Freedom of
Borough, 13 ; Incorporation,
3 ; Number and Size of
Boroughs, 13 ; Wards, 3.
See also Town Council.
Museums : — Limit of Rate for,
179 ; Provision and Regula-
tion of, 178, 179
Music and Dancing: —
Licences, 155; Use of Public
Baths for. 169
Music, Municipal, 171, 269
Neglect of Council. See
Default.
New Buildings, Bye-laws as
to. See Buildings.
Notices : — Authentication, 22 ;
Service, 32
Nuisances : — Abatement, 55,
59, 60, 61, 63 ; Bye-laws, 57,
62 ; Caused by Council, 31,
44 ; Definition, 54, 55, 57,61,
266 ; Inspection of Premises,
58 ; in Factories and Work-
shops, 97, 98 ; Smoke, Snow,
Rubbish, etc., 56, 57, 62, 98,
114, 118; Miscellaneous, 55,
56, 61 ; Offensive Trades, 57,
63, 64 ; Outside District, 60,
63. See also Water Closets,
Dustbins, etc.
Nurses for Sick, 255, 269
Offensive Matter, Removal
of, 53. 54
Offensive Trades :— Bye-laws,
57, 63, 64 ; Regulation and
Prohibition, 63, 64, 267
Officers of Local Authorities :
— Appointment, 20, 35,
38, 241, 256 ; Contracts
with, 22 ; Dismissal and
Suspension, 241 ; Personal
Liability, 32, 260 ; Preven-
tion of Bribery, 22 ; Super-
annuation, 22, 222, 241,
242
Omnibuses, Licensing of,
114
Omnibuses, Municipal, 134
Open Spaces. See Recreation
Ground.
Out Relief. See Poor Law
Relief.
Overcrowding : — Bye-laws. 57 ;
in Factories and Workshops,
98 ; Nuisance, 56
Overseers, Appointment and
Duties, 5, 34, 190, 200
Owner, Definition of, 59
Parish Council and Parish
Meeting, 1
Parks. See Recreation Ground.
Parliament. See Bills in
Parliament, and Acts of
Parliament.
Parochial Electors : — Qualifi-
cations, etc. , 15 ; Vote as to
Bill in Parliament, 25; Vote
288
INDEX.
at Elections of Board of
Guardians, 238 ; Vote at
Elections of London County
Council, 39 ; Vote at Elec-
tions of Urban District
Council, 15
Passenger Brokers, Licensing
of, 154
Paupers. See Poor Relief.
Pawnbrokers' Certificates
Issue of, 155
Payment. See Illegal Pay-
ment.
Penalties: — Application of, 29 ;
For acting in corporate
office when disqualified, 12,
See also Legal Proceedings.
Pensions. See Superannuation.
Petroleum, Licenses to store,
151, 152
Pleasure Boats : — Licensing of,
154, 271 ; Provision of Boats
in Recreation Grounds, 170
Police : — Cost, 137, 202, 203 ;
Employment as Fireman,
140 ; Management, 136. See
also Metropolitan Police
District.
Poor Law Unions : — Control of
Local Government Board,
239, 241, 251; Formation,
dissolution, etc., 237, 242
Poor Relief : — Disenfranchise-
ment by relief, 5, 254 ; Dis-
qualification for tenancy of
workmen's dwellings, 95 ; In-
door Relief, 244, 278 ; Medical
Relief, 254, 255, 261, 262 ;
Outdoor Relief, 243, 251 —
254 ; Recovery of Cost, 243,
244 ; Right to receive Relief,
242 ; Statistics, 260. See also
Children, Lunatics, Work-
house, Vagrants, etc.
Port Sanitary Authority,
Creation of, 102
Post-mortem Chamber, Pro-
vision of, 73, 74
Powers :— Delegation to Com-
mittee, 10, 18, 19, 35, 38,
216, 242 ; General enforce-
ment of, 40 ; Transfer, 36,
190, 215. See also Com-
mittees.
Private Improvement Ex-
penses:— Appeal against, 31 ;
Declaration and Recovery
of, 30, 199
Private Street Works. See
Street, Private.
Privy. See Water-closet.
