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35
OFFENSIVE AND INJURIOUS TRADES.
thus obliged to inhale. Such, as it appears to
me, is the rational view of this matter; and
although I am not prepared to speak of these
trades in the same terms as I applied to slaughtering
and its kindred occupations,—although, that is
to say, I cannot speak of them as injurious to
health on any large scale, yet I would respectfully
submit to your Honourable Court that your Act of
Parliament empowers you to deal with such nuisances
in respect of their being simply offensive.
3. Under the same head, I would likewise beg
leave to suggest whether it might not be practicable
for your Honourable Court to regulate the operation
of establishments which evolve large volumes
of smoke. The exterior dirtiness and dinginess of
London depend mainly on this cause; and the
same influence, by rendering domestic cleanliness
difficult and expensive, creates an additional impediment
to its cultivation. People naturally despair
of cleansing that which a day's exposure to
the atmosphere blackens again with soot; or they
keep their windows shut, breathing a fusty and unwholesome
air, in the hope of excluding the inconvenience.
Now, when it is remembered that all the
smoke of London is but so much wasted fuel, it must
surely be felt that the enforcement of measures for
its consumption would be to the interest of all
parties; amply economizing to the manufacturer,
whatever might be the trifling expense of
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