HC Deb 11 March 1870 vol 199 cc1736-7
MR. J. G. TALBOT

said, he wished to ask the President of the Poor Law Board, Whether it is true that the carriage used for fever patients in the Westminster Union is usually drawn by paupers; whether on a recent occasion the men who had drawn a patient in this carriage to the special Fever Hospital at Hampstead were found by the medical officer there in a state of complete exhaustion; and, whether the Poor Law Board have any means of putting a stop to such a practice?

MR. GOSCHEN

Sir, in reply to the Question of the hon. Member, I have to state that it is true that the carriage, if it can be called a carriage, in which the fever patients are brought to the hospital in question is drawn by paupers. I was at first under the impression that the carriage in which the fever patients are so drawn was an ordinary carriage with a pole or shaft, and that the paupers were harnessed to it like beasts of burden; but it turns out upon inquiry that the vehicle is merely a sort of hand ambulance, like a water bed for an invalid, but with a covering or top to it. The paupers received 6d. a day for their labour, and there are always more volunteers for the service than are required, the fact being that they regard the day's outing and the 6d. as a rather welcome relief to the monotony of work-house life. With respect to the second part of the hon. Member's Question, I have to state that the foreman who accompanied the three paupers on the occasion referred to asserts that he was not aware that the men were exhausted, although they asked for some beer when they arrived. On that occasion, however, fresh stones had been laid down before the hospital, which may have increased their labour. The guardians have informed me that no information nor complaint has come to their knowledge or that of the master with reference to the men being exhausted, or even fatigued. Dr. Shaw, the medical superintendent of the hospital, says— As to the official and paupers who drew the ambulance, I beg to state that they were fatigued, but not exhausted, and that they were not more fatigued than might be expected from drawing an ambulance of that description. The guardians state that the provision of a new ambulance to be drawn by horses is under consideration. Of course, in the present, as in many other cases, publicity really means prohibition.