[68] In the Parliamentary Session of 1852, the Interments Act of 1850, which had remained inoperative, was repealed under a new ‘Act to amend the Laws concerning the Burial of the Dead in the Metropolis,’ which became law July 1st, 1852. Under this Act, the powers, alluded to in a later part of this volume, were given to the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London as a Burial Board for the City.--J. S., 1854.
10. The most important additions made to your power relate to the _dwellings of the poor_, and are embodied chiefly in the tenth section of your new Act. The definition of ‘lodging-house’ given in this clause is so extensive, and the power of regulation conceded to you is so unconditional (where once the necessity for your interference is shown) that your Hon. Court can now exert your authority for every legitimate object, in respect of all the poorer houses in the City.[69] The definition is, that ‘the expression _common lodging-house_ shall, for the purposes of this Act, mean any house, not being a licensed victualling house, let, or any part of which is let, at a daily or weekly rent not exceeding the rate of three shillings and sixpence per week; or in which persons are harboured or lodged for hire for a single night, or for less than a week at one time; or in which any room let for hire is occupied by more than one family at one time.’ And your powers are to the following effect:--Wherever over-crowding has taken place unwholesomely or indecently--wherever undue illness has prevailed--wherever from any one of several causes the house is unfit for occupation, you can require its _immediate registration_; you can then _make such rules_ as you think fit for the _maintenance of decency and health_; and you can enforce conformity to those regulations with appropriate penalties.
[69] Circumstances, which need not here be detailed, have led to disappointment in the working of this clause, and have shown, to my great regret, that I over-estimated the benefits it was capable of conferring.--J. S., 1854.
The terms of the clause throw on your Medical Officer the responsibility of initiating these proceedings; and his task in the matter will be one of anxiety and arduousness. In most other clauses of your Acts of Parliament, an alternative is allowed as to your taking the opinion ‘of the Officer of Health, or of any two duly qualified Medical Practitioners:’ but in this clause you are expressly restricted to the certificate of your Officer of Health.