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134
I found it necessary to keep several of these from their work, but
I was enabled to render it unnecessary for any of them to apply
to the Poor Law for relief. It will be remembered that during the
outbreak of 1901 and 1902 the Local Government Board issued a
circular letter to the local authorities of London giving them power,
where they thought it necessary, to make reasonable payments to
smallpox contacts when they were kept from work by the action
of the local authority, in order to prevent the spread of infection.
Assuming that such permission would also apply to the present
outbreak, I made weekly money allowances to several of the adult
contacts mentioned. The advantages of this system over the application
of Poor Law relief are manifest.
Firstly, I am informed that Poor Law relief to able-bodied men
can only be in kind, i.e., in food and such-like necessaries, except
by special permission of the Local Government Board. It is obvious
that such relief cannot satisfy all the needs of a household. Money
is required for things equally as necessary as food, &c.
Secondly, the great advantage, however, of this system is that
such persons as are receiving an allowance of money, however
small, are more amenable to the advice of the Medical Officer of
Health, and the cases can usually be found when they are wanted—a
most important point—for these contacts require to be watched for
at least a fortnight, in order to deal promptly with any who may
have been infected.
It was necessary to keep from work five such persons—three
living at 101, Chapman Road, and one at 39, Berkshire Road—and
to these I made a small weekly allowance, the amount depending
upon their weekly wages. One other adult I was also obliged to keep
from work; but the firm employing him (Messrs. Bush & Co.)
informed me they would allow their workman his full pay until
I certified he could safely return to work. The total amount of money
allowed to these adult contacts was £3 6s.—quite a trifle, considering
the advantages accruing from it.