Lord Salisbury, in moving the second reading, on Thursday, of
the Housing of the Working Classes (England) Bill, paid a high tribute to the tact and ability with which Sir Charles Dilke had conducted the Commission of Inquiry into the Homes of the Poor, and described the Bill as a very moderate one intended to provide such remedies for the evils exposed, as were clearly within reach. The most important of the new provisions is that landlords are to be presumed to have contracted that the houses they let are in a sound and healthy state ; and any one letting a house that is not in such a con- dition, will be taken to have violated this presumed contract, and will be held liable for illness or death that can be traced to his negligence. That is a very strong provision, and is one which may really work a great deal of good.
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