"The Factory and Workshop Act" of 1901 dealt with the latter. It was the amendment and final codification of a mass of piecemeal legislation which had been spread over a period of years. In 1878, previous enactments on the subject had been consolidated into one Act. That Act was amended in 1883, 1891, and 1895. All were now finally embodied in this Act of 1901 with several additions and amendments. Additional sanitary provisions were made as to the ventilation of factories and workshops, and as to the drainage of floors. Bakehouses came within the scope of the Act, and the law was made much more stringent as to them. After January 1, 1904, it would be unlawful to use any underground bakehouse unless certified by the Borough Council to be suitable. A register of workshops was to be kept, and the Medical Officer of Health was, in his annual report, to report specifically on the administration of the Act in workshops and workplaces--a direction which ensured publicity as to the action of the local authorities. The powers of the sanitary authorities were extended by the Act, and certain duties necessary for efficient administration imposed upon them. The Act also ensured the inspection of dwelling-houses where there were outworkers. The work imposed on the Sanitary Authorities was very considerable as a very large number of premises came under their supervision, and every workroom in each workshop had to be measured in order that its cubic space might be ascertained; and when the subsequent routine inspection of the premises, and of outworkers' premises, remedying of defects and other duties, were taken into consideration, the magnitude of the work, and the necessity of an adequate staff of officers, were evident. The records show that at the end of 1904, 34,488 workshops in London were under the supervision of the local authorities. The necessity of inspection was demonstrated by the fact that 18,922 conditions required remedying. Improvement was testified to by the Medical Officers of Health, overcrowding was diminished, and it was further stated that "employers are found to co-operate willingly with the local authorities in the remedy of faulty conditions." Altogether, then, when a comparison is made between the conditions of the factories and workshops, and workplaces in which the people worked in the middle of the last century and now, the contrast is remarkable. The worst of the evils have been swept away, and healthy conditions of work have taken their place. And the limitations put upon the labour of children and young persons and women have all been to the good of those subjected to them. And the public health of London, so far as this very large and very valuable portion of the population is concerned, has been immensely the gainer. The second of the three Acts since 1900, which had a vital bearing on the sanitary condition of the people of London, was "The Metropolis Water Act" of 1902.