Report of the Sanitary Committee of the Commissioners of Sewers of the City of London, together with a report of the Medical Officer of Health on the objections raised by the Butchers' Trade Society to the bye-laws proposed for the regulation of slaughter-houses

by W. Sedgwick Saunders; City of London . Commissioners of Sewers. Sanitary Committee

Objections.

The Butchers object to the brick side walls between adjoining Slaughter-houses being more than six or seven feet high, above which they would have placed “the largest possible openings, fitted with louvre boards.” They are of opinion “that the best construction in the case of a row of Slaughter-houses would be, that there should exist means of thorough ventilation from end to end and side to side.”

Reply.

This involves the most important change in the reconstruction of the Slaughter-houses, and in order to explain my views fully upon the matter, and avoid paraphrasing the same ideas, I must reiterate, almost “ipsissima verba” the observations contained in my Report upon the subject presented to you in June last, with such omissions or alterations more recent information has enabled me to obtain.

I may, however, premise by stating that the present divisional walls between the several Slaughter-houses are composed of wet, partially rotten, and rugged, brickwork below, and rough, imperfect, and defective, wooden partitions above, the whole of which are supersaturated with organic animal matters, grease, and dirt.

The faulty construction of these Slaughter-houses was clearly brought before the notice of the Select Committee of the House of Commons in the evidence given by Sir J. Ogilvy and others, as recently as 1873, but the only action taken by Parliament to remedy the same in the Slaughter-house Act of 1874 (which was based mainly upon the recommendations of the said Committee) is comprised in Section 4, which directs that “The Local Authority may from time to time make, alter, and repeal Bye-laws for regulating the conduct of any business specified in this Act, which is for the time being lawfully carried on within their jurisdiction, and the structure of the premises on which such business is being carried on,” &c. And in order to protect the trade from arbitrary action on the part of any local authority, it is further enacted that “any Bye-law made in pursuance of this section, and any alteration made therein, and any repeal of a Bye-law, shall not be of any validity until it has been confirmed by the Local Government Board.”

It is quite clear, therefore, that you are acting strictly within your legal rights in calling upon the Butchers to put their houses in order.

Your visit to Aldgate must have convinced you that the premises of these Slaughter-houses generally are too small for the enormous amount of business done in them, and as, owing to the natural increment of the population, this evil must ever be augmenting, it becomes a serious question to determine whether a strong remonstrance should not be addressed by the Commissioners of Sewers to Her Majesty’s Government, or failing this to Parliament, against the continuance of the smaller of these places, or by insisting that slaughtering should only be carried on in houses of such dimensions as would ensure perfect ventilation, and provide the means of carrying on the process with efficiency. In order to perfect your powers, and establish a wholesome check upon the slaughterers, a short Act might be obtained, giving the Commissioners of Sewers authority to issue fresh licences, without which no Slaughter-houses should be allowed to exist. The present licences were issued in 1848, and have not been revised since that time, whereas outside the City they are (as they ought to be) renewed yearly.

In the exercise of this important jurisdiction, the Metropolitan Board of Works have actually abolished 284 Slaughter-houses during the year 1875, having licensed 1,068 Slaughter-houses during the same period.

Respecting the technical means to be adopted to remedy the admitted defects of these Slaughter-houses, your Engineer will advise you; but, without trenching upon the ground of that officer, it must, I think, be patent that nothing short of an entire reconstruction of the side walls and roofs of all of them will satisfy the requirements of scientific sanitation, or ensure that complete isolation of each house, which is the one essential requisite for carrying on the business of slaughtering with due regard to the public health. It is therefore a sine qua non that there should be a solid brick partition or side wall between each Slaughter-house, and that the only opening allowed therein should be for a door (where required), on the ground level, and that this wall should extend from the floor to the highest point of the roof. An exception to this may be made in those places in which an open air passage of 4 or 5 ft. wide exists between the side walls of two Slaughter-houses, for here it might be admissible to supplement other means of ventilation and light by glazed sashes, which, however, must be so made as to be readily closed, should, by any accidental circumstance or oversight, a beast affected with any contagious disease be found in the adjoining house.