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SECTION FOURTH . Law 22 . * In tnese townships , after the children Bhall h&ve been trained within them te acquire new habits and new feelings , derived from the laws of God , there shall be so useless private propertr .
THE RATIONAL MODE OF PERMANENTLY AND PEACEABLY ADJUSTING THE PRESENT DISORDERED STATE OF EUROPE
Reasons for this law . Private property is one of the great demosaixsiHg and repulsive powers , arising from the laws of men , and is the cause of innumerable crimes and gross injustice . So long as private property shall be maintained , man will be trained through its natural influence to be ignorantly -selfish ; that is , to desire to grasp evny thing that may be converted into private property for himself ; and , all being educated in this pr-ineiple , all will openly or more covertly oppose their fellows , with a view to obtain the largest share in the scramble [ of
lite . The principle of this selfishness , thus implanted in childhood and youth , tends to create a most vicious and unfavourable character for the adult . It has an isolating and individualising influence upon each , that checks and stultifies the finest and best feelings of humanity . It is strongly calculated to make man look upsn his fellow man as his enemy , and to create general suspicions of the motives and actions of strangers , and even of neighbourseach being thus taught to endeavour to overreach others , and to take advantage in bar * gain-making even of those called friends to
eaeh other . The evils of private property extend in . ill directions ; itprodxcesa most unfavourable , unjust , and artificial character in those men and women whose wealth is large , and must unpleasant feelings of hatred and jealousy in those who are suffering the innumerable evils of poverty . It fills prisons , and aids to nil lunatic asylums , stands in the way eften of great general public tmprovements , and increases the expenses of society , to protect itself , to an extent that few know how to
estimate . It accumulates immense useless property for a small portion of society , and compels the greater mass to live in poverty , or , vrhieh is nearly as bad , in the constant dread of it . It is now deemed by the laws of men an essential element of society , under the laws of God , it will be discovered to be an evil of incalculable magnitude , and a never-failing cause of disunion among all classes in all countries . Volumes would be unequal to detail'the loss and unnecessary sufferings which it creates to the human race .
It is said to be a stimulus to individual exertion ; and such a stimulant is required under the irrational system which has necessarily emanated from the laws of man ; but , under the new arrangements which will arise in a system based on the laws of God , a far more powerful stimulus will perpetually exist , which , instead of stimulating to action for individual gain and isolated advantages , will call forth the daily exercise of all the higher faculties of humanity , fer the godlike purpose of benefitting all , to the utmost healthy extent of those powers . Law 23 .
' As soon as the members of these townships shall have been educated from infancy in a knowledge of the law of God . trained to act in obedience to them , and surrounded by external objects all in unison with them , and thus made to acquire a true knowledge of their nature , there shall be no punishment or reward of individuals . '
Reasons for this Late . It is known to those who have studied nature , that the general and individual qualities of all things created are given to them by the Great Creating Power of the Universe ; and that not THE THINGS CREATED , but THE CREATOR , is the sole author of one and all , whether animate or inanimate , whether mineral , vegetable , or animal , whether rational or irrational existences ; and ( of course , that whatever compound of the general qualities of
humanity any may have , the general qualities and particular combination of them in each one is alone the work of that Creating Power , and for which it is insanity to blame , and the essence of injustice to punish the poor , passive , created being , whether man or any other ani » mal , except in self-defence , or to obtain the means of sustaining life which could not be otherwise supported ; and that every act of unnecessary cruelty is an act in opposition to the laws of God .
For man , then , to make laws to punish man by man , instead of training themfrem birth to knew the laws of God , and to act uniformly in accordance with them , is to make it certain that man has not yet acquired a knowledge of humanity , or learned to know himself , or how to act like a reasonable or rational being . And from the past history of man , it is now made evident that he has been created with powers to progress slowly , through unnumbered generations , from the most ignorant unreasoning savage , toward a state in which , at length , he begins to approach to a conditioa in which circumstances are forming to advance the growth of his creation , that he may become , for the first time in his history , a full formed man , or a rational being .
It is now only that he is beginning to acquire the knowledge that kindness , directed by a knowledge of what human nature has been made to be , is far more powerful for good than force of any character or description ; that by kindness , wisely and judiciously directed , man from birth may be now easily trained and educated in accordance with the laws of God , to become , in every instance , to the extent that his created faculties will admit , good , wise , usefhl , and happy ; while the government of force and punishment , in accordance with the -laws of men , can never train one
individual to be good , wise , or happy , in comparison with the goodness , wisdom , and happiness , which all wiil attain and enjoy under the [ government of the laws of God—Jaws which ; will produce continually , and without excep-• tions , charity , due consideration for all created or trained differences , consequent forbearance , and illimitable kindness . Under this change , '' . all individual punishment will be discovered to be not only the very cruelty of injustice , but f lthemost erroneous mode of governing beings .. who are intended to be made good , wise , and happy , ' and to be formed into rational men and
women . The good effects of the decrease of punishment in lunatic asylums and schools are beginning to be seen and acknowledged . In the best of both , physical punishments scarcely now exist . The time approaches when it will be discovered that the speediest mode to terminate the innumerable diseases—physical , mental , and moral—created by the irrational laws invented and introduced by men during their irrational state of existence , in progress towards rationality , will be to govern or treat all society as the most advanced physicians govern and treat their patients in the best arranged lunatic hospitals , in which forbearance and kindness , and full allowance for every
paroxysm of the peculiar disease of each , governs the conduct of all who have the care of these unfortunates—of unfortunates ge » nerally made to become so through the irrationality and injustice of the present -most irrational system of society . The organised , absurd , unjust , and most ignorant" system contrived to punish man by man ie ' at this day , one of the strongest ' . evidences of the extent of irrationality , or tml of down
lather , to speak correctly and y , - light insanity , to which the laws of men lead ; and the daily incarcerations and murders , trivate and public , and wars between nations , are unmistake-ibie declarations to the world of the low stale of intellect and the total absence of right reason among the people of aU nations , dimes , and colours . ^ tinn s One of the first measures of the poptftotum if the world , as soon as the present veil or * ig-
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norance can be removed so as to permit it to become rational , will be to adopt arrangements to prevent any necessity for a continuance of governing by force and fraud , and of punishing one created being by another equally created and as ignorant as itself . While men shall be so ignorantly trained and educated as to make laws , or maintain laws , in opposition to God ' s laws , and thus make man the judge of thoughts and actions which he comprehends not , and therefore blames and punishes his fellow-men according to his notions , whims , and limited faculties , there can be a slow progress only made towards arational and healthy state of terrestrial happiness and uninjurious Enjoyments .
