§ Mr. Croker,seeing the right hon. the Vice-President of the Board of Trade in his place, begged to ask a question on a subject which had excited considerable sensation throughout the town. A report had been circulated, and he believed had been pretty generally credited, to the effect that several cases of Cholera Morbus had appeared in the lower parts of the town towards the river. This report was in circulation so early as Saturday last, but he had just heard a further report, which stated that similar cases had appeared in the higher parts of the town. It was with a view of ascertaining, as far as possible, the correctness of those reports that he then intruded upon the attention of the House. He felt assured, and he trusted that his Majesty's Government would agree with him in thinking, that the best possible mode of preventing unnecessary alarm, and of satisfying the public mind, was to have no mystery whatever on the subject, and he therefore begged to ask if the reports which he had mentioned were founded in fact, and whether it was the intention of Government to give the public any authentic information as to the origin and progress of the disease since its appearance in London?
§ Mr. Poulett Thomsonfelt no hesitation in replying fully to the question of the right hon. Gentleman. On Saturday last the Government, received information that two cases which were deemed very suspicious as indications of Cholera had occurred at Rotherhithe. Immediately on this information being received, a deputation of medical men from the Board of Health was despatched to that place, and from their report, it appeared that the two cases at Rotherhithe were decided cases of Spasmodic Cholera. On Saturday information of the spread of this disease to Limehouse had been received, but, as far as he was then informed, it had not as yet extended further. He could assure the House, and the right hon. Gentleman, that his Majesty's Government fully concurred in the propriety both of satisfying the public mind as far as possible, and of putting the public fully in possession of the course about to be adopted by Government in such a trying emergency. For this purpose it had been determined, through the medium of the public Press, to give all the information which had been received by Government on the subject. The right hon. Gentleman would therefore find, in the public papers of that evening, a detail of all the information that had been received. Being on his legs, he would take that opportunity of stating, that every possible means had been and would be adopted by Government for the prevention of the spreading of the disease, and for giving to the public the most accurate details of its progress. Already district inspectors and physicians had been appointed, whose duty would be, to detail to the general Board of Health whatever might occur in their respective districts on the subject. Government was determined to exert all the means at its command to check the progress of the disease, and the right hon. Gentleman might be assured that every sort of information of the least use should be given to the public.
§ Mr. Crokerwas much obliged to the right hon. Gentleman for the explanation which he had given on this alarming subject. He would take that opportunity of suggesting to Government the expediency, before it was too late, of tracing the approach of the first case which had occurred. He made this suggestion from a conviction that much benefit would be derived from clearly ascertaining the mode in which that extraordinary disease made its 267 appearance; and he thought if this inquiry was well followed up, it might eventually lead to a discovery of the manner in which it was propagated, and consequently enable the medical Faculty to have recourse to more effective measures for its prevention. He was sure, from the candid course adopted by Government, that they would be glad to receive any suggestion in such an emergency, and it was with such a view that he begged to offer with great earnestness, the recommendation that the earlier course, and particularly the first, should be carefully traced.
§ Mr. Robinsonsaid, it having been now officially announced that the Cholera was in the metropolis, and as such a statement was likely very materially to affect our commercial intercourse, he trusted that Government would lose no time in allaying, as far as possible, the fears of foreign states, and thereby making the inconvenience and obstruction which were likely to arise as little as possible. This inconvenience would most likely be felt most strongly with regard to our distant colonial possessions; and he, therefore, hoped all unnecessary impediments to the sailing of vessels would be avoided, as the very length of the voyage was a sufficient security that no disease could be propagated by them. The most precise intelligence should be conveyed to foreign powers; lest in the absence of positive information they should refuse to admit English vessels into their ports. If their fears on the subject could not be allayed, at all events their doubts might.
Mr. Warburtonhoped that Ministers would never lose sight of the primary object of their present exertions, which was to check the spread of the disease by every means in their power. It was his decided opinion that the disease had spread to the extent it had, in consequence of mercantile activity, and mercantile avarice and jealousy, causing Government to relax that vigilant check of all intercourse between infected and non-infected places. He, therefore, trusted, that Ministers would not be induced to imitate this dangerous example by any fears of the injury which the commerce of the metropolis would thereby experience. The mercantile interest was no doubt of great moment; but the public safety was a matter of far paramount importance, to which the interests of commerce must, if necessary, be made to give way. He hoped that he understood the right hon. Gentleman's 268 declaration of the intention of Ministers to give the most full and prompt publicity to the progress of the disease, to include the distribution, gratis, of the Board of Health gazettes among the medical gentlemen of the country, so as to make them fully acquainted with its character, &c.
