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Parliamentary Intelligence.HOUSE OF COMMONS.

WEDNESDAY, JULY 11 TH.

Cost of Pensions Patients.Mr. ALBERT ALEXANDER asked the Minister of Pensions

what was the average cost per day of pensions patients athospitals which were under the direct control of the Ministryof Pensions.-Major TRYON replied : The average is 8s. 2<Z.per patient.

Small-pox and Vaccination.Mr. BECKER asked the Minister of Health how many cases

of small-pox had been notified this year ; how many deathshad occurred from small-pox this year ; and was he satisfiedthat all cases notified as small-pox were small-pox, or hadany cases so notified been found to be chicken-pox.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN replied : The number of casesof small-pox notified this year up to June 30th is 1225. Nodeaths had been registered up to the end of last week asdue to small-pox, but I understand that a fatal case

occurred at Gloucester with an unvaccinated child on the8th inst. As regards the last part of the question, I amadvised that, in small-pox as in other infectious diseases,errors in the initial diagnosis have occurred in some cases,but the notification returns are corrected from time to timeby the omission of those cases which after notification havebeen found to be cases of chicken-pox, and the addition ofcases originally diagnosed as chicken-pox but subsequentlyfound to be cases of small-pox.

Mr. BROAD asked the Minister of Health if he wouldsupply particulars of the cases of small-pox and deaths fromthat disease in the city of Mexico during each of the last10 years for which figures were available.-Mr. NEVILLECHAMBERLAIN replied : I have no information as to thenumber of cases of small-pox in Mexico city. The followingare the particulars available in my department of the numberof deaths from that disease in the city during each of theyears 1913-1922 : 1913, 326 ; 1914, 259 ; 1915, no figuresavailable ; 1916, 246 (10 months) : 1917, 479 ; 1918, 140 ;1919, 12 ; 1920, 40 ; 1921, 429 ; 1922, 404 (10 months).

Lieut.-Colonel FREMANTLE asked the Minister of Healthif he would consider the transference of the administrationof vaccination to the general sanitary administration underthe sanitary authorities.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAINreplied : This question has been under consideration, but Icould not undertake to introduce the necessary legislationduring the present session.

Sir GEORGE BERRY asked the Minister of Health if he wassatisfied with the manner in which the Vaccination Actswere being administered ; and, if not, if he was prepared,in view of the present serious epidemic of small-pox, to takesteps to enforce rigid compliance with them.-Mr. NEVILLECHAMBERLAIN replied : The responsibility for the administra-tion of the Vaccination Acts rests with the boards ofguardians and their vaccination officers. I am not satisfiedthat the Acts are being properly administered in all districts,and I am considering what steps can be taken to secureimprovement in this respect.

Mr. BROMFIELD asked the Minister of Health whetherthe organism of vaccinia had yet been isolated ; and, if not,what guarantee could be given that it was present in anygiven sample of calf lymph issued by his department forpublic vaccination purposes.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAINreplied : The answer to the first part of the question is inthe negative. As regards the second part, I am advisedthat the efficacy of the lymph issued from the Governmentlymph establishment is adjudged by the usual laboratorytests for purity and its effect as reported by public vaccina-tors. I may add that the Government lymph used during1922 for 284,000 cases of primary vaccination gave a per-centage success of 99-4.

Mr. LEACH asked the Minister of Health if he would supplyparticulars of the cases of small-pox and deaths from thatdisease in Rio de Janeiro during each of the last 10 yearsfor which the figures were available.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBER-LAIN replied : The following are the particulars required bythe hon. Member

* Figures not available.t 4 weeks missing. t 3 weeks missing.

Mr. BROMFIELD asked the Minister of Health whetherthe glycerinated calf lymph manufactured by the Govern-ment was tested on a certain number of children beforebeing issued to the public vaccinators, with a view toascertaining whether it was satisfactory ; and, if so, whetherthe consent of the parents of the children was obtainedbefore these experimental vaccinations were carried out.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN replied : The answer to the firstpart of the question is in the negative, and the second part,therefore, does not arise.

Brook Fever Hospital.Sir KINGSLEY WOOD asked the Minister of Health whether

the Brook fever hospital at Shooters Hill was about to bepermanently closed, and whether he could state the reasonfor this course.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN replied :The answer to the first part of the question is in the negative.I understand that, owing to the reduction in the number ofcases of infectious disease in London, further admissions tothis hospital are being stopped for the present, but thehospital will be reopened as soon as it is needed.

