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of the present vaccination legislation. As I have
said repeatedly, the present law regarding vaccination
should be amended so that vaccination is either entirely
voluntary or strictly compulsory, with revaccination
at a later date.
Poor Law Relief.
Through the courtesy of Mr. Mott, Clerk to the
Fulham Guardians, I am able to give some figures
as to the amount of relief dispensed by the Guardians
during the past year. The close relationship between
poverty and ill-health justifies some consideration of
these figures. The subjoined table gives the number
of persons receiving relief, both indoor and out-door,
and the persons in 'receipt of out-door medical relief
only, during each six-monthly period, from the six
months ended January 1st, 1914, to the six months
ended January 1st, 1924. It will be noticed that the
number in receipt of poor law relief during 1923 was
considerably below the number for 1922. One matter
to which I think attention should be drawn is the
comparatively small number of persons in receipt of
out-door medical relief only. When one takes into
consideration the large number of cases in which
members of my staff are constantly being told that
people, although not in need of general relief, cannot
afford to call in a doctor, it seems extraordinary that
the number shown in this table should be so small.
One cannot help thinking that there is still in the
popular mind a very considerable prejudice against
calling in the poor-law doctor. The routine of application
to the relieving officer prior to obtaining the
poor-law doctor is, I believe, one of the great stumbling
blocks. It is undoubtedly necessary that some check
should be placed upon the financial position of persons
who might choose to avail themselves of the services
of the poor-law doctor, but I am strongly of the opinion
that if some easier method could be evolved, whereby
poor persons could be enabled to obtain the services
of a doctor in their own homes a considerable number
of deaths, particularly amongst young children and