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I have no hesitation in saying that, as regards the chargeable poor,
they possess the power —subject to the approval of the Local Government
Board—under section 5 of the Metropolitan Poor Act, 1867,
which authorises them to provide Asylums for "reception and relief
of the sick, insane, or infirm, or other class or classes of the poor,
chargeable in unions and parishes in the Metropolis."
The Case as to Non-chargeable Persons. As respects the nonchargeable
poor, presumably legislation would be necessary, as it was
held to be (in 1889) to enable the Managers to undertake the treatment
of persons suffering from diphtheria —an extension of their work
which the late Vestry were largely instrumental in bringing about.
A similar one-Clause Bill, I think, would meet with little, if any,
opposition in Parliament, if introduced, as it presumably would be,
by the President of the Local Government Board.
The Medico-Legal Status of Consumption. In connexion with the
question of legality, the Council may be reminded that the Local
Government Board, in a communication to the National Association
for the Prevention of Consumption,* made it clear that phthisis
comes within the definition of an "infectious disease." and that
provision may be made for persons suffering therefrom under the
Isolation Hospitals Act, 1893; an Act "for enabling county councils"
(other than the London County Council) "to promote the establishment
of hospitals for the reception of Patients suffering from
Infectious Diseases." The Board stated that the provisions of the Act
"may be applied to any other infectious diseases" than those that are
notifiable, in like manner "as if a county council were a local anthority
under the Act relating to the notification of infectious disease." And
that, "although pulmonary tuberculosis is not one of these diseases,
the provisions of the Act may, under section 26, be applied to that
disease," by an order of the County Council, which, however,
"requires the approval" of the Board. It may be assumed, therefore,
that the Board would be prepared to give their approval should
the Managers desire authority for undertaking the care of persons
suffering from Consumption.
In this connexion it may be mentioned that the President of the
Board is in hearty sympathy with efforts to provide Sanatoria, and
that the Board have, on more than our occasion, sanctioned such provision
being made for the chargeable poor.
The duty in this regard, therefore, which the Managers are
invited to assume, is thus seen to be cognate to the work they have,
since 1870, performed, in respect to other infectious diseases, with so
* The Board's letter was summarised in The Times, 23rd May last.