The writer bad the peculiar opportunity of governing a population of two thousand five hundred souls , by princi ples of kindness , for thirty years ; and although the experiments were commenced and continued under many strongly opposing circumstances , created by men ' s laws , yet was it successful in producing knowledge , morality , and happiness , far beyond his most sanguine " expectations . And whenerer an attempt shall be made to govern on the same principles , in accordance with the laws of . God , the necesssity to resort to human punishments will soon cease , and happiness
will speedily produce goodness throughout any population that shall be thus wisely governed . The true way , being the shortest and most pleasant to produce goodness ,, is , first to adopt measures to make the parties rational and happy . When they are made happy , goodness will be easily created . The laws of men are the causes of crime ; and when they have created the crimes , they endeavour , by endless unavailing laws , to
remove the evil effects proceeding from tho se laws ; and thus are causes for punishments created by the crimes ^ being continually reproduced . The laws of God prevent the creation of the causes which produce crime , and render punishments thereby not only useless , but highly injurious ; and the new constitution , emanating from these laws , may justly be termed a constitution for the prevention of crime and misery , and for the creation of virtue and happiness . Robert Owen .
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— w A TREAT POR THE SAVAGES . ' CHtJSCH AND KING * TOR NEW ZEALAND . The first number of the Canterbury Colonist makes us somewhat better acquainted with the proposed scheme of emigration on Church of England principles . It has many points of interest . It is founded on the Grecian model , and claims a sort of classical' character . Every reader of history knows how the ancients colonised . The ; organised every , thing beforehand . The movement was a state matter . The adventurers constituted a complete segment of the parent society , Ron the commencement they were a body politic with fixed laws—a social community perfect in . themselves . Everyone is sstonished at the rapid success and development
of the colonies so formed . In Southern Italy , in Cyrene , in the Grecian Isles , and in Ma Minor , these , settlements formed about the most active and most cultivated portions of the Hellenic world . Art , commerce , and philosophy flowed thence to Corinth and Athens , —and tbe capital of the civilised world perhaps owed its intellectual supremacy as much as its physical abundance to the supplies furnished from these sources . The English- —we may say the European—system of colonisation contrasts very unfavourably with this—that is , when superficially considered . It is not conductive to such rapid and brilliant results . Neither arts nor philosophy find cultivators for a long time . A good
deal of the exterior civilisation is eren lost . Not a little of the refinement—nearly all the respect for prestige , traditional ranks , royalties , and glorious institutions' which marks the Englishman , or 13 snpposed to mark him , at home—vanishes with the white cliffs . . The Greek colonies were always Greek . —the English colonies are not English . What they become when they emerge from the chaos in which their character is formed we see in the United States . The same tendencies are impressed apoH our settlements in all parti of the world . The same elements are present—the same elements are absent—in each and all . The friends of New Canterbury desire to bring about a new
system ; one which shall perpetuate the parent institutions—particularly hereditary rank and church supremacy—in the new states in process of creation To this end they adopt the Greek plan of carrying out with them at £ n > t all the elements for complete society . They propose to transport rank , letters , refinement , religion , layalty , priests , lawyers , rulers , doctors , and labourers . There i » novelty ( for modern times ) in all this ; and we feel an interest in the experiment , though convinced that it will fail signally . New Zealand is the land fixed upon for the model trial ; the southern portion of the islandbut the precise spot has still to be determined . A million of acres are to be purchased from the New
Zealand Company at 10 s . an acre ( this is the price at which an ordinary emigant could buy it : ) and to be re-sold to the' model' settlers at a minimum of 60 s . an acre ! The surplus 50 s . will be thus applied : —20 s- to build churches : 20 * . to encourage immigration ; 108 . to ether expenses . We shall be curious to see English farmers investing their money in this fashion . But zeal is not nice at ar ithmetic , —and perhaps a few may be found who will do it . In these days of free opinions , it will be something to live is the midst of a population every man of which is sworn to the thirty-nine article s . The promoters of the scheme quote Latin for their clients , and tell them it is a ' classical colony' to which they are going . We do not know
what the sturdy yeomen of Yorkshire think of this ; but an . hour ' s reading of classical authors might suggest some reasons for thinking that mere organisation is not the only thing wanting in order to parallel ancient with modem modes of colonisation The ' classic' nations did not pay 60 s . aa acre for land . They seized the soil by force : it cost them nothing—except perhapB a battle . They had a large slave population to do all the work for them . They went out generally independent . These were the elements of their success . With all his enterprising spirit , the Hellene would hardly have faced a colonial life with land at £ 3 . an acre and no slaves to cultivate it . There are , betides , other difficulties in the plan . —Atheneum .
