16 THE HEALTH OF HOBABT. 



DISCUSSION. 



Mr. Mault (Eno'ineerinnj Inspector of the Central Board 

 of Health), in openiiip^ the discussion, said that Mr. Johnston 

 in his very able paper liad so conjpletely proved that Hobart 

 was one of the healthiest cities in the world, and that the 

 only true method of usefully comparing the health conditions 

 of towns was, not by considering their respective " Total 

 Death Rates," but by regarding their '' Health Standard 

 Rates," as to leave the main purpose of the paper beyond 

 discussion. But, while fully agreeing with this main purpose, 

 there were several portions of the paper he could not agi-ee 

 with. For instance, Mr. Johnston in his opening sentences, 

 after referring to the very low death-rates from preventible 

 diseases during the last three years in Hobart, says : — 

 "Whatever may be the cause or combination of causes which, 

 during the last three years, have raised the City of Hobart 

 into a healthier state' than that of any other period of its 

 history, and have constituted it pre-eminently as among the 

 healthiest cities of the world, it is obvious that local, artificial, 

 or sanitary provisions have had very little to do with it, for a 

 similar fall in preventible causes of death, if not so great, 

 is distinctly traceable throughout Australia and Tasmania 

 generally during the same period, as shown in " — a table which 

 he gives. That was a very astonishing statement, especially 

 as the table that is said to ])rove it proves nothing of the kind, 

 but only shows that there has been going on for some time a 

 coincident diminution of death-rates in the various AustraUan 

 Colonies. The cause of this coincidence was surely not far to 

 seek, especially as the cause of a similar diminution in the 

 home countries was well known to be better sanitary adminis- 

 tration. 



From the passing of the Registration Act of 1838 in 

 England till the year 1875, in which the present Public Health 

 Act was passed, *the rate of mortality, though varying greatly 

 from year to year — the differences being sometimes more than 

 4 to the 1000 — continued to average for the whole period 

 22-55 to the thousand living. But on the passing of the Act 

 improved sanitation began immediately to tell on the death 

 rate : for the first five years, that is 1875-1879, the mean rate 

 was 21-2 to the 1000 ; for the next five years it was reduced to 

 19*6 to the 1000 ; and during the next five years it was fiirther 

 reduced to 18-6 to the 1000. And the rate was not only 

 lowered, but it was steadied. Once, three years after the passing 

 of the Act, the rate rose about 0*6 to the 1000, but since then 

 it has never risen more than 0'4 to the 1000. With regard to 

 the reduction effected, it is a remarkable fact that the jnaximuni 



