Proceedings of the incorporated society of medical officers of health

PUBLIC

HEALTH,

~;~ Jottrnal of tt]~ )~ncorporat~ ~0ri~t~ of f,g~iral O~rer~ of PROCEEDINGS OF THE INCORPORATED SOCIETY O F M E D I C A L O F F I C E R S OF HEALTH. A MEETING of the Incorporated Society of Medical f e w copes of Vols. L, I L , I ~ , and I1. are also on hand. Officers of Health was held at No. 197 , High 0LOTH COVERS/:or Bindingthe Volumes, #rlce IS. 6d., Holbein, on Friday, November 2oth, 1896. may be had by order of any Bookseller. Present: The President (Dr. G. P. Bate) in the chair, and the following Fellows and Members-Orders should be addressed to E. PIP. Allen, 4, ,4re Maria Drs. W. T. G. Woodforde, S. R. Lovett, H. E. Lane, E. C. Armstrong, F. Vacher, F. J. Allan, W. W . Stainthorpe, E. Gwynn, W.A. Bond, J. Groves, ADVERTISEMENTS.~Communicatlons relating to Thos. Johnstone, and R. Dudfield (Hen. Sec.). The Advertisements should be addressed to Messrs. I4F.IF. de g. visitors included Dr. G. H. Bate, and Miss N. Colllngridge, z48 and z49, ,41dersgate Street, E.C. Francis de Chaumont and Miss Rose E. Squire (Lady Factory Inspectors). Prior to the commencement of the meeting, Dr. Every Reader of a Paper before the Society, or Contributor of a Signed Article, is entitled to ~wenty.flve co~ies of the VACI~ER referred to the recent death of Dr. F. E. issue of PUBLIC HEALTHcontaining t~e contribuHon in Adams, late Medical Officer of Health for East question ; but a~Olication for this or any smaller number must be made to tke Editor not later tkan tke TWENTY- Hertfordshire, and to the fact that his widow and two children were left unprovided for. An effort, FOURTH day of t~e montt~ :revious to insertion of the Contribu~'on. he said, was. being made to get his elder son, Arthur Blake Adams, into the Royal Medical Medical O:cers o f Health and other Correspondents are Benevolent College at Epsom. The election next requested to send regularly all :ubllshed, reports and matters of interest bearing upon Sanitation to the Editor, May being the only one for which the boy would lI, Gloucester Place, BrlgMon. be eligible, owing to his age, he (Dr. Vacher) made a special ap#e=l to any who might have votes or interest to use the same in behalf of this case. NOTICES. The minutes of the last ordinary meeting of the Society on the x6th April last were read, approved, and signed by the Chairman. PRESENTATION TO DR. VACHER.--At the last ELECTION OF CANDIDATES. meeting of the North-Western Branch, on the zbth The meeting then proceeded to the electionof November, the Members of the Branch presented Fellows, Members, and Associates. Dr. Vacher with a memento of their appreciation The following gentlemen having been duly of his services to the Branch during the last twentynominated as candidates, a ballot was taken, and they were declared by the Chairman to have been one years. unanimously elected : -

SUBSCRIBERS' COPIES of PUBLICHEALTH are supplied at IOS.6d. per annum. Single co~ies One SMllin~. BOUND VOLUI~IES.--ColMes of Volume VL are nocv ready, bound in elot)~, gilt lettered, #rice Ios. 6a~ ,4

SESSION x896-97. FELLOWS and MEMBERS of the Incorporated Society are reminded that their Annual Subscription of ONE GUINEA (including that to their Branch) is now due. Associates' Subscription is half-a-guinea annually, which also includes Subscription to Branch. Cheques, etc. (crossed " U n i o n Bank of London, Regent Street Branch "), to be forwarded to the Hen. Treasurer of the Society, W. H. KEMPSTER, M.D. Chesterfield, Clapham Common (North Side), London, S.W. life. to4. DEeR~t~R. 'r896,

As Fellows. CAMPBELL, JOHN, M.D., L.R.C.P., L.R.C.S., L.S.A.,

Gloucester ; M.O.H. Gloucester City and Port.

HOWARTH, WILLIAM JAMES, M.D. (Vict.), D.Sc. (Vict.),

Public Health Ot~ce, Bury, Lanes.; M.O.H. County Bore' of Bury. RIDING,EDWARD,M.R.C.S., EtwaU,Derbyshire ; M.O.H. Ripton R.D.C. ST. LEDGER, ROBERT ARTHURt M.B.j VCestbury,Watford ; M.O.H. Watford. WILDING, WALTER FREDERICK WILLIAM, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., The Hawthorns, Hindley, near Wigan; M.O.H. Hindley U.D.C. STOBO, ROBERT~ M.B., C.M., 51, North Bridge Street,

Sunderland ; M.O.H. Sunderland R.D.C. As Members.

WILLIAMS,AENOLn W., M.B., C.M., (hens.)., D.P.H., 4, Cm'nberlandGate, Kew. HAWKINS,EDGAR,M.D. Edin., D.P.H., The Dispensary, Dudley, Worcs. 0.

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Nominaflons.--A number of candidates were then nominated for election at the next meeting. REPORT OF COUNCIL.

