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TEACHERS OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN LONDON AND THE CURRICULUM FOR THE DIPLOMA IN PUBLIC HEALTH.
162 of those in South Africa in particular, should come within the scope of the investigation, although it is very likely that it may be found impossible to exclude these and other subjects from the inquiry. Mr. Brodrick has from the first expressed his intention of laying certain subjects and plans before a committee of experts for their consideration and advice, and it may well be that he seeks to put an end, once and for all, to future difficulties and dissensions by some bold, broad, and liberal scheme for creating the really good medical service which he has foreshadowed for the army of the future. The present Army Medical Service is organised on a purely military basis and it is possible, too, that with the aid of a number of civil hospital physicians and surgeons he may be seeking to devise a scheme by which scientific and professional attainments shall be more fully recognised in the army for reward in the future than they have been in the past, and that medical officers selected for the higher posts shall not only be good administrators but qualified to act as professional consultants in the districts and hospitals under their supervision. We shall see. Major-General Sir G de C. Morton, K. C. I. E., late Adjutant-General in India, Colonel Sir J. Willcocks, K.C.M.G., and Colonel Sir E. W. D. Ward have been added to the Committee. We still think that the Army Medical Service should have been more fully represented on the Committee, and the addition of the above three very able non-medical officers lends force to the protest to that effect which we have already raised. We trust, at all events, that some medical officer of experience with regard to administrative matters will have the opportunity of giving evidence if Mr. Brodrick does not see his way to make any further addition to the personnel of the Committee. ’or
salvation. We would express a hope that in of separation under this Bill provision shall be any made for such control of financial matters by responsible persons as shall insure the regular maintenance of those most nearly interested. The Bill further prohibits any while drunk from taking charge of children under person It provides that street drunkenness seven years of age. apart from disorder shall be treated as an indictable offence, and that publicans will be liable if they do not use their endeavours to prevent intoxication on licensed premises. It is to be hoped that in its progress through the House of Commons a measure which is now by no means oppressive will not from urgency of other business or from any other cause fail to receive that full consideration which it deserves. domestic
case
THE
TEACHERS OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN LONDON AND THE CURRICULUM FOR THE DIPLOMA IN PUBLIC HEALTH. AT a recently held meeting of teachers of public health in London the following resolution was passed with reference to the regulations laid down by the General Medical Council in December, 1900 :-That, in the opinion of this meeting of the teachers of public health in London, it is very desirable that a candidate for the diploma of Public Health should be required to attend a systematic course of three months’ practical instruction in public health at a recognised school in lieu of three months’ attendance with a medical officer of health. This course to run concurrently with those on bacteriology and chemistry. After this course the candidate should be required to attend day by day for three months with a medical officer of health and be associated with him in the discharge of his duties, routine and special, of public health administration. The teachers consider that the regulations as laid down by the General Medical Council, even if they are not impracticable, will not produce as good results as would the scheme suggested by the teachers.
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THE
So far
DRUNKARDS BILL.
it goes the Drunkards Bill, which has now passed the House of Lords, is calculated to prove distinctly through beneficial as well to the inebriate himself as to the public. By its provisions the habitual drunkard convicted as such will be prohibited under penalties from purchasing intoxicating liquor on licensed premises for a term of three years. Licensees, on their part, will be liable if they knowingly sell, or permit the sale of, intoxicants to such a person. Of even greater importance from the social and domestic standpoint is the clause which allows the wife or husband of a habitual drunkard to obtain a separation order. Those who have been unfortunate enough to witness the misery and often hopeless ruin brought about in homes where the head is a drunkard will hail this clause as an earnest of as
PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, as we learn from its latest annual report, has recently entered upon the thirteenth year of its existence. The last year’s record is, on the whole, satisfactory. We may truly say that, except in so far as it still shows a certain though not a great, excess of expenditure over income, it is a highly satisfactory record. The number of cases of cruelty inquired into was 2977 in excess of the number for the previous year. This fact at first sight does not suggest the most hopeful auguries. In reality it is not a sign of parental retrogression. It is rather to be taken as the latest high-water mark of the society’s advancing and extending activity. Concurrently we learn that there has been a decrease in the number of reported cases of active ill-treatment, of exposure, of causing to beg, and of moral wrong. Still more encouraging is the statement, which is supported by the proof of recorded cases, that parents who formerly were cruel to their children have learned, even through the medium of punishment, the lesson of humanity. As the report rather quaintly puts it : " Something better in the experiences of the family has made the sacrifices of the new life worth while." In other cases a knowledge of the society’s interest in children has acted as a deterrent upon callous and neglectful parents. Reformation of character is, as we have repeatedly stated, as much a primary object of the society’s efforts as is the prevention of cruelty. It aims at so administering the powers intrusted to it by law that judicious common-sense will find its due exercise as well as the sometimes indispensable machinery of punishment. Here and there in the report complaint is made that local magistrates do not sufficiently avail themselves of the powers of correction intrusted to them but prefer to adopt a let-alone policy even where there is evidence of serious misdemeanour. In one case of culpable and fatal neglect a conviction was obtained on appeal to a higher court and the offending parent was severely punished. In other cases justices have shown themselves fully alive to the curative value of preventive legislation and have done all in their power to promote its objects. These evidences of divergence in legal opinion can only be the result of misunderstanding which a better acquaintance with the aims of the society and the unfortunate condition of social life in many families will go far to remove. A suggestion contained in the report contemplates the creation of a State Department which shall devote its energies to the protection of children’s interests. We must confess that this proposal does not commend itself to our judgment. The State has already done much by framing a series of useful Acts all bearing upon this subject, and by so doing it has furnished the public with every reasonable means 3f redress. A national society exists which has proved ltself abundantly capable of performing the duties of an authorised and disinterested protector. With these provisions in being and in operation we fail to see any adequate justification for a new arrangement which must inevitably The National
