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THE PUBLIC PARKS.
93 had long since relieved itself of the responsibility of association with Dr. Collins. The General Medical Council, which in such matters represents the profession, some years ago for the offence of forgery-for which by some strange failure of justice no punishment was awarded—erased Dr. Collins’s name from the Register. And he so ceased to be a qualified medical man. But unfortunately he did not the Queen’s cease to be a graduate of his university, University, Ireland. To do his university justice it is questionable whether it has the power at present to remove Dr. Collins’s name from its list of graduates a which medical has. powernearly every corporation Surely this is a monstrous state of things. Noblesse oblige. Certainly universities should not be behind corporations in preserving the purity of their roll and in giving guarantees to the public that their graduates are men of character. We have no wish to strike a man when he is down, but the public interest here is terribly at stake and so is the fame of universities. It would be a questionable modesty which should allow any false sentiment to prevent Dr. Collins’s case being used for the correction of this great defect in university
do not propose to deal now. It is a wellscandal to London, although public safety has recently been slightly protected by the fitting up of electric lights along some of the thoroughfares. In conclusion. however, we submit that, without going into details of the purposes for which the parks are dedicated to the public, these purposes do not include the practice of immorality by night or their use as dosshouses by day.
night
we
known
FARRIERY.
-
discipline.
-
THE PUBLIC PARKS. Now that
weather has set in and the ground has become fairly dry the London parks are once more tenanted by their usual inhabitants. We do not refer to children who play or to citizens of the humbler or the richer classes who take their sober pleasure therein, but to the collection of tramps who seem past tramping, filthy outcasts of both sexes, who spend the day singly or in g-roups asleep on the grass, occasionally sitting up to converse, to arrange their horrible rags, and otherwise occupy the time until they are turned out to wander in the streets or lie upon the pavement until the gates are opened again in the morning. The worst specimens of these, the absolutely homeless, as distinct from slum-dwellers who crawl up to St. James’s Park as a rule from the smaller streets in Westminster, are, perhaps, most in evidence at the north-east corner of Hyde Park, near the Marble Arch, and must form a very unpleasant subject of contemplation to dwellers on the other side of the Bayswaterroad, who, indeed, at times protest in the newspapers. We do not dwell upon the subject from the point of view of the wealthier inhabitants of West London, nor do we go so far as to say that each of the ragged objects alluded to is a certain centre of infection, whatever they may be capable of becoming, and we admit that the vermin which infest them are not likely to leave them and roam in the grass, at least not of their own free will, but we do say that a large portion of the finest park in London is practically rendered useless for the object for which, in our opinion, it should be maintained-namely, the recreation of the citizens at large and of their children in particular. The distinguished military gentlemen whose names are in public lists as its custodians (we do not refer to H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, whose post of Ranger is honorary) may not care, or may say that the task of keeping out or moving on the slumbering ragamuffins is beyond their powers. As to the first of these objections our view of their duties differs ; as to the second it may be pointed out that under different management Kensington Gardens are practically free from the pest. It may also be added that no tramp can claim as a right the use of half an acre of land in the most costly part of the metropolis for a bedroom, and that the hardship involved in expelling him would be inflicted on individuals rather than on a class. There are many loafers in Hyde Park, but they are a mere drop in the ocean of London misery and can assuredly dispense with such a resting place, as thousands of their fellows do. With the condition of Hyde Park at warm
A CONTRIBUTOR to La Semaine Vétérinaire is wittily anxious to prove the exceeding importance in every commonwealth of efficient farriery. In France horses are estimated to be worth a milliard and a half of francs, but unless properly shod the animals could do no work and this enormous capital would consequently yield no revenue. In his contention of serio-comic the writer support quotes as follows from a work by M. Delperier: "Suppress by a thought every mechanic in the world; agriculture would
still suffice for the maintenance of mankind. Suppress the butchers and the bakers; the nations would nevertheless continue to exist. Suppress all the veterinary surgeons ; their disappearance would scarcely be noticed. Suppress the men who treat the diseases of their fellow creatures; the latter in all probability would be no worse off than before. Suppress the lawyers, the journalists, the members of every Parliament without exception ; the result would doubtless be, on the whole, advantageous. But do not dream of suppressing the farrier, for if you did horses could no longer work, agriculture would become impossible, and the human race would die of inanition." THE POISONOUS SUBSTANCES BILL. WE fail to see how this Bill, the substance of which, on the occasion of its second reading on the motion of the Duke of Devonshire in the House of Lords on June 24th, was given in our Parliamentary columns last week, is likely to afford much more protection to the public against the indiscriminate sale of poisons than at present obtains. It does not at any rate increase the scope of action under the Pharmacy Act which so far as it has related to the poisons placed within the Schedule has worked not with that completeness which might be desired but still with a fair measure of success. According to the provisions of the Bill carbolic acid (and with it its homologues), which by reason of the ease with which it can be purchased at oil-shops has been responsible for an enormous increase in the number of self-inflicted and, we need not add, most painful deaths, is still to be procured from any class of shop where the shopkeeper chooses to sell it, with, however, the restriction that the purchase is to be labeled distinctly with the word "poison" and with the name and address of the person selling the substance. Such a clause provides very well against the risks of accidental poisoning, but it does nothing for the deliberate suicide. Indeed, it only advertises the fact, it seems to us, that certain mixtures are poisonous. Surely the principle of scheduling certain substances as legally recognised poisons is a sound one to go upon if any hope at all is to be entertained of ever putting a stop to the indiscriminate sale of poisons. The seller should be registered and should be a person who knows exactly the nature of the commodity with which he is dealing and should possess an intelligence which will enable him to an extent to discriminate between purchasers who require the substance for a wrong or a right purpose. But it is urged that if the sale of such things as carbolic acid, disinfectants, and weed-killers, poisonous commodities which are in request every day, was restricted to persons possessing a proper qualification it would cause corsiderable inconveiiience to the public hv imposing a difficulty in the way of B
3
do not propose to deal now. It is a wellscandal to London, although public safety has recently been slightly protected by the fitting up of electric lights along some of the thoroughfares. In conclusion. however, we submit that, without going into details of the purposes for which the parks are dedicated to the public, these purposes do not include the practice of immorality by night or their use as dosshouses by day.
night
we
known
FARRIERY.
