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57
in the early stages of consumption were sent to
Hastings. These were selected from a very much
larger number examined by me. Most of the selected
patients were interviewed by the Committee, and
careful enquiry was made into the circumstances of
each. A number of the young men I examined were
in the very early stage of the disease, but I regret to
say that, in several instances, the urgency of home
conditions forbade a man eminently suitable for
sanatorium treatment to accept the offer of Fairlight.
These men were in more or less constant employment,
and the sole support of their families. It was originally
intended by the Chancellor of the Exchequer that the
family of the consumptive workman who is sent to a
sanatorium should receive 10s. per week while he
is being cured, but I am afraid funds will not
be available for this purpose, so far as deposit contributors
are concerned, at any rate, for some
years to come. As a matter of fact, no approved
society would knowingly accept a consumptive as a
member; he must, therefore, be a Post Office contributor,
in which case it would take him eight years
to provide the sum of 10s. per week for 26 weeks.