138 ADMINISTRATIVE SECTION 



it would be well if one thing was secured before others, 

 namely, that in the community where the work was being 

 carried on every child born should be dealt with, and that 

 all the births should be taken into account. It was quite 

 true that the heaviest mortality occurred in the poorer dis- 

 tricts and in those parts of the district, whether it be a town 

 or a rural district, where the conditions of life were least 

 enviable; and it followed from that that it would suffice if 

 the work which was set in hand dealt primarily with the 

 children born in those places, but he ventured to think that 

 greater good would result eventually if no distinction were 

 made and if all the children born were visited. They had 

 found as a result of what they had done in Huddersfield 

 that the assistance of the Public Health Department was 

 not only welcomed among all classes of the community, but 

 it was a fact that they received complaints from time to time 

 where they had not visited in the homes of the well-to-do 

 classes as well as in the homes of the poorer people. He 

 did not think it was necessary that he should attempt to 

 describe in detail the conditions of such a field of work. He 

 thought it quite obvious that it was well to try to increase 

 that sentiment. He hoped the inference would not be made 

 that he attached too little importance to the isolated works 

 of consultations, schools for mothers, and all the other 

 multifarious efforts which were put forward. He was quite 

 sure that all of those things tended in the proper direction, 

 and that they all did a large amount of good. 



Sir WILLIAM THOMPSON (Registrar-General, Ireland) 

 said: In dealing with this important subject, it will be at 

 once conceded that a large death-rate of children under i 

 year of age means a great amount of sickness amongst the 

 population under i year, from which we infer that a certain 

 proportion at least are able to attain and exceed the age of 

 i year, but are necessarily weak and deteriorated in health. 

 This is what all who work in this important section want 

 to avoid. On the other hand, a low death-rate means less 

 sickness and consequently healthier children. 



Although the general death-rate and the death-rate from 

 tuberculosis are higher in Ireland than in England or 

 Scotland, still we can boast that our death-rate of children 

 under i year is lower than in either of these countries, ^and 

 is amongst those countries whose death-rate is specially 

 low. To put this matter forward concisely, I have made 

 out two statements, the first showing the number of deaths 

 of male and female infants under i year of age per 1,000 of 

 the births of males and females respectively, registered in 

 Ireland during the decennial periods 1871-1880, 1881-1890, 