The HUN. SECRETARY read the Report of Council as follows :Your Council beg to report-x. That having had before them a recommendation from the Publication Committee advising the issue of Dr. Wilson's Thesis on Scarlet Fever, as a Supplement to PUBLIC HEALTH, they have authorised the Editor to have the same published as an independent supplement to December or January number of PUBLIC HEALTH at a cost not exceeding .~fi 5. 2. That having received a Report from Dr. R. Dudfield on the question of the proposed promotion of a Bill for securing superannuation to all Officers of Local Authorities, other than Poor Law, the Council recommend the Society to support the proposed action of the Conference dealing with this matter, and they have appointed the President (Dr. Bate), the Editor (Dr. Newsholme), and the Hun. Secretary (Dr. R. Dudfield) delegates to such Conference ; and have authorised the Treasurer to draw a cheque for .~5 as a grant towards the preliminary expenses. 3. That they have authorised Drs. R. Dudfield and E. Gwynn to embody the Special Resolutions remodelling the Articles of Association, the Articles of Association, in so far as they are not amended by the said resolutions, and the bye-laws of the Society, into a uniform working code. Resolved, on the motion of Dr. Woodforde, seconded by Dr. Allan, that the same be received and adopted. NEw FELLOWS. The HUN. SECRETARYreported that the following Members had, since election to the Society, been appointed Medical Officers of Health, and i~so facto became "Fellows " -. ~ ERNEST GEOI~Gg ANNIS, M.O.H. Huddersfield. E. P. MANBV, Assist. M.O.H. Liverpool. H. M. RICHARDS, M.O H. Chesterfield. GEORGE BURY %¥RAYjM.O.H. Basford.

Dr. G. P. BATE then delivered his Presidential Address, as fi)llows : THE SANITARY SUPERVISION OF TRADE PREMISES. BY" GEO. P. BATE, M.D., M.O.H. of Bethnal Green.

I PROPOSE to take as the subject of my remarks this evening a consideration of some of the conditions of factory and workshop labour at present obtaining in this country, with special reference to the sanitary supervision of manufacturing premises. In order to enable us to approach this subject with advantage, a short recapitulation of the various steps by which the factory enactments now in

force have been built up will be useful, as modern conditions are best contemplated from the standpoint of the past. In the middle ages all dues were labour dues, payments were usually made in kind, and workpeople were little better than slaves. Even at the commencement of the century now drawing to its close, the power of the employer over the wellbeing of his operatives was enormously greater than it is at the present day. So late as i8x3, magistrates met in Quarter Sessions to assess wages, which were often paid in such form as to compel the workpeople to spend their hard-earned money at particular shops in which the employer had an interest; combinations of workpeople for mutual protection were unlawful ; the hours of labour were fixed (by the Apprentices Act, which was not repealed till 18,4) so that the legal day's work for an artificer should be twelve hours at tke least, exclusive of "meals and drinking," and at the time of which I am speaking there were no Factory Inspectors, and no Health Officers. Long before this period the great majority of the ancient Guilds and Municipal Corporations had permitted their powers to lapse and decay, and they no longer exercised any supervision over their respective trades ; moreover, the ancient Guilds were designed for the control of labour as carried on in the ancient way, and though of great use in medieval times, they were not adapted to modern conditions. To some extent trades unionism has taken the place of these old-world Guilds', and by its aid the workmen who were slaves in ,800 have developed during a very few years into despots wielding terrible powers, and as is usually the case with those to whom power is new, sometimes wielding these powers foolishly and arrogantly at the bidding of self-seeking agitators. But no thinking man will deny to the operative his perfect right to demand healthy surroundings during his hours of toil ; the efforts of trades unions have undoubtedly succeeded in attracting attention to and ultimately improving the conditions under which labour is carried on, and so long as these efforts are directed to the improvement of workshop sanitation they will command the support and encouragement of the medical officers, who are the guardians of the public health. The factory laws were originally designed for the protection of those who were presumed to be unable to look after their own interests. First, the labour of apprentices who were " b o u n d " for a definite period to their employers was regulated ; then children, whether bound or free, were taken under the wing of the law, and lastly women. The new law dealt chiefly with the shortening of the hours of women and children and the fencing of dangerous machinery, but took no direct cognizance of the labour of men. Gradually devices for protecting the health of

T H E SANITARY S U P E R V I S I O N OF T R A D E PREMISES. the workers, without reference to age or sex, were introduced, and though even at the present day the hours of toil for adult men remain unlimited, yet so far as the requirements for the fencing of machinery and the sanitary condition of premises where labour is carried on are concerned, no difference is made in the responsibility incurred by employers towards adult or juvenile labour, male or female. Before the introduction of steam as a motive power, it was indispensable that manufactories should be placed where water was available to turn the mill-wheel, consequently the buildings were frequently erected in out-of-the-way, thinly populated districts, and it became necessary, as the factory system grew, to import labour; child labour was cheap and plentiful, and it became the custom for mill-owners to hire from the poor-law guardians of large towns, such youngsters as they had at their disposal; these children were often brought from places many hundred miles distant, at the expense of the mill-owners, and were apprenticed by the guardians for a term of years. The way in which the bargain was sometimes struck is described by Alfred in his history of the factory movement, and the statements therein made, which have never been disproved, remain as an everlasting disgrace to those concerned in the transaction. Amongst others is one that a certain parish always stipulated that one idiot should be taken with every twenty sound children I I ! The wretched youngsters were lodged in apprentice houses near the mills, and were simply white slaves, treated with most brutal cruelty ; it is said that in brisk times the beds they occupied were never cool, for the mills were running day and night, and as soon as one set of children rose for labour, the other set retired for rest. Their ordinary hours of employment were fourteen and sometimes sixteen, and their food was little better than hogswash; indeed, so famished were some of these poor creatures that they robbed the pigs if they got the chance. The mortality amongst the children was enormous, and though public attention was frequently directed to the insanitary condition of these early factories, yet nothing was done by Parliament until widespread alarm was created by the terrible havoc made amongst these apprentices by epidemic diseases, and it was to the fear that their diseases would spread to the public, rather than any desire for the protection of the children themselves, that legislation was due. The first enactment dealing with factory labour was the Health and Morals Act of i8o2 ; this was introduced by Sir Robert Peel, himself a master manufacturer. It applied to cotton and woollen mills, where more than three apprentices or twenty other persons were employed; by it night work for apprentices was abolished, the hours of labour were restricted, good ventilation and periodical lime-washing were enjoined, proper clothing had