Medical Aid Departments.Mr. CLARRY asked the Minister of Health if he could see

his way clear to framing regulations whereby a friendly societyor group of societies might form medical aid departmentsfor the purpose of supplying medicines and surgical appliancesto their members.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN replied :The object which the hon. Member has in view cannot besecured without amending legislation which would be of acontroversial character, and which I do not see my way tointroduce. I have no power to deal with the matter by wayof regulations.

Dirty Milk Vans.Sir ARTHUR CHURCHMAN asked the Minister of Health

whether his attention had been called to the lack of cleanand well-ventilated milk vans on certain railway lines notedin paragraphs 42 and 43 of the interim report on milk issuedby the departmental committee on the distribution andprices of agricultural produce ; and whether his departmentproposed to take any action in the matter.-Mr. NEVILLECHAMBERLAIN replied : The answer to the first part of thequestion is in the affirmative. I propose to ask my right hon.friend, the Minister of Transport, to bring the recommenda-

&deg;

tions of the departmental committee to the notice of therailway companies.

Panel Practitioners’ Remuneration.Sir KINGSLEY WOOD asked the Minister of Health whether,

in accordance with the pledge given by his predecessor, heproposed to consult both the Consultative Council and repre-sentatives of the approved societies before any new termsas to remuneration and service were arranged with themedical men on the panel lists ; whether he proposed toarrange such consultation before any offer as to remunerationwas made ; and when, and in what manner, he proposed anyconsultation should take place.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAINreplied : As regards the first two parts of the question, Iwould refer the hon. Member to the answer which I gavehim on April 11th. As regards the third part, the matteris now under consideration, and I am not yet in a positionto make any statement.

Discharge of Private Lunacy Patients.Mr. HAYDAY asked the Minister of Health by what

authority the London County Council, through their asylumregulations, had interfered with the right guaranteed to apetitioner by Section 72 of the Lunacy Act, 1890, to directthe discharge or transfer of a private patient from a pauperasylum by exacting four weeks’ payment if the patient wastaken away, whereas in institutions for rich patients theprovisions of Section 72 were punctiliously carried out andthe patient was allowed to leave at once on the legal direc-tion given by his petitioners ; and would be see that thispractice was stopped.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN replied :Inquiry is being made by the Board of Control and I willcommunicate the result to the hon. Member.

Deaths from Tuberculosis.Mr. MURNIN asked the Minister of Health the number of

persons who died in England and Wales during the years1921-22 from tuberculosis.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAINreplied : The number of deaths from tuberculosis in Englandand Wales during the year 1921 was 42,678, and during theyear 1922 42,777.

Cheese, Milk, and Cream Standards.Mr. HURD asked the Minister of Health the result of his

consultation with the Minister of Agriculture with a viewto the adoption of the recommendations of the departmentalcommittee for the imposition of a legal minimum standardof quality applicable to whole-milk cheese, cream, and milkpowder.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN replied : I understandthat my right hon. friend is examining the situation with a

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view to determining whether it is practicable to give effectto the recommendations of the departmental committee inregard to whole-milk cheese and cream.

THURSDAY, JULY 12TH.

Medical War Records.

Mr. EDE asked the Minister of Pensions what progress hadbeen made with the preparation of the medical records ofthe war, what sum had been expended on these recordsup to June 30th, 1923 ; when it was anticipated that therecord would be completed ; and what would be the totalcost of the same.-Major TRYON replied : I assume that thehon. Member is referring to the records of admissions to anddischarges from ambulances, hospitals, or clearing stationsduring service. These medical records have now beensorted and indexed in one register, but as the work wascommenced by the War Office and completed by the Statis-tical Division of my department as part of their generalduties, I regret I am not in a position to state the costwithout very considerable investigation.

Treatment for War N e1trosis.Mr. ROBERT RICHARDSON asked the Minister of Pensions

what was the total number of pensioners receiving treatmentfor war neurosis and other shell-shock conditions, andwhether he was satisfied with thL provision made in thedifferent regions for the treatment of pensioners sufferingfrom shell-shock and/or neurasthenia.-Major TRYONreplied : The number of patients at present receiving treat-ment under my department for war neurosis is about 6900.The whole question of the treatment of this very difficultcondition is kept constantly under review by my medicaladvisers. Full provision is made for the most moderntreatment. I am glad to say that our accommodation isample and we have no waiting list.

