View report page

40
The upper hospital has been empty of small-pox patients for upwards of two years, and
by resolution of the Asylums Board the hospitals are "no longer reckoned as small-pox
hospitals." No other use for them has been suggested, and if they could be devoted to the
relief of persons suffering from consumption, the sanatorium question, so far as London is
concerned, would probably be settled—for some years, at any rate.
It will have been noted that the Managers, whilst admitting that the question of the proposed
establishment of sanatoria for consumptive patients is one of "vital and far-reaching
importance to the community at large," hesitate to undertake the task for the reason (among
others) that it would entail a " large increase in thir expenditure."
Have they ever considered what consumption costs London?
It has been stated, in the "British Medical Journal," that "Dr. Darlington, the Chief
Commissioner of the Health Department of New York, estimates the annual loss caused to
that city by tuberculosis at £4,600,000." The loss caused to London cannot be less; and, as
regards England and Wales, a considerable part of the expenditure on poor relief—twelve or
thirteen millions in 1903—is due to the sickness and the deaths caused by consumption.
Millions have been expended by the Asylums Board on the isolation and treatment of
infectious diseases, with the result of a large reduction in the mortality—the saving annually
of a very large number of lives. But compared with the lives of those who perish from
consumption, how relatively small the value to the community of the lives of the victims of
scarlet fever and diphtheria!
In 1903, there were 1,114 deaths in London from these diseases, of which 750 were of
children under the age of five years, and 27 only of persons over twenty. Contrast this
mortality with the deaths from consumption, 7,347 in number; of which 6,437 took place
between the ages of twenty and sixty years. Think of the men and women—the bread-winners—husbands,
wives, fathers, mothers, snatched away in the prime of life: think of the
many widows and orphans, and calculate, if it be possible to do so, the money loss to the
community of the precious lives that might have been saved or usefully prolonged!
The "increase of expenditure" that would be entailed by the establishment of sanatoria
for the curable, and of refuges for the safe housing of those beyond hope of recovery, would be
a mere bagatelle in comparison with the money that would be saved to the community—to
put the matter upon no higher ground—if only a tithe of the lives sacrificed every year to
this fell disease could be preserved, to say nothing of the national benefit that would accrue
from its ultimate extinction.
A discussion followed the reading of the paper; opened by Sir William Broadbent, Chairman
of the Council of the N.A.P.C., who was followed, among others, by the President of the Society of
Medical Officers of Health, the Chairman (and an ex-chairman) of the Works Committee of the
Metropolitan Asylums Board, the Secretary of the Hospital Sunday Fund, Sir Edmund Hay
Currie, and the Secretary of the Hospital Saturday Fund (Mr. W. G. Bunn). On the motion of
Sir William Broadbent the paper and the discussion upon it were referred to the Administrative
Committee for consideration and report thereon to the Council of the Charity Organization Society
at some subsequent meeting. The Committee subsequently convened a meeting of Medical Officers
of Health, Medical Superintendents of Poor Law Infirmaries, Guardians and others, Sir William
Broadbent being in the chair, at which the following resolutions were passed:—
1. "That it is of urgent importance that further and more complete public provision be
made for cases of phthisis."
2. "That it is desirable that provision be made by the Metropolitan Asylums Board for
persons suffering from phthisis who are, or may from time to time become, chargeable
to the poor rates."
3. "That the Council of the Charity Organization Society approach the following societies,
amongst others, with a view to these, or similar, resolutions being submitted to the
Local Government Board, jointly; viz., the Society of Medical Officers of Health,
the National Association for the Prevention of Consumption, the National Health
Society and the Royal Sanitary Institute."
The resolutions were communicated by the Secretary of the Society to the various bodies
represented at the meeting with a covering letter, as follows:—
" I am desired to ask whether resolutions 1 and 2 approve themselves to your Society,
and whether you would co-operate with the Charity Organization Society and other bodies
with a view to their submission to the Local Government Board, by deputation or otherwise ?