MR. STAFFORDwished to put again to the Under Secretary for the War Department a plain question, to which, however, he would confess at once he did not expect a more favourable answer than that which was offered by the hon. Gentleman last night, for if he had had any real reform to announce, he probably would not have been silent upon it. His question had reference to the Army Medical Department. What he complained of was, and what he entered his most earnest and mournful protest against was, that, with respect to the thousands of troops now being sent to China, on their disembarkation the new hospitals there would be opened upon precisely the same principles—if, indeed, principles they could be called—subject to the same confusion of departments—to the same clashing of authority, which had made Scutari what it was. All the expectations held out to the people of England two years ago—all the hopes entertained by the medical department—were, it seemed, at an end; all the promises made by the Government when they; 2302 first came into office—promises proceeding from the mouth of the Prime Minister himself—were now worse than ever. It was right to bring such a question forward at the moment when they were discussing the military estimates, because it related to that most precious commodity the life of the British soldier. As was well known, the mortality amongst soldiers was higher than that in any other class of the community, and, therefore, as a matter of economy—as a matter of pounds, shillings, and pence—this subject ought not to have been held of such slight importance as not to have been dealt with a long time back. He would, therefore, repeat his question to his hon. Friend, whether he was prepared to state that the Government were ready to assure the House that hospital accommodation upon new and proper principles would be ready for the reinforcements about to proceed to China. He thought that the medical profession generally had a right to complain of the manner in which the medical staff of the army had been treated. And his recommendation— not to the Government, for it would be hopeless to make any recommendation in that quarter—but to the officers of the medical profession, would be to demand of all those who either through their own agency or the agency of their friends were returned to Parliament, to see that justice was no longer denied to the claims of the army medical staff.
§ MR. FREDERICK PEELsaid, the question now put to him by the hon. Gentleman was not exactly a repetition of that which he asked last night. The question asked by the hon. Member last night was whether the Government had taken or contemplated taking any steps to carry into effect the Resolutions agreed to by a Committee of last Session with reference to the state of the Army Medical Department. Since last evening he (Mr. F. Peel) had read those Resolutions, and he found that the more important recommendations contained in them were, that there should be an increase in the scale of pay of medical officers, and that additional facilities should be afforded for their retirement upon half-pay. He agreed with those Resolutions. He would not deny that the advantages offered in other services had the effect of preventing the most able medical men from competing for employment in the Army Medical Department, and he was anxious that the medical officers of the army should possess at least equal advantages 2303 with those enjoyed by the same class of persons in other services. The hon. Gentleman was aware that the amount which the Government could expend upon the army was restricted, and it was necessary to make a selection among the various improvements that were suggested. Those improvements, which were regarded as of the greatest importance, were first carried into effect, and others which, though important, were of less pressing necessity, were postponed. This was the reason why the improvements to which the Resolutions referred had not been carried into effect. The hon. Gentleman had expressed his confidence that there was no prospect of anything being done by the Government. He (Mr. F. Peel) did not know on what grounds the hon. Gentleman could justify such a statement. He believed that the hon. Gentleman was as well aware as he was himself that it was the intention of the Government to issue a Commission to inquire what alterations and improvements could be effected in the existing arrangements of the Army Medical Department, and he (Mr. F. Peel) confidently believed that the recommendations of that Commission, coupled with the Resolutions of the Committee of last Session, would enable the Government to deal with this question in a manner which would be satisfactory to the medical officers and beneficial to the service. The hon. Gentleman had indulged in very gloomy predictions with regard to the sanitary state of the troops who were about proceeding to China. The climate of that country was undoubtedly unfavourable to European constitutions, but he was confident that all possible arrangements for preserving the health of the troops would be made, so far as that object could be effected by the provision of ample hospital accommodation, the supply of all requisite medical stores, and the sending out of a numerous body of medical officers.
MR. STAFFORDhad said nothing about the unhealthiness of the climate of China; what he had stated was, that the defective organization of the general hospital system was one of the chief causes of the mortality at Scutari, and that that system had not been improved.
SIR WILLIAM WILLIAMSsaid, the hon. Gentleman (Mr. Stafford) had referred to the inefficiency of the hospitals at Woolwich; but he could assure the hon. Member that he had been totally misinformed on that subject. He (Sir W. Williams) 2304 invited the hon. Gentleman, and any other Members of that House, to visit those hospitals. A few weeks since he had the honour of escorting Miss Nightingale over the whole of the establishments, when she expressed herself highly pleased with the arrangements; and on the following day Colonel Lefroy wrote to him expressing the great gratification Miss Nightingale had derived from her visit to the Artillery and Cadet Hospitals, and her opinion that they were the best military hospitals she had seen, with the exception of that of the Guards at Windsor.