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to be provided, and some provision was made for the education of the children ; unfortunately this excellent law did not apply to " f r e e " labour, but only to that of apprentices, moreover, it was to a great extent inoperative owing to the faulty method laid down for enforcing its provisions. Two visitors were to be appointed in each district by the Justices ; these visitors were authorised to require the employers to call in medical assistance in case of need, but they were themselves unpaid and under no obligation to perform any duties of inspection. Referring to this matter twelve years later, Sir Robert Peel, in introducing an amending Bill (which was intended to apply equally to free and apprentice labour), remarked : " I t was to be lamented that the inspectors appointed under a late Act (Health and Morals)had been very remiss in the performance of their duties ; he should in consequence of this misfortune propose that proper persons be appointed at Quarter Sessions, and that they should be paid in due proportion for their trouble." This Bill never got beyond its preliminary stages, and meanwhile the whole manufacturing industry of the country was under. going a revolution, owing to the introduction of steam-power ; this rendered the building of mills near rivers and waterfalls no longer necessary, and factories were erected in populous places where labour was plentiful, and where children could be employed without the formality of apprenticeship, thus enabling grasping parents and manufacturers to evade even such meagre protection as was given by the Health and Morals Act, which, as previously pointed out, did not apply to " free labour." The first so.called Factory Act was passed in I819, but it applied only to cotton mills, and fell far short of Sir Robert Peel's proposals of four years previously ; still it was the first attempt to restrict the age at which children (9-I6) might commence work. The Act also regulated the hours of juvenile labour, and prohibted night work. This was followed, in i8e5, by Sir J. C. Hobhouse's Act, by which the Saturday half-holiday was first made compulsory. From time to time the law was amended by tinkering enactments, the whole of which were feeble in design and utterly inefficient in action, inasmuch as they contained no proper provision for inspection, and consequently were disregarded by manufacturers. No successful attempt was made in the direction of supervision until I833, when Lord Althorpe's Act became law; this Act applied to all persons under eighteen years of age working in textile factories; it restricted the hours of children ( 9 - I 3 ) t o fortyeight per week or nine per day, and of young persons (I3-x8) to sixty-nine per week or twelve per day ; medical certificates as to age and fitness were required before employment, and to make sure tl~at the law was obeyed, the appointment of four factory inspectors was authorised; these gentleQ2

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men were entrusted with penal jurisdiclion similar to that of magistrafes, ~ but limited to imprisonment for two months in default of penalty, the imprisonment to cease on payment of the sum due ; the inspectors were to be appointed under Royal Warrant. The Home Secretary was also authorised to appoint a sufficient number of sub-inspectors with much more limited powers, inasmuch as they were forbidden to enter such parts of a factory as were used for manufacturing purposes. This Act in itself contained no sanitary regulations, but it left unrepealed those of the Health and Morals Act of George I I I . so far as they applied to textile factories where more than twenty persons were employed. The next important piece of legislation was the Factory Act of i844 ; by this the labour of women over eighteen was restricted and placed under the same legal protection as that of young persons, the hours of children were reduced to six and a-half daily, and during five days per week they were to receive education for three hours either morning or afternoon. Machinery, near to which children or young persons were liable to pass or be employed, was also ordered to be properly fenced, and by Clause 18, periodical cleansing and limewashing were enjoined very much in the terms of the Act now in force ; but so far the law is silent upon what may be called "true sanitation," that is to say, the removal of nuisances from overcrowding, dust and effluvium. During the next twenty years some half-dozen amending Acts of Parliament were placed on the Statute Book. These dealt mostly with the workhag hours of protected persons, and were the outcome of what is known as the " T e n Hours' Agitation," a movement ably led by Lord Ashley, and seconded by Lord Morpeth. It was fought out against the bitter opposition of manufacturers, and eventually resulted in the Act of 185o, which for the first time established a normal working day of twelve hours, with proper intervals for meals and refreshment. This law in no way restricted the labour of adult males; yet as the work of these is to a considerable extent dependent upon the assistance of boys and women, the statutory limitation of the hours of protected persons caused a reduction of the hours of labour in general. As these Acts contained no hygienic regulation, I pass on without further comment to the sitting of the second Royal Commission of 1862, the first important result of which was the enactment of the Factory Acts Extension Act of ~864, the preamble of which is so important from a sanitary point of view that I quote it : - "Whereas it is expedient to provide for the effectual cleansing and ventilation of the factories in which are carried on the manufactures and employments specified in the first schedule hereto." -----~ Words in italics repealed by 7 and 8 Vict.~ e. xS.