salvation. We would express a hope that in of separation under this Bill provision shall be any made for such control of financial matters by responsible persons as shall insure the regular maintenance of those most nearly interested. The Bill further prohibits any while drunk from taking charge of children under person It provides that street drunkenness seven years of age. apart from disorder shall be treated as an indictable offence, and that publicans will be liable if they do not use their endeavours to prevent intoxication on licensed premises. It is to be hoped that in its progress through the House of Commons a measure which is now by no means oppressive will not from urgency of other business or from any other cause fail to receive that full consideration which it deserves. domestic
case
THE
TEACHERS OF PUBLIC HEALTH IN LONDON AND THE CURRICULUM FOR THE DIPLOMA IN PUBLIC HEALTH. AT a recently held meeting of teachers of public health in London the following resolution was passed with reference to the regulations laid down by the General Medical Council in December, 1900 :-That, in the opinion of this meeting of the teachers of public health in London, it is very desirable that a candidate for the diploma of Public Health should be required to attend a systematic course of three months’ practical instruction in public health at a recognised school in lieu of three months’ attendance with a medical officer of health. This course to run concurrently with those on bacteriology and chemistry. After this course the candidate should be required to attend day by day for three months with a medical officer of health and be associated with him in the discharge of his duties, routine and special, of public health administration. The teachers consider that the regulations as laid down by the General Medical Council, even if they are not impracticable, will not produce as good results as would the scheme suggested by the teachers.
- .
THE
So far
DRUNKARDS BILL.
it goes the Drunkards Bill, which has now passed the House of Lords, is calculated to prove distinctly through beneficial as well to the inebriate himself as to the public. By its provisions the habitual drunkard convicted as such will be prohibited under penalties from purchasing intoxicating liquor on licensed premises for a term of three years. Licensees, on their part, will be liable if they knowingly sell, or permit the sale of, intoxicants to such a person. Of even greater importance from the social and domestic standpoint is the clause which allows the wife or husband of a habitual drunkard to obtain a separation order. Those who have been unfortunate enough to witness the misery and often hopeless ruin brought about in homes where the head is a drunkard will hail this clause as an earnest of as
PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN. Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, as we learn from its latest annual report, has recently entered upon the thirteenth year of its existence. The last year’s record is, on the whole, satisfactory. We may truly say that, except in so far as it still shows a certain though not a great, excess of expenditure over income, it is a highly satisfactory record. The number of cases of cruelty inquired into was 2977 in excess of the number for the previous year. This fact at first sight does not suggest the most hopeful auguries. In reality it is not a sign of parental retrogression. It is rather to be taken as the latest high-water mark of the society’s advancing and extending activity. Concurrently we learn that there has been a decrease in the number of reported cases of active ill-treatment, of exposure, of causing to beg, and of moral wrong. Still more encouraging is the statement, which is supported by the proof of recorded cases, that parents who formerly were cruel to their children have learned, even through the medium of punishment, the lesson of humanity. As the report rather quaintly puts it : " Something better in the experiences of the family has made the sacrifices of the new life worth while." In other cases a knowledge of the society’s interest in children has acted as a deterrent upon callous and neglectful parents. Reformation of character is, as we have repeatedly stated, as much a primary object of the society’s efforts as is the prevention of cruelty. It aims at so administering the powers intrusted to it by law that judicious common-sense will find its due exercise as well as the sometimes indispensable machinery of punishment. Here and there in the report complaint is made that local magistrates do not sufficiently avail themselves of the powers of correction intrusted to them but prefer to adopt a let-alone policy even where there is evidence of serious misdemeanour. In one case of culpable and fatal neglect a conviction was obtained on appeal to a higher court and the offending parent was severely punished. In other cases justices have shown themselves fully alive to the curative value of preventive legislation and have done all in their power to promote its objects. These evidences of divergence in legal opinion can only be the result of misunderstanding which a better acquaintance with the aims of the society and the unfortunate condition of social life in many families will go far to remove. A suggestion contained in the report contemplates the creation of a State Department which shall devote its energies to the protection of children’s interests. We must confess that this proposal does not commend itself to our judgment. The State has already done much by framing a series of useful Acts all bearing upon this subject, and by so doing it has furnished the public with every reasonable means 3f redress. A national society exists which has proved ltself abundantly capable of performing the duties of an authorised and disinterested protector. With these provisions in being and in operation we fail to see any adequate justification for a new arrangement which must inevitably The National