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CHAPTER II.

The Present Law as to Retail Bakehouses.

and Work

ONE result of the course which has been pursued by The Factory the Legislature in the matter of bakehouses, as shop Acts, described in the last chapter, has been, that the 1878 and 1883 statutory enactments affecting the sanitary regula- (41 Vict., c. tion of retail bakehouses, the administration of 16, and 46 & 47 Vict., c. which has now been committed to the local 33). authorities, and which are comparatively few in number, are rendered more difficult of access than they would otherwise have been by reason of their being contained in the two lengthy Acts of Parliament, comprising together upwards of 120 sections and 6 voluminous schedules, in which the whole of the factory law of the country has been consolidated. The Acts in question are the Factory and Workshop Act, 1878 (41 Vict., c. 16), and the Factory and Workshop Act, 1883 (46 & 47 Vict., c. 53). In order to facilitate reference to such of the provisions of these Acts as relate to retail bakehouses and their supervision, it has been considered the most convenient course to detach them from the statutes, in which they are contained, and to set them out at length in the Appendix, with such explanatory notes as have appeared to be necessary, giving in this chapter a general description of their contents and of the more important questions which arise in connexion with them.

Local authorities for the

purposes of these Acts.

Bakehouses over which

their jurisdiction will extend.

The Acts apply to England and Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and the local authorities, who under them exercise jurisdiction with respect to retail bakehouses, are, in the City of London, the Commissioners of Sewers; in the remainder of the Metropolis, the Metropolitan Vestries and District Boards; in the Urban and Rural Sanitary Districts of England and Wales, the Urban and Rural Sanitary Authorities; in Scotland, the "Local Authorities" within the meaning of the Public Health (Scotland) Act, 1867; and in Ireland, in Urban and Rural Sanitary Districts, the Urban and Rural Sanitary Authorities within the meaning of the Public Health (Ireland) Act, 1878. The expression "retail bakehouse," is defined in section 18 of the new Act as meaning "any bakehouse or place, the bread, 'biscuits, or confectionery baked in which are not "sold wholesale, but by retail in some shop or place "occupied together with such bakehouse." This definition separates with sufficient distinctness the class of establishments, the sanitary supervision of which will remain with the Factory Inspectors, from those which will now have to be inspected and regulated by the local authorities. In other respects it is practically a reproduction of the old definition of bakehouse which was contained in section 2 of the Bakehouse Regulation Act, 1863, and which was "any place in which are baked "bread, biscuits or confectionery, from the baking "or selling of which a profit is derived." This definition does not very clearly determine the extent of the premises which are to be considered as included in the expression "bakehouse" (as to which see the note on the Sixth Schedule to the Factory and Workshop Act, 1878, in the Appendix); but, so far as the present writer is aware, no practical difficulty arose under the Bakehouse Regulation Act, 1863, in consequence

of its defects in this respect, and, having regard to the general scope of the existing statutory provisions with respect to retail bakehouses, the Courts would, probably, be inclined to put a liberal construction on the definition. At the same time, it would have been more satisfactory if the definition could have been more precisely worded, e.g. in a similar manner to the definitions of "factory" and "workshop" in section 93 of the Act of 1878, so as to have, in express terms, included premises, rooms. or places, in which or within the close or curtilage of which any manual labour is exercised by way of trade, or for purposes of gain, in connexion with the making or baking of bread, biscuits, or confectionery. In the event of any question arising as to the extent of the jurisdiction exerciseable by local authorities over bakehouses it would, perhaps, be well to contend that, as "bakehouses" were included among the factories and workshops to which the Act applied, the definitions of "factory" and "workshop" are still applicable to them, and that the definition of "retail bakehouse," in section 18 of the Act of 1883, must be read in the light of the definitions of "factory" and "workshop" in section 93 of the Act of 1878, it being expressly provided by section 18 of the Act of 1883 that that Act is to be construed as one with the Act of 1878.

The provisions of the Act of 1878, which are Provisions of enforceable by local authorities as regards retail the Factory and Workshop bakehouses, are contained in sections 3, 33, 34, and Act, 1878, 35 of that Act (see section 17 (1) of the Act of which are enforceable by 1883). Of these sections, the two former relate to local authoall factories and workshops within the meaning of rities as the Act, wherever they may be situate, and the two regards these bakehouses. latter to such bakehouses only as are situate in any city, town, or place, containing, according to

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1 As to the meaning of these words, see notes (1 and 2) on section 2 of the Act of 1878 in the Appendix.

Section 3.

Section 33.

How enforcealle.

the last published census for the time being, a population of more than five thousand persons.' As has already been pointed out, bakehouses are included among the factories and workshops to which the Act of 1878 applies, and sections 3 and 33 of the Act apply therefore to them. Section 3 provides that a factory or workshop shall be kept in a cleanly state, and free from effluvia arising from any drain, privy, or other nuisance; that it shall not be so overcrowded while work is carried on therein as to be injurious to the health of the persons employed therein; and that it shall be ventilated in such a manner as to render harmless, as far as is practicable, all the gases, vapours, dust, or other impurities generated in the course of the manufacturing process or handicraft carried on therein that may be injurious to health. By section 33 it is enacted that "for the purpose of securing the observance of the requirements of this Act as to cleanliness in every factory and workshop, all the inside walls of the rooms of a factory or workshop, and all the ceilings or tops of such rooms (whether such walls, ceilings or tops be plastered or not), and all the passages and staircases of a factory or workshop, if they have not been painted with oil or varnished once at least within seven years, shall be lime-washed once at least within every fourteen months; and, if they have been so painted or varnished, shall be washed with hot water and soap once at least within every fourteen months, to date from the period when last washed."

Any factory or workshop, in which there is a contravention of either of these sections, will be deemed not to be kept in conformity with the Act, and the occupier will be liable to a fine not exceeding ten pounds, which will be recoverable on summary conviction before a Court of Summary Jurisdiction. (See sections 81 and 89 of the Act.)

In addition to, or in lieu of, inflicting this fine, the Court may, if it sees fit, order means to be adopted by the occupier, for the purpose of bringing his factory or workshop into conformity with the Act; and may limit a time within which the order is to be carried out. This time may, if necessary, be subsequently enlarged; but if the order is not complied with after the expiration of the time allowed by the Court, the occupier will be liable to a penalty not exceeding one pound for every day that such non-compliance continues. (Section 81.)

Of the above provisions it will be observed that those contained in section 3 correspond with enactments which were formerly to be found in the second paragraph of section 4 of the Bakehouse Regulation Act, 1863, and section 91 (6) of the Public Health Act, 1875.

Sections 34 and 35 of the Act of 1878, which, as Origin of already stated, only apply to bakehouses situate in sections 34. any city, town, or place containing according to the and 35. last published census for the time being a population of more than four thousand persons, are practically the same as the first paragraph of section 4, and section 5 of the Bakehouse Regulation Act. Section 34-. The former of them, requires all the inside walls of the rooms of every bakehouse to which it applies, and all the ceilings or tops of such rooms (whether such walls, ceilings or tops be plastered or not), and all the passages or staircases of such bakehouse, to be either painted with oil, or varnished or limewashed, or partly painted or varnished and partly lime-washed; where painted with oil or varnished there must be three coats of paint or varnish, and the paint or varnish must be renewed once at least in every seven years, and must be washed with hot water and soap once in every six months: where lime-washed the lime-wash