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146
Unfortunately, however, the Select Committee did not appear to realise that
the whole object of the Bill was for the protection of the public health, and
that as such its powers to be of any value must be exercised by Sanitary
Authorities, acting under the supreme control of the Local Government
Board.
The Bill was amended in Committee so as to give the powers to the "Sea
Fisheries Committees," without any attempt to de6ne such bodies, or to
ensure their being provided with Sanitary Officers to carry out the duties
thus imposed them.
As a result the Bill was seen to be quite unworkable, and the Government
were unable to support it.
A useful and much-needed measure was therefore dropped, and up to the
present time has not been re-introduced.
Such a measure is urgently needed, and I would recommend that representations
be made to the Local Government Board to bring forward a Public Bill
on these lines, but applicable to all shellfish.
In the meantime provision must be made to prevent the recurrence of
such alarms as are raised from time to time, which seriously interfere with
legitimate commerce, and which abate as soon as the facts begin to fade
without having effected any real improvement. Moreover, the plan of dealing
with the question after the mischief has been done is not one which should
commend itself to the general public, who naturally desired to be protected.
In conclusion, I desire to call attention to the importance and value of
inter-communication between Medical Officers of Health with regard to tracing
causes of outbreaks of infectious disease and dealing promptly therewith.
The above is an interesting example of the facility with which such can be
carried out by the Local Sanitary Authorities.
Since the foregoing was written further experiments have been made by
the Fishmongers' Company in the direction of ascertaining to what extent
cockles known to be contaminated with sewage can be rendered inert by cooking,
and on the 21st January the following seven samples (Nos. 24 to 30) were
submitted to Professor Klein by Mr. Towse:—
*No. 24. Cockles from Leigh Creek, where they had been relaid
for about four weeks. Taken on the 20th January. Boiled continuously
for one minute.
*No. 25. Cockles from Leigh Creek, where they had been relaid for
about four weeks. Taken on the 20th January. Put in boiling water
and boiled for 3½ minutes.
* In these cases the water was actually boiling for the period mentioned.