In the following month he reported nineteen houses in two streets very much the same as above. In the next month twenty more—in the month after, thirty more. He might almost have had the general description printed, with blanks for filling up the number of such houses and where situated.
If it had not been for the new Acts passed in 1855, this condition of things would doubtless have continued indefinitely. That condition had been reached under absence of inspection, or regulation, and freedom on the part of the owner to do as he liked; and had no laws been enacted to terminate it, no change would ever have been effected.
And when efforts were made by the local authorities to remedy similar places, strong opposition was met with. Thus in Hackney (1856–7):—
“1839 nuisances have been rooted out. In very many cases prosecutions have been ordered by the Board. They were almost invariably opposed by the offenders, generally people of substance, with the advantage of able legal aid, in the most pertinacious and resolute manner….”
The novelty of enforcing upon the owners the improvements deemed necessary naturally raised in the minds of some of the Medical Officers of Health the question as to the justice of such a proceeding. Those who discussed it were clear upon the point.
Thus the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch (1856–7) wrote:—
“The question of putting houses into a condition fit for habitation has two bearings. It is, first, a question between the landlords and the tenants, whose health is sacrificed by neglect. It is, in the next place, a question between the landlords and the ratepayers.
“If the landlords neglect to make the necessary outlay in improving their property, the expense of maintaining that property in its unhealthy condition is thrown upon the ratepayers, for these have to bear the burden of supporting the sick and the destitute.”
And the Medical Officer of Health for Clerkenwell:—