common boundary. § 7 provides for raising the funds for defraying the expenses of executing the Act, either from the general district rate, or the sewers rate, or the poor rate, according to the nature of the executive body. § 8 enacts that the word "Nuisances" shall include "any premises in such a state as to be a nuisance or injurious to health: any pool, ditch, gutter, watercourse, privy, urinal, cesspool, drain, or ashpit so foul as to be a nuisance or injurious to health; any animal so kept as to be a nuisance or injurious to health; any accumulation or deposit which is a nuisance or injurious to health; but accumulations or deposits necessary in carrying on a manufactory not to be deemed nuisances if not kept longer than necessary, and means are taken for protecting the public health." The local authority ($9) is empowered to appoint a sanitary inspector, with a salary. Notice of nuisance (§ 10) may be given to the local authority by any person aggrieved thereby, or by two or more householders, or by any of the public officials of the district. The local authority has power given (§ 11), by itself or its officer, to enter any premises where they have grounds for believing the existence of a nuisance, at any hour between 9 A.M. and 6 P.M., to examine premises where nuisances exist, to ascertain the course of drains, and to execute or inspect works ordered by justices to be done under this Act; and to remove or abate a nuisance in case of non-compliance with or infringment of the order of justices, or to inspect or examine any carcase, meat, poulty, game, flesh, fish, fruit, vegetables, corn, bread, or flour, under the powers and for the purposes of this Act, for which they may enter premises, without notice, at any hour during which business is carried on. Part II. commences with § 12, which provides that, having ascertained the existence of a nuisance, the local authority are to summon the offending party before any two justices of the peace, who, on satisfactory proof of the nuisance, shall issue an order for its abatement, and for the payment of all costs up to the time of making the order; and such justices may require the person on whom the order is made ($13), either occupier or owner, as the case may be, to provide sufficient privy accommodation, means of drainage or ventilation, or to pave, cleanse, or whitewash premises, or to fill up, drain, cleanse, or remove any cesspool, ditch, privy, urinal, ashpit, &c., which may be a nuisance or injurious to health; and also to make a prohibitive order against any future nuisance. A penalty (§ 14) of 10s. per day is inflicted for default in executing the orders, and of 20s. for wilfully acting contrary to such orders, and the local authority is empowered to enter and remove or abate any nuisance so condemned or prohibited, charging the cost upon the offender; who, however (§ 15), has the right of appeal against the prohibitive order, as well (§ 16) as against any order in which structural works are required. Where owners or occupiers cannot be ascertained (§ 17) the order for the removal of a nuisance is to be addressed at once to the local authority, who are to defray the cost in the first instance out of the funds provided by this Act. The manure or any matter or thing removed by the local authority (§ 18) is to be sold by auction, due notice being given of such sale, and the money received to be carried to the amount of the costs defrayed; the surplus, if any, to be paid to the owner. All reasonable costs and expenses of works (§ 19) are to be paid by the person on whom the order is made, and may be recovered in the County Court or before two justices, the premises always remaining liable for the charges, which, however, must not exceed one year's rack-rent; but

A

in case of any frivolons or unfounded complaint, the justices may order costs to be paid by the complainant, whether an individual or the local authority. On non-payment of costs and expenses (§ 20) the justices may issue a warrant to be levied by distress or sale. Surveyors of highways (§ 21) are to cleanse and keep open ditches, drains, and watercourses adjoining any highway, but the local authority (§ 22) may cover and improve open ditches wherever used as sewers. penalty of 2001. (§ 23) is imposed for suffering gas-washings to flow into any stream, aqueduct, or reservoir for water, such penalty (§ 24) to be sued for within six months of the offence; and an additional penalty of 20l. per day (§ 25) is imposed for a continuance of the offence after notice has been given. The sanitary inspector (§ 26), who is to examine all sorts of food, may order its destruction if found unfit for use, and the person to whom it belonged, or in whose possession it was found, is liable to a penalty not exceeding 10l. As to nuisances arising in cases of noxious trades or businesses, such as tallow-melting, soap-making, slaughter-houses, &c., if two legally qualified medical practitioners certify that it is a nuisance or injurious to health, the local authority is to bring the case before two justices in session, and if the nuisance appear to them to be established, and that the person carrying on the business has not used the best practicable means for counteracting such nuisance, they shall inflict a summary penalty of not more than 51. nor less than 40s.; for a second offence a penalty of 107., and for each succeeding offence the double of the last penalty, but so that the highest amount do not exceed 2007.: an ap- · peal, however (§ 28), is allowed to a superior court. If the medical officers of health, or, if none, two medical practitioners, certify that any house, the inhabitants of which consist of more than one family, is overcrowded, the local authority is to take proceedings before the justices to abate such overcrowding, and the justices may_inflict_a penalty not exceeding 40s., on the occupiers of such house. Part III., §§ 31 to 46, detail as we have said the legal proceedings for the recovery of penalties, &c., with two or three exceptional clauses, saving the rights of Sewers' Commissioners, the interference with navigable rivers or canals, mill-streams, &c. A number of forms are given in schedules, these with an annotated edition of the Act have been published by W. G. Lumley, Esq.

