[289] Baron’s Life of Jenner, vol. i., p. 135.
[CHAPTER XLI.]
COMPULSION INTENSIFIED—1861 AND 1867.
The Vaccination Act of 1853 imposed a forfeit not exceeding 20s. on any parent or guardian who failed to have a child vaccinated within three months of birth; but experience revealed a grave defect in the law. There was no provision for the prosecution of defaulters; and those who had no faith in vaccination, or accounted it a nuisance, enjoyed immunity without serious annoyance. To meet this defect a bill was introduced to Parliament in 1861, providing that “the guardians or overseers of any parish may appoint some person to institute and conduct proceedings for enforcing obedience.” The bill was passed through the House of Commons under the care of Mr. Robert Lowe, meeting with little resistance, and with less in the Lords. In vindicating the measure, 10th July, 1861, Mr. Lowe observed—
Parliament in 1853 passed an Act for Compulsory Vaccination, but owing to a defect in the provision of expenses for prosecution, it has fallen into desuetude. When the present Government was formed in 1859, a clause was introduced to the Public Health Act correcting the defect; but under pressure of the Member for Finsbury [Mr. Thomas Duncombe] I surrendered it. It has been to me a bitter reflection that I did so; for I am convinced that the sacrifice of that clause has occasioned the loss of thousands of lives in this country.
The question is sometimes asked, Why is it that association with horses is so prejudicial to morality? This interrogation might be accompanied with another, namely, Why is it that the advocacy of vaccination is so frequently associated with romance and rant? That public vaccination had fallen into desuetude was untrue. There were fluctuations from year to year, but the rate was maintained without practical abatement. That in 1861 it could be said that thousands of lives had been lost because prosecuting officers were not provided in 1859, was romance and rant without mitigation. In England and Wales there died of smallpox—
| In 1858 | 6460 | In 1862 | 1628 | |
| 1859 | 3848 | 1863 | 5964 | |
| 1860 | 2749 | 1864 | 7684 | |
| 1861 | 1320 | 1865 | 6411 |
Where then were the thousands of lives lost from the formation of the Government in 1859 to 1861? and where were the lives saved after the enactment of the vital clause? But who that knew Mr. Robert Lowe could believe that he was convinced that the surrender of the clause occasioned the loss of thousands of lives, and that the loss was to him a bitter reflection? Would not the vulgar version of the invocation, O mihi beate Martine! have been appropriate to the situation?
Further, continued Mr. Lowe—