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lesiSi and less . The factories , however , existed before the houses which now surrounded them . JSvery house that vaa built , was built with a knowledge that the factories were there ; every lease that was taken , was taken ' subject to this known inconvenience . If a railroad was to be run , as proposed , beneath tl ^ e Puke of Northumberland ' s mansion at OUariiig-cross , he might reasonably ask compensation for the annoyance , but if he chose now to build a palace close to the Camden station , he could hardly claim damages for his slumbers being disturbed by the rattle of the trains ; It is very easy for the
Iie ° -is . lature to ignore this plea , and content itself with simply ordering the oftensiye trades to move on , as a policeman addresses a vagrant in the street , but it is not so easy to say where the offensive trades are to move on to . There are not many traders in this line who have sufficient capital , or whose trades are profitable enough to bear the enormous loss and outlay attending a removal of their factories and machinery ; and even those who csould afford it are at a loss where to move on to . The very nature of the trade requires it to be carried on in the immediate confines of the metro jpolis- ^ for , otherwise * the materials employed in the manufactures beiug all bulky , the expense of carriage becomes fatal to profit . If they move on to
the outskirts , they are certain that the inevitable and constant growth of London , as well as the adventitious one arising from the activity their own works create around them , will , in a very few years , Surround them with a new population , who , in turn , will clamour for their expulsion to less crowded districts . . No mans undoubtedly , is obliged tp carry on an offensive ferade , and if the London parishes like , at a great increase of their rates , to become their own scavengers , there is no more to be said about this side of the matter . What , however , the chemical imatiufactuiers dp demand- ^ and , in our opinion , ' demand with , justice—is , that they should be subject to the" same laws and the same jurisdiction as their fellow-subjects ..
By our present laws , the protection of our sanitary welfare is committed to the various parochial Boards of Works , who rule , or misrule , the affairs Of the metropolis . The whole Board of Works « ystem is going so fast tp the dogs , by its own unassisted efforts , that any external comment is ( unnecessary to expedite their dissolution . Without want of charity , one can determine without difficulty the sort of influences which act on . these parochial iuquisitprs . There are the owners pf iouse property in the parish , who justly believe that their rents would be increased by a removal of
the offensive factories . There are the well-to-do tradesmen , who would prefer some aristocratic and genteel customers in the place of factory workmen . * Cherc are the lopal solicitors and local apothecaries , vr \\ Q like to exhibit their zeal and energy on behalf ¦ of their respective clients and patients at somebody else ' s expense . And last , but not least , there -are the public-spirited pot-house patriots who must clo Something and rout out somebody in order to justify the . choice of their constituents . Subject to , and appointed by , these boards , there are an array of medical officers ; inspectors of nuisances , surveyors , # c . &o ., who must make work to earn their salaries . Baiting a badger is dull sport compared ¦ " ¦* 1 . UA >« li « *** ah ^ « w * # >*^ a-i Fe \ <* 4- w maii A ¦ wir * 1 lAAni t \ f % / " \» " J ( X
Wllil LUVilkHQ UM . U I * UW ^ UtUUlUlbl , p . UUUUlMClU V « the hunt for nuisances lays an information that at such and such a time he became conscious of an offensive anaell , which ,, in his opinion , proceeded from tha works of the manufacturer in question . With wonderful discernment he is able to pronounce exactly on the quality of the smell , and to distinguish between the funies of sulphuric acid and Sulphuretted hydrogen . A scientific man is brought fqnvivrd to assert that "if" the aoid described / is evolved ia sufficient quantities in the course of manufacture , and " if" the atmosphere happens to ¦ qontuin certain ingredients , the fames of tho acid '¦*• may" aot prejudicially on peculiar constitutions of
the human , frame . The parish doctor is acquainted -with several cases of illness in the vicinity of the yrorka , and considers them all aggravated , if not 9 p , usod , by the offensive character of the factories . 4 , number of shareholders come forward with their opinions as \ p the general nuisance arising from the works , " ftucl ft ^ d ft variety of interesting details about their wives and families . The oaso is com * pleto , Tho mamilfaoturors . may bring forward tho fwgliosfc aoientiuo evidence in the world to prove that ; , as a yule , tjje nature of his trade is not noxious to health , tlmfc every possible precaution is adopted at Lie faqtory , and that , therefore , it is improbable
