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in this action. Now at first sight this looks well enough, but when
we come to examine the matter closely we shall find difficulties in
the way of the first of these alternatives which would render its
adoption well nigh impossible. For each Metropolitan Authority to
build Hospitals (and at the least two would be required, one for
Small Pox and the other for Fever), would be a task surrounded
with great difficulty. I doubt very much whether it would be
possible; certainly, if it were, it would be at the outlay of immense
sums of money. Where in this District could we find a site for a
Hospital? I have no hesitation in saying nowhere. I do not know
of a site where such buildings could be put up—the District is not
adapted for it. To erect a Hospital for the reception of persons
suffering from contagious diseases in the midst of a crowded District
like yours would be, to say the least of it, an act of imprudence;
and I have no hesitation in affirming the same with regard to most
of the other Metropolitan Districts. If you determined to erect
your own Hospitals, you must go outside London to procure a site,
and so must the rest of the Metropolitan Districts. Now, what
would be the result of that? It would be to surround
London with a cordon of Hospitals for the treatment of the
infectious sick. Such a state of things could not be thought
of seriously for one moment, and I do not think was ever
contemplated by the Legislature. The next alternative would be
to contract with existing Hospitals, but in this there arises the
difficulty that only two would be available, viz., the Small Pox
Hospital at Highgate, and the London Fever Hospital. Now I need
hardly say that the accommodation that could be afforded by these