PREVENTION OF ANTHRAX BILL. (Hansard, 25 June 1919)

THE EARL OF JERSEY

My Lords, in asking your Lordships to give a Second Reading to the Bill which stands in my name, I would first say that the Prevention of Anthrax Bill is based upon the recommendations of a Departmental Committee which reported last year, and that it may be regarded as uncontroversial in that it has the unanimous support of both employers and employees in the industries concerned. The subject is one on which labour opinion is particularly strong, and it is therefore of special importance in present circumstances that the Bill should pass into law at the earliest possible date.

It may, perhaps, be convenient if I give your Lordships a summary of the main points in the Report of the Departmental Committee, and then of the steps by which it is proposed to carry out their recommendations. Anthrax is a germ disease of world-wide distribution. Hoofed animals are particularly susceptible to it, and infection is conveyed through skins, hides, wool, hair, and bristles to workers who come into contact with these materials. The disease usually takes one of two forms—either external anthrax, caused by the virus gaining access to the system through 1058 an abrasion of the skin, or pulmonary or internal anthrax caused by inhalation of the virus. The latter is almost invariably fatal. The Committee were originally appointed to investigate the question so far as it concerned the worsted industry, but their investigations were subsequently extended over the entire field.

The whole question has received a good deal of attention since 1879, when Dr. J. H. Bell, of Bradford, first established the fact that the disease then known in Bradford as woolsorters' disease was in fact anthrax. A code of voluntary rules was brought into operation soon afterwards, and this system was continued until 1897, when a code of special rules for wool sorting was brought into legal operation as a result of the Departmental Committee in the previous year. Similar regulations for wool combing were established in 1901, and a combined code for wool sorting and wool combing was brought into force in 1905 and is still in operation. In the same year a trade body, known as the Bradford and District Anthrax Investigation Board, was set up and has since done very valuable work. In spite of all the precautions taken, there has been a steady increase in reported cases of anthrax during the past twenty years in the woollen and allied trades. The countries from which the dangerous materials are exported are India, Central Asia, Persia and Mesopotamia, Asia Minor, Peru, Russia, Egypt, and South Africa. Incidence of anthrax appears to be particularly severe among animals in India and all Asiatic countries. The Committee say, however, that— All materials must be regarded as being possibly infected, except those derived from countries in which notification of cases and measures for prevention of anthrax, including destruction of wool and hair of infected animals, are effectively enforced— —as in New Zealand. The most dangerous materials of all are East Indian goat hair, Persian wool, East Indian wool, and Egyptian wool.

The Committee report that the existing regulations are unequal to the task of coping with the nature of the disease; and they go on further to say that— The danger of infection from anthrax in wool is not one which can be dealt with advantageously by means of regulations, and, given the satisfactory alternative, is one which ought not to be dealt with in factories. 1059 The consideration of these points leads the Committee to their first recommendation, namely, that— The policy of attempting to control the danger of infection from anthrax in wool by regulations under the Factory Act should be abandoned, and instead the principle of compulsory disinfection substituted. A special Sub-Committee was appointed to investigate the possibilities of disinfection. This Sub-Committee succeeded in evolving a system of disinfection which appears to be completely effective without damaging the material. The Committee are strongly of opinion that disinfection should be brought into operation immediately, even though on a small scale, and that routine disinfection of East Indian goat hair, Persian wool, East Indian wool, and Egyptian wool should be established as soon as possible.

To turn to the steps taken to carry out the Committee's Report, they are as follows. In the Anthrax Prevention Bill it is suggested that two main provisions should receive effect—namely, first, power to prohibit by Order in Council the importation of goods infected or likely to be infected with anthrax, either absolutely or subject to specified conditions such as have reference to particular ports and disinfection; secondly, power for the Secretary of State to provide and maintain (or to arrange for the provision and maintenance of) the necessary works for the disinfection of infected goods, and to make rules for the payment of fees by the importers of infected goods. As regards offences the Secretary of State may, by Order in Council, be given the same powers of dealing with improperly imported goods as are possessed by Customs officers under the Customs Consolidation Act, 1876—that is to say, powers of seizure and destruction. Clause 2, paragraph 2, authorises the incurring of expenditure for carrying the Act into effect "up to such an amount as the Treasury may approve."

The next main provision is that which provides for the trial disinfection station and appointment of a Committee. A Committee has been appointed, including representatives of the trade and of the Home Office and the Local Government Board, with Sir W. Middlebrook, M.P., as Chairman, to advise as to the arrangements to be made for the establishment of the trial disinfection station recommended in the Committees Report; to carry out disinfection, and control the working of the 1060 station subject to the instructions of the Home Office; to make recommendations as to the construction and working of the disinfecting stations and the arrangements necessary for bringing the complete scheme into operation; and to advise on any other matters which may be referred to them in connection with the scheme. As soon as the trial station is working, it is proposed to start with disinfecting East Indian goat hair (the most dangerous of all varieties, and at present subject to no regulation), of which between 4,000,000 lbs. and 5,000,000 lbs. are imported annually.

Then we have to consider the possibility of international co-operation. The Department are in consultation with the Foreign Office, the Colonial Office, and the India Office, and it is hoped that international action in the matter may ultimately come about. As this Bill is part of the Government policy to improve the lot of the workers in the country and as it has received general and indeed unanimous support, I trust that your Lordships will see your way to grant it a Second Reading. I beg to move.