1037
PARLIAMENTARY INTELLIGENCE
NOTES ON CURRENT TOPICS
Lotteries and Hospital FinanceIN the House of Lords on May 1st the debate
was resumed on the second reading of the Bettingand Lotteries Bill.-Lord SoMERLEYTON said therewas still a general opinion that the voluntary hospitalsof this country were in danger and ought to be sup-ported by sweepstakes or lotteries. The hospitalswere, in fact, in a very flourishing condition con-sidering the bad times through which the countryhad passed. In the year 1931 the aggregate surplusof the London hospitals was 76,000 ; in 1932 itwas 101,000, and it was pretty certain they wouldbe better still for last year. Voluntary gifts toprovincial hospitals amounted in 1930 to 312,734,000,and in 1931 to £ 11,568,000 ; including London thetotal for 1931 was 13,741,000. All this voluntarysupport would be jeopardised by sweepstakes andlotteries.-Lord LUKE said that if lotteries on a largescale were to be held in aid of hospitals they woulddry up the present sources of voluntary effort, butthe Bill wisely permitted competitions which con-tained an element of skill.-The Earl of FEVERSHAM,replying to the debate, said that if the State inaugu-rated or tolerated the inception of lotteries for thepurpose of raising money for hospitals, there wouldnot be the same response from private persons orthe same individual interest taken by private personsin their maintenance.-The Bill was read a secondtime.
Bills Advanced
In the House of Commons on May 1st the Con-traceptives Bill and the South Devon and EastCornwall Hospital, Plymouth, Royal Albert Hospital,Devonport, and Central Hospital, Plymouth (Amal-gamation, &c.) Bill were introduced and read a firsttime.In the House of Lords on May 2nd the Workmen’s
Compensation (Coal Mines) Bill and the WaterSupplies (Exceptional Shortage Orders) Bill were
read a second time.
HOUSE OF COMMONS
WEDNESDAY, MAY 2ND
Sanitary Conveniences in Highlands of ScotlandMr. LEONARD asked the Secretary of State for Scotland
if he was aware that a complaint was lodged on Jan. 31st,1933, and a copy sent to the Department of Health,regarding the structural, sanitary, and other defects ofthe farm of Udale, Ross, and Cromarty, and that thelocal authority decided that it was not reasonably practic-able to introduce water into the houses or to providewater-closets, and that on Dec. 29th, 1933, his departmentreported that its engineering inspector had advised thatit was reasonably practicable to provide water-closetsand introduce water ; and whether any steps had beentaken to force the local authority to carry out its statutoryduties.-Sir GODFREY CoLLiNs replied : The answer tothe first part of the question is in the affirmative. Withregard to the second part, the county council have takensteps to secure the introduction of water into the houses,and the provision of a chemical closet for each house.With regard to the third part, there is no further actionwhich, in the circumstances of this case, I can take.
Charges at a Municipal Maternity HomeMr. ANSTRUTHER-GRAY asked the Minister of Health
whether his attention had been drawn to the fact that theIlford council maternity home had charged a policeconstable 13 10s. for 16 days that his wife was in thehome ; and, in view of the declared practice of the hometo base their charges on the income of the patient, hewould inquire into the case, in view of the fact that apolice constable’s wages were insufficient to support soheavy a charge.-Mr. SHAKESPEARE replied : The questionof the charges to be made at this home is a matter within
the discretion of the town council, but my right hon.friend will communicate with the council and inform myhon. friend of the result.
Suggested Flogging for BurglarsMr. POTTER asked the Home Secretary if, having regard
to the increasing number of burglaries and to the hardshipand suffering caused to those affected thereby, he wouldintroduce legislation making it a condition that, in con-junction with punishment inflicted upon the offenders,there should be administered so many strokes of the catas may be recommended by his medical advisers in suchcases.-Sir J. GILMOUR : There has been a large increasein recent years in cases of " breaking and entering," butthe increase has been comparatively small in the particularcrime of burglary, which is limited to entry of dwelling-houses by night. A large number of offences of house-breaking and shopbreaking are committed by persons,often young persons or children, who enter small houses orshops which are temporarily unoccupied and takesmall sums of money. Of the persons found guilty in1932 of breaking and entering one-third were under16 years of age, and over one-half were under 21 yearsof age. I do not think that the suggestion of my hon.friend would be a suitable method of dealing with thesituation.