[ The coacoctoia of this most precious schema must suppose that the people of this country are remarkably green , if they imagine they can find flats to purchase ten-Buillings « an « acTe land at the cost of sixty shillings an acre , and all for the pleasure of building churches , and supporting useless and mischievous priests , lawyers , and hereditary drones . We have no objection to the deportation of the ' higher clashes' from this country to New Zealand , or any other part of the world . We should be only too happy to witness the embarkation of the superior orders' , to carry ' civilisation' and 4 refinement' to the Cannibal Islands . Were that day arrived , the masses weuld have good cause to shout . ' O be joyful ! the good time has come ! 'Ed . If . 8 . 1
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On Friday forenoon the 12 th inst ., the jury summoned to inquire into the deaths of the four children belonging to the Holborn Union , and who whre removed on Friday , the 5 th inst ., from Mr . Drouet ' s Infant Pauper Establishment , at Tooting , under circamstances that excited great public interest and alarm to the Royal Free Hospital , at Gray ' s-innlane , whore they expired within a day or two after their arrival , from , as it is alleged , Asiatic cholera , re-assembled to resume the investigation at the Royal Free Hospital , agreeably to adjournment . Mr * . TVaklejr , 1 I . 1 \ , acted as coroner , * Having reeovered from his recent indisposition . The jury having proceeded to examine the different wards iu the hospital into which the children rcmovod from Tooting had been received , returned to tho inquest room , when
INQUEST OH ! THE CHILDREN REMOVED FROM THE TOOTING INFANT PAUPER ASYLUM .
The Coboxer observed that , with a view to institute as full an inquiry as possible into the circumstances of this very distressing case , it was desirable that they should determine their course of procedure , and , if Mr . Drouet had been present , he would have requested liim to furnish the jury with the names o'f any persona he proposed to call as witnesses . The inquiry upon which they were about to enter would sot be conducted as a prosecution against any board or person , and it must not be assumed that the deplorable calamity Yrhich had occurred in the Tooting establishment was attributable to any culpable neglect . At the same time the calamity that had occurred was one calculated to strike terror into the public mind , and lie believed it had occasioned more nlaj-m than any event which
had occurred in thw country within his memory . The communications he had received from a great variety of persons showed that a degree of terror had been excited which was calculated to produce a most depressing effect , and mi ght be attended with great mischief . He must observe that it was not the least extraordinary feature of this case that they were now holding an inquiry in Middlesex connected with events which had , in a great measure , occurred in the county of Surrey . There had , he believed , been upwards of 100 deaths in the establishment at Tooting , and yet no inquest had been held at that place . They might probably ascertain in the course of their inquiries , how this had occurred—whether the coroner for Surrey had not received notice of
the deaths , or whether , anypublie board or authority had interfered to prevent an inquiry before a coroner's jury . ... It might tic that the coroner for Surrey had received notice , and that he considered there were not sufficient-grounds ' to institute an inquiry ; but , for his own part , he ( Mr . Wakley ) oould only say that if he had refused to hold an inquest under such circumstances , he "would Ime never have felt justified m holding an inquost again in any ease of sudden ' death . So jealous were our forefathers for the preservation of human life that they had provided' centuries ago that no criminal , however vile , should die in gaol -without an inquost beimr held to ascertain that his death was not causec
by the misconduct of those under whose caro he was placed ; and if the law was so tender with regard to criminals , surely the same consideration should be extended to these infant helpless children , who were not free agents , but who , in these pauper establishments , were , more or less , in a state of confinement . He could not understand how it was that no inquiry had yet been instituted before a , coroner's jury with regard to the number of deaths vrhich had recently occurred in the Tooting establishment . He saw that it was publicly announoedin the limes of Thursday , that eighty children who had died in that establishment had been interred in Tooting churchyard . A Juror . —Within what period ?
The Cokoser . —Since the disease broke outwithin a fortnight . Altogether the circumstances were most ' extraordinary ; but it would be unjust to assume that the coroner for Surrey had not good grounds for the cours # he had pursued . He ( Mr . Wakley ) had been out of town in consequence of indisposition , and almost . "ill tho information lie possessed on the subject was derived from the public journals . He considered that Mr . Grainger had acted with great kindness and propriety in recommending the immediate removal of the children from Tooting . He ( Mr . Wakley ) could not , however , but feel strongly for the situation of the poor children , who still remained in the establishment .
What must be their foclings when they saw van loads and coaches full of other children removed from the abode of disease , while they were still left exposed to its fiercest ravages ! To leave them in such a position , so calculated to excite their fears , was but too likely to predispose them to receive the epidemic . Without imputing the slightest blame to Mr . Drouet , or to the parties who had conducted his establishment , he ( Mr . Wakley ) certainly thought it most desirable that the children should be removed as speedily as possible . The investigation in this case ought to be searching and complete . The public were entitled to know all that could be ascertained with regard to the nature of cholera . If the disease were contagious , it was well it should be
known , and then measures might be taken to prevent its spread ; -while , if it appeared from the experience of those best capable of forming an opinion , that the disease was not contagious , much needless fear and apprehension would bo prevented . It appeared impossible that the inquiry could be ooncluded to-day , but he thought it most desirable that with a desire to allay public apprehension , it should be terminated as speedil y as was consistent with a full and searching investigation . Before the next meeting- of the jury , he would request Mr . Drouet to attend before them , and if he showed any unwUIingness to come , he ( Mr . Wakley ) would take care that a summons should be served upon him . The following witnesses were then called : — Catherine Kilbt . a nurse belonging to the
IIolborn Union , deposed , —The number of children brought to tbe Free Hospital from Tooting was 154 . Johnson was taken ill between five and six o ' clock on Saturday morning ; complained of thirst , and vomited . The children arrived here between seves and eight on Friday night . Johnson also complained ofpam in the stomach ; she was purged once . Mr Whitfield , surgeon to the union , saw her about halfpast seven . She did not complain of cramp . She cried out for water , and I gave her a little toastand-water . She died about a quarter past two . She complained of pain across the bowels , but not ol difficulty of breathing , or pressure on the chest . Mr . Whitfield continued with her about two hours after he first came . Bridget Quiii was taken ill between eleven and twelve on Saturday night . She complained of sickness , and vomited .