-
discipline.
-
THE PUBLIC PARKS. Now that
weather has set in and the ground has become fairly dry the London parks are once more tenanted by their usual inhabitants. We do not refer to children who play or to citizens of the humbler or the richer classes who take their sober pleasure therein, but to the collection of tramps who seem past tramping, filthy outcasts of both sexes, who spend the day singly or in g-roups asleep on the grass, occasionally sitting up to converse, to arrange their horrible rags, and otherwise occupy the time until they are turned out to wander in the streets or lie upon the pavement until the gates are opened again in the morning. The worst specimens of these, the absolutely homeless, as distinct from slum-dwellers who crawl up to St. James’s Park as a rule from the smaller streets in Westminster, are, perhaps, most in evidence at the north-east corner of Hyde Park, near the Marble Arch, and must form a very unpleasant subject of contemplation to dwellers on the other side of the Bayswaterroad, who, indeed, at times protest in the newspapers. We do not dwell upon the subject from the point of view of the wealthier inhabitants of West London, nor do we go so far as to say that each of the ragged objects alluded to is a certain centre of infection, whatever they may be capable of becoming, and we admit that the vermin which infest them are not likely to leave them and roam in the grass, at least not of their own free will, but we do say that a large portion of the finest park in London is practically rendered useless for the object for which, in our opinion, it should be maintained-namely, the recreation of the citizens at large and of their children in particular. The distinguished military gentlemen whose names are in public lists as its custodians (we do not refer to H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, whose post of Ranger is honorary) may not care, or may say that the task of keeping out or moving on the slumbering ragamuffins is beyond their powers. As to the first of these objections our view of their duties differs ; as to the second it may be pointed out that under different management Kensington Gardens are practically free from the pest. It may also be added that no tramp can claim as a right the use of half an acre of land in the most costly part of the metropolis for a bedroom, and that the hardship involved in expelling him would be inflicted on individuals rather than on a class. There are many loafers in Hyde Park, but they are a mere drop in the ocean of London misery and can assuredly dispense with such a resting place, as thousands of their fellows do. With the condition of Hyde Park at warm
A CONTRIBUTOR to La Semaine Vétérinaire is wittily anxious to prove the exceeding importance in every commonwealth of efficient farriery. In France horses are estimated to be worth a milliard and a half of francs, but unless properly shod the animals could do no work and this enormous capital would consequently yield no revenue. In his contention of serio-comic the writer support quotes as follows from a work by M. Delperier: "Suppress by a thought every mechanic in the world; agriculture would
still suffice for the maintenance of mankind. Suppress the butchers and the bakers; the nations would nevertheless continue to exist. Suppress all the veterinary surgeons ; their disappearance would scarcely be noticed. Suppress the men who treat the diseases of their fellow creatures; the latter in all probability would be no worse off than before. Suppress the lawyers, the journalists, the members of every Parliament without exception ; the result would doubtless be, on the whole, advantageous. But do not dream of suppressing the farrier, for if you did horses could no longer work, agriculture would become impossible, and the human race would die of inanition." THE POISONOUS SUBSTANCES BILL. WE fail to see how this Bill, the substance of which, on the occasion of its second reading on the motion of the Duke of Devonshire in the House of Lords on June 24th, was given in our Parliamentary columns last week, is likely to afford much more protection to the public against the indiscriminate sale of poisons than at present obtains. It does not at any rate increase the scope of action under the Pharmacy Act which so far as it has related to the poisons placed within the Schedule has worked not with that completeness which might be desired but still with a fair measure of success. According to the provisions of the Bill carbolic acid (and with it its homologues), which by reason of the ease with which it can be purchased at oil-shops has been responsible for an enormous increase in the number of self-inflicted and, we need not add, most painful deaths, is still to be procured from any class of shop where the shopkeeper chooses to sell it, with, however, the restriction that the purchase is to be labeled distinctly with the word "poison" and with the name and address of the person selling the substance. Such a clause provides very well against the risks of accidental poisoning, but it does nothing for the deliberate suicide. Indeed, it only advertises the fact, it seems to us, that certain mixtures are poisonous. Surely the principle of scheduling certain substances as legally recognised poisons is a sound one to go upon if any hope at all is to be entertained of ever putting a stop to the indiscriminate sale of poisons. The seller should be registered and should be a person who knows exactly the nature of the commodity with which he is dealing and should possess an intelligence which will enable him to an extent to discriminate between purchasers who require the substance for a wrong or a right purpose. But it is urged that if the sale of such things as carbolic acid, disinfectants, and weed-killers, poisonous commodities which are in request every day, was restricted to persons possessing a proper qualification it would cause corsiderable inconveiiience to the public hv imposing a difficulty in the way of B
3