334 SCIENCE PROGRESS 



By Section i of the new Act, it is made incumbent upon the 

 owner, occupier, or user of a furnace to have such furnace 

 constructed so that it will consume its own smoke ; and the 

 emission of smoke or grit from such furnace or its chimney is 

 constituted a nuisance. At the same time the Local Govern- 

 ment Board are given power to make special exemptions in 

 those cases in which it is impracticable to avoid making smoke 

 in carrying on a business, but such power to exempt is limited 

 to ten years from the passing of the Act, and an exemption 

 itself must be renewed every two years. 



Section 2 lays down the penalties for offending against the 

 Act, and also the procedure of prosecution. 



By Section 3 the Local Government Board are authorised to 

 set up local smoke-abatement authorities in those areas in 

 which the local sanitary authorities are failing to carry out their 

 duties with regard to smoke abatement. In London, the London 

 County Council is made the local smoke-abatement authority. 



Under Section 4 local smoke-inspectors may be appointed 

 by the local authority, subject to certain requirements as to 

 experience, and to the control of the Local Government Board. 



By Section 5 the Local Government Board are given the 

 right to inspect the records of offences under the Act, in order 

 to see if the local authority is properly carrying out its duties, 

 and, subject to such obligation being satisfied, the Local Govern- 

 ment Board may pay not more than half the salary of local 

 smoke-inspectors, by way of grant in aid. 



The same Section requires the central authority themselves 

 to appoint Government smoke-inspectors, and authorises such 

 inspectors to prosecute in cases where the local authority has 

 failed to do so. 



The manner of providing for the expense of local smoke- 

 abatement authorities is dealt with in Section 6, together with 

 a power of allocation by the Local Government Board. 



By Section 7 existing powers as to the abatement of smoke 

 nuisances are expressly preserved. 



The chief differences between the provisions of this Bill and 

 those of the Acts now in force, concern the relationship of the 

 Local Government Board to the local authorities as regards 

 smoke emission. At present many local authorities will not 

 enforce the law, because they do not wish to offend the big 

 manufacturers who provide the largest share of the rates and 

 might leave the neighbourhood, if the laws regarding smoke 

 emission were very strictly enforced. The power of the Local 

 Government Board over these defaulting local authorities at 

 present is feeble, and the Bill seeks to strengthen this in 

 two ways. 



