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c. 63. First commissioner of

be president.

posed on such board by this Act (r); and the said 11 & 12 VICT. first commissioner shall be the president of the said board; and her Majesty may from time to time, woods, &c. to at her pleasure, remove all or any of the persons so appointed by her, and appoint others in their removable at stead; And the powers and duties vested in the said board Two mem

(r) The specific powers given to the general board are:-to appoint superintending inspectors to assist in the superintendence and execution of the Act (s. 6); to make inquiries preliminary to the application of the Act by order in council or provisional order (ss. 9, 10); to make provisional orders for the application of the Act, or to report to the Queen previously to its application by order in council (see note, ante, p. 2) as the case may require (s. 10); to make provisional orders for amending any former provisional order, or for altering or extending districts (s. 141, p. 193); to approve or disapprove of the removal of the local surveyor (s. 37); to approve or disapprove of the appointment and removal of the officer of health (s. 40); to prescribe the scale of local maps exhibiting a system of sewerage (s. 41); to regulate the decision of the local boards with respect to the establishment of noxious and offensive trades (s. 64); and with respect to the level and width of new streets (s. 62); to regulate contracts for pleasure grounds (s. 74), and supplies of water (s. 75); to certify as to the terms upon which water companies ought to supply water to the local boards (s. 75); to certify with respect to surcharged burial grounds (s. 82); to regulate the terms upon which water may be supplied under the Act to the universities of Oxford and Cambridge (s. 93); to settle disputes as to the quota of the new rates to be contributed by those universities (s. 105); to regulate the mortgage of rates (s. 119); and, lastly, to regulate the decisions of the local board with respect to the manner of charging expenses incurred by those boards in respect to the making of house drains and other private improvements (s. 119). By s. 149 all consents, &c. of the general board are required to be in writing.

Members

pleasure.

bers may

act, &c.

HEALTH ACT

PUBLIC by this Act may be exercised and executed by any 1848. two members thereof; and during any vacancy in the said board the continuing members or member thereof may act as if no vacancy had occurred (s):

Board to continue

years.

Provided always, that the said general board of only for five health shall be continued only for five years next after the day of the passing of this Act, and thenceforth until the end of the then next session of parliament, and no longer.

General

board may appoint a secretary, clerks, and servants.

Board to have a seal, and documents sealed by it to be evidence.

V. And be it enacted, that the said board may from time to time appoint a secretary and such clerks and servants as they, subject to the approval of the commissioners of her Majesty's treasury, may deem necessary for the purposes of this Act; and every person so appointed shall be removable at the pleasure of the said board;

And the said board shall cause to be made a seal for their use in the execution of this Act, and documents or copies of documents purporting to proceed from them, and to be signed by any two or more of them, and to be sealed or stamped with such seal,

(s) By the Nuisances Removal and Diseases Prevention Act, 1848, s. 11 (see post, p. 229), the Crown is empowered to appoint (but only for the purposes of that Act, and during the continuance of an order of privy council for putting in force certain provisions for guarding against formidable diseases), a medical member of the general board in addition to the members to be appointed under the Public Health Act. The orders, directions, and regulations of the board under that Act may be made under the seal of the board, and the hands of two or more members thereof. See ss. 5, 10, post, pp. 222, 226.

c. 63.

shall be received as primâ facie evidence in all courts 11 & 12 VICT. and places whatsoever.

VI. And be it enacted, that the general board of Superintendhealth may from time to time appoint so many pro

ing inspectors may be appointed by

board.

per persons as they, subject to the approval of the the general commissioners of her Majesty's treasury, may deem necessary, to be superintending inspectors for the purposes of this Act; and every person so appointed shall have all the powers, duties, and liabilities vested in or imposed upon any superintending inspector by this Act, and shall assist in the superintendence and execution of this Act, when, where, and in such manner as the said board shall direct, and shall be removable at their pleasure (†).

fix salaries,

member of

board, and to the secretary,

tors, &c.

VII. And be it enacted, that there shall be paid Treasury to to such one of the members of the general board of &c. to one health, not being the president, as her Majesty shall the general direct, and to the said secretary, clerks, and servants, superintend such salaries or wages, and to the said superintend- ing inspecing inspectors such allowances, as shall from time to time be appointed by the commissioners of her Majesty's treasury, out of any monies which may from time to time be provided by parliament for that purpose (u):

(t) By section 121 (post, pp. 169, 170), the inspectors so appointed may summon witnesses and examine them on oath during and for the purposes of any inquiry under the Act.

(u) By a standing order of the House of Commons, dated March, 29, 1707, all bills for granting money must be consi

PUBLIC HEALTH ACT

Provided always, that the allowance to a superin

1848. tending inspector shall not exceed the sum of three Allowance to pounds three shillings for every day he shall be

inspectors

not to exceed

a day,

exclusive of travelling expenses.

three guineas actually employed or travelling in the performance of the duties of his office; provided also, that the commissioners of her Majesty's treasury may allow to any superintending inspector such reasonable travelling and other expenses as may be incurred by him in the performance of the duties of his office under this Act, in addition to his said allowance (v).

Preliminary
Inquiry.

Upon petition of one tenth of the inhabitants of any city, &C.,

or, without petition, in cities, &c.

where, upon the registrar general's, returns

deaths appear to be

above a cer

VIII. And be it enacted, that from time to time after the passing of this Act,

Upon the petition of not less than one tenth of the
inhabitants rated to the relief of the of
poor any
city, town, borough, parish, or place having a
known or defined boundary, not being less than
thirty in the whole;

Or, where it shall appear or can be ascertained from
the last return for the time being made
up by
the registrar general of births, marriages, and
deaths from the deaths registered in a period of
not less than seven years that the number of

dered, in the first instance, in a committee of the whole house,
but when provision is made according to the form of this clause,
the bill containing it is not within the meaning of the order.
In fact, no money is granted by the present clause, but it
amounts to a pledge that parliament will make the necessary
grants from time to time.

(v) The Inclosure Act (8 & 9 Vict. c. 118, s. 6), contains a similar provision with respect to the payment of assistant commissioners.

c. 63.

deaths annually in any city, town, borough, 11 & 12 VICT.
parish, or place during the period in respect tain propor-
whereof such return shall have been made have tion,-

on an average exceeded the proportion of twenty-
three to a thousand of the population of such
city, town, borough, parish or place (~);

(w) This section regulates the mode of originating proceedings with a view to the application of the whole or any part of the Act, except section 50, which as before observed (ante, note pp. 2, 3), is not governed by the ordinary machinery of the Act.

The section authorizes the general board of health to institute a preliminary inquiry, either upon petition from the respective localities, or without petition upon returns of the registrar general showing excessive mortality.

With respect to inquiries instituted upon petition :

1. The petition must be for a general inquiry, and not for an inquiry as to the expediency of applying a portion only of the Act.

2. The petitioners must be at least one tenth in number of
such of the resident inhabitants of the city, &c. from
which the petition proceeds as are rated to the relief of
the poor in respect of property situate in the same city,
&c.; but inasmuch as there may be some difficulty in
ascertaining the number of resident rate-payers, it will
be advisable that the petitioners should consist of one
tenth in number of all those whose names appear upon
the last poor-rate for the time being. The word "in-
habitants" has been sometimes held to include occu-
piers of property, whether they be resident or not; but,
upon reference to subsequent parts of this section and to
section 50, in which the word "inhabitants" is again
used, it is clear that resident rate-payers alone are within
the purview of the Act.

3. The petitioners must always be at least thirty in number,
although that number exceed one tenth of the rated in-
habitants.
(See next page.)

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