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52
The invitation forwarded to the Nuisance Authorities was very
satisfactorily responded to, and on the 23rd of March the first and
the only meeting of
THE CONFERENCE
was held at the Town Hall, under the presidency of Maior-General
Boileau, R.E., F.R.S. The meeting was largely attended, delegates
from some 24 (out of 37) Vestries and District Boards being present,
together with 23 Medical Officers of Health, including six
from districts not otherwise represented. The proceedings were
brief and characterized by a singular unanimity attributable,
probably, to the step taken by your Vestry in forwarding the
"Memorandum" and the draft resolutions, to every member of a
Vestry or of a District Board of Works throughout the Metropolis,
the result being that the delegates came to the Conference
thoroughly informed on the subjects for discussion, and their judgment
approving the action taken, and the advice tendered by your
Vestry, all the resolutions were passed without a single dissentient
in the following terms:—
"That this conference of Vestries and District Boards of Works is of the opinion—
1. That in the interests of public health, and to enable Nuisance Authorities
to discharge the duty of checking and preventing the spread of infectious
diseases, such as small-pox, scarlet fever, &c., provision should
be made by legislative enactment to secure the compulsory disclosure to
the said Authorities of all cases of such diseases immediately after their
occurrence.
2. That the provisions of the 26th Section of the Sanitary Act, 1866 (Section
124, Public Health Act, 1875), are insufficient for the protection of the
public health, and should be so amended as to empower any justice to
direct the removal to a hospital, within the district of a Nuisance
Authority, of any person suffering from any dangerous infectious disorder,
and being without proper lodging or accommodation which would enable
him to be properly isolated so as to prevent the spread of disease to
other inmates of the same house, or to be properly treated.
3. That the admission into hospitals for the purpose of isolation of persons
suffering from infectious diseases, and being without proper lodging or
accommodation, is eminently desirable in the interests of the public and
should be encouraged; that payment for the assistance given in hospitals
to such persons removed thereto for isolation by the Nuisance or
Poor-Law Authority should not be enforced; that the giving of such