Only the other day a case occurred which illustrates the animus with which these persecutions are conducted . Mr . Perez , a gentleman of high standing in the commercial world , is the owner of large chemical works in the neighbourhood of Limehouse . The Board of Works of the Shadwell district brought a charge against him before Mr . Yardley , of having created a nuisance in the neighbourhood from the emission of acetic acid during the process of manufacture * and requested the magistrate to order the immediate removal of the works . Mr . Perez represented that removal would be absolute ruin to him ; that he had taken every
there should have been an offensive smell at the time alleged ^ He may p _ ut his foremen in the witness-box , but their evidence is dismissed as worthless , on the ground that they are interested parties . He may / show workmen who have lived for years with their families in good health close to Ids works , and he is told that the exception does not prove the rule . In fact , it is impossible to prove that a man did not smell a particular smell at a particular time . The case is proved . The magistrate is obliged , however imwillingly , to convict , On- each indictment the fine is doubled * so that , after a few such persecutions the manufacturer is ruined , or retires from the contest . . The object is attained , and the vestrymen have deserved well pf their parish .
means which science could suggest to render his manufacture innocuous ; and that he would most gladly adopt any further precaution that the parish authorities or their advisers might think expedient . The only answer made to him was that the . parish had resolved that lie ought to go , and go he should . Mr ^ Perez then requested that at" least , if he was to be ruined , he might be ruined by a fair trial , and the verdict of an English jury . The magistrate himself most strongly urged the prosecutors to remove the case to a superior court , and expressed an opinion ^ in which we most cordially agree , that it was abominable that any judge should have the power o ruining a man of . . his own single will and judgment . The solicitor to the Board ,
however , retused on their behalf to accede to the wishes of either defendant or magistrate . The act gave the magistrate ample powers to enforce their wishes , and they had no notion of incurring the additional expense of a trial at the sessions . Their first consideration must be their duty to the parish . Whether Mr . Perez was justly tried or not was a matter of no importance to any one but himself . If it had not been , indeed , for the great and praiseworthy reluctance exhibited throughout by the London police magistrates to exercise their enormous powers under the act , the abuse would ere this have become intolerable . We are no advocates of vested rights or old-standing abuses , but we do consider that even " public nuisances" have a right to common justice .
Untitled Article
PLANS 03 ? LEGISLATION . To ridicule the lofty pretensions of Mr . Chadwick and Sir James Stephen , to set all the world right on the mode of making laws is seasonable and Eroper ; at the same time the subjeot itself , as rought under notice at the meeting of the Law Amendment Society on Saturday , deserves serious consideration . According to Sir James Stephen , legislation as an art was unknown to tho Constitution in the time of IDelolme and Blaokstono ; and , according to both him and Mr . Chadwiok , it is now very imperfectly carried on b y Ministers and a partisan House of Commons , Mr . Chadwick quotes Lord John Russell ' s opinion : —*•
That it is rather a defect in the Government of this country , that wlrilo persons who are out of office , and who are in the House of Lorda and Commons , can give thair attention to great subjects , tha time of Ministers is so very much absorbed with tho duties of their offices , that thero are very few of them who can give their attention to a great subject , and look at the conaoquenoos to the country of tho measures that aro adopted . " And he submits : —
That the Cabinet ( or close and secret ) preparation of measures , almost of necessity limits tho facts acaoptcd as tho basis for legislation to those who may happen to bo within tho knowledge of tho one , two , or thrco persons forming the committee to which it is confided . Moaauroa prepared in tho dark , or Upon such iihporfoo . t Information' must nebds bo put forth by tho Governments in the dark as to tho reception they will moot with . Then he shows that tho preparations for legislation by committees of either House of Parlmriicut ,