METROPOLITAN BUILDINGS.

[18 and 19 Victoriæ, cap. 122.—August 14, 1855.]

An Act to amend the Laws relating to the construction of Buildings in the Metropolis and its Neighbourhood.

This Act extends to all places within the limits of the Act for the Better Local Management of the Metropolis. It is divided into five parts. The first relates to the regulation and supervision of buildings; the second to dangerous structures; the third to party structures (that is, to premises belonging to more than one owner); the fifth to the repeal of former Acts and to temporary provisions. The whole is chiefly confined to technical details as to the thickness of walls in relation to height, to recesses and openings in walls, to valves and flues, but all with reference to the due ventilation, and to security from fire. The clauses of most general interest are-that in every public building (§ 22), and in every other building containing more than 125,000

cubic feet and used as a dwelling-house, the floors of the lobbies, windows, corridors, passages, and landings, and also the stairs, shall be of stone or other fire-proof material, carried by supports of fireproof material; every habitable room constructed hereafter is to be at least seven feet high from the floor to the ceilings, except attics in the roof, of which not less than one-half the area is to be of that height, and cellars, which are to be as directed in the Local Management Act, any one suffering a room not so constructed to be inhabited incurs a penalty of 20s. for every day or night in which the room is so used: no shop-front (§ 26) to project more than five inches beyond the external wall of the building, and no cornice of such shop-front more than thirteen inches, in any street or alley of a less width than thirty feet; where the street is wider the shop-front may project ten inches and the cornice eighteen, but no more; the roof, flat, or gutter of every building, and every balcony, verandah, shop-front, or other projection, must be so arranged and constructed, and so supplied with gutters and pipes, as to prevent the water therefrom from dropping upon or running over any public way: §§ 69 to 81 provide that on the surveyor certifying that any premises are in a dangerous state, the Commissioners may shore them up, place a hoard for the protection of passengers, and give notice to the owners to pull down or secure the same; if not complied with, the justices may make an order for the Commissioners to execute the same, as they may also if the owner cannot be found, and the premises are liable, and may be sold to defray costs if they are not otherwise discharged; the justices are empowered also to issue an order for removing the inmates from any structure declared dangerous.

CRIMINAL JUSTICE.

[18 and 19 Victoriæ, cap. 126-August 14, 1855.]

An Act for diminishing Expense and Delay in the Administration of Criminal Justice in certain Cases.

Power is given by this Act to any two or more justices in petty session (§ 1), or to any metropolitan or stipendiary police magistrate acting singly (§ 16), to decide summarily in cases of simple larceny, where the value of the thing stolen does not exceed 5s., or in cases of attempts at simple larceny, if the parties accused consent; but if they do not consent, the cases are to be dealt with as if this Act had not passed; in case of consent, the charge is then to be entered in writing (§ 2), and if the person accused pleads guilty, he is to be summarily condemned to the punishment provided by law; but if he pleads not guilty, the case is to be gone into, witnesses are to be examined, and the accused may have (§ 4) the assistance of an attorney or a counsel. And where a person is charged with a simple larceny, exceeding 5s. in value, he may plead guilty (§ 3), and be sentenced forthwith, but he must be warned that he is not obliged to plead. The magistrates before whom the case is heard (§ 5) have power to remand persons for a further examination; forfeited recognizances (§ 6) are to be transImitted to the Clerk of the Peace, and convictions (§ 7) and other proceedings are to be returned to the quarter-sessions. The justices under this Act (§ 8) may order the restitution of property stolen or obtained by false pretences; and they may also order (§ 14) the payment of expenses. Every petty session for the purposes of this Act (§ 9) must be an open court, and due notice is to be given of the time and place of its holding. Convictions under this Act (§ 11) to have the same

effect as a conviction on indictment, except that it shall not be attended with any forfeiture; the proceedings (§ 12) are to be a bar to any further proceedings, and no conviction (§ 13) to be quashed for want of form or defect therein. In cases of injury to property ($ 22), the justices may award a sum of money to be forfeited, and paid as compensation to the parties aggrieved, although they may have been examined as witnesses. The other clauses refer to the giving compensation to Clerks of the Peace for loss of fees, to the increasing the salary of the chief metropolitan police magistrate, and for the payment of clerks of assize by salaries, and not by fees.

BURIALS.

[18 and 19 Victoria, cap. 128.-August 14, 1855.]

An Act further to amend the Laws concerning the Burial of the Dead in England.