Mr. Humewas sure that the only effect of adopting the suggestion of his hon. friend, to cut off all commercial intercourse between infected persons and places, would be to aggravate tenfold the evils of the disease. They had sufficient data already before them to warrant this opinion. On the one hand, it was seen—such was the strange and as yet unaccountable progress of the disease—that the freest intercourse might take place between an infected and a non-infected place, without its spreading to the latter. There was, for example, the most unrestricted intercourse between Sunderland and Durham, and yet but one Cholera case occurred in the latter. And so in Glasgow, the disease had not shown itself in a single instance, notwithstanding its free intercourse with Kirkintilloch, and other infected places. On the other hand, the disease extended itself, in spite of the strictest precautions enforced by a despotic Government, through the means of the most rigid military cordon. The fact was, nothing was known of the mode in which the disease was propagated but this—that no precautions hitherto tried could keep it out, and that it did not extend to districts under, apparently, the most favourable circumstances of propagation. The only effect, then, of the proposition, to cut off all intercourse with infected places, would be, to add famine to pestilence, and aggravate tenfold the evils of both. No, the best preventive was, to provide the poor and destitute with wholesome food, and fuel, and raiment, and to enforce rigid habits of cleanliness. In those colliery districts in Scotland in which the disease had raged with most virulence, its victims were almost invariably the destitute and the uncleanly.
§ Mr. Stricklandsaid, from all he could learn on the subject, he was convinced that attempts to stop the disease, by cutting off communication, would only increase distress without having the intended effect. The only thing to be done was, to try to improve the happiness and comfort of the people. He had two remarkable instances to adduce that under peculiar 269 circumstances, the disease was not contagious. During the whole time of its raging in Sunderland, persons were sent from there to the county prison without communicating the disease, and though there was constant intercourse between the places, no instance of Cholera occurred. The other fact was that of 600 medical men who had gone to visit the hospitals at Sunderland, Newcastle, &c, not one of whom had been seized.
§ Sir Henry Hardingebegged to suggest that the military force should be, as speedily as possible, put into barracks. In Berlin and Vienna, where this system had been pursued, although the population suffered dreadfully, the troops had scarcely any loss to complain of. In Berlin, he believed, only twelve men died, and the loss was very trifling at Vienna. This was of course to be accounted for solely by the strict military discipline to which they were subjected, and to their being in barracks. It was true the military should be ready to expose themselves to all risk in common with the rest of the population; but to render them effective in the services they would be called upon to perform, it was essential to take all measures to keep them in good health. He submitted, therefore, that they should be at once removed from such places as Tothill-fields. If they were to be left there, it was scarcely possible they could escape infection, from the miserable population of such districts. He made no allusion to this from a doubt that all proper precautions would be taken by the Commander-in-Chief and the Government, but because he had lately received communications from Vienna and Berlin, stating the means which had been resorted to, to prevent infection, and the effects which had been produced.
§ Mr. Dixonimplored the Government not to attempt cutting off or impeding the intercourse between different places. The only consequence of such a regulation would be, to produce famine and destitution among the working people, without having the effect intended. As another instance of the disease not being propagated by the present communication, he must mention that, although it had raged for some time at Kirkintilloch, and the intercourse between that place and Glasgow was frequent, yet not one case had occurred in the latter place.
§ Mr. Briscoesaid, some of the parishes 270 in London were in such a state as to call for the immediate attention of Government and the local authorities. In Bethnal-green, for instance, there were 6,000 persons receiving parish relief; and in the workhouse there were 1,100, with only 370 beds. There were also eighty cases of contagious fever, which was daily increasing. He had ascertained these facts from personal inquiry yesterday afternoon, and he earnestly recommended the subject to the attention of his Majesty's Government.
An Hon. Memberstated, that he had heard the Lord President of the Council, in another place, move for certain papers, with an intention, if a bill was brought up, to facilitate their Lordships' legislating on the subject, which he understood was to to enable the Privy Council to take the most effectual means to prevent the propagation of the disease. He hoped that the same papers would forthwith be submitted to that House.
§ Lord Althorpassured the hon. Member that he would that evening lay on the Table documents respecting the Cholera, the same with those which had been presented in the other House. He also gave notice that it was his intention to move for leave to bring in a bill to give additional power to the Privy Council, for the purpose of adopting and enforcing means to prevent the disease.
Mr. Goulburntrusted the Privy Council would not be very delicate at such a crisis in enforcing any means they thought necessary to allay the public apprehension, and prevent the spread of the disease; and he was quite sure they might consider themselves fully authorized to act even before the bill passed through Parliament.
§ Mr. Huntobserved, that the wretchedness and disease in Bethnal-green was not confined to the workhouse: the whole population was in the most miserable condition. He trusted something would be done to place them in a better situation. He had already laid their pitiable case before the House, without much effect. He must now allude to the state of the atmosphere in the House itself, and he thought it absolutely necessary that some measure should be taken to purify it, as it was occasionally most fœtid and unwholesome, and peculiarly dangerous if there was any predisposition to disease. He appealed to Mr. Speaker to use his authority in im- 271 proving the ventilation. He must say, that it would be very stupid in them to expose themselves to unnecessary danger, while they were deliberating how they might best provide security for others. He hoped something would be done to abate the nuisance. If the contagion reached the House, there would be flying right and left to get out of the way.