Mr Whitfield wished to say that the nurse was mistaken as to the time of his attendance . He remained with Johnson until her death , with the exception of occasional absences for a few minutes . Witxess continued . —Tho symptoms were the same in Quin's as in tbe other case , except that Quin was not purged . She died on Sunday morning , between seven and eight . Kezuh Dimoxd . —I was present when James 'Andrews died , on Saturday , the 6 th of January , at half-past eleven . He was taken ill at six o ' clock in tbe morning , with purging and vomiting . Mr . Whitfield attended him . He was put within hot blankets , and medicine was administered . His skin was very cold , lie had no cramps . lie was purged five or
six tunes . Mart Harms proved the death of Harper . He was not purged , but vomited three or four times . His skin and breath were very cold . Mr . It . D . Grainger , member of the Council of the Royal College of Surgeons , and one of the superintending medical inspectors of the General Board of Health was then sworn . —I visited Mr Drouet ' s establishment at Tooting , on Friday , January 5 , at the request of the Board of Health , for the purpose of inquiring into the causes of the extraordinary mortality that had occurred there . I also went again on Saturday , the 6 th , Sunday , the 7 th , and on Wednesday , the " 10 th . I have prepared a report in consequence of what I saw on those visits , which I have of Health h
presented to the General Board . I ave that report -with me , and it is the wish of the Board that it should be produced , along with any other official documents in their possession bearing upon this case , before the jury . Mr . Waklet-. —Has anything taken place with reference to holding an inquest at Tooting ? Mr . Grainger . —A verbal communication took place between the Board of Health and myself on the subject . I suggested the importance and necessity of an immediate inquest being held ; in that view the Board concurred . The Board are anxious that an inquest should take place , and , if it is in their power to enforce an inquest , I have no
doubt an inquest will yet take place in Surrey . believe a communication has taken place between the Board of Health and the Secretary for the Home Department with reference to the holding of an inquest in Surrey ; and that the General Board of Health acted ' under the authority of two acts of Parliament . The first was the Public Health Act , which gave the General Board of Health very considerable powers in all parts of England , except London , and a circle of ten or twelve miles round the metropolis . Mr . Drouet ' s establishment , therefore , did not come under tbe operation of that act of Parliament . There was another measure , the Nuisances' Prevention Act , which gave the Board very limited powers .
Mr . Waklet observed , that he had seen it stated that the Poor Law Commissioners had no authority over Mi * . Dvouet ' s establishment . Now , if it should ' appear that these children had lost their lives tliroug h any neglect or mismanagement , a most important question would arise as to where the responsibility lay . He believed it would be proved that the children had been removed from the Holborn Union , which was under the authority of the Poor Law Commissioners , to an establishment in tho Wandsworth Union , which was also under their authority . He could not understand , therefore , how it could be stated that the Commissioners had no power over this wtablfchment ,
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e «^ oi y as tho 15 th section of the Poor Law Act 01 im provided that the Commissioners should irom time to time make and issue regulations for the management of the poor , for the government ot workhouses , for the education of chifdron therein , and the management of parish poor children . He would think it his duty , if it should be deemed necessary , to summon Mr . Hall , or one of the Poor Law Commissioners , to attend the inquest for the sub P e ^ 'ding some explanation on this Mr . Grun'osr then proceeded to read the following report : — " Sir , —I beg respoctfuuy to state , for the information of the General Hoard ot Health , that in accordance with the instructions I received , I visited , on Friday , the 5 th inst ., the establishment of
Mr . Drouet for pauper children , at Lower Tooting I made a careful inspection of the various rooms occupied as cholera wards for the reception of tho sick children . It is necessary , however , to premise that as the powers of the General Board are limited , under tbe provision of the Nuisances Removal and Disease Prevention Act , to the issuing of regulations and to institute inquiries , no authority existed for enforcing any measure which in consequence of this investigation might appeal- to the General Board to be desirable . I first entered those on the females' side , when I was struck by a sense of the extreme closeness , oppression , and foulness of the air , far exceeding in offensiveness anything I have ever yet witnessed in apartments , in hospitals or elsewhere , occupied by the sick .
"There was , especially , in the hi ghest degree , that peculiar and sickening smell familiar to all who are acquainted with close , unventilated , and heated rooms overcrowded with children . The rooms were crowded with beds utterly disproportioned in number to the space allotted to them . In a room , for example , sixteen feet long , twelve feet wide , awl less than eight feet high , there were five beds occupied by eleven children , all ill with cholera . In another room of the same dimensions there were four beds , with thirteen cholera patients , of whom tour were in one bed , and three in each of the others . In a third room , eighteen feet long , sixteen feet wide , and ei ght feet high , there wore nine beds , with sixteen children in cholera , two of the
beds having three patients in each—a circumstance which I observed likewise in other wards . The lighting and ventilation of the whole of these wards was totally insufficient . " On the boys' side thercVas a room containing eighteen beds , nearly touching each other , in which were thirty-five boys ill with cholera , twenty-five being in bed , ( two in each bed ) , and ten sitting round the fire , being convalescent . One boy had just died on my entrance . In this ward , which is an example of the arrangement of all the main buildings of this establishment , there were windows only on one side—a construction totally incomparable with a due supply of light and air . " On the female side I found only one regular nurse , who was passing in and out to attend to the
children in several wards ; and on the boys' side , in the room above described , containing thirty-five patients , there was only one nurse ( a male ) in attendance . " To those who are acquainted with the nature of cholera , with tbe violent and most sudden evacuations both by vomiting and purging , it is needless to point out the utter inefficiency of such attendance . I found that the children were continually vomiting in the beds and on the floor , and that , consequently , the sheets , bedding , and floor were covered with the discharges ; that no efficient aid was in a single case afforded to those suffering children ; that some of them were getting out of bed ; and that all needed , not only for decency and comfort , but for actual safety , that caroful and watchful attention which cholera patients in tho stage of collapse so urgently demand .
