The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1911. HOSPITALS’ REPORT.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 63, 28 October 1911, Page 4

The Stratford Evening Post WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE EGMONT SETTLER. SATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1911. HOSPITALS’ REPORT.

1 lie report of Dr. Valintine, InspectorGeneral of Hospitals and Charitable Aid, explains its late appearance before Parliament this yfear as -attributable to the neglect of certain hospital secretaries in not furnishing the required returns at an earlier date. Oar sympathies are certainly largely with the secretaries, for now-a-days one is kept pretty busy in making out returns of - some sort or another, and many of the requests made appear quite unreasonable. By this we do not refer particularly to the returns which hospital secretaries have to send in : they may or may not have their uses. However, to return to the report itself, Dr. Valintine tells ns that the birth-rate in the Dominion fell last, year -to 26.17 per thousand and that it is now the lowest in Australasia with the single exception of Victoria, where the rate is 21.55; but apparently he has overlooked South Australia, where in 1909, the year ho has taken for Victoria, the rate was 24.57 The average rate for the Commonwealth in 1909 was 26.40, so that while wo must deplore that our own rate is again declining there is no reason to suppose in the absence of later statistics that it has fallen very far below that of our neighbours. The deathrate in Now Zealand has risen from 1.22 per thousand to 9.71 per thousand, chiefly on account of a rather serious increase in the infantile mortality, hut it is still appreciably lower than the average rate in Australia for 1909 and nearly 50 per cent, lower than the average rate in Great Brittain. The Inspector-General makes recornmendhtions for protecting the health of the community against many mils,'and In's advice is valuable and in the main ought to he followed as regards these paints. One matter he lays special stress upon is the fact that the great bulk of the population

is unvaeciuated, ‘’‘unprotected against small-pox” as lie puts it, and suggests that if it is not intended to enforce the present law it would ho bettor to repeal it altogether and to substitute \ measure empowering the Government to require “all persons within a certain area” to he vaccinated in the event of an out break of small-pox. it is not likely that this course will he followed, though wo certainly agree a ithi Dr. Valintine that it might he well to repeal the present law relating to vaccination. It is certainly unpopular, and in all parts of the world there is a growing tendency to avoid submission to the operation.