§ Mr. SUTTONasked the President of the Local Government Board whether he had been asked to sanction the conversion of the small-pox hospital maintained by the borough of Blackpool and the districts of Fylde, Preston, and Garstang, into a sanatorium for tuberculous patients on the ground that it had never once been used since its erection ten years ago; if so, whether he had given the consent requested; and whether the result of the neglect of vaccination, through the Vaccination Acts of 1898 and 1907, had been to make small-pox liability less than had ever before been known in Great Britain?
§ The PRESIDENT of the LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOARD (Mr. Burns)With regard to the first part of the question, I received an application from the joint board who maintained the hospital referred to for an Order to empower them to treat cases of pulmonary tuberculosis at the hospital, and a local inquiry was held in regard to it. The inspector who visited the site of the hospital, reports that it is not suitable for the treatment of pulmonary tuberculosis, and I have informed the joint board that I do not propose to make any Order in the matter. With regard to the second part of the question, I prefer to express no opinion.