XI. On the Equilibrium of a Column of Air, and the Atmos- PAGE PROCEEDINGS OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OF NINETY-SEVENTH SESSION. LIBRARY I.-Sanitation by Compulsion. By GILBERT THOMSON, M.A., C.E., Mem. San. Inst., President of the Sanitary and Social Economy Section of the Society; Ex-President of the Sanitary Association of Scotland. [Read before the Society, 1st November, 1899.] THE liberty of the individual to do what is right in his own eyes is not only subject to many limitations, but the number and stringency of these are steadily increasing. Nothing perhaps is responsible for so much of this increase as sanitation. Nor is the reason far to seek. The dwelling, the personal habits, and the sanitary or insanitary surroundings of Robinson Crusoe, in the early days of his sojourn in the famous island, were of absolutely no importance to the remainder of the human race. This state of affairs, strictly speaking, came to an end on the appearance of the man Friday; and when, further on in the story, the occupants of the island became considerably more numerous, there immediately arose a need, probably unrecognised, for some sanitary supervision. Although in dealing with our own country we can scarcely go back to such a primitive state of affairs, we have still to a certain extent an analogy. The country as a whole, and the large towns in particular, are increasing in population at a rate which presents many definite dangers. What might in a small community be done with comparative safety, becomes more dangerous in proportion as the population is increased, and therefore if we are even to maintain our sanitary position much has to be done. But we cannot be content with maintaining our position, for the increase of sanitary knowledge has on the one hand shown us that our position is bad one, and has on the other hand put into our possession many new weapons for the battle with disease. Sanitarians, therefore, are earnest, in their desire that, whether by free will or by compulsion, these weapons should be used to the full. Even if we start with the assumption that every individual is anxious to do his duty by the public, there would still be ample room for official interference. Ignorance and prejudice have to be reckoned with, and these, even when coupled with the best intentions, do not make for the public safety. One man has conscientious objections to vaccination; another man, or perhaps more frequently woman, believes conscientiously that she is doing a good turn to the children of her neighbour by allowing them to catch infection from a mild case of scarlet fever; while I have met a man who assured me (I presume conscientiously) that he considered the water supply of London preferable to that of Glasgow. Besides the wilfully blind, there are multitudes who would willingly do what was best, if they only were sure how; and for them compulsory enactments are like the finger-posts on a country road -they point out the way to those who are anxious to walk in it. It would be impossible, even if it were desirable, for me to take up in detail the almost innumerable points at which we are hemmed in by sanitary regulations. "The liberty of the subject" is a principle which we rightly regard as sacred; but, as great principles have to yield to greater, even this has to give way when the liberty would result in danger to the community. The community has assumed the right, which is practically unquestioned, to dictate to any of its members how he is to conduct his most private affairs, if these trench on the public well-being. I would be the last to complain of this state of affairs. Although I have not yet attained the dignity of a hoary head and a venerable age, still I am old enough, and have been actively engaged in sanitary work long enough, to have seen as common everyday sights practically all the horrors from which these regulations seek to protect us. I have seen, I suppose, almost every variety of scamped sanitary work, which the ingenuity, or stupidity, or cupidity of builder or plumber or designer ever devised. I have occupied a bedroom with several reeking ashpits as the foreground of its view, to say nothing of box-beds in various parts of the country; I have as a boy gone for water to wells of high local reputation, which would not be attractive in the light of later |