The sanitary condition of the City of London: being a letter to the Lord Ashley from the City Remembrancer, on the statements of the Sub-Committee of the Health of Towns Association; with the Sub-Committee's reply and Lord Ashley's letter [T. Beggs, secretary].

  • Health of Towns Association (London, England)
Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The sanitary condition of the City of London: being a letter to the Lord Ashley from the City Remembrancer, on the statements of the Sub-Committee of the Health of Towns Association; with the Sub-Committee's reply and Lord Ashley's letter [T. Beggs, secretary]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    6/24 (page 6)
    allowed those objects to be impeded, and their attainment rendered more distant and uncertain, by permitting themselves, as it is much feared is the case, to be made the tool of parties who have in view objects very foreign to the promotion of health, cleanliness, and morality, being no¬ thing less than their own personal advancement and aggrandizement at the expense of the liberties and rights of others, I have the honour to be, My Lord, Your Lordship’s faithful and obedient Servant, The Right Honourable E. Tyrrell, Lord Ashley, M.P., fyc. fyc. City Remembrancer. Observations by the Sub-committee of the Health of Towns As¬ sociation. No one knows better than your Lordship that it is no easy task to deal practically with the subject of Sanitary Improvement. That task has been attempted by two administrations in two parliaments, after the attention of the Legislature had been three times emphatically di¬ rected to the subject in so many successive speeches from the Throne. The Government has at length proposed a measure, which, however defective, appears to us to contain the essential provisions which must be embodied in any efficient Health Bill, and among these is the funda¬ mental principle of the supervision of the local authorities intrusted with the execution of the Act. To this principle some of the corporate bodies are opposed, under the guise of respect for the ancient and Saxon institutions of the country ; but really influenced, as it appears to us, by the most narrow and selfish biases. After having long laboured to awaken attention to this subject, and to diffuse information upon it, we have not shrunk from the task, odious though it has been to us, of endeavouring to expose the true nature of these biases, and the real share they have in corporate opposition to the Bill. The Corporation of the City of London, which takes the lead in this opposition, appears to us to be not exempt from such biases. In a letter addressed to your Lordship by their officer, the City Remembrancer, the City authorities call upon us either explicitly to retract this opinion or to prove it. We take the latter alternative; because, if these biases really exist, and if they are allowed to prevail over the essential principle of the Health Bill now before Parliament, we think Lord Morpeth has concisely and correctly expressed the result,—that legislation on this subject will be a mockery. In the execution of the task now before us, we shall as much as possible avoid descending to anything approaching personal observa¬ tion; but on account both of the subjects and the persons we have to notice, we cannot be exonerated entirely from this disagreeable duty. 1. The City Remembrancer complains that he has been unable to obtain, for the use of the City Commissioners of Sewers, copies of our Report. We beg leave to inform him, that the work is to be had at Ren- shaw’s, in the Strand, at the price of one, shilling. We have however directed twelve copies to be sent to him, for the use of those Commis-