" The various appliances found in ' all properly regulated institutions for administering relief to patients suffering under cholera , and especially for applying continued heat to the surface or the body , a point deemed by all authorities to be one of the most essential means for the treatment of collapse , were either totally wanting or quite inadequate . " In passing through the female cholera rooms I observed some small apartments containing unoccup ied beds , and on inquiry why those were not used , in order immediately to relieve tho overcrowded beds , I was informed that they were unprovided with fire places or other means of heating .
"As a medical man it is my duty to state that it is impossible to conoeive a state of things more entirely unsuited as to the construction 01 the buildings and the overcrowding of the inmates , tbe absence of all efficient nursing , and the want of the recognised means of medical and other treatment , than was presented in this establishment . " Prom the evidence of Mr . Popham , one of the parochial Burgeons of St . l'ancras , who was sent down on Friday evening by the board of guardians of that parish , it appears the evils described above had become greatly aggravated , in consequence of the increased and rapidly increasing number of the sick .
" This gentleman says— ' Found everything in very great confusion ; found , in the cholera wards for boys , with two exceptions , four boys in each bed . Some were dying ; others in a state of collapse ; some recently brought in and placed in the beds with others . In the girls' cholera wards , found five patients in one bed . In the other beda generally four in each . A foul stench in all the wards . The floors were wet from the matters vomited , owing to the total insufficiency ofnurses and attendants . In the boys' side there are two rooms communicating so as to form one ward . In this ward there were oil his arrival sixty-four boys , all suffering with cholera . The number of beds was twentyeight , of which some were empty , in order to receive , as he supposes , fresh cases . " ' As to the arrangements and attendants , found all defective and in confusion ; one male nurse only
to the boys' ward , and occasionally a female , who was for the most part in bed , owing to fatigue and being unwell . There was only one candle in this ward , and the boys were crying out for assistance in all directions . There were no means of applying heat ; only two or three hot bottles to his knowledge could be procured . "' As to the surgery , there was only one pair of scales , one . spatula , and some of the medicines were not labelled at all ; in consequence of this total insufficiency , little efficient assistance could be afforded to the patients last night . The great crowding , the noxious atmosphere oftho wards , the impossibility of procuring and putting up the proper medicines , and of attending to so many patients with so few nurses , were most adverse circumstances . Am of opinion , as a medical practitioner , the mortality has been considerably increased by all these causes . '"
" Mr . Grainger then recommended the obtaining the assistance of three surgeons , a physician , and additional nurses , and proceeds : —In connexion with the arrangements for the sick , it may here be stated that on Sunday , January 7 th , I again visited Mr . Drouet ' s establishment ; and on inspecting tho cholera w . ird « , I was much concerned and surprised , after the explicit recommendations I had made on Fridav , to find that some of the more important of them liad been so imperfectly carriod into effect . In each of tho beds there are for the most part still two patients ; thus , in the room for the female children of St . Pancras parish , there were ten beds and nineteen children , many of whom were in a state of tbe extremest collapse . As regards the
provision for nurses , I am called upon to express my strongest disapproval . On Friday evening four additional nurses were sent down by tbe authorities of St . Pancras ; two of these returned on Saturday evening—a promise having been given , according to the statement of Mr . Popham , that six additional nurses should be sent to Tooting- on the same evening ; which , however , was not realised . I find on Sunday -that tho proprietor of the establishment had not added a single nurse ; so that the only addition made since Friday consisted of tbe two women who still remained from St . Paneras ; and yet at this time there were one hundred and seventy-eight cholera patients under treatment , being an increase since Friday of no less than sixty-four . On a more
close examination the results of this lamentable and reprehensible neglect were most apparent . I found four of the female wards under the care of one nurse —a woman belonging to the establishment , and whom I had seen on my previous visit . In the ward with the St . Pancras female patients , nineteen in number , there was but one nurse , who informed me that she had been up Bince sho came on Friday ovening . On the boys' side I found that in a small ward , containing , besides several children labouring under ordinary complaints , one cholera patient and eig ht with diarrhoea , was a nurse of the establishment , who had been up on Friday nirfit , the greater
part of fcaturday , all Saturday night , and on Sunday , till the time of my . visit . In the adjoining larger ward , with nineteen patients , some of whom were convalescent , was one male nurse ; whilst in a third room , with thirty-two beds , I found only one female nurse , sent by St . Pancras parish , who informed me that she had one young woman to help her in the daytime , but she herselt had been up aH the time since her arrival on Friday evening without five minutes' rest . It is right that the names of these two young women from St . Pancras , who have thus hazarded their own lives in tho attempt to save that of others , should be recorded' they are Mary Anne Keith and Sarah Sellers .