Prosecutions. See Legal Pro-
ceedings.
Protection of Wild Birds, 158
Provisional Orders, as to : —
Clearance of Slum Areas,
89 ; Construction of Light
Railway, 132 ; Construction
of Tramway, 129 ; Creation
of County Borough, 13 ;
Creation of Port Sanitary
Authority, 102 ; Formation
of Joint Board, 19 ; Gene-
rally, 26 ; Extending Limit
of Loans, 207, 258 ; Power
to supply Electricity, 166,
167 ; Power to supply Gas,
165, Purchase of Land, 24,
94, 162, 173, 174, 176, 186,
219, 229
Provision of Meals for School
Children, 234, 253
Public Authorities, Legal Pro-
tection of, 29
Public Libraries. See
Libraries.
Public Works Loan Commis-
sioners, Power to grant
Loans to Local Authorities,
205
Pump, Public, Vests in
Council, 163
Quarry, Fencing of, 107
Quarter Sessions, Borough,
138 ; London, 139
Quorum of Meetings, 9, 18, 34,
38, 136, 240
INDEX.
289
Race-courses, Licensing of,
Railway Rates, Complaints by
Council, 160
Rates : — Amount of, 213, 214 ;
Borough Rate — Appeal
against, 189 ; Making of,
189; Precept for, 189; Valua-
tion for, 191 ; County Rate,
190, 192 ; Education Rate,
230 — 234 ; General District
Rate —Appeal against, 197 ;
Estimate for, 197 ; Exemp-
tions, 198 ; Making of rate,
196 ; Owner, Rating of, 198 ;
Payment, 197 ; Publication,
197 ; Recovery and Remis-
sion, 197 ; Valuation, 197 ;
Variations in assessment of
certain properties, 198 ;
General Rate (London) —
Levy of, 199 — 201 ; Equalisa-
tion of, 201 ; Valuation for,
200 ; Poor Rate — Appeal
against, 192 ; Application of,
188 ; Exemptions, 193, 194 ;
Making of rate, 192 ; Occu-
pier, Liability of, 193 ;
Owner, Rating of, 194 ; Pay-
ment, 193 ; Properties liable
for, 192 — 195 ; Publication,
192 ; Recovery, 195 ; Special
provision for agricultural
land, and tithe rent-charge,
193 ; Valuation List, 190 —
192 ; Private Improvement
Rate, 199 ; Water Rate, 162
Recorder, Appointment,
Salary, etc., 138
Recovery of money. See Legal
Proceedings.
Recreation Grounds : — Bye-
laws, 170, 270 ; Closing of
Ground, 170 ; Provision and
Regulation of Ground, 170,
171, 269 ; Music, 171, 269
Reformatories and Retreats for
Inebriates, Provision and
Licensing of, 186
M.M.
Refuse. See House Refuse
and Trade Refuse.
Registration of Births, Mar-
riages and Deaths, 203, 256
Registry Offices (Domestic
Servants), 270
Relief Committee, Appoint-
ment of, 242
Reproductive Undertakings: —
Income from, 203 ; Loans
for, 214. See also Gas,
Water, Tramways, Electric
Light, etc.
Returning Officer at Elections
of : — Board of Guardians,
239 ; Metropolitan Borough
Council, 34 ; Town Council,
8 ; County Council, 37 ;
Urban District Council, 16
Rivers, Bathing, 169 ; Pollu-
tion, 44, 48, 163
Rural District and Rural
District Council, 1, 238
Sale of Food and Drugs.
See Food.
Sanitary Conveniences
(Public) : — Bye-laws, 52 ;
Provision of Conveniences,
52, 266
Sanitary Conveniences
(Private). See Water-closets.
Sanitary Inspector. See In-
spector of Nuisances.
Scattered Homes for Pauper
Children, 248
School Children, Provision of
Meals for, 234, 253
School, Elementary :— Attend-
ance, Compulsory, 223, 277 ;
Definition, 217 ; Discontinu-
ance, 220 ; Enlargement,
220 ; Establishment, 219 ;
Fees, 217, 230, 231 ; General
Instruction. 218, 221 ; Guides,
and Travelling Expenses of
Children and Teachers, 226 ;
Inspection, 218, 222 ; Main-
tenance, 217, 221 222 ;
U
290
INDEX.
