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it the regulated,alms-giving of Christian charity, and it
leaves the inhabitants of wealthy districts a large arrear
to be made up by voluntary gifts.
"The inhabitants of the rich districts would have
no right to complain, if in carrying out any important
sanitary measures, the metropolis was regarded as one
city, and the rates for the particular purpose were
levied equally on the whole assessable property, to be
applied principally to the improvement of the worst
and poorest districts. It would be some compensation for
the inequality of the poor's-rate."
The machinery for applying this measure of strict
justice and necessity now exists. It ought not to be
longer postponed.
I cannot conclude this report, without expressing
my gratification at seeing the realisation of a work of
the highest importance to the public health, which I had
proposed in September, 1855, before the appointment of
the Medical Officers of Health. Through the combined
labours of this body, a weekly register of the sickness
occuring in the metropolis, as collected from the hospitals,
dispensaries, workhouses, and the practice of the
Poor-Law Surgeons, will be published. The sicknessreturns
of the Officers of Health, will complete what the
admirable mortality-returns of the Registrar-General
had left undone, in supplying a continuous index of the
state of the public health. The rise and progress of
epidemics, the increase of any particular form of disease,