AUTHORITIES' RESPONSIBILITIES : DISCUSSION 101 



maintained at such a high average (they had always been at 

 the top or next to it during the last ten or fifteen years) it 

 was time that a Conference like that should appeal to the 

 Imperial authority to send a special Commissioner into such 

 districts to get at the special reasons why those high death- 

 rates prevailed. 



The CHAIRMAN said that if Mr. Irving would do him the 

 honour to refer to the Report which the Local Government 

 Board had just issued he would see on page 65 there was 

 a discussion of the differences between Burnley and Nelson, 

 and in the last sentence of the Report it was stated that 

 many points required to be cleared up, and that local inquiry 

 was needed before any more accurate statements could be 

 made. That local inquiry would be made, and he was sure 

 Mr. Irving would be pleased to hear that. 



Dr. FREMANTLE, replying upon the discussion, said that 

 Mr. Phillips had spoken of the housing question, and on 

 that he did not think any more need be said, as they were 

 all agreed as to its importance. Then Mr. Phillips suggested 

 that the appointment of health visitors should be made com- 

 pulsory. He (Dr. Fremantle) thought that they did not 

 want to insist upon the compulsory employment of health 

 visitors by local bodies where voluntary agencies were 

 doing the work well. He was glad that Mr. Plummer had 

 raised the question of guardians having power to relieve 

 mothers and children during the progress of a strike. They 

 must all recognize the very large part that the guardians 

 had to play in this country as regarded infant 'mortality. 

 He was afraid they did not recognize it enough, but he was 

 also afraid that to relieve mothers and children during the 

 progress of a strike would involve such large political and 

 economic questions that they would be bringing the subject 

 into the political arena, and therefore it would not be a very 

 easy matter to take up that question at present. Dr. Kerr 

 had asked as regarded the National Central Association 

 what was to be the unit whether it was to be England and 

 Wales, or whether it should be England, Wales, Scotland, 

 and Ireland. On that point, as they knew, the Local 

 Government Board was at present separate for England 

 and Wales on the one hand, and Scotland and Ireland on 

 the other. That was they had three different Local Govern- 

 ment Boards. Whether it would be necessary or desirable 

 to unite them for the purposes of public health was another 

 problem. For that purpose they should treat them as 

 independent centres. As regarded the organization of 

 expert service, in his opinion there would naturally be one 

 for the whole country as there was now in the Army and 