Management, 220, 221, 228,
230 ; Non-provided, 219 ;
Provided, 218 ; Provision of
Play Centres, 277 ; Purchase
of Land for, 219, 229, 277 ;
Religious Instruction, 217,
218, 220, 222 ; School House
at Non-provided School,
Provision and Repair, 222 ;
Transfer of School, 219,220 ;
Teachers, 218, 221, 222, 223 ;
Use of School, 222
School for Blind and Deaf
Children, 225
School for Defective and
Epileptic Children, 226
School, Higher Elementary,
231
School, Industrial or Truant,
224, 225
Schools for Science and Art,
Provision of, 178, 227
Schools, Poor Law, 247, 248
Schools, Secondary, Provision
of, 226 — 228, 277
Sea-shore, Bye-laws as to
Bathing, etc., 169, 270; Pro-
vision of Appliances, 271
Settlement, Poor Law, 243
Sewage, Disposal of, 44, 46,
47,48
Sewers : — Bye-laws, 43 ; Defi-
nition, 43, 48 ; in Private
Streets, 45, 49 ; Local, 47 ;
Main, 47 ; Neglect to Pro-
vide, 46, 49 ; Outside District,
44, 45 ; Protection, 43, 44,
48, 83 ; Provision, Cleans-
ing, Repair, etc., 42, 45,
47, 5° ! Vesting in Council,
42, 47
Sheriff, Appointment of, 13
Shop Hours, Regulation of : —
Delegation of Powers by
County Council, 148 ; Powers
of Council, 146
Shop Seats Act, Enforcement
of, 148
Sky Signs, Prohibition of, 271
Slaughter Houses : — Bye-laws
and Licensing, 153, 181 ;
Inspection, 79, 153 ; Provision
and Regulation of Slaughter
House, 143, 181
Slum Areas, Clearance of. See
Housing.
Small Holdings : — Appoint-
ment of Committee, 176, 276 ;
Definition, 176 ; Payment
for Holdings, 176, 177 ;
Provision and Regulation of
Holdings, 176, 177, 274 — 277
Small Dwellings, Acquisition
of, 184
Smoke. See Nuisance.
Sporting Rights, Rating of, 195
Stage Plays, Licences for Per-
formance of, 155
Standing Joint Committee of
County, 38
Standing Orders, 9, 17
Steam Boats on Thames, 134
Steam "Whistles, Licensing of,
157
Stipendiary Magistrates,
Appointment of, 138
Stock, Issue of, 206, 207
Streams. See Rivers.
Streets (General) :— Building
Line, 112,117, 264; Bye-laws,
114, 118 ; Cleansing of Foot-
ways, 114, 117 ; Dangerous
Buildings, 116; Definition,
in, 116 ; Excavations in or
near Street, 115,265 ; Hoard-
ings, 115, 118 ; Improvement
of Street, 112, 117; Licensing
of Carriages, etc., 114, 270 ;
Lighting, 113, 117; Making
of Street, 112. See also
Private Street. Naming and
Numbering of Street, 115,
265 ; Obstructions and Pro-
jections, 114, 115, 116, 118 ;
Offences in Street, 116, 270 ;
Repair of Street, 106, 108,
117; Trees, Statues, Cab-
men's Shelters, etc., 113 ;
INDEX.
291
Vaults and Arches under
Street, 83, 117; Vesting of
Street, 11 1, 116. See also
Highway.