Final Pension 4ppea!s 1921.Mr. WHITELEY asked the Minister of Pensions what

number of cases were dealt with before the final tribunalsin 1921 and 1922 for entitlement and assessment, respec-tively, and the number of successful cases in each year.-Major TRYON replied : The number of appeals on entitlementdecided by the tribunal during 1921 was 43,750, of which11,500 were allowed. The comparative figures for 1922 are37,350 and 9,980. The assessment tcibunals, which did notcommence work until June, 1922, decided 13,023 appealsup to the end of that year. Of these the assessment wasincreased in 2500 cases and lowered in 23. The final awardwas set aside in 2500 cases and the appeal disallowed in 8000cases.

Institutional Treatment of Tuberculosis.Mr. TREVELYAN THOMSON asked the Minister of Health

whether he approved of the charge made to tuberculouspersons in the London area in respect of institutionaltreatment; and, if so, why, in this respect, had the institu-tional treatment of tuberculous persons been differentiatedfrom that of the other infectious diseases.-Lord E. PERCYreplied : My department have approved generally of thearrangement made by the L.C.C. for the assessment ofcontributions payable by tuberculous persons towards thecost of institutional treatment provided by the Council.As regards the second part of the question, the statutesunder which institutional treatment is provided in Londonfor persons suffering from other infectious diseases do notauthorise the recovery of any part of the cost of treatmentfrom the patient.

Wounds on Executed Prisoraer.

Mr. LANSBURY asked the Secretary of State for theHome Department whether his attention had been called tothe fact that at the inquest held on Roland Duck, after hisexecution at Pentonville prison last week, a severe woundwas found on his head and a considerable quantity of con-gealed blood was attached to his hair ; whether the coronerhad made a report to him as to how this injury was sustained ;and whether the man’s father and mother, who attended theinquest, had asked the Home Office to order an inquiry asto the cause of this injury.-Mr. BRIDGEMAN replied : IReports received from the prison showed that when the sbody was taken down there was no mark on the head, but Iwhen the body was being washed, after removal to the 1

mortuary and post-mortem examination of the neck by the I

medical officer, a bruise was noticed on the forehead. The (

body had slipped while being placed on the mortuary tableand the head had struck a slab. The medical officer calledthe coroner’s attention to the bruise. The coroner’s inquisi- ition was sent to me. He made no report, but I have now 1seen his notes, which show that the jury was satisfied that ...the bruise was caused after the execution. Before the c

inquest ended the father said he was satisfied, but both c

parents have written since expressing dissatisfaction. They Iwill be informed that I find no ground for further inquiry, t

Infection in Public Libraries.Colonel MORDEN asked the Minister of Health whether his:

attention had been directed to the danger of infection to-the frequenters of public libraries through the use of book..’>-previously handled by persons suffering from infectiousailments ; and whether he would take steps to investigate-this menace to the public health by directing local authoritiesto use adequate disinfectants in the public libraries of thiscountry.-Lord E. PERCY replied : The answer to the firstpart of the question is in the affirmative, but my right hon.friend is advised that medical officers of health are fullyalive to whatever danger of infection there may be from thissource. Special provisions as to the precautions to be takento prevent the spread of infection through the use of librarybooks are contained in Section 59 of the Public Health ActsAmendment Act, 1907, and that section may be put in forcein any district on the application of the local authority. Inthe circumstances the Minister does not consider it necessaryto undertake any special investigation or to issue any specialinstructions to local authorities on this matter.

Fifty,per Cent. Pension Awards.Mr. HERRIOTTS asked the Minister of Pensions the number

of pensioners in receipt of a pension of 50 per cent. or overon March 31st, 1919, and the number of pensioners in receiptof a pension of 50 per cent. or over on March 31st, 1923, forloss of vision, for loss of limbs, for loss of hearing, for gunshotwounds, for tuberculosis, and for diseases other than tuber-culosis respectively.-Major TRYON replied : The answerto the first part of the question is 252,000. In March, 1923,approximately 160,800 awards of 50 per cent. or over werein payment as follows : Eye disabilities 6600, injury tolimbs (including amputations) 58,000, other wounds andinjuries 22,800, ear disabilities 2800, tuberculosis 30,300, otherdiseases 40,300.

Small-pox and Vaccination.Mr. TREVELYAN THOMSON asked the Minister of Health

the particulars which indicated that the percentage of casesof small-pox had increased with the reduction in the numberof vaccinations which had fallen from 85-6 of births in1872-81 to 43-4 in 1912-21.-Lord E. PERCY replied : Asmy right hon. friend informed the hon. Member on the4th inst., particulars as to the total number of cases of small-pox in England and Wales are not available for any yearprior to 1911, and it is not, therefore, possible to give thedesired information for the periods mentioned in the question.The number of cases of small-pox during each of the years1911 to 1922, and the percentage of vaccination to birthsin each of those years, are given in the following table :&mdash;

* Not yet available.

