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29
CONGRESSES.
The Congress of the Royal Institute of Public Health, at Norwich, from 14th to 19th May ;
the Congress of the Royal Sanitary Institute, at Bristol, from 9th to 14th July ; and the
Congress of the National Association for the Prevention of Tuberculosis, in London, on 14th
and 15th June, were all attended by representatives of the City Corporation, and again
provided ample evidence of the value of these assemblies.
One of my staff also attended the Congress of the Sanitary Inspectors' Association,
held at Southport, from the 3rd to the 8th September.
CREMATION.
The publicity which the Public Health Committee of the City Corporation, acting as
the Burial Board to the City of London, gave in 1933 to the Crematorium which they had
established at the City of London Cemetery, at Little Ilford, was productive of such excellent
results that it was felt desirable to adopt similar measures during 1934, and, accordingly,
I communicated with the medical officers of health of the areas which might be regarded
as within reasonable distance of Ilford Cemetery, asking them whether they would be good
enough to circularise again the medical practitioners in their districts with copies of the
Corporation brochure, " Garden of Rest," and to refer to the facilities available for cremation
at Ilford, in their annual reports for 1933.
I am glad to be able to record that the majority of the medical officers of health with
whom I communicated were heartily in sympathy with the objects in view, and it is satisfactory
to note that the number of cremations which took place during 1934—i.e., 237—
is an increase of 23 per cent, over the previous highest of 192 during 1933. Reference to
the following table will show that the total number of cremations which took place in the
several crematoria existing in Great Britain during 1934 increased from the 1933 figure of
7,471 to 8,337. One cannot feel, however, that there will ever be a really appreciable
increase in cremation until there has been an increase in the number of crematoria, and
the consequent facilities available.
At the present moment—although cremation is, contrary to the general belief, not an
expensive matter—there are the practical difficulties in the way of the relatives carrying
out either their own views, or even the expressed wishes of the deceased, associated with
the journey from the place of decease to the nearest crematorium. I feel convinced that,
with the establishment of a crematorium in every large town, one would see a marked increase
in the figures.
On the Continent, where facilities are more readily available, considerable expansion
of the movement has been experienced, especially in Czecho-Slovakia and Germany.