QUESTION. (Hansard, 27 July 1871)

THE EARL OF CARNARVON
desired, as the Session, he hoped, was approaching a close, and as there was a considerable pressure of Public Business, to put a Question on a matter which concerned the lives and the health of the people of this country, and it was desirable that the Government should be able to give a satisfactory answer. It had been stated that the cholera, which had repeatedly visited us, was raging in some parts of European Russia, and was steadily moving in a westerly direction. It appeared, from a statement of the Registrar General, that it had broken out in a town in Poland on the Niemdur, was extending, and might be expected to reach Germany within two or three weeks at the outside. He was not aware whether this was to be regarded as a fresh importation of cholera from Russia, or whether, as was to be hoped, it was a revival of a pestilence which existed in that part of Europe four or five years ago, and had showed signs of occasional existence. The Government had probably made inquiries of the Prussian and other German Courts on this point. He had no great opinion of the intervention of the Government in matters of this kind; but some action was desirable, as cholera was, if not wholly, yet partially preventible. A Commission sat last winter, or the year before, on water supply. Now, as was very well known, cholera had generally been found to follow the line of great rivers—whether or not because the water carried the infection he would not say—or whether it was only by the concentration of traffic—but water supply had certainly an important bearing, and demanded the closest attention. He feared it was too much to expect any action to be taken by the Government this year as to this or as to the measures recommended by the Sanitary Commission, for valuable time had been allowed to go by, and the Government could scarcely now, by dint of the utmost energy, achieve any satisfactory result. Yet some steps might be taken, and Her Majesty's Government might put themselves in communication 305 with the local authorities, with a view of preventing, as far as possible, the introduction of the plague into this country, if, indeed, it should be moving towards us. It was to be hoped that the report might be entirely unfounded, and traceable to a pestilence existing in Russia for some time. But whether that was so or not, the duty of Her Majesty's Government was clear, to leave no stone unturned, no effort untried, to guard against the introduction of the disease, and in case of its entrance to circumscribe its operation. The general experience had been that first we had ample warning, then we were found unprepared, and lastly we had dealt with the scourge under the influence of panic instead of having first raised bulwarks against it of scientific principles. It was undoubtedly the duty of Her Majesty's Government to state what they were about to do in regard to a matter of such great importance; and he therefore wished to ask whether Her Majesty's Government are prepared to take any, and, if so, what precautions as to the supposed approach of cholera?

THE EARL OF KIMBERLEY
said, that he had to reply to the noble Earl's Question in the absence of the Marquess of Ripon. He was glad the noble Earl had put the Question, because the existing alarm seemed to him unfounded—to this extent at least—that the prevalence of cholera in Russia and the borders of Poland was by no means a new fact. It had existed in Russia for two years, and ever since last August in St. Petersburg, where there had been a recent increase in in the number of cases, which, however, if his information was correct, were lower than the number some months ago. The only fact of an alarming nature was that cholera had appeared in Wilna, which was, of course, nearer to us than St. Petersburg. He understood it had been there since last April, and also in the western provinces of Russia. He did not mean to say that there was no necessity for taking cognizance of the existence of cholera, or no ground for fearing that it might extend to the rest of Europe; but no now facts had arisen within a recent period, and the disease having existed two years in that part of Europe, and nearly a year in St. Petersburg, there was, at all events, reason to hope that it might not extend beyond its present limits. No intelligence had 306 reached the Government of any case having occurred in Germany. Our representatives in the German Empire had been directed to make special inquiries, and to report whether any case had occurred in Germany, and whether the Governments were taking any special precautions. He agreed with the noble Earl (the Earl of Carnarvon) that it was far better to adopt precautions when not under the influence of panic, though it was usually only then that anything was done by local authorities to abate nuisances and take the precautions within our power. The power of the central Government to enforce any considerable precautions was very small. All that could be done was to warn the local authorities, who had been constantly urged to take precautions, and had been furnished with full information as to their nature. The Privy Council would keep their attention fixed to the subject, and would do all in their power to induce the local authorities to remove nuisances, for on their active exertions so much depended. The water supply was, no doubt, an important matter, for in the opinion of many competent persons it was through the water that the seeds of cholera were diffused. This theory might, indeed, turn out erroneous, but it was at present by far the most plausible, being supported by facts of great weight; so that every reasonable person must be anxious for the purity of the water supply and its protection from any infusion of sewage matter. A very important measure was now passing through the other House for bringing under one authority the sanitary powers now divided among the Home Office, the Privy Council, and the Poor Law Board. He believed that when these powers were thus concentrated, and the attention of a single authority given entirely to the subject, useful reforms in the law and in the carrying out of sanitary improvements would be devised.

§ THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY
said, he hoped the attention of the Government would continue to be directed to the matter—especially to the question of the water supply—and that the local authorities would attend to the flushing of the sewers and other precautions. This alarm, whether it proved well-founded or not, should be a lesson to us as to the urgency of two important steps. An ample Report had been made on the 307 water supply, and had long laid on the Table of the House without action being taken upon it. Now, a healthy water supply would be the greatest possible benefit to the whole community. He had no doubt cholera was propagated through foul water; but whether this was the case or not, a thousand other diseases certainly were, and this largely accounted for the lamentable state of health of large numbers of the people in some parts of the Metropolis. Another question was the consolidation of sanitary powers. Sir Charles Adderley had introduced into the other House a consolidation Bill of 460 clauses. It certainly could not pass this year; but the earliest attention of the Government should be directed to these social and domestic questions, which had far greater effect on the morals, the health, the happiness, and the general tranquillity of the people than political measures. With a wise attention on the part of the Government to their social condition, the English people would be among the most easily governed peoples on the face of the earth.