The Timaru Herald MONDAY, JULY 22, 1935. WHERE BRITAIN BEADS.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXX, Issue 20166, 22 July 1935, Page 6

The Timaru Herald MONDAY, JULY 22, 1935. WHERE BRITAIN BEADS.

“No country in the world has made such provision for millions of its people against some of the most serious disabilities of life,” declared the Minister of Health (Sir Kingsley-Wood) in a challenging statement in the course of a review of the work of his Department, presented to the House of Commons a day or two ago. If this claim has any foundation in fact, it is obvious that Britain needs no New Deal or NRA, because British statesmanship has found something better already in pursuit of the loftiest ideals. No one can refute the Ministerial statement that the creation of a scheme of national health insurance represents one of the most remarkable developments in public health in the last quarter of a century. Doubtless the Minister’s challenge will disturb the advocates of quack remedies, and withal rather seriously upset the critics. But the Minister did not advance a claim that cannot be substantiated as will be seen below: The national insurance health insurance scheme has distributed benefits to the value of £480,000,000 and has been copied by twelve other countries. Representatives from many other countries have visited England to study the working of the scheme.

The provisions of the widows’ and old-age pension scheme have been steadily expanding, and now includes 6,000,000 old-age pensions and 600,000 widows’ pensions, supplemented by 270,000 additional allowances in respect of children and 15,000 orphans’ pensions.

But the British Ministry of Health has not limited its activities to problems related to public health. Reports show that during the four years up to March 31, 1935, approximately one million houses had been built, and for the first six months of 1935 new houses for slum replacement have been sanctioned at the rate of 6000 per month in England and Wales. Manifestly the remarkable achievements of the Ministry of Health in the United Kingdom have been possible, because of tiie great awakening, and the nation itself is learning greater common sense in health matters, including diet and the increased use of daylight for openair leisure and recreation. It would be well, perhaps, for those who sometimes despair of the soundness of parliamentary government to look a little closer at the remarkable advance Britain is making not only along the road to recovery, but in the progressively improved conditions of the people. Some years ago Lord Riddell took those superior people severely to task who sneer at politicians, parliamentary and municipal. He insisted that for the most part, these sneers are cheap and unjustified. It is recognised that politicians and members of local governments are not angels, and they are certainly not wiseacres. Most of them do their best according to their lights. They may suffer from mental shortsightedness at times, and even astigmation, but these defects are inherent in the human make up. Moreover, facts speak for themselves; indeed, it may be noted that the achievements of the national and local governments, which operate under the constitution in democratic countries and enlightened communities have not been inconsiderable. Here is something of the records: Improved housing, improved wages, improved food, improved health, improved factories, improved roads, improved transport, improved furniture, more amusements, more games, more open spaces, more holidays, shorter working hours, better sanitation, less harshness in the criminal courts, better education, reform in the marriage laws, the emancipation of women, wider suffrage, more freedom. And if the report of the Ministry of Health means anything at all, it certainly furnishes definite proof that year after year improved conditions are being provided for the human family; indeed, it is an incontestable fact that notwithstanding four years of War and years of great depression, the condition of the mass of the people has vastly improved during this century, to say nothing of the preceding fifty years, and in this advance British statesmanship has led the van in the unrelenting endeavours that are being made to create living conditions that year by year more closely approach the ideal embodied in the perfect Commonwealth of British Nations.