whether open or close , are equally inefficacious ; and he advocates local commissions of inquiry into special facts as the only adequate means of " making reasonable laws . Both he and . Sir James scout tlic idea o referring to public opinion—" commonly the opinion of newspaper writers "—to ascertain what laws should be passed ; and both are of opinion that a legislative committee of the Privy Council , selected from the leaders of political parties , as recommended by Earl Grey , would be extremely advantageous in preparing laws . The testimony of two such well-informed . political inquirers as these . two gentlemen against our present mode of making
laws , enforced as it is by our jungle of a statutebook , is of great value ; but it does not follow that local and special inquiries , and a committee of the Privy Council , as they recommend , to investigate every project of a law before it was submitted to Parliament , would lead to more satisfactory results . These plans have been already tried in different countries and at various times and occasions , and have nowhere brought about legislation so favourable on the whole to the public welfare , though more systematic in appearance , as our own . Mr . Chadwick ' s niiud delights in details , ' for many years local and special inquiries as the basis
for legislation have been his hobby . 'To . them , however , it seems a sufficient objection , that all legislation , however local be its nominal scope and temporary its object , affects the " whole community , and to its mode of action , in futuro , local inquiries into local facts already gone by can furnish no clue . Mr . Chadwick , from local and special inquiries , has been the . author , or at least the contributory author , of much modern legislation , such as the new Poorlaw , the Constabulary Act , &c , all of which has tended very much-to centralise authority , to increase the necessity for extending its action and multiplying regulations , thus augmenting very much
the discrepancies in our legislation which he now deplores . The new Poor-law was tp put an end to pauperism , and the Constabulary Act to diminish . crime- ; in spite of some favourable circumstances in the condition of society since 1 S 42 , they have been attended by an increase of both . They obviously direct an increased proportion of the produce of society to mere administrative purposes , and so lessen the rewards of industry . In 1 , 814 , accordingly , the rate per head of the amount expended in relief to the poor , on the estimated population , was 6 s . Jd ., and in 185 G it was 6 s . 3 * d ., which was lfd ' . above the average of twenty-three years from 1 S 34 to 1856 . Another effect of these laws lias been to make the separation more comnlete between the rate-pavers and the rate-receivers ,
and widen the breach between olasses which nature is for ever fiUingiin . When the Legislature , from local inquiries into the condition of the agriculturist and the price of corn in different countries , passed and maintained the Corn-law , it did not mean to stop trade , lessen employment , and starve the people . All these effects , however , followed from a law intended only to keep up the , price of com . Mere local and special inquiries inlo facts never can furnish any cluo to the effects of general laws , which being the acts of the whole community , affect every part of -it . Facts such as Mr . Chad wick gathers arc not an index to sentiments and opinions , and hence Mr . Chadwick ' s plan , which has already been acted on , and failed , can never supply a safe basis for legislation .
With deference both to him aud Sir- James Stophen , we contend that the present modo of ascertaining public opinion and making laws in accordance therewith , is preferable to . ' cither ot the methods they propose . Both sneer wt extemporised leaders on ail sorts of subjects as the inouns of informing the public , but both must bo wpll aware that men of the . highest authority- —men who have devoted their lives to particular subjects—have
made tho public press the vehicle for coinmuiuoating their knowledge to tho community . Bocuuso the press lives by the publio , and must thcroloro ploaso the public , it supplies it with all kinds or information . Leaders are ouly a part of tho inouns , and perhaps tho least important part of the nicuna by whioh the press helps to form publio opinion . As no laws can possibly bo good , beoauso they will not be supported and oaunot bo oarriod into oxcou «
tion unless they aro supported by public opinion , the present natural niothod , . wo . may call it—lor it has grown up rather tluvu boon contrived—ot iiBOortainihg publio opinion by inouua of the proas , ana making ft tho basis of legislation , is U , io boat posaibio method . "VVo have u striking illustration ot this in tho most important oC our modern lo-
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% > i& THE LEADEE . [ No . 463 Febrtt ^ ry 5 , 1859 .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 5, 1859, page 178, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2280/page/18/
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