"An attempt was made to make up for the insufficient supply of nurses , by employing some of the older pauper boys and girls still free from attack . In one of the boys' wards , I found , for example , four boys , of the average ago of 13 , thus assisting : even some of tlte children recovering from choleva were so employed . This is a most objectionable procedure , inasmuch as to bring children , already acted on b y the cholera poison , and perhaps on the vevy verge of an attack , into tho contaminated atmosp here of such sick wards as these was to expose them to imminent danger ; whilst as regards those who were recovewng , it was of pri-
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mary importance that they , instead of being detained in attendance on tbe sick , should have been removed as early as possible into properly prepared convalescent wards . " The consequences of all this inexcusable neglect was , that on Sunday the bed clothes were still soaked with the evacuations of tho suifering children , and that the few nurses who were in the wards were obliged to run from one bod to another , and that the patients were most inefficiently attended on , " With reference to the medical assistance for the sick , I found one resident medical officer ,
twentyfive years of age , a member of the College of Surgeons and Apothecaries-hall , who had been the medical officer of the establishment during the last two months , having to take the charge of 1 , 370 children , at the remuneration of & 50 a year , with board and lodging . This gentleman states thai he had visited the hulks at Woolwich , where he had seen some cases of cholera ; and also that he hail , in two pro-Yious situations , had the charge of pauper patients . " It seems that a significant warning of the approaching outbreak was given fourteen days before a single case of cholera had occurred . Three girls were on Friday , December 15 , attacked with , vomit ing , diarrhoea , " and collapse ; but this warning was not understood bv the resident medical officer * ' * #
" If at this time , fourteen days before tlic fatal outbreak , due and proper measures had becu cavrimV into effect , a large part of the evil that has since occurred , it is certain , would have boon averted , " It is further evident from the evidence , that after the attack of cholera no efficient means w « re adopted either to discover the existence of the premonitory diarrhoea , or for its treatment when it was brought under the notice of the resident medical officer . Thus the mistress of the girls says ' she had received no direction to question the ch ' Udrcn whether they have diarrhoea , ' and a similar statement it made bv the master and one of the under-masters , the only officials of this class questioned by me : whilst as regards the medical officer , he could not undertake this duty if it had ever been contemplated , being overcharged with attendance on the sick . With
regard to the treatment of the premonitory diarvlwca , although all the medical authorities of the Board of Health in England , Ireland , and Scotland , have , in their published instructions , advised the use of some preparation of opium , that medicine bad not been administered in a single ca « e of diarrhoea up to my visit on Friday , the medical officer reiving on astringents . ' " That there has been , as in all similar circumstances , a large amount of diarrhoea prevailing among the children at this establishment , botli before and since the outbreak of cholera , i « abuudantly proved . One of the assistant-masters stated to 1110 , ' he had observed that the boys had been purged during the Last fortnight , and especially stave yesterday week . ' - " The schoolmistress also states , that ' many of the children have been taken with pain iii " the bowels . '"
Mr . Grainger then complains of the over-crowding of the children . " In the schoolroom for boys tho master informed me there were , when all were present , 500 ; the length of this room being 94 feet , the width 21 feet , and the height 11 . feet . " The ventilation is most defective , and entirely incompatible with the maintenance of health . * * * " In connexion with these schoolrooms , it is necessary to state that Mr . IMl , the Assistant Poor Law Commissioner , informed me that in the beginning of the month of November last he and Mr Tufnell gave Mr . Drouet a written onder , limiting the number to be received in the boys' Bchoolroom to 400 , and in the girls' schoolroom to 100 . This order , whiell ought , under the ordinary circumstances of health , to nave been immediately carried into operation , was neglected , and , as it must be presumed , to the injury of the children ' s health . '
" The yard or playground was damp and wet , owing , aa it appeared , to its limited size , and to the buildings by which it is more or less surrounded . Mr . Scmplc , one of the medical officers of Islington , Btated to me that ho had complained of the wet and damp condition of tho premises . All this is most unfavourable to the health of young children , for , as there are no day rooms , the children must either go into the damp yard , or remain in the schoolrooms or dormitories , which , on other grounds , is equally objectionable . "
¦* * - * p ip Mr . Grainger proceeds to complain of the keeping of pigs , horses , and other animals in a long range of buildings in tho vicinity of the yard , and of the ditches , canals , and pieces of water in the neighbourhood ; at tho same time adding , that the injurious locality only played an indirect part in the epidemic , as in the Tillage of Tooting not a case of cliolera lisul occurred . " This being the case , the essential causes of the outbreak must be sought in the establishment itself ; and , first , as regards the diet" This consists of meat three times a-week , ' pudding once , and pea-soup three times a-week . On inquiry , and questioning a considerable number of children , I am bound to state that , in many instances , the food has been defective in quality ; the kind and quality of the diet also have been of an
objectionable character , and liable , especially in a season like the present , to have exerted an injurious influence on the system . " Under these circumstances , it is to be much regretted that the proprietor did not , in accordance with the recommendations issued by the General Board , discontinue the use of a vegetable diot . If , instead of feeding these children so often on a kind of food , pea-soup ( known to exert , in many oases , a relaxing influence on the alimentary canal ) , a diot consisting more of solid and dry and farinaceous food , had been substituted for green vegetables when the cholera approached the metropolis , there are sufficient grounds for inferring that the stamina of the children would have been better maintained , and that , consequently , more resistance would have been offered to the attack of the epidemic influonee of nholfir . i .
' " With respect to the clothing , this is insufficient , particularly as concerns the provision of flannel next the skin , a point of primary importance in maintaining the health of all young children . " After maturely considering all the circumstances connected with the painful occurrence , I am induced to express my firm conviction that the essential cause of all the mischief lias been the inordinate over-crowding of this establishment . * * * " In concluding the report it is my duty to call the attention of the General Board of Health to some facts connected with this distressing case . It is , in the first place , certain , that if the various instructions contained in the several notifications of the board had been duly observed and efficiently carried into execution , a large part , if not all , the evils that have occurred , would have been avoided .
" Jan . 8 , 1849 . " R . D . Gbaingjek , " Henry Austin , Esq . " Mr . Grainger then read a supplementary report , dated January 11 , which lie had submitted to the Board of Ilcalth after his visit to Mr . Dvouet ' s establishment on Wednesday . In this document lie stated that , being desirous to obtain more express evidence of the epidemic being true Asiatic cholera , he had procured further information from the medical gentlemen , who were either in attendance on the sick , or who had visited them officially on behalf of the London parishes to which the children
respectively belonged . Mr . Semple , one of tho surgeona of Islington parish , had visited Mr . Drouet ' s establishment almost daily since the disease broke out , and Mr . Pophani and Mr . Bailey , who had been in attendance on the sick children , expressed their decided conviction that the cases were those of true Asiatiu cholera . Jf r . Kite , tho resident medical officer at the establishment , found that in the state of collapse the urine was suppressed—a material symptom of cholera ; and Mr . Penny , who had had much experience in Calcutta , had " also remarked the total absence of the urinary secretions in these cases . Mr . Grainger
adds" Since my former report , I have myself made several careful observations , microscopic and others , and I may state that I have in no case of cholera which I have examined , either in this country or in Germany , seen tho special characters of the ' disease more distinctly developed . . Xo mark was wanting . " * * * Tho report further stated , that Mr . Grainger had found that the dormitories bad been greatly overcrowded , and that so large a number of children had been placed in one dormitory as to be entirely incompatible with health . In the hoys' dormitories there had been as many as sixty-six , or more , in one- apartment , the beds being mostly about six inches apart ; while on the girls' side , which was inordinately overcrowded , the beds were placed in
every possible space , and touching each other . The fire-places in the girls' dormitories were also closed , so that at nig ht there could be scarcely any ventilation . Mr . Grainger then proceeded to describe the new dormitory for boys , which ig close to the farmyard , in which were crowded , within a very small space , ten or twelve sties fall of pigs , and where there were also twelve cows , some horses , and a large number of fowls . Mr . Grainger states that he considered it a mont unjustifiable procedure on the part of the proprietor , especially after the advice he had received from his medical attendants , to introduce 150 boys into apartments built upon a spot close to such an accumulation of animals , and also in the immediate vicinitv of several foul ditches .
