§ SIR JOHN PAKINGTONsaid, he wished to ask the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, Whether, in accordance with the statement of the Lord President last year, "that the Government were considering the best means of effecting an improvement in the Vaccination Law,'' and having regard to the great loss of life from small-pox which has lately occurred in London, it is the intention of Her Majesty's Government to introduce any measure on that subject in the present Session?
MR. H. A. BRUCE, in reply, said, there could be no doubt that a very large and unnecessary loss of life resulted from neglect of the provisions of the Vaccination Act. The right hon. Gentleman was of course aware that, although the Vaccina- 1641 tion Act was obligatory, its successful application depended on the active concurrence of Boards of Guardians, vaccinating surgeons, and parents of the children. Where that was given the operation of the Act had been tolerably successful, but where it was wanting deaths had been frequent. A similar question had been put this year to his noble Friend the President of the Council, who stated that in his opinion there were only two methods by which the disease could be successfully grappled with. One was by increasing the compulsory powers of the Act, the other by offering pecuniary inducements to the vaccinating surgeons. Parliament, his noble Friend thought, would not sanction greater compulsory powers, and he did not see his way to the application of the other alternative. He understood that notice had been given by a noble Lord in the other House of an intention to introduce a Bill on the subject which would ha referred to a Select Committee. He hoped that measure would have the effect of strengthening the law and removing the evil now complained of.