VACCINATION OF POSTAL OFFICIALS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIV, Issue 179, 29 July 1903, Page 5

VACCINATION OF POSTAL OFFICIALS.

The following telegrams referring to

the order recently issued for the compulsory vaccination of postal officials have passed between the Postmasteri General and the Auckland Anti-Vaccina-

tion League: —

"We, undersigned, representing Auckland Anti-Compulsory Vaccination League, protest against edict requiring post orlice employees to be vaccinated as unnecessary, futile, a great .moral; and physical wrong.—Edwin Cox, president; Thomas Read, treasurer." ■

To this Sir Joseph Ward repli&d: —"i: quite appreciate your protest, but; the general public, who are being served by the postal service, must be considered as well as the bulk of the employees themselves, and it was only decided to take the course that has been adopted after the matter had received the most careful consideration. —J. G. Ward."

Yesterday the League replied 'as follows:—"We maintain that to ignore public opinion and arbitrarily inflict vaccine disease, possibly others, upon defenceless Civil servants, on the disproved assumption that vaccination safeguards from smallpox, dishonours official anticompulsory assurances and imperils the health, peace, liberties and authority 6f the general public,—Edwin Cox,'•Thomas Read."