This Act was passed in consequence of the recommendation contained in the first report of the Royal Commission, whose enquiries resulted in disclosures of a painful character respecting the physical and moral condition of persons engaged in the manufactures affected by the Act. These were earthenware, lucifer matches, percussion caps, cartridges, paper staining, and fustian cutting. Now the word "factory" had been commonly applied for years to cotton and woollen mills. These were first legally defined as "factories" by section 73 of the 1844 Factory Act, and the wording of the definition has been re-enacted almost verbatim under the head of "Textile Factories" in the principal Act now in force. But the word really means (see Webster's dictionary) "either the establishment or building occupied by factors who conducted trade in foreign or colonial parts, or the collective body of such factors" ; but it did not receive its present meaning of manufactorym"a building where large numbers of people are employed in carrying out some manufacturing process "--until about the close of the last century. The meaning of the word was afterwards restricted by the definition clause of the I844 Factory Act to what are now known as the textile trades (though the word textile nowhere occurs in the Act). This restriction was formally removed by the Extension Act of I864, and the term "factory" was permitted to include the manufactures and employments specified in the schedule of that Act: the effect of this law was to extend to those trades the provisions of the existing Factory Acts, together with certain sanitary measures, now enacted for the first time, somewhat similar in purport to the third section of the principal Act now in forco. In the Act under consideration, we hear for the first time of "Special Rules." These were byelaws which the occupier of any factory was authorised to draw up "for compelling amongst his workmen the observance of the conditions necessary to ensure the required degree of cleanliness and ventilation, and to annex to any breach of such rules a penalty not exceeding one pound.." ; but these rules were not to be valid until approved by the Secretary of State. Crude as these sanitary measures were, I can testify to the urgency of their necessity in the earthenware trades, as I was, for two years before the appointment of the Royal Commission, a resident pupil at a large hospital in the Staffordshire Potteries, where the medical wards and the physicians' out-patient rooms were crowded with cases of potter's phthisis and dipper's palsy. As junior pupil, most of my afternoons were absorbed in dragging a galvanic battery from ward to ward, and endeavouring to restore some degree of power to the palsied muscles of the poor sufferers from lead poisoning, whilst my colleagues were enjoying themselves in the cricket field. Even now, though many years have elapsed~ I

T H E SANITARY S U P E R V I S I O N OF T R A D E PREMISES. cannot look at a galvanic battery without feelings of the deepest disgust. In 1867 another Extension Act was passed, and the definition of the term "factory" was further expanded, so as to include blast furnaces, copper and iron mills, metal foundries of all kinds, letter press printing and book-binding establishments, the manufacture of paper, glass, and tobacco, and any works in which fifty or more persons were employed in any manufacturing process constituting one trade establishment, whether power was used or not. In addition to these, any premises in which steam, water, or other mechanical power was used for moving machinery employed in marmfacturing any article made of metal or indiarubber or gutta-percha was to be considered a factory. By this Act overcrowding was forbidden, and power was given to a factory inspector to require fans or other mechanical means for removing dust in factories where any business, such as dry grinding, was carried on. Strange to say, the Act specially excluded a large number of trades-mostly textile--from the operation of these sanitary clauses. A few years before these Extension Acts became law, bakehouses were brought under inspection by the Bakehouse Act of i863. This enactment conrained provisions for limiting the hours of labour of persons under eighteen years of age in bakeries, and for regulating the sanitary condition of these places. The duty of enforcing these provisions was thrown upon the local authorities, and on this account bakehouses were specially excluded from the operation of the 1867 Factory Acts Extension Act. This was followed, in 1867, by the Workshops Regulation Act--a new law, quite independent of the Factory Acts, neither incorporating their provisions nor applying them to workshops. The wording of the clauses was, however, very similar to that of the older Acts, reading "Workshop" for "Factory." This Act was designed to regulate the hours during which children, young persons, and women might be allowed to labour at any "handicraft" in work-places of any kind which did not come within the meaning of the word "Factory," as defined in the Factory Acts. There were atso corresponding clauses as to Sunday employment, Saturday halfholidays, school attendance of children, and the provision of mechanical ventilation in certain dusty trades. It must be noted here that the introduction.of steam-power to drive the machinery in a "workshop" did not then in itself transform it into a " F a c t o r y " (as it does at the present day), but the place remained a "Workshop " so long as fewer than fifty persons were employed therein, and the fencing of machinery was not obligatory. The administration of the new law as to workshops was

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laid upon the Local Authorities, # but concurrent jurisdiction was given to the factory inspector to enter and examine, on condition that he reported to the Home Office the fact of such entry) and the condition in which he found the workshop, in his next half-yearly report. With the exception of the clauses as to mechanical ventilation, the Workshop Act contained no hygienic regulations, but section nine of this Act shows that it was intended to be administered in conjunction with the Sanitary Act of 1866, section nineteen of which enacts that the word "nuisance" shall include "Any Factory, Workshop, or Workplace, not already under t~e o~eration of any general

Act for lke regulation of Factories or Bakelwuses, t not kept in a cleanly state, or not ventilated in such manner as to render harmless as far as practicable any gases, vapours, dust, or other impurities gene, rated in the course of the work carried on therein that are a nuisance, or injurious or dangerous to health, or so overcrowded whilst work is carried on as to be dangerous or prejudicial to the health of those employed therein." Provision was also made under the Public Health Acts for securing sufficient water-closet accommodation in factories and workshops where twenty persons of both sexes were employed at one time, penalty in case of default twenty pounds. The statutory definition of a workshop, "any place whatever in the open air or under cover in which any handicraft is carried on," was sufficiently comprehensive, and would seem to have left very little doubt as to what places should have been subject to inspection by the local authorities. "Factories," of course, were known to be looked after by the factory inspectors, but an opinion not justified by the wording of the Workshops Regulation Act gained ground amongst sanitary authori. ties that they were at liberty to please themselves whether they should enforce the law in their respective districts, or leave the factory inspectors to do so; so that the curse of dual responsibility hung over the workshops in 1867, just as it does in 1896. Many Town Councils, when called upon, expressed their determination not to meddle with trade matters in their parishes; others simply said nothing and did nothing, and all were afraid that if they worried the small manufacturers they would drive away trade from their districts, and so diminish their income from rates. An examination of the published reports of the Inspectors of Factories for 1868- 9 will show that the experiment of entrusting the supervision of the workshops to the local authorities was not a suc* Repealed by 3* and 35 Vie., c. Io4, sec. tI) by which it is enacted that " I t shall cease to be the duty of the local authority to enforcethe provisions of the Workshops Regulation Acts, and that it shall be the duty of the inspectors and sub-Luspectors of factories to enforce the provisionsof those Acts. * Words in italics repealed by the Factory and Workshops Act of x878.

