"The objects of which were, first, to provide means for taking down or improving dwellings occupied by working men which were unfit for human habitation; and secondly, for the building and maintenance of better dwellings instead. But the Act of 1868 retained the former only; the latter having been struck out of the Bill during its progress through Parliament. "The intention of Parliament was to provide the means whereby local authorities might secure the effectual repair of dilapidated dwellings, or, when necessary, their gradual reconstruction."[114] The Act conferred powers far exceeding any heretofore possessed by the local authority for effectually dealing with houses unfit for human habitation. "On the report of the Medical Officer of Health that any inhabited building was in a condition dangerous to health, so as to be unfit for human habitation, the Vestry, after certain inquiries, &c., was to have power to order the owner to remove the premises, and, in default, themselves to remove them; or they might order the owner to execute the necessary structural alterations, and in default, might either shut up or pull down the premises, or themselves execute the necessary work at the owner's expense."[115] The Act proceeded upon the principle that the responsibility of maintaining his houses in proper condition falls upon the owner, and that if he failed in his duty the law is justified in stepping in and compelling him to perform it. It further assumed that houses unfit for human habitation ought not to be used as dwellings, but ought, in the interests of the public, to be closed, and demolished, and to be subsequently rebuilt. Use began to be made of the Act soon after its passing, but the operations under it can be more conveniently described in the following chapter. The energy of Parliament had a most beneficial effect, and many of the Medical Officers of Health bore testimony to the encouraging sanitary progress which was being made. Thus the Medical Officer of Health for Fulham wrote (1868):-- "Our district is gradually and most manifestly improving in all those great features of hygiene which are truly essential where such masses of people congregate together." And the Medical Officer of Health for St. Martin-in-the-Fields, who wrote in 1864 that:-- "The spread of sanitary knowledge is slow"-- Wrote in 1868:-- "Upon the whole, I am of opinion that all classes, even the very poorest, are much more alive to their own interest in supporting measures for the maintenance of health." The Medical Officer of Health for St. Mary, Newington, wrote (1871):-- "The knowledge of a compulsory power, as well as the spread of sanitary knowledge, and a greater appreciation of it, has led to a vast amount of sanitary improvement.