Street, Private: — Adoption,
120, 121, 122, 264 ; Bye-laws,
120, 121, 123 ; Expenses of
Repairing, 120, 122, 123 ;
Lighting, 113 ; Non-liability
of Churches, Railway Com-
panies, etc., for Repair, 120,
122, 123 ; Repair, 120 — 123,
264 ; Sewering, 45, 49, 120
Street Trading, Bye-laws, 146
Superannuation : — Officers, 22,
241 ; School Teachers, 222
Surcharge : — By Auditors, 208,
210, 259 ; Appeal against,
210
Surveyor, Appointment of, 21,
38
Telegraph and Telephone
Posts and Wires: — Bye-
Laws, 114, 118 ; Erection
and Laying of Posts and
Wires, 119
Telephones, Municipal, 167
Tents, Vans and Sheds, Bye-
laws as to Habitation of,
87
Thames Conservancy, 44
Thames Steam Boats, 134
Theatres, Licensing of, 155
Tithe Rent Charges, Rates on,
*93> J98, 201
Town Clerk, Appointment and
Duties, 20, 34 ; Deputy
Town Clerk, 20
Town Council : — Aldermen, 7,
9, 11 ; Committees, 9, 10,
19 ; Constitution, 6 ; Dis-
qualifications for, 6, 11, 12 ;
Elections, 6 — 8 ; Meetings,
9 — 11 ; Minutes, 10 ; Quali-
fications for, 6, 11, 263 ;
Quorum, 9 ; Resignations, 11
Town Gardens, Maintenance,
171
Trade Refuse, Collection and
Disposal, 53, 267
Tramways : — Bye-laws, 131 ;
Construction, 129, 130, 131 ;
Municipal Management, 131,
132 ; Removal of Tramway,
130 ; Repair, 130 ; Purchase
by Local Authority, 130,
131 ; Statistics, 132
Treasurer, Appointment and
Duties, 20, 38
Truant School, Provision and
Maintenance of, 225
Unemployed Workmen : —
Emigration and Removal,
182 ; Poor Law Relief, 252 ;
Provision of Work, 181 — 184,
253
Union. See Poor Law Union.
Urban District : — Boundaries,
15 ; Creation and Dissolution
of District, 14; Number and
Area of Districts, 18 ; Wards,
Urban District Council : —
Chairman, 17; Committees,
18, 19 ; Constitution, 16, 17 ;
Disqualifications for, 16, 17 ;
Elections, 16 ; Meetings, 17 ;
Qualifications for, 16 ;
Quorum, 18 ; Resignations,
16. See also Parochial
Electors.
Vaccination : — Enforcement
of, 256, 278 ; Expenses, 203
Vagrants, Relief to, 250, 251
Valuation. See Borough Rate,
General Rate and Poor
Rate.
Vestry : — Appointment of
Overseers, 190 ; Transfer of
Powers to Council, 190,
194
Veterinary Inspector, Appoint-
ment and Duties, 141, 142
Volunteer Corps, Provision of
Land for, 186
292
INDEX.
Watch Committee : — Ap-
pointment and Duties, 136
Water and Earth Closets : —
Bye-laws, 50, 51 ; in Fac-
tories and Workshops, 50,
51, 98 ; Provision and Regu-
lation of, 50, 51, 60, 266. See
also Sanitary Conveniences
(Public).
Water Mains, 163
Water Rates and Rents, 162
Water Supply : — Bulk Supply,
163 ; Duty of Council to
Afford Supply, 161, 162;
Neglect of Council, 162 ;
Pollution, 163, 266 ; Statis-
tics, 164 ; Supply to Water
Closets, 50, 51
Waterworks, Purchase or
Lease of, 162
Weights and Measures : —
Bye-laws, 144 ; Inspection,
144, 145 ; Regulation and
Stamping, 143—145
Wells :— Pollution, 163 ; Vest-
ing of Public Wells in
Council, 163
Whistles : — Steam, Licensing
of, 157
Wild Birds : — Protection of,
158, i59
Women, Qualifications as : —
Members of Board of Guar-
dians, 238 ; Boarding-out
Committee, 248 ; County
Council, 263 ; Distress Com-
mittee, 182 ; Education Com-
mittee, 216 ; School Man-
agers, 229 ; Town Council,
263 ; Urban District Council,
16 ; Sanitary and Health
Inspectors, 58 ; Voters,
5, 15
Workhouse : — Admission, In-
spection, Accommodation
and Detention, 244 — 250,
277 ; Lunatics in Workhouse,
150 ; Religious Worship in
Workhouse, 246. See also
Poor Relief.
Workshops. See Factories and
Workshops.
Workmen's Dwellings:— Con-
dition as to Fitness of
Houses, 95 ; Erection of,
94.95
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