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cessful one. The powers of entry under the Act were restricted and the necessary forms were cumbersome, but, nevertheless, the municipal officers in some districts, notably in Staffordshire and Leicestershire, made the Act a conspicuous success, not only with respect to the improved sanitary condition of the workshops, but also as to the regulation of the hours of labour and the school attendance of the children; this partial success appears to have encouraged the Legislature to repeat the attempt, with modifications, in 189I , and to this matter I shall again refer in speaking of the two last enacted Factory Acts. -Between x867 and x87I several amending Acts were passed, none of the regulations of which fall within the scope of this paper, as they referred principally to hours of labour; but in August, I87I, a Factory and Workshops Act became law, which completely transferred the duty of enforcing the provisions of the Workshops Regulation Act from the local authorities to the factory inspectors. Between z87z and I874 several short amending Acts were passed, by which the provisions of the existing acts were modified in some particular. In I875 a third Royal Commission sat, which resulted in the repeal of the whole sixteen existing Factory Acts (including the Bakehouse Act), and the re-enactment of many of their better clauses in the codifying Act of 1878 , which is usually referred to as the principal Act in the subsequent amending Acts of z883, z889, and i895. This comprehensive law, though essentially a consolidating Act, may be said to mark an epoch in trade legislation, for by it the sanitary administration of factories, workshops, and bakehouses was definitely placed in the hands of the Home Office Inspectors, to the practical exclusion of local authorities, leaving to these only the nuisance clauses of the Sanitary Acts, from which latter the restrictive words referring to nuisance in factories, etc., " n o t already under the operation of any general Act for the regulation of Factories or Bakehouses," were also expunged, merely leaving to the local authori. ties a sort of roving commission to deal with nuisances as such wherever they happened to light upon them. By Section 4 of the principal Act ot x878 the factory inspector is directed to give notice to the sanitary authority, should he discover any act, neglect, or default in relation to any nuisance, etc., which is punishable or remediable under the law relating to public health, but not under the Factory Acts. On receipt of such a report it becomes the duty of the sanitary authority to deal with the nuisance. In factories, the only thing likely to be thus reported is the absence of proper watercloset accommodation, for the factory inspector can himself deal with all nuisances arising in a factory from existing sanitary conveniences. Up to I895 the factory, inspector had no power to require a water-closet to be provided, even though

accommodation of this nature was entirely absent ; but this inability has been removed by the last amending Act, so far as respects places where the Public Health Acts Amendment Act (See. ~2) is not in force. This Act is an adoptive one, and does not apply to districts under the control of metropolitan or rural authorities. It will be evident that in London, at any rate, the factory inspector has full power over (and is required by law to deal with) any insanitary condition he may discover in a factory without reference to the local authorities. Workshops I shall refer to later on. By the z878 Act the definition of the word "factory" was again modified, and the words "textile" a n d " non-textile," as applied to factories, are used for the first time. The definition of a "textile" factory remains almost the same as that of a "factory/' under the older Acts. A "nontextile" factory means certain named occupations as specified in the schedules of the z864 and x867 Acts, and in addition all unnamed occupations in which power is used in aid of the manufacturing process. For reasons which are obvious, it is most Important to bear in mind these trades which are factories by reason of their inclusion in the schedule by name, as all these are "factories," whether power be used in aid of the manufacturing process or not. It will be noted that the definition releases from special factory legislation all those occupations which were factories under the i867 extension Act by reason of the employment of fifty or more persons, irrespective o fthe use o f mechanical power. Since that year all these places have been simply "workshops." Workshops, as defined by the Factory Acts, are of three kinds : - (a) Workshops where women and young persons are employed. (b) Domestic workshops, in which the only persons employed are members of the same family dwelling there. (c) Workshops where men only are employed. The Factory Acts draw distinctions between these three classes. In class " a " the regulations are nearly as stringent as for factories; in class " b " they are similar for children and young persons, but with more elasticity of arrangement, and the employment of women is unrestricted; but workshops under class " c " are for the most part excluded from the operation of the Factory Acts, and are subject to the hygienic clauses only. The Public Health Acts make no such distinction, and all workshops, except bakehouses, are equal in the eye of the sanitary law. I can find no definition of the word "workplace" in any of the Acts, but I understand it to mean a place where work of any kind is carried on, but which for some reason does not come within the definition of either "factory" or "workshopY The chaff-cutting room of a livery stable would, I should say, be a "workplace." A "bakehouse 'r