Coal-miners and SilicosisMr. DAVID GRENFELL asked the Home Secretary the
number of men employed in the coal-mining industrywho had been certified to be disabled through silicosis ;the number partially disabled ; the number in receipt ofcompensation ; and the number of fatal cases recordedsince Jan. Ist.-Sir JOHN GILMOUR replied : Since June lst,1931, when the medical board was appointed, up to
April 30th, 1934, there have been 437 coal-miners certifiedby the board as disabled ; 129 of these were certified as
partially disabled. Earlier comparable figures are notavailable. From Feb. 1st, 1929, when the VariousIndustries (Silicosis) Scheme came into operation, up tothe end of 1932, compensation was paid in 143 cases ofdisablement. There was a large number of cases in 1933,but the precise figure is not yet available. The number ofdeaths certified since Jan. 1st last is 14.
THURSDAY, MAY 3RD
Sickness Benefit and Public Assistance
Mr. HOLDSWORTH asked the Minister of Health whetherhe was now in a position to reply to the representationsmade to him by the National Conference of FriendlySocieties concerning Section 48 of the Poor Law Act, 1930,in which attention was drawn to the wrongful actiontaken by the London County Council whereby membersof friendly societies had been having their sickness benefitwholly included when incomes were being assessed, orthe needs tests being applied, in respect of applicationsreceived by that body for public assistance ; and whetherhe now proposed/as a result of what transpired in London,to issue a special instruction on the subject to all publicassistance committees.-Sir HILTON YOUNG replied : Ihave now received further legal ’advice in regard to theproper interpretation of Section 48 of the Poor Law Act,1930, and I propose to communicate the effect of thatadvice to public assistance authorities at an early date,and to furnish the National Conference with a copy ofthe circular to be issued.
MONDAY, MAY ?THE
Milk Publicity CampaignMr. MACLAY asked the Minister of Agriculture whether
he would draw the attention of the Milk Marketing Boardto the importance of commencing as early as possible anextensive advertising campaign to encourage the public toconsume more milk.-Mr. ORMSBY-GORE, First Commis-sioner of Works, replied : My right hon. friend is quitesatisfied that the Milk Marketing Board fully realise thedesirability of encouraging the public to consume moremilk ; and the hon. Member will recollect that the pro.posals which he explained in his statement on milk policy
1038
in this House on Feb. 22nd include the provision of fundsfor a publicity campaign. Schemes for that purpose arenow being formulated.
Cleanliness of Imported Milk ProductsMr. LAMBERT asked the Minister of Health if he was
satisfied that all imported milk products were producedfrom healthy animals kept in conditions of cleanliness.-Mr. SHAB-ESPEABE, Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministryof Health, replied : My right hon. friend is not in a positionto say that all milk products are made from healthyanimals kept in conditions of cleanliness, but he under-stands that most of the imported products are made frompasteurised milk or cream.Mr. LAMBERT: Are we to understand that any kind of
muck can be brought into this country under the name ofbutter, made under the most filthy conditions ?
Mr. SHAY-Espr6ARip : I am informed that no danger topublic health is involved.
Lieut.-Colonel ACLAND-TROYTE: Is there no inspectionat the port to see what is the condition of the butterbrought in ?Mr. HANNON : Are we to understand that the Govern-
ment can introduce no machinery to test the quality of theoriginal milk from which these products are manufac-tured ?
Mr. SHAEESPEABB : Of course we can introducemachinery, but I should not like to come to the Houseand ask for a large expenditure which I could not justify.
Mr. HANNON : Are the people of this country to feed onmilk products made from milk of the composition ofwhich we have no knowledge whatever ?
Sir W. WAYLAND : Has the hon. gentleman ever visiteda Polish or Russian dairy farm ?Mr. SnAEESPEABB said that if the product was in liquid
form the Ministry had ample powers and regulations withregard to bacteriological examination, but as regardsnon-liquid products he was informed there was no dangerto health.
TUESDAY, MAY STH
Milk-borne Diseases
Brigadier-General CLIFTON BROWN asked the PrimeMinister whether he would publish the report of thescientific committee appointed by the Economic AdvisoryCouncil to consider the incidence of milk-borne diseases ;and whether steps would be taken to submit its findingsto agricultural interests, as well as to medical authorities,
before any legislative action was taken thereon.—Mr.MACDONALD replied : The Committee’s report has onlyjust been received, and it has not yet been possible toconsider the question of its publication. My hon. andgallant friend may rest assured that the interests of everysection of the population will be carefully borne in mindby H.M. Government when they review the conclusionsreached by the Committee.Mr. LAMBERT asked whether, as this was a committee
paid for by the taxpayer, the taxpayer could not have thebenefit of their advice.Mr. MACDONALD said that the rule had been that these
reports were confidential until they were published;otherwise they remained confidential.
