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that a sufficient number of copies of such memorandum be printed to
supply a copy to each Vestryman or Member of a Board of Works
throughout the Metropolis.
In accordance with the foregoing resolution I prepared the subjoined
Memorandum, which was approved by your Vestry, and a
sufficient number of copies were printed and forwarded to the
several Vestries and District Boards, together with a letter inviting
them to appoint Delegates.
MEMORANDUM
on
COMPULSORY NOTIFICATION OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES;
A necessary Amendment of Section 26, Sanitary Act, 1866;
and Hospital Treatment of Infectious Diseases, &c.
The attention of the Vestry has been directed to the difficulty of checking or
preventing the spread of epidemic infectious diseases, such as small-pox, scarletfever,
&c., &c. This difficulty arises mainly from the concealment of the sick
which is so commonly practised, it not being obligatory on Medical men, or the
occupiers of houses, rooms, &c., or on the sick themselves, to report the occurrence
of illness to the "Nuisance Authority:" the result being that an epidemic
of a dangerous infectious disease like small-pox may begin and continue for days
or even weeks—until, in fact, a death has taken place and the cause of death has
been registered—without its existence becoming known to the Authority whose
duty it is to take measures for the public safety.
It is somewhat strange that the law should take more thought for the beast
that perisheth than for man; for the concealment of sickness that is practised
with impunity when human health and life are interested, is not tolerated when
the health of animals, representing property, is concerned. The cattle owner is
required under heavy penalties, strictly enforced, to report without delay any
outbreak of infectious illness among his stock to the Local Authority under the
Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1878. During the continuance of such
illness, moreover, the premises on which it occurs are declared to be an "infected
place," and are under the control of the Local Authority, which has power to
prevent the removal of infected animals, and generally to take whatever steps
may be necessary for preventing the spread of disease. Is it too much to ask
that the law should extend to the protection of human life some of the care which
it takes in respect of animals for the preservation of property ?
The effort to secure this protection, so far as it can be secured by the compulsory
disclosure of the occurrence of cases of certain infectious diseases, has been
successfully made under Local Acts of Parliament, by the Health Authorities of
the following English Towns and Boroughs, viz., Huddersfield, Bolton, Burton