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One is frequently confronted with a difficulty as regards enforcing these condemnation certificates when the property is a leasehold —a long lease which perhaps expires in a few years. In such conditions it is somewhat hard on the lessee to make him pull down his building, as it is evident it will not pay him to rebuild for the few remaining years of his lease. In such cases it is necessary to be content with a few repairs, to make the place as sanitary as possible till the term of ownership expires. At the present day building by-laws are more strict than formerly, and this, with the gradual elimination of the older haphazard styJe of building, should simplify matters for the District Health Officers of the future. Where, however, the local authority has neglected to make by-laws it is difficult to stop the perpetration of crimes of the jerry-building type. It would be desirable were the Health Department enabled to exercise a general supervision over the erection of all habitable houses. Thus, we frequently find ruinous houses being removed from a city and re-erected in a suburban district where by-laws do not exist. If the house has been condemned we have power to interfere under section 11 of " The Public Health Amendment Act, 1903," but if it has been pulled down voluntarily by the owner our powers seem vague; and when we find a builder using decayed and filthy material from such a house we can only wait till the building is complete and then issue a condemnation certificate, which seems rather a roundabout way of securing our object. One such instance occurred during the year at Johnsonville, but in this case the owner has agreed to our representations, and the defective material is to be eliminated. However, it would be a simple matter to give the District Health Officer power to condemn any unsuitable material about to be used for building purposes. Where the local authority had good building by-laws, and enforced them, there would be no need for the Department to interfere. Then, again, it should be within the power of the Department to demand a satisfactory watersupply for every habitable house. We have no powers as to this whatsoever, yet in England, where the Public Health authorities are not supposed to be in as strong a position as we are, the medical officer of health can prohibit the use of a house which is not satisfactorily supplied with water. As regards overcrowding, I need only refer to my report of last year, in which I suggested that general standards should be fixed by Act of Parliament, of general application, the limitation of area being graded according to the sanitary equipment of the district. Of course, such laws could only be made to apply to future subdivisions, and not to already thickly populated places. This was the subject of a special report supplied to you during the year, and model by-laws referring to the same matter have been drawn up and supplied to various growing towns. As regards the size of sleeping-rooms also, I suggested a general standard to prevent overcrowding, ' one which was to take special cognisance of floor-space. One frequently has to combat a popular error that a lofty room is necessarily a well-ventilated one. Several local bodies have, with a commendable zeal for sanitation, made the error of placing too much emphasis on the height of the stud, but have neglected to ask for adequate window-space or other means of ventilation. I do not think the minimum from floor to ceiling should be fixed so high as 10 ft. One knows ot many rooms no higher than 8 ft. 6 in. or 9 ft., which no one could possibly consider cramped or ill ventilated Indeed, such low-ceiled rooms are generally preferable from the artistic point of view All that is required is that the window-area should be ample, that both sashes be hung, and that the top of the window come to within 12 in. of the ceiling. An excellent demonstration of the value of ample open window-space was obtained during the observations I made at Collegiate School, on behalf of the Commission of Inquiry which was held during the past year, in this school the dormitories, though old-fashioned in type, and with a cubic space per head just within the accepted standards, are remarkably well ventilated-the percentage of carbonic acid, even after some hours' occupation, being in most cases little higher than that of _the outside air. The secret of this is that there are plenty of windows, and these are kept open all night. Sanitation of Hotels. ' The sanitary supervision of licensed houses has hitherto been one of the many burdens borne by the Police Force; but a police officer, though doubtless well able to report on genera cleanliness and forth i s not necessarily an expert in matters of plumbing and other techmcal questions. Accordingly ' an attempt is being made to utilise the officers of the Health Department by coieratinf with the Police and Licensing Benches in this direction. The proposal emanated I SKarszES K^= e ftS,s ass isrste t^ SSnofThe Committee. You thereupon circularised all the licensing authorities in the have been furnished on certain hotels in Wellington City and Upper Hutt. DIUINAGE-WOBK AND DISPOSAL OF REFUSE.

4-H. 31.