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86
"The Port Sanitary Committee note also that it is suggested that in
future it would be an advantage if any complaints received in this matter
from members of ships' crews or others could be at once referred for the
necessary action to the Board's Officer. I would point out that in the
case of the s.s. "Pontop," which formed the subject of the original complaint
to the Board, a letter was sent by the Medical Officer of Health to
the Chief Inspector of Ships' Provisions, Board of Trade Office, London,
and in acknowledging same, the Inspector used the following words :
" '.No complaint coming from the crew has reached this office, and
I am unable to take any action in the matter.'
"It is true that complaints may be made out of spite or from insufficient
cause, but the Port Sanitary Committee think that a complaint from
the Medical Officer of Health of the Port of London, based on the actual
inspection of foodstuffs by a Sanitary Inspector of this Authority,
should have received the careful attention of the Board's Officer and
might have been dealt with in the same manner as if the complaint had
been received from three of the crew.
"It is the duty of the Port Sanitary Authority to take notice of all
conditions affecting the health of persons within their jurisdiction, and,
in the opinion of the Port Sanitary Committee, one of the most important
adjuncts to health is a proper and sufficient supply of food and water.
"It is also the opinion of the Port Sanitary Committee that the clauses
of the Merchant Shipping Acts and the present system of inspection do
not afford adequate protection against the supply of unsound provisions
to ships' crews, and that this can only be ensured by an inspection before
the vessel sails from a port in the United Kingdom, and should unsound
food or improper water be found on board, in default of a proper
explanation of the same, the master should be liable to a heavy penalty.
"The Port Sanitary Committee think that it is better to prevent the
supply of improper food and water by a system of proper and efficient
inspection, rather than to make use of complicated legal machinery for
dealing with the same, after unsound food and water have been supplied
to the crew during the voyage.
"I am, Sir,
"Your obedient Servant,
(Signed) "JAMES BELL."
To this the Board replied under date of October 2nd, 1909:—
"7, Whitehall Gardens,
"London, S.W.
"2nd October, 1909.
"Sik,
"In reply to your letter of the 18th instant with reference to the
inspection of provisions on board ship under the requirements of the