Orders in Council for the discontinuance of burials in any buryingplace may (§ 1) be varied or altered by similar orders. After an order for discontinuance, any person burying any body (§ 2), or assisting in the burial, in any church, chapel, or burying-place, is rendered liable to a penalty, upon summary conviction before two magistrates, of a sum not exceeding 10l. By § 3 power is given to churchwardens to call vestry-meetings for the purpose of determining whether a burialground shall be provided; and also when an order for the discontinuance of burials has issued, or upon notice of an application to the Privy Council for such a purpose. Vacancies in the Burial Board (§ 4) are to be filled up by the vestry within a month, but the former enactment for the monthly meeting of the Board is repealed by § 5. If the vestry refuse or neglect to authorise the expenditure of such sums as the Burial Board declares to be necessary for providing and laying out a burial-ground, and building the necessary chapels therein, the Board (§ 6) are to represent the same to the Secretary of State, who may then authorise the Board to expend such sums as may be necessary, without any further resort to the vestry; the money to be raised as provided by previous Acts, and to be as valid, as well as the contracts, &c., as if the sanction of the vestry had been given. All fees, payments, &c., to be received by the Burial Board (§ 7) are to be subject to the approval of the Secretary of State, who (§ 8) may direct the inspection of any burial-ground or cemetery to ascertain its condition and regulations, and any interruption of the inspector subjects the offender, on summary conviction, to a penalty not to exceed 107. By § 9 the previous enactment, that no new burial-ground is to be opened within 200 yards of any dwelling-house without the consent of the owner, is repealed, and the distance is reduced to 100 yards. A vestry (§ 10) may resolve, if unanimous, that a new burial-ground shall be held and used in like manner as the old burial-ground, and have no unconsecrated portion; but at any time after ten years, duè notice being given, the vestry may provide separately an unconsecrated ground. In the case of united parishes (§ 11) the Burial Board is to be appointed, and the expenses of providing a new burial-ground, in proportion to the rated value of the property in the several parishes; or any township or other district (§ 12) which may have a separate burial-ground, may appoint its own Burial Board, in the same way as parishes, by its vestry or meeting in the nature of a vestry; and where such district does not maintain its own poor (§ 13), but forms part of a larger district for that purpose,

the Burial Board may levy such additional rate for the payment of their expenses as may be necessary. On a representation from threefourths of the vestry to the Secretary of State (§ 14), that a chapel for persons not members of the Church of England is not required, he may dispense with the obligation of building any such chapel. No land (§ 15) purchased for the purposes of this Act is to be assessed to local rates at a higher value than it bore before the purchase. Separate Burial Boards (§ 16), where the burial-grounds adjoin, may contract with each other for the common use of the chapels; and ground purchased, but not required at the time for a burial-ground (§ 17), may be let, with a power of re-entry on giving six months' notice. The Burial Boards (§ 18) are entrusted with the power of keeping closed burial-grounds in decent order, and of keeping up walls, fences, &c. Where the Local Board of Health (§ 19) is also a Burial Board, this Act is not to limit or abridge their powers, which they may exercise (§ 20) concurrently with the powers given by this Act, or by the previous Burial Acts, which Acts (§ 21), i. e. the 16th and 17th Vict., cap. 134, and. 17 and 18 Vict., cap. 87, are to be construed together with this as one Act. [A collected edition of this and the previous Burial Acts, with annotations and schedules of forms required, has been published by J. J. Scott, Esq.]

DWELLINGS FOR LABOURING CLASSES.

[18 and 19 Victoriæ, cap. 132.-August 14, 1855.]

An Act for facilitating the Erection of Dwelling-houses for the Labouring Classes.

By 1 the short title of the Act is declared to be, "The Labourers' Dwellings Act, 1855." By § 2 any number of persons, not less than six, may form themselves into a company for the purpose of erecting such dwelling-houses, on signing articles in a form prescribed; which articles (3) are to be registered with the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies; upon being registered, such company to be deemed a body corporate, with a common seal, but no registration to be made until the registrar is satisfied that three-fourths of the proposed capital has been subscribed, and that ten per cent. upon such capital has been paid up; the registrar (§ 4) shall then grant a certificate, which is to be held as evidence of the incorporation. The objects of the company (§ 6) is strictly confined to the providing such dwellings, to be let by the week or month, or demised on lease for a term not exceeding twenty-one years, but a company may not hold more than ten acres of land at one time without the licence of the Board of Trade. All such dwellings must (§ 7), as respects drainage, ventilation, supply of water, and necessary conveniences, be constructed and provided in such manner as may be approved by the General Board of Health, and shall be maintained by the company in good and sufficient repair; and any person appointed by the General Board of Health may at all reasonable times inspect any such dwellings. The company may provide by their articles (§ 8) that their capital may be increased, that no premium be taken for a lease, that the interest of a lessee shall not exceed 21 years, and that the interest of a lessee shall not be disposed of without the consent of the directors; if so provided, the provisions to be binding, but not otherwise. Where dwellings are to be let only to lodgers by the week or month (§ 9), the company may, when half the subscribed capital is paid up, borrow an amount not exceeding one-third of the