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80
they had under consideration the question of the desirability of
the Council introducing into Parliament a Bill to compel the
registration, by all Medical practitioners, of cases of infectious
disease which they are called upon to treat; and asking to be
favoured with the views of your Vestry generally on the compulsory
registration of infectious diseases, and particularly as
to whether such registration should be at the office of the local
Sanitary Authority? I dealt fully with this question in my
Annual Report for 1887, giving a history of the action taken
thereon by the Sanitary Authorities of the Metropolis, upon the
initiative of your Vestry, both in 1881 and in 1887. A copy
of the Report was forwarded to every member of the Council in
February last. In the reply to the circular letter (in June) it
was thought sufficient to send the report to the Council as an
expression of the views of your Vestry generally, on the subject,
and to intimate that "the registration should be at the office
of the local Sanitary Authority." It may bo observed that the
Council cannot introduce a Bill this Session, and that their
action, whenever taken, would concern the Metropolis only.
Possibly any action on the part of the Council will be unnecessary
in view of the fact that, as already stated (page 79), the
President of the Local Government Board has announced his
intention to introduce a general Bill which would apply to the
whole country. The matter is a fitting one to be dealt with by
the responsible Government of the day, although it has hitherto
been promoted exclusively by the sanitary authorities of provincial
towns, in local Acts.]
HOSPITALS COMMISSION.
In 1881, a Royal Commission was appointed to consider the
question of Hospital Accommodation for infectious diseases, and
I was invited to give evidence. The Commission made a
number of "Practical Recommendations" ill their Report
(1882), which were in accord with the principles in regard to
sanitary administration for which I had long contended. Among