View report page

6
acquaintance they resent naturally, for special nourishment,
and to their poverty-stricken and horribly overcrowded
homes to again endure the identical conditions
which gave rise to their illness, and to extend infection
to their wife and family, sleeping in the same room, and
often in the same bed, for, alas, there is no escape for
them from these disgraceful conditions ! The fault is
not their's—upon whose shoulders should it be laid ?
The halls of my memory contain no pictures so sad !
It is regretted that the County Council Boarding-out
Scheme for Children has so far been a failure in this
area; for the want of the "human" element, I think.
A mother naturally wishes to see the Foster-mother
who is going to have the care of her child, but this is
not the case. She also wants to visit the child now and
then, but this is discouraged. Though willing to send
her child to a Home or Institution for a few weeks,
she entertains fears that the child may be taken away
from her ! The prevention of this " preventable"
disease is not so impossible as is too often inferred,
and those with experience know it to be a very curable
disease, but not in the " slums ! " The cardinal preventive
points are:—untainted milk and meat, disinfection,
and care of sputum, " spit " notices, open-air
treatment and good food. After adequate sanatorium
treatment, open-air conditions should be continued in
the country on the American " Shacks" principle.
Work, when possible, should be performed in the open
air, and if in a town at open-air factories, e.g., Holborn,
open-air " hostels" being provided at nights. Any
serious attempt to prevent tuberculosis will, of course,
have to include the provision of comfortable institutions,
preferably not poor law, to which incurable cases
can be sent from over-crowded homes to save the other
members of the family. TheBorough of Bethnal Green
does not as yet possess the much to be desired power of
compulsory removal; and, in any case, the accommodation
available is utterly inadequate.
Maternity and Child Welfare Scheme—This
most useful institution is very well managed and highly