The Express.
London, England, 1852-03-09 00:00:00

SLAUGHTER HOUSES AND COMMON
LODGING HOUSES IN THE CITY.

On Saturday last, the Commiasioners of Sewers
of the City of London hotted a eerie' of rules and regale-
'
tions respecting slaughter houses and common lodging
houses situate within the City and the liberties thereof.
The rules proposed by the committee appointed on the sub-
ject, provide that every slaughter house shall be paved with
flag stone, set in hydraulic mortar or cement, and laid with
proper slope snd channel towards a gully. Each slaughter-
house must be drained by an adequate drain, communi-
cating directly with the public sewer; the gully at the inlet,
communicating with the drain, to be well trapped with a
stoneware syphon or other impermeable trap, and be
covered with a fixed grating. Every slaughter house must
be provided with adequate cisternage and water supply, for
flushing the drains, each day after the work of slaughtering
has been finished the flushing pipe to communicate with
the syphon trap of the gully. Each daughter-house must
be thoroughly ventilated ; and no privy, water-closet, cess-
Crl'coonsrtruble°trellh°wlefthisn.i"or heuf permittedn
a pictoworetzatc.ocr
The internal surface of each slaughter-house to
be lime-whited at least thrice a year. Each daugh-
ter-house must he thoroughly washed and the drain
be flushed after the slaughtering is completed. Vepsels
having proper close-fitting corers are to be provided in
each daughter-house for the purpose of receiving the blood,
garbage, °Mil, or filth • they are to be constructed in man-
ner and of material to be approved of by the commission,
and be kept in a thoroughly clean condition. A copy of
these rules and regulations is to be affixed and retained in
a conspicuous place in every licensed slaughter-house, and
from time to time renewed, so as to be always in a legible
and perfect condition. Penalty for breach of rules, a fine
of not less than 10s. and not exceeding 49x.
With respect to lodging-houses it is provided that water
shall he supplied, e:ther cisternage or core taut supply,
on each flour of every house, with sink, flue separate
and distinct privy shell be constructed to every 20 peremis
in a house. Every room must be duly ventilat.d, and no
room without a window or fireplace be let as a separate
holding nor be used as a sleepiug-wom unless it coininuni-
cites by • door with another duly ventilated. Du. t and ashes.,
to be removed from every houso at least once a day ;
that public dust-bins be affixed and set up in the Inc tittles
in question by the commissioners, and that the contractors
be ordered to empty them daily, and to call at each lodging-
house for the like purple l'eteeday, and
ey in each west. In hou.e. where rooms are let
out in lodgings to more than one firefly,' card is to be
set up in each room, to state the limits set to the number
of occupants thereof. Their number to be proportioned to
the cubical contents of the room, and its facilities for venti-
lating, fixing 300 cubical feet as the minimum for as
adult. Each such room to he lime-whited once in three
months at least. Thu owner of each house, or his agent,
or collector, to visit each room on an appointed day, at least
once weekly, between the hours of 11 and 3, and see that
the fluor and other woodwork of the room have been pro-
perly washed on that day ; thaty.hu room be free from all
dirt, rubbish, or offensive smell; that no abjectionable
trade be pursued in it; and that it be generally in good
and proper repair. lie shall ace that the premises gene-
- rally be in a clean and wholesome condition ; that water he
I sufficiently supplied, and the dustman's work regularly
perforated, and failing either of the tto latter conditions, he
• shall forthwith lay complaint thereof before your commis-
, sion. The lodging-houses in l'lumtree-court and els.% here
i are to be consecutively numbered; also the rooms in each
lodging-house to he numbered.

UNIFORM FOREIGN POSTAGE RATES.