T H E SANITARY S U P E R V I S I O N OF T R A D E PREMISES. means any place in which is baked bread, biscuits, confectionery, from the baking or selling of which a profit is derived. Bakehouses are workshops (or factories if power be used), and whether they are domestic or ordinary, are under no circumstances exempted from the obligations of the Factory Acts as to periodical cleansing, etc. As originally enacted in i878, the sanitary condition of workshops and bakehouses, as well as factories, was under the jurisdiction of the Home Office inspectors. Since that time four amending Acts have come into operation, all of which greatly modify the position of sanitary authorities with respect to trade premises. The last of these Acts, that of I895, is almost revolutionary in its effects. It was~ hurried through Parliament, for political reasons, without due consideration; it is complex, difficult to administer, and renders re-codification almost as urgently required as it was previously to I878. I suppose legislation by amendment is absolutely necessary, and perfection will always be impossible, but legislation by reference is most embarrassing and vexatious ; moreover, even under the most favourable circumstances, the legal effect of any particular clause is not always in accordance with the intentions of its framer, but is subject to the interpretation placed upon it by the judges. I submit, with the greatest deference, that if an important Act of Parliament requires to be amended in any material particular, that it would be much better to repeal the whole section affected, and re-enact it in an amended form, instead of patching it up. The Factory laws on the Statute Book are full of contradictions and anomalies, of which the following are a few instances : - A " w o m a n " means a woman over eighteen years of age, and she is forbidden to work in a factory or workshop within four weeks after she has given birth to a child ; but if a girl of seventeen has a child, she may go to work the next day for anything the Factory Acts say to the contrary. A place "underground" may not be newly used as a bakehouse, but no one can say to what extent "underground" such a bakehouse is forbidden, as the word is not defined. Local authorities are required to regulate the ventilation of workrooms, which are also required by Section 32 of the i895 Act to be maintained at a reasonable temperature, but contravention of t~is section can only be punished by a factory inspector. Manufacturers have been at great trouble to keep lists of out-workers as required by law, and though these lists may be inspected by any officer of a sanitary authority, it would be quite impossible for the officers of eaeh metropolitan district to examine the lists of the manufacturers throughout London, for the purpose of picking out the residents of any particular district, as numbers of or

West-end manufacturers employ East-end outworkers.

79

I suggest that the Home Office authorities, to whom copies of these lists have to be sent twice in each year, should act as a clearing-house, and dissect the lists as received, classifying them according to residence, and furnishing each sanitary authority with its own proper list of resident out-workers. It is forbidden to make or repair wearing apparel in any house, an inmate of which is suffering from small-pox or scarlet fever ; but this clause can only be enforced by a factory inspector, who can have no knowledge as to the incidence of cases of infectious disease. I could point out many other inconsistencies were it necessary. BAKEHOUSES. As previously remarked, the supervision of bakehouses from i863 to i868 waswholly entrusted to the local authorities, but the principal Factory Act of i878 repealed the Bakehouse Act and handed them over to the factory inspectors until i883, when the amending Act of that year re-transferred the control of their sanitary condition to the local authorities. The Act also conferred exceptional powers upon the medical officer of health~ who is thereby enabled to deal with bakehouses without reference to his "authority" should he consider it necessary to do so. The Act provides that the medical officer of health shall have, and exercise, so far as retail bakehouses are concerned, all such powers of entry, inspection, taking legal proceedings, and otherwise, as an inspector under the Factory and Workshops Act of I878. The power thus conferred enables a medical officer of health to inspect and examine a retail bakehouse by day, or by night, when he has reasonable cause to believe that any person is employed therein, and to enter by day any place which he has reasonable cause to believe to be a retail bakehouse. As defined by the Acts, " night " is the period between nine in the evening and six next morning, between which hours the baking of bread is usually carried on. Since x883, the opinion that sanitary matters should be left in the hands of sanitary authorities has gained ground ; moreover, the enormous accession of duty that has continued to be thrown upon the Factory Department of the Home Office has rendered the practical application of this idea a necessity, for the officers of the department are few in number, and though all of them are highly educated engineers, they are not necessarily trained in practical sanitation. The Factory Acts in force apply to the whole of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. They are administered from the office of the Chief Inspector of Factories, in Whitehall, where, according to the last edition of " W h i t a k e r " Dr. Whitelegge has at his disposal :--6 Superintending Inspectors, 13 First-class Inspectors, 27 Secondclass Inspectors~ 2 x Junior Inspectors ; these gentle-

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SOCIETY O F M E D I C A L OFFICERS O F H E A L T H .

men being all qualified engineers. In addition there are :--I Superintending Lady Inspector, 3 Lady Inspectors, 25 Male Assistants. The ladies are peripatetic, and not attached to any particular district, they visit wherever their inspections may be considered by the chief to be desirable ; the male assistants are confined to the inspection of workshops. Now to suppose that this small body of inspectors can satisfactorily deal with the vast and increasing number of factories and workshops on the register is ridiculous; all they can do is to attend to complaints, and pay irregular visits as often as they can get round. The British are a law-abiding nation, and I believe that, at any rate, the larger manufacturers endeavour to do what is right, and tbat wilful evasions of the law are rare ; but amongst the smaller manufacturers competition is so keen, that mean economies are inducements difficult to withstand, consequently the cubic capacity of workrooms is cramped to save a few pounds in rent, proper sanitary conveniences are not provided, and cleanliness is neglected. Many of the sma!ler trades are carried on in dweUing-houses which have been converted into manufacturing premises i in most instances these are quite unsuitable, as they were never intended to be applied to such purposes. It is almost impossible to ventilate parlours and bedrooms, when these are crowded to the full legal limit with workpeople, without causing pernicious draughts. But the evils which follow employment in badly ventilated rooms are slow in their effects, and seldom complained of by the workpeople, who suffer in silence and prefer to be poisoned with foul air to being chilled with fresh. Moreover, trade premises partly occupied as dwellings are particularly liable to become centres of infection from the incidence of Zymotic disease amongst their inmates, especially if wearing-apparel be made on the premises. I have on several occasions seen patients with small-pox kept warm by piles of half-finished clothing. The poverty of many of the smaller manufacturers, the greed of others and the ignorance of the workpeople render the frequent periodical inspection of workshops an absolute necessity. The experiment of entrusting them to the local authorities, in i857, appears to have failed for the following, amongst other reasons :-(i) The machinery to work the law did not exist; Nuisance Inspectors were few in number, and many districts were without Medical Officers of Health, as it was not till the passing of the Public Health Act, of t872, that the duty of appointing these officers was imposed upon the local authorities in all par~s of England and Wales outside the metropolis. (~) It was too much to expect of local authorities that they should regulate the hours of labour, overtime, holidays, and children's school attendances. These are not "sanitary 'j matters.