Mr. LAMBERT asked if he was aware that this questionof milk-borne diseases was of extreme importance as
affecting the agricultural industry, and if he would, if
possible, publish the report.Mr. MACDONALD said that as soon as he had had an
opportunity of reading the report himself he would decidewhether it should be published or not. Naturally, all thebias was always in favour of publication.
Warren Fisher Report and Dental Officers
Captain ELLISTON asked the Secretary to the Treasurywhether the recommendations of the Warren FisherReport could be extended to include dental officers assubmitted in a memorandum by the British DentalAssociation.-Mr. HoRE-BELIsHA replied : The Committeeon the Medical branches of the Defence Services suggestedthat some of their proposals in regard to the medicalservices might with advantage be applied to the dentalservices. I understand that representations have beenmade by the British Dental Association to the DefenceDepartments and that this question is now under con-sideration.
Charges for School Medical TreatmentMr. DAVID DAVTES asked the Parliamentary Secretary
to the Board of Education how much money was recoveredfromparents in respect of charges for medical treatmentduring the last school year.-Mr. RAMSBOTHAM replied:The amount recovered from parents in respect of themedical treatment of children attending public elementaryschools during the financial year 1931-32, the latest periodfor which complete audited accounts of local educationauthorities are yet available, was jE69,370.
MEDICAL NEWS
English Conjoint BoardAt the recent final examination of the Board the
following candidates were approved in the subjectsindicated, but are not yet eligible for the diploma of theColleges :Pathology.-S. Alankaram, Madras and Roy. Free;
C. Anderson, St. Bart.’s ; W. G. R. Ashley-Emile, Middx. ;A. C. Ashton, Manch. ; S. H. Awad, Univ. Coll. and Glasg. ;K. C. Bailey, Camb. and St. Thos. ; E. B. D. Bangay, St. Bart.’s ; ;Mary Barber, Roy. Free ; C. Bard, Lond. ; R. 1. Bence, Oxon.and Lond. ; H. B. Birnbaum, Glasg. ; J. R. Bodington, Camb.and Lond. ; E. J. J. Borges, Bombay and Middx. ; D. M.Bressler, St. Bart.’s ; B. B. Bridges, Camb. and Guy’s ; J. L.Brown, Liverp. ; N. P. Brown, Camb. and Middx. ; R. W. D.Brownlie, Guy’s ; E. W. Burstal, St. Bart.’s ; W. P. Cargill,Manch. ; R. M. Case, Birm. ; W. W. Cashmore, Camb. andGuy’s; R. C. F. Catterall, Camb. and Univ. CoU. J. G.Chappel, Univ. Coll. ; R. Clarke, Oxon. and St. Mary’s ; GladysE. Clyne, Roy. Free ; S. Cohen, St. Barts.’s ; N. D. Cousins,Manch. ; F. F. Croft, St. Bart.’s ; L. M. Curtiss, St. Bart.’s ;A. P. Dale-Bussell, Guy’s ; M. C. Damkengrit, Camb. andSt. Thos. ; S. M. Davidson, Camb. and St. Mary’s ; C. E. M.de Gruchy and G. C. Denny, Guy’s ; S. Devi, Roy. Free ;E. W. Dunkley, Lond. ; K. G. Eckersley, Leeds ; R. Farncombe,St. George’s ; 1. A. Feldman, Leeds ; J. D. Fergusson, Camb.and St. Thos. ; B. W. Fickling, St. George’s ; W. J. Finegold,Charing Cross ; 1. Finer, Guy’s ; H. Firman, Manch. ; I. C.Fletcher, Camb. and Middx. ; J. R. Forbes, Guy’s ; MargaretJ. Foster, Camb. and