When the committee was first formed-during the
Great Exhibition to effect a reduction of foreign postage, it
was generally considered that the object could be best at-
tained by friendly negotiation :between the British and
foreign governments. Many persons, however, who have
taken great interest in the matter, and who, moldering how
backward foreign governments have hems in followiug tho
example of England as far as the introduction of a low and
uniform inland postage rate is concerned, have thought some
gem may be devised by which the British government
sushi test at once the practicability of a low and uniform
lessen postage rate, and adapt a policy by which other ge-
-1
Moments would be compelled to give the suhjeci of (heap
kieign postage au immediate consideration and trial.
Considering that England Ilea adopted in all its integrity a
low aad uniform inland postage rate, that she is the prin-
cipal ocean carrier for the correspondence of the whole
world, and that she evilest* a van amount of fore:go post-
age for other nations, the fielowin„• definite course of o-
eedure it has been deemed advisable should be pressed on
the British government.
Let the colonial and ship letter postage rate be at once re-
doted to a low and ueiforni one, say teopence a letter. Let
the prepayment of this rate by stamps ho compulsory on
outward correspondence, and on inward correspondence let
it be paid on delivery. The lucal colonial pirstago rate
should be collected abroad as it is is moat cases at the pre-
sent time. As this latter rate is now a low and uniform one
la almost all our colunies and dependencies, it would nut im-
pede that vast increase ofeomespundeuce which would natu-
rally arise from the reduction of the ocean rate. This plan
could at once be adopted by the British government
without any negotiation, and without soy interference with
the local administration of the colonies. By adapting
this plan, an enormous increase of colonial cortespouilence
would, doebtlem, take place ; the expense and treuide
which result Iro,u optional and money prepayment of
colonial postage, and from keepine move! accounts with the
colonies would be areided; and the vieue of a reduction of
ocean postage, upon an extensive scale, would at once be
practically brought to the test.
With regard to postage on letters to foreign reentries—
such as those on the European coutinent for ustanee—
perhaps success might attend our tithes in negotiating a
reduction of foreign postage with those couutris* with
which we here a pack. t communication, if their nopectiee,
government: bad adopted the po:iey with regard
their interne correspondence, but unfortunately this ix hi
the case. The great difficulty, however, of the negotiating
principle would b found with inland couutrico, where the
foreign postage on letters to which, is enhanced by the
toll demanded by the governments of intervening states,
through which those letters must necessarily pass. What
course, then, should the British government puieue to avoid
the endless difficulties and delays of negotiatieu with fo-
reigngovernment. fir a reduction of foreign postage, and
to bring those goveruinents at once to reason and an en-
lightened policy in this matter.
Before pointing out a course it will be advisable to state
some particulars respecting our present foreign postal sys-
tem. At the present time letters to many countries can be
sent from England four, five, and even seven different
routes. They are often charged according to different
scales of weights ; they must be specially addressed to go
some routes, but not others. 'fluy must be prepaid or
sent unpaid to some places; to other places the prepayment
is optional. To various parts they can be prepaid to their
destination; to some countries they can only be prepaid
part of the way. The whole of these complicaad regula-
tions arise from the various foreign postal conventions
which are in existence between England and other nations,
and they entail great expellee to this country, and cause
much inconvenience to the public. English ni. reheats find
correspondence returned to them after a foreign mail
has lett this country, because some postal regulation in ad-
dressing or prepaying has not been complied with. Now,
according to parlhuneutary evidence, the English govern-
ment, twenty years ago, collected only its own foreign
postage, and other nations collected theirs. This was done
by the enforced pro .payment of postage on all for. is,,n cor-
respondence mailed in England to the foreign termini of
the British mail packet liner. This Postage was a variable
and much higher rate than the present British one, accord-
ing to the evidence above alluded to.
Having premised the above, it will be understood why
the British government should be pressed to renounce as
quickly. as possible all postal conventions at present in exist-
ence with foreign governments, and recur to the original
policy of collecting only its own protege, and let it make
the foreign rate a low and uniform one, instead of a
variable and comparatively high one as it is at present.
Let the British postage on a foreign letter mailed in Eng-
land for the continent of Europe be twopence, paid in
advance by means of a stamp. A large amount of expense
would then be saved in working the foreign department of
post offices throughout the kingdom. Tho public would
be spared much perplexity through the simplicity of the
arrangements, and a vast amount of foreign correspondence
would originate in England, compared with what originates
at present.
home persons may think that this would be foolishly
generous on the part of England, because foreign govern-
ments would not reciprocate, and reduce their rates on
foreign letters; but foreign governments would be obliged
to reciprocate. No person in any country can be compelled
to accept of correspondence addressed to him, and govern-
ments always fix such a rate of postage on htters as in-
duces the acceptance of them when introduced into their
territories. No govern:neat is so mad or stupid as to fix
such a postage ou foreign letters as to have any consider-
able portion of them thrown on its hands. Letter postage
with all governments is a source of revenue, and no go-
vernment, however absolute, would be permitted to make
such a charge as to induce the rejection of correspondence
when by lowering the charge they would get as much or
more revenue, and increase the trade and intercourse of
their respective countries with other nations.
By the reduction on the part of the British government
of the postage on foreign letters mailed in this country to a
low and uniform charge, England would have to laud an
immense amount of correspondence on foreign shores at a
great deal less expense than the management of her foreign
correspondence costs at present, by which the postal revenue
of this couatry would scarcely suffer, and Great Britain
could say in effect to foreign nations, " There is the cone-
spondence for your country, charge as high as you please
for it ; only remember that we do not take it back again."
Depend on it that all such correspondence would find its
way into the possession of the public. A foreign
government would not refuse to deliver a thou-
sand letters at a low figure when it could get more
by it than by delivering one hundred of them at a
higher one. All the English government requires is, that
if the British postage on foreign letters be reduced from
eat shilling to twopence, that four or live times as many
letters should be written as at present. It would only re-
quire such an increase to make up the deficient revenue.
because the expense of Post-office management of a simple
foreign postal scheme would be much less than by a com-
plicated one. The advocates of cheap oc,ain postage may
safely guarantee such an augmentation from the demand
for increasing facilities for correspondence, consequent on
the extensive intercourse between different nations, and
which has arisen from the extension of railways and steam-
packets, and the development of trade and commerce all
over the civilised world.

SUPPLY OF SPIRITS TO TIIE BLtECO.tT
Information having been given to Alderman Kelly, the
head of the Ward of Farringdon Within, in which Christ's
hospital stands, that certain publicans within his jurisdic-
tion were in the habit of supplying some of the children
with ardent apirits, and that great evil was likely to result
from this practice, immediately consulted his brethren upon
the subject. The alderman immediately directed that the
town clerk should send a copy of the section of the act of
parliament to every.licensedvictualler in the ward, together
with the assurance that the penalties should be enforced,
and that any complaints would be particularly attended to
on licensing day, with the view to more severe punishment
than the law provided fur its violation. The following is
the part of the enactment alluded to. 2nd and 3rd Viet.,
cap. 94, sec. 27, entitled an Act for further improving the
polico ftt and near the metropolis: " and be it further enacted,
that every person licensed to deal in excisable liquors, who
shall knowingly supply any sort of distilled excisable
. •