(3) As the workshops were subject to inspection by factory inspectors, the local authorities pretended that this was sufficient, so they shirked their responsibilities, and declined to provide the staff necessary to make inspections on their own behalf. (4) The central authority, for some reason, held their hands and did not compel the local authori. ties to do their duty, but after four years' neglect, transferred the supervision of the workshops to the factory inspectors. In i891 the experiment was again repeated, with modifications; the duty of preventing overcrowding, and enforcing cleanliness, lime washing, good ventilation, and freedom from effluvia in workshops was taken away from the factory inspectors and laid upon the sanitary authorities. But though the factory inspector is thus in a measure relieved from sanitary duties in ¢¢orkshops, he is required, as before, to visit these places for the purpose of performing his proper functions of regulating hours of employment and generally carrying out the provisions of the Factory Acts ; moreover the duty of reporting sanitary defects, laid upon him by Section 4 of the principal Act, remains. The result of all this is that instead of dealing with nuisances himself, as he would do in a factory, he must now report in writing to the sanitary authority if he discovers anything of this nature in a workshop. On receipt of such a report, it becomes the statutory duty of the sanitary authority " t o make such enquiry into the subject of the notice and take such action thereon as to that authority may seem proper for the purpose of enforcing the law, and it shall be the duty of the sanitary authority to inform the inspector of the ' proceedings' taken in consequence of the notice." The word "proceedings" used here is not defined, and is usually interpreted to mean the service of a statutory notice, which is almost invariably the first step in legal "proceedings." If within a month no "proceedings" have been taken, the factory inspector may himself take the like "proceedings " under the Public Health Acts as the sanitary authority might have taken, and if successful, may recover his expenses from the sanitary authority. Or, if he prefers to do so, he may proceed under Section 2 of the i895 (Factory and Workshops) Act, and apply to a court of summary jurisdiction for an order to prohibit the workshop from being used until the necessary works have been executed. To put the matter shortly, the supervision of trade premises has been entrusted to sanitary authorities with three principal objects : u (a) For the protection of the health of the workers. (b) For the provision of means of escape for the workers in the event of fire. (c) For the protection ofthe public from disease, induced by the consumption of food prepared under insanitaryconditions.

T H E SANITARY SUPERVISION OF T R A D E PREMISES. I do not propose to discuss " b " and " c " now, but prefer to leave them to a future occasion. The duties under divisions " a " and " b " d o not require engineering knowledge for their performmance, but they certainly do pre-suppose that the inspecting officer shall have received a sanitary training. I am strongly of opinion that fac ory inspectors should be relieved of all responsibility for the hygiene of trade premises, and that the sanitary supervision of both factories and workshops should be left in the hands of sanitary officers. Now, as the law stands to-day, what is the duty of sanitary authorities with respect to the workshops in their districts ? Must they visit in order to find out nuisances, or should they only act on complaint ? I think it is clearly the intention of the Legislature that the officers of the local authorities should periodically inspect and search for nuisances, without waiting to be set in motion by factory inspectors ; and unless this view be taken there will be no uniformity of administration, and no proper supervision of workshops. The first section of the 1891 Amending Factory Act still further emphasises this view, for it empowers the Secretary of State (in the event of gross neglect by sanitary authorities) to re-transfer the workshops and laundries in any district to the factory department, and to authorise the factory inspectors to administer the Factory Acts and the Public Health Acts in the workshops exactly as the sanitary authority might have done and should have done, and to recover from that defaulting sanitary authority all expenses so incurred. In the Metropolis the London County Council have very similar powers, and can replace any defaulting sanitary authority, and recover expenses from that authority, or, as an alternative, they may complain to the Local Government Board, and set that body in motion to mandamus the defaulting sanitary authority. History repeats itself, and the reports of the Chief Inspector of Factories for the past three years teem with complaints of neglect on the part of the local authorities throughout the kingdom, as they did in i868 and 1869. I don't mean to say that there has been any gross neglect, such as would justify" the Secretary of State in re-transferring the workshops (under Section i, Factories and Workshops Act, 189 i), for most of the inspectors concur in stating that "Where they have drawn the attention of the medical officer of health to any sanitary defects they have been gratified by the prompt attention they have received, although it is only in a very few towns that any systematic visiting of workshops seems to be undertaken." Some of the inspectors regret the transfer of duties, and say that they receive very little assistance from the local authorities, as it is more trouble to report nuisances in workshops than to get them amended, as they are able to do in factories.

