ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION CHAIRMAN'S ADDRESS 43 



Alderman BENJAMIN BROADBENT : Mr. President, as a 

 member of the Committee of this Conference and on behalf 

 of the honorary foreign members, it has been enjoined upon 

 me to convey to this Conference of English-speaking 

 peoples the good wishes and the appreciations of the various 

 nationalities they represent. Although this is purely an 

 English-speaking Congress, it has attracted the sympathies 

 of other countries; in fact, those who are interested in this 

 movement, whatever their country, cannot keep away from 

 such a Conference as this, and we have present representa- 

 tives from Russia, Germany, France, Belgium, and other 

 countries, and it is on their behalf that I beg to present 

 my greetings and congratulations. 



This concluded the formal opening of the Conference. 



ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION. 



FIRST SESSION, AUGUST 4. 



CHAIRMAN: ARTHUR NEWSHOLME, ESQ., C.B., M.D., 

 D.P.H., MEDICAL OFFICER TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

 BOARD, ENGLAND. 



The CHAIRMAN : Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we are 

 now ready for our sectional business. This is the Adminis- 

 trative Section, and we have before us a very important and 

 an admirable programme, including a large number of 

 papers on " The Responsibility of Central and Local 

 Authorities in the matter of Infant and Child Hygiene." 

 All these papers deal with direct infant and child welfare 

 work, as distinguished from the indirect work of sanitation. 

 This direct work with regard to child welfare, as I have 

 stated in the report that has been alluded to already, consists 

 principally of four divisions. First you have the ante-natal 

 aspect, which, happily, is coming more and more to the 

 front, and under that heading we have to consider means 

 for the prevention of the disease of syphilis, which is one 

 of the most important causes of infant mortality. In the 

 second place comes in the care of the midwife, and how- 

 ever good and important the work of the midwives is at the 

 present time, everyone will agree that there is very much 

 scope for improvement. Then if the work of these mid- 

 wives is to be well done, and that of the monthly nurses 

 working with them, it is quite clear that most important 

 work and advice to the mother during the first week or ten 



