If it had not been for the new Acts passed in 1855, this condition of things would doubtless have continued indefinitely. That condition had been reached under absence of inspection, or regulation, and freedom on the part of the owner to do as he liked; and had no laws been enacted to terminate it, no change would ever have been effected. And when efforts were made by the local authorities to remedy similar places, strong opposition was met with. Thus in Hackney (1856-7):-- "1839 nuisances have been rooted out. In very many cases prosecutions have been ordered by the Board. They were almost invariably opposed by the offenders, generally people of substance, with the advantage of able legal aid, in the most pertinacious and resolute manner...." The novelty of enforcing upon the owners the improvements deemed necessary naturally raised in the minds of some of the Medical Officers of Health the question as to the justice of such a proceeding. Those who discussed it were clear upon the point. Thus the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch (1856-7) wrote:-- "The question of putting houses into a condition fit for habitation has two bearings. It is, _first_, a question between the landlords and the tenants, whose health is sacrificed by neglect. It is, in the next place, a question between the landlords and the ratepayers. "If the landlords neglect to make the necessary outlay in improving their property, the expense of maintaining that property in its unhealthy condition is thrown upon the ratepayers, for these have to bear the burden of supporting the sick and the destitute." And the Medical Officer of Health for Clerkenwell:-- "At present the poor rates are raised by the parish having to pay the expenses of afflicted poor persons, whose misery has in most instances arisen from defective sanitary arrangements, the remedying of which ought to have been effected at the expense of the landlords, who derive their substance from the miseries of the poor." And the Medical Officer of Health for St. George's, Hanover Square:-- "I am compelled to say that the number of dingy and dilapidated houses is a proof either that the owners of house property do not exercise sufficient control over their tenants, or that they themselves are grievously neglectful of their duties to their tenants and to society at large. The health of the Parish should not be allowed to suffer through the default of either landlord or tenant.... Here there need be no scruple about interference with private property. "No man is allowed to sell poisonous food, and none should be allowed to sell poisonous lodgings, more especially as the effects of poisonous food are confined to the persons who eat it--the effects of unwholesome apartments may be diseases that may be spread." On the equity of compelling the owners to put their houses in order, there are many insisters.