In the rural districts the Courts Leet have generally fallen into desuetude. In illustration of the feeble tenure on which they were held, I may mention that in some instances, where it has been necessary to disallow payments of fees paid to the officers of those courts from the poor’s rates, the stewards have stated that they should hereafter discontinue the courts; and it is probable that they did so. In the towns, Courts Leet are sometimes held, and inquest juries appointed; but it is objected to these bodies, and frequently to the bodies constituted under local acts, that they are usually composed of tradesmen who attend unwillingly and at an inconvenient sacrifice of time; who can have little or no information in respect to the evils in question; who have no arrangements to bring the evils in question before them; no time to master such information as may be brought before them casually; little interest and scarcely any real responsibility imposed for ensuring any mastery of it; and neither time nor adequate means at their disposal for the removal of such evils as those in question when they are presented to them, and proved to exist. Thus: two persons of respectability who were unexpectedly called upon to serve on a jury of this description in the metropolis, state that, as they had no properly qualified officer to instruct them, they were only directed to the performance of their duties by the accidental presence of a builder.
“When we were sworn in, we went over the district: we went through many places which were disgustingly filthy, that I have since learned were places where there is always fever, but we were not told about it; the afflicted knew nothing of our coming, and we had no medical officer, or means to enable us to detect the presence of any nuisances which would endanger the public health.
“The number of persons sworn in was twenty-four, of whom I can remember six were publicans (at one or other of whose houses we dined on the days of meeting), one or two cheesemongers, three or four tailors or drapers, one builder, and one bricklayer; the trades or occupations of the remainder I cannot remember. Of the twenty-four sworn in, twelve only served, and the duties were performed in rotation. An allowance of 2s. 6d. was given to each juryman for his expenses on the days of acting, with the exception of the foreman and the secretary, who had been unfortunate enough, or who, for some purpose of their own, managed to be sworn in on three or four previous occasions. None of the jury knew the nature of the duties further than that they were to examine weights and measures; that part of their duty respecting the removal of nuisances, or of things affecting the health or the lives of the inhabitants of the district which we perambulated, was entirely neglected or lost sight of; the only instance that I remember of any attention being paid to the subject, was that of the condemnation of an old house in a disgusting neighbourhood of houses; and in this case, although the house certainly looked in a bad condition, the jury were quite unable to come to a decision until the bricklayer and builder pronounced its condemnation, when the jury at once became unanimous, and condemned the house forthwith. My own impression was, that the house was not in a safe condition, but I felt, in common with others, (the tailors, drapers, and cheesemongers,) that however anxious we might be to discharge our duties faithfully, that the nature of our occupations did not at all qualify us to express an opinion upon the subject, and hence we were all guided and determined by the opinion of the bricklayer and builder who happened to be present. Had they not been present, we should probably have done nothing. It is only necessary for any sensible person to serve on such a body in a town to be convinced of its entire inefficiency.”
The district over which this jury perambulated was one in which contagious disease often prevails in its worst forms; and it is quite clear that, without appropriate arrangements, such a body would continue to walk over the ground, equally unconscious of the evil and impotent to effect its removal.
A civil engineer and surveyor of very high acquirements in the metropolis thus describes the qualification of persons serving on these inquests:—
“I speak from experience, having personally attended one of these inquests, with a view to give them the benefit of my practical knowledge; I did not find one of them amongst the twelve competent to perform usefully to the parish or the public the duties imposed upon them. I have known repeated instances in these united parishes, where ruinous houses have been permitted to remain for years without receiving any attention from the authorities, to the great danger of the occupiers and also to the public. I would instance two houses that to my certain knowledge have for ten or a dozen years inclined over in the street from the pavement upwards of eighteen inches, without being noticed by an Inquest Jury. My attention was lately directed professionally by the owner of the houses in question to their state and condition; upon a careful examination I found them so dangerous that I immediately gave directions to have them shored up, and recommended the tenant to vacate them in the meanwhile: to my great surprise, at the expiration of three or four days after the houses had been properly secured, the freeholders were served with a notice from the Inquest Jury to do what had already been done, viz., secure the houses from danger.”
A gentleman who has acted as one of the Commissioners under the Act for Bolton, thus describes the operation of its provisions:—
“We have an Act in Little Bolton with extensive powers for the preservation of the public health.
“I was appointed in 1837 one of the Trustees or Commissioners under this Act; they are elected by the ratepayers, and one-third go out annually; party political feeling has created a strife as to whether Whigs or Tories shall expend the public funds (the same is the case in Manchester), and hence a strife as to the economy of management. The streets are badly lighted, and sometimes not at all, to save the expense of gas. A surveyor is appointed in Little Bolton, whose duties are to see after the lighting, paving, cleansing, sewering, fire-engines, and firemen, the prevention of nuisances, encroachments, &c., &c.; to hiring and paying all the workmen, and buying the materials for repairing the roads and streets over a district containing about 15,000 inhabitants, for all of which service he receives 80l. a-year.
“With such talent as 80l. a-year will command, and such duties to perform, it may readily be supposed that sewerages and nuisances are liable to be overlooked.