White Lead Convention.

On a vote of 185,969 for the salaries and expenses of theHome Office,

Mr. A. GREENWOOD moved to reduce the vote by 100.He said there were far too many cases of lead poisoning atthe present time, and he attributed that to the ineffectiveadministration of the regulations by the Home Office. Thewhole industry was united, and there was no real reasonwhich should debar the Home Secretary from enforcing onthe Cabinet the importance of an early ratification of theWhite Lead Convention.’

Mr. TURNER seconded.Mr. G. LocKBR-LAMPSON (Under-Secretary for the Home

Department) said the question of ratifying the White LeadConvention agreed upon at Geneva was not quite so easy assome people might think. The Minister of Labour who wasat Geneva agreed to the terms of the agreement, butunfortunately since that date a certain misunderstanding hadabout one of the principal agreements under theConvention-the employment of young persons under18 and the employment of women for industrial purposes.Apparently a good many members at Geneva were under the eimpression that that article referred only to the painting ofhouses. Other members declared that it referred to thewhole of industrial painting. Until that point had beencleared up satisfactorily it was rather difficult for thiscountry to agree to the ra,tifica,tion of the Convention.He hoped, however, the delay would not be very long. Sincethe Geneva Convention sat a new process had been introduced

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involving the use of wet sand-paper, by means of which the olddangers arising out of dry rubbing down could be prevented.He thought it was absolutely essential that further experi-ments should be made with this new material before adefinite decision was come to. The Home Office was atpresent receiving deputations on the subject.

. Workmen’s Compensation.Mr. G. SPENCER asked whether the Home Secretary would

.appoint another medical referee under the Workmen’sCompensation Act for the County of Nottingham fordealing with certain industrial diseases. At the presenttime cases had to be sent to Sheffield, and the men affectedhad to pay their expenses to Sheffield to be examined incases in which the certificate given by the certifying surgeonwas questioned by a colliery company. He was sorryto say that the workmen in the county of Nottingham hadlost faith in the present medical referee, not because theyalleged he was unfair, or that he acted in an ex parte manner,but because they believed that he was not conducting casesconsistently with the description of the disease in the Act.He belonged to the school of medical opinion which held thatif objective symptoms were not present, then the disease did.not exist.

Mr. LocKER-LAMpsoN said that the point raised by Mr.Spencer was an important one, and the Home Office would- consider it.

The motion to reduce the vote was negatived and the votewas agreed to.

FRIDAY, JULY 13TH.Sale of Li1uor to Children.

On the motion for the third reading of the IntoxicatingLiquor (Sale to Persons under 18} Bill,

Sir F. BANBURY moved the rejection of the measure.He said he wished to call the attention of Viscountess ASTOR.and a number of those who supported the Bill to a speech.made by Sir S. Russell-Wells only a few days previously,in which he said that beer was a food and contained a certainquantity of nourishment, and also that tea was a pure drug.’Therefore the supporters of the Bill were endeavouring toprevent young people from getting what a medical authoritydeclared to be nourishment and to make them take insteadsomething which was after all merely a drug.

Viscountess AsTOR thanked the Government for having.given facilities to the Bill.

The Bill was read a third time by 257 votes to 10.

Small-pox and Vaccination.Lieut.-Colonel ARTHUR MURRAY asked the Minister of

Health whether he could state how many of the 408 personsnoted as suffering from small-pox for the four weeks endedJune 30th were vaccinated at birth and/or were vaccinatedat a later period.-Mr. CHAMBERLAIN replied : Informationas to the vaccinal condition of these persons is at presentavailable in onlv 227 of the cases. This information isgiven in the following statement, but the particulars aresubject to revision in the light of further information whichmay subsequently be received :- &deg;

* Including 2 suspected cases.

Institutional Treatment of Tuberculosis in Leicester.Major Guy PAGET asked the Minister of Health whether

he was aware that the cases for Government treatment fortuberculosis were limited in Leicester to 30 ; and, seeingthat, in view of the fact that every insured person con-tributed to this treatment, this was an insufficient number,and that in consequence the voluntary institution was over-crowded with surgical tuberculous cases which largelyhampered its other work, would he inquire into the matter.- Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAIN replied : The answer to thefirst part of the question is in the negative. On July 1st I’.the number of persons receiving institutional treatment fortuberculosis from the Leicester Town Council was 217. Iam not aware of the actual number of cases of surgicaltuberculosis included in this figure, but the provision madeby local authorities for the treatment of this disease wouldnaturally have the effect of relieving the pressure uponvoluntary institutions. In the circumstances I see no

necessity for any special inquiry, and I may point out that- the health insurance contributions payable by insuredpersons do not now include any payment towards the cost- of institutional treatment for tuberculosis.

