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ANTI . COMPULSORY VACCINA
TIION MEETING.
A public meeting was held in the Town 4
Halllast evening for the purpose of venti
lating public opinion with reference to the
existing law of compulsory vaccination.
His Worship the Mayor was voted to the
chair, and there was' a fair attendance of
burgesses. Mr. C. R. Law moved the fol
lowing resolution:-" That in the opinion
of this meeting vaccination is not proved 4
to have a preventive or modifying in- i
fluence upon small-pox, whilst it has been
shown to be a vehicle for the spread of I
many dangerous and loathsome diseases,"
and in doing so remarked that although
people had been fined and cast into prison
for non-compliance with the law of com
pulsory vaccination, yet they were irre- a
pressible and would not be put down.
They had been abused as a small body of
fanatics, and everything had been said and
dlone to put them down. Ho referred to
the fact that bleeding and inoculation had
once been the law of the land, but now they
were condemned, and the latter was
not permissible by law under severe
penalties, and the same would one day be
the law here, not perhaps in his day, but
the time would come. He ridiculed the
idea of it being treated purely as a medical
question. He maintained that whatever it
may have been in the past it was not now
a medical question, but the people's ques
tion,and it was forthopeople tosaywhether
it should be maintained or abandoned.
He then traced the rise of vaccination from
the time of its discovery by Jenner, and
quoted from a number of medical men as
to the inefficiency of vaccination to pre
vent small-pox or to stay its progress, and
stated that Dr.( Beaney, of Melbourne,
traced loathsome diseases from impure
lymph. He also stated that statistics were
not to be depended upon, as fictitious ones
had been invented by the friends of com
pulsory vaccination. In conclusion he
said it was a mere question of time before
this the most powerful vested interest
would be overthrown.
Mr. J. Wolfe seconded the resolution,
and gave some interesting statistics from
Victoria,quoting from Dr. Gunst in sup
port of his argument that impure lymph
was the cause of loathsome diseases being
communicated to otherwise healthy chil
dren. He concluded by saying that the
Government should give some guarantee 4
that the lymph was pure and undefiled
which they compelled people to be inocu
lated with.
DMr. J. G. Waller supported the resolu
tion, and spoke strongly against impure
lymph, alluding to numerous instances he
had seen of loathsome diseases being
conveyed to innocent children by such
means.
The Chairman then put the resolution,
which was carried unanimously.
Mr. C. K. Ellis moved the second reso
lution, "That this meeting sympathises
with the sufferers from the present prose
cutions under the Compulsory Vaccination
Act, and is of opinion that the time has
arrived when that act should be repealed,
and resolves that Parliament be petitioned
for that purpose." He said Tasmanians
were as law abiding a community as any,
and it was a stigma to cause them to be
brought up at the Police Court for non
compliance with such an act simply
because they thought it would be injurious
to their wives and families. He remarked
that he was not opposed to vaccination,but
to the arm to arm system.
Mr. Johnstone seconded the resolution,
remarking that sanitary measures were the
great precautions against small-pox, and
spoke in favour of the Bill of Health
about to be introduced into Parliament.
Mr. G. W. Batty supported the reColu
tion.
Mr. A. D. Nicholls also supported the
resolution, which upon being put to the
meeting was carried unanimously.
Mr. Wolfe proposed, and Mr. Law
seconded,a vote of thanks to the chairman
for the matnner in which he had presided
at their meeting, which was carried with
acclamation.
The Chairman, in returning thanks, said
that although he sympathised with much
that had been said he yet held an opinion
with respect to vaccination itself which
was opposed to probably a majority of the
meeting. Notwithstanding what had beeh
said, it was to a large extent a medical
question, and the results of vaccination
could be determined only by carefully pro
pared and carefully studied statistics. He
did not call in question the figures that
had been quoted during the evening, but
lie would submit a few on the opposite
side, whichli he thought were quite as
reliable. In the Sanitary Record for April
last was a paragraph referring to a pamphlet
recently published by Dr. Gayton giving
the results of a large number of small-pox
cnses which had come under his practice. Out
of 20S5 cases of well vaccinated persons the
deaths were 2097 per cent.; imperfectly
vaccinated,4834 cases; the deaths were 9'37;
said to have been vaccinated but without
evidence, 1295 cases; there were 27"18
deaths; unvaccinated, 2169 cases, 43"70
deaths occurred. Holding the firm con
viction that vaccination did tend to modify
and even prevent the disease, he believed
it to be within the province of the Logisla
ture to make it compulsory. But whilst
holding this view lie held with equal dis
tinctness that the Legislature should pro
vide the means for carrying out the law.
It was in this direction that the tyranny of
the act was manifest. It was cruel to
require persons to come from a great dis
tance with their children and then to be
unable to have those children vaccinated
because perhaps the Public Vaccinator had
i not arrived in the district or no trust
worthy lymph could be obtained. He
maintained that persons enjoying the
privileges of society must be prepared to
surrender many of their individual rights,
and as illustrative of this point said tha t
no one would be allowed to have dange
rous beasts or reptiles on his promises
though there was less objection to them,
as it was possible to control them, but
disoeso could not be so restricted. There
were several points on which all were
agreed, and if the Legislature provided a
plentiful supply of pure lymph much of
the opposition, if not all, would disappear.
(Applause.) For his own part, as far as he
could adopt the views of the Association he
would assist it to the utmost, and again
thanked them.
The meeting, which was of an orderly
charactor, was then brought to a cloe.
[We regret that pressure on our space
prevents us from giving a fuller report.]
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