practically at the mercy of a body of men, many of whom are directly interested in property which he is well aware he ought to find fault with.

Endless arguments might be adduced in support of this contention, but it is quite needless to say more in addressing a body of sanitary inspectors.

So much for the disease, what is to be the remedy?

We appeal in vain to the Local Government Board for help. Whatever the cause may be that department of the Government, although perfectly well aware of the grievances which exist, does nothing to help us beyond mildly remonstrating with local authorities when their proposals overstep the bounds even of their endurance. The fact is, the department is overwhelmed with work, much, indeed most, of which has no direct relationship to public health, and it is fettered by red tape. Being already in existence as a Poor Law Authority, it was entrusted with the charge of rather a troublesome infant which has rapidly outgrown its clothes, and now having come of age is entitled to a separate and independent existence.

Sooner or later we must have a government health department, pure and simple, with a minister at its head. This is the big reform we are all hoping for, but I fear we shall have some time to wait for it, and meanwhile a means of remedying our more pressing grievances must if possible be found.

Every effort must be made to ensure that the new Public Health Act for England, which it is believed will soon be introduced, shall require that all applicants for inspectors' posts in the future shall be qualified, and that they shall have security of tenure so long as they efficiently discharge their duties. More, however, than this is wanted. We must have some guarantee that the salaries paid are adequate, and that inspectors are not dismissed from office without proper inquiry into the circumstances by an impartial, reliable, and active authority.

The Local Government Act of 1888 brought into existence County Councils, to which were entrusted, among other important administrative functions, certain somewhat limited sanitary duties, which have since been extended in important directions. Their powers, however, are permissive, and many County Councils have not exercised them, no doubt because of the idea that they are too limited in their extent to be of much service if put into operation. That this is a mistaken idea has been proved by the excellent work which those Councils who have exercised their powers have effected, and I feel satisfied that if the supervisory powers now exercised-or, rather, not exercised-by the Local Government Board were transferred

to County Councils-the Central Board acting as an appeal authority-we should no longer have cause to grumble.

Most local authorities have, at any rate, a minority among their members who do not allow personal considerations to interfere with the honest discharge of their duties, and these are the men who, as a rule, are elected to represent their respective districts on the central councils. It follows, therefore, that these councils, in the main, are composed of largeminded and sensible men who do not allow private interests to stand in the way of their public duties, and who are capable of forming a just and impartial view of questions which come before them.

These, then, I suggest, are the remedies for grievances which, in the interest of public health, must be corrected, and I would urge you who are so directly concerned in the matter to leave no stone unturned in your endeavours to put an end to what is undoubtedly one of the most serious obstacles to sanitary progress. If when County Councils came into existence they had been entrusted with the same powers in this direction which the Local Government Board possesses, I have no hesitation in saying, at any rate so far as my own county is concerned, that the state of affairs to which I have called your attention to-day would years ago have been corrected.

You may not agree with me as to the means, but the end must be attained, and the more active our endeavours the sooner success will be achieved.

CONFERENCE ON DOMESTIC HYGIENE.

ADDRESS

BY THE MAYORESS OF NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, (MRS. ALBERT LORD).

It is very gratifying to me, as Mayoress of the City of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, to have this opportunity of extending a cordial and hearty welcome to the Ladies attending the Congress of the Sanitary Institute.

I sincerely hope that those coming from distant parts of the country may have a pleasant visit to this ancient City, and may carry away with them pleasing recollections of their short sojourn here.

It is one of the oldest towns in the Kingdom, the present Chief Magistrate being the 746th Mayor. When the Diocese of Newcastle was taken out of that of Durham, in 1882, the town became a City. The old Churches and public buildings will be found interesting relics of bygone times. There is hardly a city or town in the kingdom with better architectural public buildings than Newcastle.

The dwelling-houses in the oldest parts of the City are chiefly occupied by the labouring poor, and their sanitation is far behind that of modern houses built for the same class of tenants.

These unhealthy dwellings are year by year becoming fewer, their sites being required for city improvements, and it is a very pleasing fact that the houses built in recent years for all classes are more in accordance with modern sanitary knowledge.

During the last few years the death-rate of this City has decreased, and it is satisfactory to know that we now compare favourably with the other large towns and cities of the Kingdom. The earnest and intelligent labours of the Sanitary Committee of the City Council have been rewarded by this diminution, and their continuous endeavours will undoubtedly result in a further reduction. The position of the City, on a slope facing south, and on a great tidal river, not many miles from the sea, is conducive to health, and with the exception of a small number, the people are engaged in occupations not

specially detrimental to health and longevity. Much more attention is now given by all classes to sanitation, and this must produce beneficial results in the near future. The science of hygiene and sanitation generally, appeals especially to woman. She spends, or ought to spend, most of her time in household duties, and in the care of the children of the family, who are naturally most susceptible to the influences of their environment, whether sanitary or insanitary.

The great reduction in the death-rate of the country during the last half-century, is almost entirely due to the reduction of the death-rate of children under five years of age.

In conclusion, I desire to express the hope that the time may speedily come, when every family in the land, however poor, may have a dwelling which, with ordinary cleanliness, may be kept thoroughly sanitary, so that its inmates may breathe pure air, and have a plentiful supply of pure water, and to this end I sincerely trust the labours of this Congress may greatly tend.

LECTURE TO THE CONGRESS,

BY A. WYNTER BLYTH, Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone.

CHAIRMAN OF THE COUNCIL OF THE SANITARY INSTITUTE.

THE ISOLATION OF THE INFECTIOUS SICK IN

HOSPITALS.

IN the history of public health in this country among the many advances none have been greater than the provision of hospitals for the infectious sick.

In 1879 no more than 20 per cent. of the local authorities had some kind of provision for the isolation of one or other of the infectious fevers. In 1892 33 per cent. of the urban sanitary authorities and 19 per cent. of the rural sanitary authorities had facilities for segregation in hospital for one or all of the following:-scarlet fever, enteric fever, diphtheria and small-pox. A return was made to the House of Commons in 1893 of various particulars relating to hospitals, and among other items of information the return gives the number of cases treated in the various hospitals up to and including 1892; by the aid of this return, supplemented by other reports, I have compiled the following tabular statement:

Hence of the diseases mentioned almost a quarter were treated in hospital. There is no return of the same kind for a later date than 1892. There can, however, be little doubt from the extension of the hospital movement during the last four or five years, that at the present time quite a quarter of the cases of the above diseases are treated in the isolation hospitals.

VOL. XVII. PART III.

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