Others suggest a system of licensing by the local

81

authorities, after inspection, before a workshop can be occupied as such; but very few give the local authorities a good word, though there are some notable exceptions, chiefly in large towns, where the medical officer of health is given a free hand. The provisions of the law under which the hygiene of factories and workshops is regulated, taken in conjunction with the Public Health Acts, appear to be sufficiently stringent to enable local authorities to keep trade premises in proper sanitary order, though local bodies are rather apt to regard the bare requirements of an Act of Parliament as a sort of model to be lived up to, rather than a mere minimum to be absolutely enforced. But what is urgently required is some more efficient machinery for administration. It is useless to give local authorities permissive powers to inspect and rectify, as they almost invariably decline to provide sufficient staff to do the work. They reason that they are obliged to appoint and pay a certain number of inspectors ; these officers have statutory duties which must be performed. But the duties under the Factories and Workshops Acts are less clearly defined, and may either be shelved altogether, or tacked on to the officer's ordinary duties; so that if he has any time to spare after getting through the essential part of his work, he can devote it to the inspection of workshops. I suggest that workshop registers for each district should be made compulsory. Local authorities should be directed to appoint sufficient staff to ensure that every workshop and factory throughout the kingdom should be visited at least once in every year by a sanitary officer, in addition to such visits as are necessary to get defects amended. The medical officer of health should be constituted a superintending inspector of workshops, and invested with the same powers over all trade premises in his district as are conferred by the Act of 1883 over the bakehouses, and he should report twice in each year to the Chief Inspector of Factories. Dr. Whitelegge is a most accomplished medical officer of health, of great experience, who thoroughly understands the subject of trades' inspection, and with this gentleman at the helm, I feel sure that the Parliamentary ship will be safely steered into harbour when re-codification is attempted, as it certainly must be very shortly. Dr. ARMSTRONOsaid he had very great pleasure in moving that the thanks of the Society be accorded to Dr. Bate, their President, for the excellent, careful, and lucid address upon the Factory Acts he had given them. It was an excellently-chosen subject, inasmuch as it was exercising their minds at the present time more than any other. H e quite re-echoed what the President had stated with respect to the complex, difficult, and contradictory state of the law. H e would go even farther, for he thought that the fault which the President had indicated, but not dwelt uponwviz., that the factory authorities had

8,

P R O C E E D I N G S OF T H E S C O T T I S H BRANCH.

laws, but no money to carry them out--was the crux of the whole matter. It was not likely that the local authorities would increase their inspectors in order to do work for another department of the State. In i895 , for the first time, sanitary authorities were made to report, not to a department of State, but to an o~cer of a department-viz., to the inspector under the Factory Acts. That was an order that probably no sanitary authority would care to submit to. Dr. WOODFORDEseconded the motion. Dr. ALLAN, as one of the younger members of the Society, desired to express his thanks for the able resum~ of the Factory Law that their President had given them. It was stated in the Times of the previous day that steps were being taken to codify the Factory Acts, and he hoped that, with Dr. Whitelegge as the Chief Inspector, the result would be to place sanitary authorities on a better footing. Dr. VACHSR, in supporting the motion, said that the difficulty experienced in taking up this matter was only one among many. The work had increased so much on all sides, that local authorities felt they could not cope with it without appointing a great many more inspectors. There were a great many departments of sanitary work, many of which ought to be taken up, receiving very little attention. One in which he had himself been very much interested was the inspection of food. In respect of this, in (probably) nineteen out of every twenty districts nothing was done. The motion was put to the meeting by Dr. R. DUDFIELD, and carried unanimously. The PRESIDENT briefly acknowledged the vote of thanks.

PROCEEDINGS OF THE SCOTTISH B R A N C H OF T H E INCORPORATED SOCIETY OF M E D I C A L OFFICERS OF HEALTH. A MEETING of the Scottish Branch was held at Aberdeen on October 2nd, i896. The following members were present: Dr. McVail (President) in the chair; Drs. Graham, Macdonald, Mackenzie, Nasmyth, Templeman, Watt, Munro and Ross (Hon. Sees.). The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. Apologies for absence were intimated from Sir Henry Littlejohn, Drs. J. B. Russell, Bruce, Chalmers, McNeill, and Professor Hay. A discussion on the nuisance caused by the unloading of police manure at railway sidings, and in applying it to fields in the neighbourhood of houses, was opened by Dr. Munro. The President brought under the notice of the meeting a letter which had

been drafted by his advice and sent to the farmers in East Stirlingshire with good effect. It was in the following terms : COUNTY COUNCIL OF STIRLINGSHIRE--EASTERN DISTRICT COMMITTEE.

Falkirk,

November, I893.

PUBLIC HEALTH.

Sir,--We are requested by the District Committee, as Local Authority under the Public Health Acts, to call the attention of the farmers in the district to nuisance that may arise from the manuring of fields, especially near dwelling-houses or populous places, or public roads. In recent years a large railway trade has developed in refuse of various sorts, brought principally from towns and cities for use as field manure. The materials include refuse from ash. pits and privies, fish shops, slaughterhouses, and cattle ships. Refuse from ashpits and privies may convey the poison of certain infectious diseases, while fish refuse and offal from slaughter-houses yields a most offensive and sickening odour. Cattle ship manure is often heated, and is then also very offensive. The Committee recognises, however, that in this matter the interests of the fainter, as well as of the public, must be considered. The farmer has a fight to manure his land to the advantage of his farm, but the public has a right to expect that the business of farming shall not be conducted in such a manner as to prove seriously offensive or injurious to health. The Committee is of opinion that both objects can be fairly attained without undue hardship by the exercise of care and foresight with regard to the manure. The following are some of the main points to be attended to in order to minimise the nuisance : - I. Manure conveyed by rail should be carted away by the farmer as soon as possible after its arrival at the railway siding. In doing this, care should be taken that no refuse be spilled on the ground, either at a siding or along a public road. Loads of offensive manure should be covered by a tarpaulin. 2. Effluvium nuisance arises when the manure is tossed up or disturbed, as by pitchforking or emptying from carts. Offensive manure should n6t be first collected in heaps on the fields and subsequently distributed over the ground. The two operations should be combined, so that a double nuisance may not result from repeated disturbance of the manure. It is a direct infringement of the Public Health Acts to lay down such deposits within fifty yards of a pubtic or parish road or dwelling-house. But even beyond this distance manure may be a nuisance under the Acts. 3. In fields which are subsequently to be ploughed for crops, the ihlough skould fo/Io~v the manure cart as closely as possible. The ground