MONDAY, JULY 16TH.Child Mortality.

Mr. WILLIAM THORNE asked the Minister of Health thenumber of children who died before the age of 12 monthsin the London County Council area, Glasgow, West Ham,and Stoke-on-Trent during the year ending March, 1922.-Lord E. PERCY replied : The figures asked for in the questionas regards London are 8334 ; Glasgow, 3644 ; West Ham,705 ; and Stoke-on-Trent, 978. The corresponding infantdeath-rates per 1000 births for London, West Ham, andStoke-on-Trent were 82, 83 and 138 respectively.

Insulin Treatment.Sir WALTER DE FRECE asked the Minister of Health what

steps were being taken to bring the insulin treatment withinthe reach of the very poor.-Lord E. PERCY replied : It iswithin the powers of guardians, on the advice of the medicalofficer, to pay for the supply of insulin in cases of destitution.

Pensions Administration in the North of England.Mr. PoTTS asked the Minister of Pensions whether the

Yorkshire regional headquarters of the Ministry of Pensionswere to be transferred to Newcastle ; whether he wouldstate the population in the present Yorkshire area and thepopulation in the northern area which was at presentadministered from Newcastle; whether the population inthe Yorkshire area was approximately nearly double thatof the northern ; and, if it was eventually intended toadminister the entire North of England from one centre,would he consider whether Leeds would offer a balance ofadvantages.-Captain CRAIG replied : The answer to thefirst part of the question is in the affirmative ; to the secondand third parts, that the population of the Yorkshire andnorthern regions, according to the census of 1921, is 3,917,713and 2,754,187 respectively; and to the last part that itis not in contemplation to administer the entire north ofEngland from one centre.

Child Adoption.Mr. GERALD HURST asked the Secretary of State for the

Home Department whether he had considered the Reporton child adoption made by the committee appointed tomake such Report by the Home Office and the two Billswhich had been introduced to give effect to its recommenda-tions ; and if he could hold out any hopes of the Governmentbringing in or giving facilities to any Bill for this purpose.-Mr. BRIDGEMAN replied : Yes, Sir. I am afraid the Govern-ment cannot undertake to introduce legislation on thissubject at the present time, and the pressure of Parliamentarybusiness makes it impossible to give special facilities to aprivate Member’s Bill.

Infantile Mortality.Captain BowYER asked the Minister of Health whether he

would give the most recent figures showing the death-rateper 1000 of legitimate and illegitimate infant children,respectively; and would he say how these figures comparedwith those of ten years ago.-Mr. NEVILLE CHAMBERLAINreplied : The most recent figures are those for 1922, in whichyear the infant death-rate per 1000 children born was 74 inthe case of legitimate children and 139 in the case of illegiti-mate children. The corresponding figures for the year 1912were 91 and 181 respectively.

Dentists Bill.The Dentists Bill was read a third time. (The object of

this measure is to give ex-Service studentsf or the dentalprofession extra time to qualify under the provisions of the1921 Act.)

TUESDAY, JULY 17TH.Visiting Committees in Meiital Hospitals.

Mr. WILLIAM ALBERT JENKINS asked the Minister ofHealth if he was aware that at present Poor-law guardianshave not the right of full representation upon the visitingcommittees of mental hospitals ; and would he take steps tomake provision for this right in the Bill about to come beforeParliament.-Lord E. PERCY replied : The answer to thefirst part of the question is in the affirmative, and I doubt ifit is desirable to alter the existing law in the directionsuggested.

DONATIONS AND BEQUESTS.-Mr. Thomas HenryChadwick, mill manager at Oldham, bequeathed over

6100,000 in charities, including &pound;9000 to the Oldham Royalfnfirmary to endow nine Thomas Henry Chadwick beds,and &pound;1000 life-policy to the same institution ; &pound;1000 each to,he Deaf and Dumb Institution, Oldham, the OldhamNursing Association, and the British Red Cross Society ; &pound;500each to the Workshops for the Blind. Oldham, the NationalLeague of the Blind, Dr. Barnardo’s Homes, and St. Dunstan’shostel; the residue--apart from other bequests-toestablish almshouses for aged or infirm persons over

)0 years of age resident in Oldham for 25 years andnembers of the Church of England.