In the discussion on the Dwellings of the Poor Bill,
on Tuesday, the debate turned chiefly on the power given in the Bill to apply the sites of certain public prisons to build dwellings for the working-classes, without paying for them the full value which the same sites, if they were private property, might fetch. This course was deprecated by many Members as unjust to the community at large, since it sacrificed State property for the benefit of the London poor alone. In the end Sir Richard Cross had to admit that this clause was " contentions matter " that ought not to be pressed this Session, and the provision allowing the transfer of the sites for dwellings of the poor at any value below the fall market value was withdrawn. The provision making the owner of a house answerable for its being in a fit sanitary condition to be let without injury to the health of the tenant, was so modified as to apply only to small houses intended for working-class dwellings. The Bill was read a third time, and passed on Wednesday.
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