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42
the working of provisions relating to the compulsory notification
of infectious diseases? and the answers, recently published in a
Parliamentary paper, furnish a valuable contribution to the stock of
information bearing on the subject. I need not go into details: it
will suffice to say that the Local Authorities are uniformly satisfied
with the working of the powers they possess, and that those powers
have materially contributed to check the spread of infectious
diseases, and have thus proved a public benefit.
Report of the Select Committee.—The Committee referred
to in the preceding paragraph presented their report in June, and
the subject is so important that I deem it my duty, without
loss of time, to place before your Vestry the views of the Committee
and the terms of the recommendations they have submitted
to the House, as foreshadowing both the probable
direction and extent of future general legislation. Referring to
the Private Bill legislation of the past, the Committee state that—
"It must be admitted that Parliament has given encouragement to the
practice of seeking for variations from or amendment of the general
law for the convenience of particular localities, and that experience
thus gained has served and may serve again to lay the foundation
of useful Public Acts of general application."
The Report divides itself into two branches, viz.: (1) Sanitary
and (2) Police Regulations. I need only refer to the former in
which the Committee, referring to the terms of the Private Bills,
state that—
"1. The proposals for sanitary regulations deviating from, or in extension
of, or repugnant to the general law, may be classified under
the headings of, (1st) the notification, and (2nd) the prevention of, or
otherwise dealing with, infectious disease.
"2. As to the first ('notification,') the Committee had little difficulty in
forming the opinion that the time has arrived when provisions of
law on this subject may be sanctioned, at least, in the more
important Urban Sanitary Districts.
"3. It will be seen, by reference to Parliamentary Paper 164 (1882)
which was prepared by the Local Government Board at the instance
of the Committee, that in no less than 23 urban districts, legislation
on this subject has been embodied in Private or Local Acts, and
that the experience thus gained, though in some cases only recent,
is stated to have been uniformly satisfactory.