First and second reports from the Select Committee on Medical Registration and Medical Law Amendment : together with the minutes of evidence and appendix.

  • Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Select Committee on Medical Registration and Medical Law Amendment.
Date:
1848
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: First and second reports from the Select Committee on Medical Registration and Medical Law Amendment : together with the minutes of evidence and appendix. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    College; their letters—some of them are here—are very angry letters ; the officers themselves addressed the Council individually, and, as is well known, much annoyance took place. They all came to me to say that I had used them ill. I answered them that I had nothing to do with it; that I had done my best to serve them, and as far as I could had fought for them to the last extremity. Under those circumstances, Sir James Graham gave way, and assented to an additional number of fellows being made. This additional number of fellows, amounting to 242, of which 93 belonged to the public ser- vice, by one of the errors in that charter, which I should wish to notice as one that ought to be abrogated, are placed at the bottom of the original list, though the gentlemen are 30 or 40 years older than the persons who are at the bottom of that first list. As it was declared that the omissions that were to be put in were put in as omissions, and not as favours conferred, nothing could be more harsh upon all those men thus added than to find themselves at the bottom of the list of the first 300, though they are 30 years, in standing, older than a great number of those who preceded them ; the consequence is, that all those officers and persons who have been so added, are precluded from the possibility of ever attaining to the honours of the College, inasmuch as all the young men placed above them must be passed over before it comes to their turn. Great injustice in what has been done for those persons has also been committed, for although so many have been added, a very great number are still omitted. 24. What period are you speaking of now ?—The first list of 300 did not come out till the end of the first year, so that there was no possibility of cor- recting errors, and gentlemen did not know who were passed over and who were not, until the announcement, was made who were accepted ; when com- plaints became so loud, that the Council were permitted to add to the number of five or ten, originally supposed to be sufficient to amend all errors of omission. It being found] that unless a larger number was made, no satisfaction could be given to the public, and the want of that larger number has been the cause of all the difficulties which have taken place. If the Committee will he pleased to refer to Paper, No. 596, page 8, par. 7, they will see that the Council of the College felt that they were not at liberty to make a larger number, on account of its not being the intention of the framers of the charter that they should ; no other framers of the charter were known than Sir James Graham and the law officer of the Home Office. When gentlemen complained to him- self, as Secretary of State, of the evil that had befallen them, and the desire they had for justice being done to them, Sir James Graham replied to these gentlemen, that he had nothing to do with it; that the Council of the College of Surgeons made fellows, not himself; when a gentleman complained to the Council of the College of Surgeons, he is answered by them, that they could not elect a larger number, being restricted by the framers of the charter ; there- fore redress could not he obtained either at one place or the other; an error which should be corrected. 25. What are the privileges of fellows?—The privileges of a fellow at the present moment are, that he is eligible to the honourable offices of the Coliege, and to the only few offices w hich are profitable, which are Examiners ; a person who is not a fellow cannot attain to any of those offices. 26. He cannot be a Councillor nor an Examiner?—No ; and what is worse than all is, that said manifesto of the College upon this point says, that the fellows have been selected in consequence of their merit, implying, that the men who are omitted have no merit, but that those who are put on have merit. 27. In what respect does this grievance complained of by those gentlemen whom you now represent, affect, in your opinion, the practice of surgery ?— It prevents their being Examiners; it prevents their being Councillors ; it also implies, as far as it can do, that they are not men of merit; because it is stated by the said manifesto published by the College, that they had selected the men who have the merit which entitles them to be placed in tlrat distinguished position. Therefore it is implied, that those men who have not been selected are not men of merit. 28. Colonel AJure.] Was it generally understood that it was to be deter- mined by seniority ?—No ; the Council selected them as they thought best, after private inquiries had been made. The truth of the matter is, that gentlemen in the country who were not known to parties in London could hardly be selected, and those who were known were selected. 210. a 4 G.J. Guthrie, Esq. F. R. S. 29 February 1848. 29. Chairman.]