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39
was important, however, if a single Cremation Authority provided
a crematorium to serve other areas, that its management should
be entrusted to a committee of the Council which was not also
responsible for other services of such a number and importance as
to push cremation into the background.
This question must be regarded from two points of view,
namely, the point of view of the Authority owning the land on
which it was planned to provide a crematorium and the point of
view of an Authority invited to join with other neighbouring
Authorities in providing a crematorium on another Authority's
land.
The Law and Cremation.
Since cremation is from every point of view the best means of
disposal of the dead, every unnecessary hindrance to the popularisation
of cremation should be removed. The law in its present form was
such a hindrance and therefore it should be modified so as to reduce
to an absolute minimum the special requirements in relation to
cremation as opposed to earth burial of the dead.
The intention of the legislation was threefold:—
(1) To ensure that crematoria are so sited, constructed,
maintained and operated that neither nuisance nor any offence
to public or private sensibilities shall occur;
(2) To ensure that individual prejudice against cremation
is respected;
(3) To ensure that cremation is not used to conceal crime:
that is to say to hide the fact that the deceased died from
violence, poison, privation or neglect.
It was considered that, with regard to (3), the regulations
needed drastic amendment. After a review of the various forms
and procedure required at present, he suggested that all these
could be safely replaced by one form to be completed by the doctor
in attendance immediately before death.
It was felt that though the Interdepartmental Committee was
obviously desirous of simplifying the procedure it over-estimated
both the risk of cremation enabling crime to be concealed and the
value of safeguards which it is practicable to impose.
A submission was made that we should not tacitly accept the
recommendation of the Committee as the best we can hope for at
present, but that we should exert all the influence we can to persuade