Univ. Coll. ; Joan I. Franklin-Adams,Roy. Free ; E. Galinsky, Univ. Coll. ; J. E. Giesen, Guy’s ;A. B. F. Gibson, Camb. and St. Thos. ; P. Glazer, King’s CoU. ;C. H. Gooffliffe, Birm. ; M. E. Gordon, Cardiff; B. S. Grant,Lond. ; E. O’D. C. Grattan, Camb. and St. Thos. ; B. J. Green,and S. G. Griffin, Liverp. ; J. A. G. Hair, Univ. Coll. ; Irene G.Hamilton, Bristol; E. E. Harris, Camb. and St. Bart.’s ; R. L.Hartley, Liverp. ; G. R. Hawkes, Camb. and Liverp. ; H. F. G.Hensel, Lond.; T. H. Hills, Guy’s; C. A. Hinds Howell, Oxon.and St. Bart.’s ; J. Holden, Leeds ; D. A. B. Hopkin, St. Mary’s ;J. J. V. Hopkins, St. Bart.’s ; J. H. Hovell, Charing Cross ;
J. E. Ives, Camb. and Univ. Coll. ; J. 1. A. Jamieson, Manch.!J. E. V. Jones, Camb. and St. Thos. ; 0. L. Jones, Liverp.;D. Joy, Univ. Coll. ; G. H. W. Keates, Guy’s ; W. E. Kershaw,Manch. ; A. W. Khan, Manch. ; E. L. Kirstein, Univ. Coll. ;E. H. Kitching, Leeds ; F. B. Lake, Guy’s ; M. Lederman,Westminster; M. J. Levi, Leeds ; W. Libertson, St. Bart.’s ;W. N. Lippitt, Birm. ; 0. Lloyd, Middx. ; J. F. Lockwood,Guy’s ; M. C. W. Long, St. Mary’s ; E. B. McDowall, Camb. andSt. Thos. ; H. M. McGladdery and R. McGladdery, St. Bart.’s ;K. M. Mayall, Camb. and St. George’s ; Ellen Mayer, King’sColl. ; A. B. G. Mein, Westminster ; A. G. H. Menzies, Liverp. ;W. J. Mitchell, Guy’s ; A. Moore, Univ. Coll. ; D. C. Moore,Manch. ; J. H. Moseley, Camb. and St. Thos. ; A. Mukerji,Middx. ; C. W. F. Outred, Guy’s ; W. 0. G. Paget, St. Bart.’s ;G. R. C. Palmer, St. Thos. ; R. L. Parish, Manch. ; G. W. V.Pegge, St. Mary’s ; S. Phillips, King’s Coll. ; E. H. Platts,Leeds ; A. W. Probert, Univ. Coll. ; J. Rabinovitch, Leeds;J. Rapoport, St. Mary’s ; H. W. Rees, Middx. ; W. G. S. Roberts,Birm. and St. Thos. ; G. S. Robinson, Camb. and Liverp.;J. Robyns-Jones, Liverp. ; J. S. Ross, Camb. and St. Thos.;Jean Ross, Univ. Coll. ; L. M. Rouillard, St. Thos.; C. Royle,Manch. ; C. R. St. Johnston, Birm. ; S. V. Sansom, St. Bart.’s ;B. J. Shaw, Birm. ; J. A. Sidebottom, Guy’s ; H. Silman, Leeds ;A. S. R. Sinton, Westminster ; R. G. Smithson, Leeds; B. P.Stone, King’s Coll. ; Phyllis J. M. Sykes, Univ. Coll. ; E. W.Tapley, Manch. ; Dorothy H. Thomas, Univ. Coll. ; J. B.Tointon, Camb. and St. Thos. ; R. P. Tong, Liverp. ; B. M.Truscott, Middx. ; R. W. D. Turner, Camb. and St. Thos. ;M. M. Waldman, Westminster ; P. A. Walford, Camb. andSt. Thos. ; T. J. Walters, St. Mary’s ; F. G. Ward, Oxon. andSt. Bart’s ; M. Watkins, St. Mary’s ; J. D. S. Watling andC. W. K. Willard, Univ. Coll. ; G. N. M. Wishart, Manch. ;H. L. Wolfe, St. Bart.’s ; G. M. Woolford, St. Thos.; andH. Yarrow and J. G. Youngman, St. Bart.’s.Medicine.-N. Angel, ’Birm. ; T. G. Armstrong, Camb. and
Lond.; E. C. Atldnson, St. Bart.’s ; Margaret D. Baber, Univ.Coll. ; J. C. Baillie, King’s Coll. ; Mary Barber, Roy. Free;G. Bates, Birm.; R. I. Bence, Oxon. and Lond. ; D. Bickler,Leeds ; J. R. Bodington, Camb. and Lond. ; E. J. J. Borges,Bombay and Middx. ; D. M. Bressler, St. Bart.’s ; Jean M.Cass, Roy. Free ; R. Clarke, Oxon. and St. --Nlary’s ; S. G. Clayton,
