A SANITARY BLACK LIST

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17213, 15 July 1919, Page 9

A SANITARY BLACK LIST

. Sir, The secret of successful sanitation IS system. There mast be local control and central direction. [ have seen it work, and been intimately connected WL ° a method which produced an immediate and lasting improvement in the general condition of an entire countv • the whole scheme being the idea of "a'wellknown architect who for some years the chairman of a sanitary committee, which he converted from a mere recording body into an active force .for the betterment of the community. The doctor and sanitary inspector" of each town and village were made responsible tor the health and sanitation of their district, having sufficient powers under existing law to bring into the local court any offender against the public health. .livery month the central committee received complete reports, which were carefully epitomised and included in a county report, which was widely published, with remarks and recommendations. The mast effective part- of this report was a ''black list" ana the setting out in heavy type of the names of the -healthy localities. The loss of trade and reputation which this speedily caused in black-listed" neighbourhoods led to competition in sanitary matters and strenuous endeavours on the part of those listed to avoid such unenviable notoriety. "Slums" were cleansed, nuisances abated» death rates reduced, and the approval of the sanitarv committee eagerly sought. I have now" in my possession a copy of one of these reports. The members of the medical profession included in the scheme vied with each other in obtaining good records and the reduction in disease deterred them' not' at all. The lowering of the infant- deathrate was especially aimed at, as far as sanitation couM affect it. The orieiftator of the Plnnket system in England— ! Henry Bread bent, of Huddersfeeld, who : brought the idea from France about 27 [years ago—was hardly m<-re successful in j bis way than was the architect of whom 1 1 write. The amount of work involved [ was great, and it was done without payment and against, a t-id° of abns« -arid opposition at. the outset Pioneers in sanitation always unite obstructive tactics unavoidably. it seems absurd to talk of teaching sanitation to the pe<" l ,',x of a country having the lowest Heath-rite in the world, but this blessing is. the re suit, not of intelligent effort, hut of ample space, air. sunlight, and rain : and when close settlement alters conditio: s sins of omission and commission become obvious. When the little boy from Per sonby shouts at the little boy from whichever is the dirty part of Auckland. "Yah' Who lives in the black list"" ve shall be getting nearer perfection. HrnERT A. Yeldkim.