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45
CREMATION.
The number of cremations carried out at the Corporation Crematorium at
Ilford last year was 22, being 2 less than the total for 1909. It will be seen
from the table on p. 47, that 6 other Crematoria have to record a decrease
in their numbers, the total for the United Kingdom for 1910 being 840, as
compared with 855 for 1909. This decrease, however, need not be regarded
with any misgiving, as in view of the steady increase of cremations since it
received legal sanction in 1884, this fluctuation would appear only casual, and
does not indicate in any way that the process is becoming less popular.
In 1907, I advocated the reduction of the charges for cremation at Ilford,
in the hope that this would result in popularising, at any rate in the Eastern
portion of the Metropolis, this method of disposal of the dead. The fees were
reduced in 1908, from £3 16s. 6d. to £2 15s. 6d., and although the desired
result does not appear to have been produced, it is yet early to judge the
effects of the reduction.
The general adoption of cremation as a means of disposing of the dead is
undoubtedly prejudiced, except among the intellectual community, by the
fear that the rites and ceremonies that would be bestowed upon their dead
at an earth burial would be withheld in the case of cremation. Cremation in
no way interferes with the sanctity of the dead, and in any case an urn is
surely a much more beautiful receptacle than a coffin, and for those who
desire it can be buried in the quiet country churchyard in the same way as
a coffin, and with identical ceremony. Religious prejudice we know dies
hard, but it is difficult to see how any intelligent faith can suppose
Christian doctrines to be violated by the substitution of a rapid and sanitary
method of reducing this mortal body of ours to dust, instead of permitting it
to be consigned to earth, there to undergo revolting putrefactive changes
which must destroy the soil, contaminate springs of water in its vicinity, foul
the air, and lead to risk of the spread of disease among the living. There is
still, therefore, a vast amount of educational work to be performed before this
popular sentiment will be eradicated. There is another factor which tends
largely to prevent the increase in this practice. Many persons who have been
known during their lifetime to express views favourable to cremation, have left
no definite instructions in their will with regard to their wishes in this matter—
this omission being probably due to a desire on their part not to injure the
feelings of their relatives who may hold different views on the subject.
Further, any direction as to how the testator's body is to be disposed of
has no legal force, and may be, and often is disregarded with impunity.
Again, more often than not the will is not examined until after the funeral