The report of } h ' - Lotick , : i surveyor , was then read by Mr . Graiugei . _ The report went into considerable detail respecting the ditches and' sewers and concluded with suggestion for effecting a temporary improvement in the defective drainage of this locality . The Conoxim observed , that lie was sure the opinion of the jury would coincide with his , when he said that Mr . Grainger bad performed » h iaoj . or
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tant public service in the exanuuatioRS he had inado t and in tho preparation of his report , which appeared to be a very valuable and comprehensive document . ( Iloav , hear . ) Mr . Gr . UJ . -0 ER , in reply to questions from the coroner , described the premonitory svmptoms of the disease . All the symptoms ho had " described were more or less observable in the cases which had occurred at Tooting . Without wishing to create any unnecessary alarm , he 'might say that tbe cholera was liable to break out at any moment in any part of London , and it was , theretoro , of the utmost importance that the first outbreak of diarrhoea should be at once attended to . In tho mouth of Decembor , out of 400 children in the Mile-end Workhouse sixty were seized with violent purging and vomiting , but medical treatment was immediately adopted Ivy the surgeon , and not one of the children passed through cholera . Mr . Wakley . —Do you deem cliolera ordinarily , or under anv circumstances , to be contagious ?
Mr . Grai . vokr . —I believe it under no form oc circumstances whatever to be a contagious disease . I have never met witli any fact which Tuns led me to believe it to bo communicable from man to man . Tho Cohonkh . — To what oauso or causes do you distinctly and unequivocally refer the spread of cholera at the Tooting establishment i Mr . Graixser . — Besides tho general causes operating upon the children , the only two special causes operating within the houso appeared to me
to be the clothing and diet of the children , and their condition with regard to overcrowding . I think , if children similarly fed and clothed to those at Tooting , had been divided over the country in healthy districts , they would not have been affected by the disease . I think the principal special cause of tbe disease was the inordinate overcrowding of the establishment : but it is to the system wluch permits this state of things that all the mischief must eventually be referred . I do not know what number of deaths has taken place .
The clerk of the Holborn Union said there had already been 123 deaths at Tooting alone . Mr . Waklky . —Do you believe the disease can bo taken \> y emanations from a dead body \ Mr . Gkaisgbh . —No ; I have seen nothing to induce me to believe that the disease can be communicated from the dead to the living . Mr . Waklet had asked the question in conse * fluence of seeing in The Times of Monday an ordee issued by Mr , Chapman , a medical officer of tho Wandsworth and Clapham Union . That order was in these terms : — " Lower Tooting , Surrey , Jan . 6 . " I hereby command that tho corpses ' of all tho children now at Mr . Drouet ' s who have died of cholera bo buried to ni ght , and that every child who dies of cholera be buried within twenty-lonr hours of its death in Tooting churchyard .
" Waltkr Ciiapma \ , Medical Officer . " 'Wandsworth and Clapham Union for the Tooting t District . " That was , without exception , the most frightful document he had ever seen or road . Persons who had been poisoned by arsenic presented many of tha appearances of those who died from cholera : and , if such an order as this were to be enforced , it wasj almost like holding out an inducement to murdei ; and a shield to cruelty . He hoped the circumstance would bo brought under tho notice of the Board of Health , and that measures would be taken to prevent the issue of orders of such a nature .
Mr . Graixgek said , he must take the 6 hai'C of l'O sponsibility which fairly devolved upon him with regard to the circumstances to which the coroner had alluded . He had expressed to Mr . Chapman his conviction that the bodies of those who died from cholera should be interred as speedily as possible consistent with safety ; and such was still his opinion . He was satisfied that Mr . Chapman , in issuing that order , had been actuated by a conviction that it was necessary , as a precaution for the safety of the living , that the dead should not remain ; too long unburicd ^ Mr . Guainoer begged now to read a communication with which lie had been charged by the Board of Health , and which concludes as follows : — " That tho present system of contracting for tha
maintenance of pauper children is destitute of real and proper securities , and at variance with tha spirit and intention of the special provisions of tho Legislature in respect to the care of parish poor children—namely , that they should be subject to responsible controul ; and , therefore , in the judgment of the Board of Health , tho system ought , as speedily as possible , to bo put an end to . " The Coroxf . r wished to put another question to Mi * . Grainger—whether he had examined the general bodily condition of the children ? Mr " , Giuinqer , —I did examine many of them . A very large number of them wore , on the whole , generally in a srood strons stato of health . There
were various indications of great pallor , soreness of the eyes , and a number of them seemed to be la » homing under tho itch t but many of tW cKvldvcn . had red cheeks , and appeared to be perfectly healthy . My impression is , however , that you could under no possible known arrangements secure the health of 1 , 400 children collected together in one building , and especially if that building was not arranged for the purpose . In hospitals , where thero were T 50 patients in a large ward , there would ba much greater mortality than in smaller wards , where there were only twenty or thirty . As to the diet , some of the children said they hail not CDOUgh to eat , and others that they had . The inquest was then adjourned .
