The Shadow of Great Britain-Chapter 707 - 341: Everyone’s an Insider

Although it was known from the start that the Central Health Committee would not bring any good news, the written documents and oral statements provided by Russell and Dr. Barry made it clear that the current situation was far worse than simply ’terrible’ could describe.

Even before the cholera epidemic struck, the British Government had taken notice of this disease that originated from the South Asian subcontinent and had sent experts to countries where cholera had broken out to study it. They had even decided to resurrect the medieval practice of port quarantine that was used against the Black Death in order to prevent cholera from entering Britain.

However, when cholera actually reached this small island, their efforts quickly crumbled.

In the past two months, over 700 local health committees had been established across Britain, but due to the national character and ancient tradition of self-governance of Britain, the Central Health Committee had limited influence over these local committees.

Many measures that were considered feasible by the Central Health Committee, when passed down to the local level, could only be issued as ’advisory’ initiatives to avoid accusations of trampling on the rights of free citizens and a resurgence of autocracy.

Of course, apart from concerns about such ideological attacks, the Cabinet leaned towards compromise also because of the pressure exerted by traders who worried about the impact on maritime trade in Parliament. On the other hand, they also feared the local riots that could erupt at any time around government agencies, hospitals, and cemeteries.

Thus, when the Central Health Committee’s series of health recommendations reached the localty, all that was often accomplished was a steadfast commitment to garbage sweeping.Undoubtedly, cleaning up city waste is indeed a crucial part of controlling infectious diseases and can contribute to improving sanitary conditions.

But the issue is, aside from sweeping garbage, there isn’t much else praiseworthy that the locals have done.

However, their reason for doing so, to a certain extent, was out of necessity.

After all, sweeping garbage is the cheapest, most efficient, and most visibly confirmative measure that the government is taking action.

As for the other measures suggested by the Central Health Committee, they may indeed be excellent, but aside from a few areas, they are simply unaffordable. Moreover, local health committees, as temporary organizations, truly do not have any legal powers granted to them by Parliament.

There isn’t any public health law nationwide, and the Cabinet can’t directly bypass Parliament to grant temporary administrative powers to local health committees. In the end, all they really can do is make a show on the streets.

What’s worse, even making a show on the streets, many places have declared their ’ammunition depots’ exhausted after two months of waging war against cholera.

According to reports from the Central Health Committee, Devonshire’s Exeter local health committee urgently sent a message to London just yesterday.

The authorities in Exeter announced they were in a state of complete paralysis because they could not provide separate cemeteries, nor had the capability to continue cleaning the filth from private homes.

They requested the Cabinet to allow the Poor Law associations formed by the combination of several Poor Law commissions in the area to take over the powers of the Exeter health committee, based on an earlier order from the Privy Council.

It was not until Arthur read about this situation that he understood why the Bishop of Exeter had taken the lead on the front lines. It turned out that the local health committee was hamstrung at every turn. Without the Bishop’s assistance in presiding over funerals and using his own power to help the containment efforts, there might not even have been a cemetery plot available. ƒreeωebnovel.ƈom

However terrible Exeter’s situation may be, compared to the news from Lewes, they were still better off.

After all, with a reverent and socially responsible figure like the Bishop of Exeter at the helm, the congregation of Exeter, though only about ten thousand strong, was at least united, with the wealthy contributing money and the able contributing effort.

Mr. James Snell, chairman of the Lewes local health committee, had earlier sent a petition to the Privy Council for financial assistance from the Government, which was rife with denunciations and sarcasm towards the local rich.

He stated, "For a town like Lewes, do not expect any voluntary donations to provide effective preventative measures to guarantee the sanitation and comfort of the living environment for the lower classes. We have no municipal funds, and even the police maintenance funds, which can be legally used for public health, are now exhausted."

As a result, Parliament urgently passed the ’Cholera Act’, in which the Government demanded that local parish committees pay part of the public health expenses, and if the parishes refused to pay these expenses, they would face corresponding penalties.

Punishments included but were not limited to: parish committees were not allowed to deduct taxes during the punishment period and had to return funds from the church treasury to the parish residents.

However, although the law was established,

the feedback received by the Central Health Committee clearly showed the law was not living up to expectations.

Not every Priest was as willing to take responsibility as the Bishop of Exeter. Although the old man had once denounced Scotland Yard for the ’London Nightingale Epidemic’, his actions afterwards truly seemed to be purely out of public spirit.