The Poor Law Medical Officers' Association. Quarterly address.

Date:
1870
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Poor Law Medical Officers' Association. Quarterly address. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Gentlemen, After another three months we again meet, and the report which has been read has told you on what matters the Council has been engaged since our last meeting. I confess it was with feelings of deep disappoint- ment I read the Queen's speech, and found that, in spite of the unparalleled distress which pervades the country, and the enormous extent to which our local taxation has conse- quently expanded, the influence of the permanent obstruc- tives should have been sufficient to prevent all reference to that distress, and all hope that the causes of that expen- diture would be dealt with in the present session. It is, however, probable that Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Goschen, whose earnestness and sinceritv, I think, no one can doubt, may have been led to believe that the Irish Land Bill and the Education Question would so completely occupy the time, and exhaust the energies of the House of Commons, that no opportunity would be afforded of taking up the subject in which we are so much interested. Well, the Irish Land Bill bids fair to pass with greater facility than could have been expected; and as it is a subject with which we, as poor law reformers, have but little interest, I will pass on to the consideration of that other bill, which has helped to block the way of our legislative machinery—the bill for the better education of the people. Now, this, I conceive, is a most necessary measure; but I trust that the advocates of the extension of education will not stop short with securing that little boys and girls should be taught to read and write. I hope that the blessings derivable from the diffusion of knowledge will be extended to certain adults, who unquestionably stand as much in need of being better informed ; thus I trust that some clause will be intro- duced into the bill whereby some of our Guardians of the poor may be taught a few of the elementary principles of management, &c. in which they now seem sadly deficient. I also hope that some means may be adopted whereby it shall be rendered imperative that our future poor law In-
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