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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    G. J. Gutlme, Esq. F. R. S. 29 February 1848. 47. Sir R. H. Inglis.] In the construction which the College placed upon this charter, did they take the opinion of the present Lord Chief Baron, or the present Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, or any other legal authority ? —I believe not ; we had signified our wishes to the Secretary of State, and the President of the College, who succeeded me, waited upon Sir James Graham, and was informed that it was his wish that he should comply with the directions he had received from the law officer of the Home Office ; therefore we obeyed them, being informed by those gentlemen whom I have mentioned before, that such was the intention of the framers of the charter; the paper, No. 596, to which reference has been made, was given to the public by Sir James Graham, who called for that paper, and placed it upon the table of the House of Commons; there is reason to believe that he approved of it, or he would not have called for it. 48. Had the College any reason to suppose that a royal charter granted to that body ought to be construed in any other manner than that in which a charter granted to any gas company, for instance, might be construed, namely, by the meaning which the terms would legally bear ?—I myself advised sub- mission to the wishes of the Secretary of State, because we could not help ourselves ; we were a body as to whom, if he thought proper to signify his pleasure to deprive us of our annual income, he could have done it whenever he pleased ; he had only to appoint another body to examine, on equal terms with ourselves, and we should have been left nearly destitute. 49. Could the Secretary of State have appointed any such body except by Act of Parliament?—He could appoint us by charter, and so I take it he could appoint any other body. 50. In giving this evidence to the Committee, do you wish them to under- stand that you are speaking as a private individual, and not by the authority of any legal advice which you may have taken upon the occasion? —I never asked any legal opinion upon the subject; I am stating a simple fact; it may be a thing that ought not to have been; but I am merely stating the fact, that it was so declared to the Council of the College, that we were not expected greatly to exceed the 300 ; and we did, I think, all that men could do, which was, to put it upon paper and send it to the Secretary of State ; he having got it, places it upon the Table of the House of Commons, and there it is before the public ; it has been the source of the whole difficulty. 51. Chairman.] That is the reason why you did not increase your number at the end of the first year? —Yes. 52. And in the subsequent year you could only elect upon the condition of the charter, namely, upon examination and payment ?—And this has been so marked an error, that the Council have of themselves applied to Sir James Graham for permission to alter that part of the charter; and the letter of the Council to that effect has been called for by Lord Granby, and is upon the Table of the House of Commons ; the Secretary of State agreed to grant that request, but he loaded his consent with some other conditions, which the Council have never discussed, and the matter has stood over. 53. What was the date of the request for the amendment of the Charter?— 20th July 1847 ; No. 699. 54. Mr. LasccUes.] Has there been any representation made to the present Secretary of State upon the subject ?—No public representation; there has been nothing done by the Council. 55. Chairman.] The alteration which you suggested was, that you should have the power to elect fellows without a special examination ?—The alteration which the Council suggested was, that they should be allowed to correct the error which had been committed, and that they should admit to fellowships gentlemen of a certain standing; I believe the period that was approved of was 20 years; they were to be admitted on payment of a fine. The Council desired that they should pay, for this reason, that the gentlemen who had been examined, the number of whom amounts to 93 within the last three years, had paid 10 guineas ; some of these were elderly men, and it was known that they would not like it, unless the parties who came in paid also. Therefore with a view of conciliating all parties, it was agreed that they should pay 10 guineas. I assented to that, for the sake of conciliation in the Council, though I objected to the period of 20 years, and wished it should be the shorter period of 12 years. There is another point which I wish to mention to the Committee, in which
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