ADJOURNED IXQUESr . On Tuesday the inquest on the bodies of the foui ? children who died in tho Free Hospital , Gray ' s-innroad , was resumed before Mr . Wakley , M . P . The jury assembled in the secretary ' s office , at the Hospital , but it being found inconveniently small , they adjourned to the Globe Tavern , in Derby-street . A 3 the proceedings were about to be commenced , Mr . Ballaniixk ( the barrister ) said he had been instructed to appear on behalf of Mr . Drouet , not with the view of defending him or any one undci * accusation , but of assisting in the investigation which had been very property entered into . Mr Wakley said he could not permit counsel to appear as such . But the case was one of so important a nature—one in which it was so desirable that the truth should be arrived atr—he should be glad v £ Mr . Ballantine would rere .-iin in the room and assist Mr . Drouct upon any matters ho might think essential for the administration of iustice .
Mr Ballantine wished to lay before the jury a report signed by four medical men , now attending tlie sick at Tooting . _ _____ Mr . Waklky took the report , and said he would , ' at a later period , lay it before the jury ; but the course of proceeding he wished to adopt was , first of all , to call some person connected with the board of guardians of the Holborn Union , for the purpose of ascertaining what was really the nature and terms of the contract entorcd into between them and Mr Drouet , of Tooting—whether there had been any
violation of it on Mr . Drouet ' s part—any looseness in the conditions of it ; and whether it gave him any undue licence with regard to the children . Then they would come to the legal point jib to whether the Poor Law Commissioners could exercise any authority over the establishment—whether , if they could , tliey were bound to do so , and , if bound , whether there had been any neglect or remissnesg on their part in not doing so . Then tho jury -would be in a position to examine into the aetual stato of the asylum and the children previous to the breaking out of disease .
Mr W . It . James , clerk to the board of guardians ' . Ilolborn Union examined . —Is a . solicitor , and heM the office of clerk to the hoard since 183 S , the yeas of the formation of the union . The board of guardians entered into an engagement with Mr . Droucfj to send some of the children to his establishment ins 1847 , and in tho beginning of November in that year some of tho hoys were sent there . There was no distinct ov written contract , otherwise than by letters , but they showed fully the terms of the engage * inent with Mr . Drouet . The board kept minutes of all the proceedings on the subject , and these contained the conditions on which the children were
sent . One of these minutes , dated 25 th October , ( as read by witness ) contained Mr . Drouet ' s statemont of dietary and general treatment of the child " rcn , of Ids terms , which were 4 s . Cd . per head per week , and of his being licensed fov 1 , 200 , and o £ their being then only a little over 800 children in thQ asylum . The same minutes contained a report of a committee of the board of guardians , expressing their fullest satisfaction with the asylum which they had visited , of tho diet , which , they considered most ample and healthy , and of the course of instruction , pursued , observing that there was scarcely one child so ill as to require medical aid , and that the asylum itself was better situated than that at Xorwood .
and less exposed to the cold and cutting winds ; the guardians were at this time negotiating with Mr-Drouet , and they sent about eighty boys to him soma days after . Tins witness proceeded to read several report , ? , by which it appeared that the guardians placed at Drouet ' s establishment 211 children , at 4 s . 6 d . per week , and that they were visited monthly by the "uardians , who wero satisfied with their treatment . The report , however , dated 9 th MayJ states that the potatoes wore bad , and on the boyS beins questioned as to the supply of food , forty of them said the supply was insufficient . Mr . Drouwt ' S conduct thereupon became violent . He Baid tbe
boys who did so wore liavs ; that they were tha woVst boys in tho school ; and that if he did * . hcBl justice , lie would follow out the suggestion of Mr . James , and thrash them well . Some of the boys complained of not having a sufficiency of bread fos \ m \ Mw \ , onwVAolv Vx . Dvouet ' s cowlwti became more violent ; lie said that they ( the visitors ) veto actually unfair ; that they ought to be satisfied ta rely upon his character ; that they had no right to pursue inquiry after that fashion , and that he would be dad to get rid of tho children who complained . The report concluded by stating that the viwtorff left without completing their inquiry . On the I 7 ttt the children were again visited by a committee 01 the board , They inspected tiejimwl , mzh »» #
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Crim . Con . in High Life .. —In an action which has been brought against a noble duke for criminal conversation , which has formed , the topic of much discussion in the higher circles , and which has given birth to many rumours , an application was made on Friday to a judge at chambers , by Mr Edwin James , as counsel fer his grace , for farther particulars ia respect of the dates and the occasions upon which tbe alleged offences were stated to have been committed . The learned judge , after a lengthened discussion , intimated his opinion that the information which « as afforded by the statement in the declaration waF very vague and inaccurate ; but added that tbe rule of practice in such cases prohibited him from making the order applied for . The case will , in all probability , come on for trial at the sittings after the present term . The damages are laid at an unusually large sum—several thousands . —Observer ,
The Frankfort Parliament hare toted the abolition of public gambling establishments , game 3 of Hazard , public lotteries , and lotto , from the 1 st of May , 1849 . The Juke Insurrection . — The trial of the persons charged with the assassination of General Brea and his aide de-camp , Mangin , commenced on Monday before the Second Council of War , under the presidency of Coloael Cornemuse : the accused were twenty-five in number . On the table placed in front of the tribunal were deposited an epaulet of General Brea , and the epaulets , uniform , and flannel waistcoat of Captain Mangin . The first sitting presented no interesting incident , and was entirely taken up with the reading of the bill of indictment and the interrogatoties of the accused .
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, jAWABY *>» My . ^ THE NORTHERN STAR . 7
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Citation
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Northern Star (1837-1852), Jan. 20, 1849, page 7, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1506/page/7/
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