Hospitals.-The Metropolitan Asylums Board, though established in 1867 purely as a poor-law authority for the relief of the sick, insane Metro- and infirm paupers, has become a central hospital authority for infectious diseases, with power to receive into politan its hospitals persons, who are not paupers, suffering from Asylums fever, smallpox or diphtheria.
Metropolitan borough councils have to obtain the sanction of the Local Government Board to loans for baths, washhouses, public libraries, sanitary conveniences and certain other purposes under the Public Health Acts; for cemeteries the sanction of the Treasury is required, and for all other purposes that of the London County Council; poor law authorities, the metropolitan asylums board, the metropolitan water board and the central (unemployed) body require the sanction of the Local Government Board the receiver for the metropolitan police district that of the Home Office, and the London County Council that of parliament and the Treasury.
The creation, in 1834, of poor law unions, and the establishment, in 1836, of civil registration districts, as a rule coterminous with them, provided a new basis for the taking of a census, and the operations in 1841 were made over accordingly to the supervision of the registrar-general and his staff.
The poor law of the state defines the town poor as those who have gained a settlement in some town or city, by residing there for one year prior to their application for public relief and who are unable to maintain themselves; the county poor as the poor who have not resided in any one town or city for one year before their application for public relief, but have been in some one county for sixty days; and the state poor as all other poor persons within the state.
In December 1868 he was appointed parliamentary secretary to the poor law board.
