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viii.
The birth-rate, however, continues to be low, and although it showed an
improvement on that of the preceding year, yet it must be considered
unsatisfactory
I have deemed it my duty in two or three places in this report
to strongly advocate the appointment of Health Visitors The Public
Health Committee are aware of my views on this subject, but your
attention as a Council so far has not been directly called to them I
would, therefore, urge on you the consideration of my recommendations
respecting such appointments A detailed report on this subject was
submitted to the last Council (190(5-1909), who, however, did not adopt my
proposals Nevertheless, the need for appointing these Health Visitors is
greater to-day than ever, wherefore I earnestly hope that you will at an early
date consider this pressing question The Notification of Births Act, 1907,
the Public Health (Tuberculosis) Regulations, 1908, and the Public Health
(Tuberculosis in Hospitals) Regulations, 1911, make the employment of
Health Visitors more than ever necessary, if the work, which this Act of
Parliament and these Regulations involve, is to be efficiently performed by the
Council
I trust that you will pardon my insistence on this matter, but as these
appointments are very necessary, duty has compelled me to impress their
importance on you Were I to do otherwise I would be false to the position I
hold, and to the public whose health interests are so largely committed to my
charge A great preacher has said that " he who is false to piesent duty breaks a
thread in the loom, and will find the flaw when he may have forgotten the cause "
I have no desire to find that flaw in the later years of a long professional career ;
nor would I wish that when you and I have gone from here that others, who
shall succeed us in our respective official spheres, should do so, and say of me
that I stood silent when the more modern methods of saving human life were
urgently inviting attention, and that I was, therefore, responsible for the
deaths of those adults and children whose lives might have been saved if
suitable instruction and advice had been given to them or to their guardians
I desire to offer my sincere thanks to the Chairman of the Public Health
Committee (Councillor Harwood) for the general support he has given to the
important matters that I have from time to time brought before the
Committee, and also to the Committee themselves for their invariable
kindness and courtesy to myself .