The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-05 00:00:00

THE CHOLERA.

MANSION-SOUSE RELIEF COMMITTEE.

Yesterday at a meeting of the Working Com-
mittee held at the Mansion-house, a resolution was
unanimously passed, on the motion of the Lord
Mayor, to the effect that, in furtherance to the
conference recently held between them and the com-
mittee of the Bishop of London's Cholera Fund, at
which it was agreed without a dissentent voice that
a part of the funds of each committee be set aside
for immediate distribution among cholera conva-
lescent patients, the Mansion-house Committee
apply a sum of not less than £2,000 for that purpose,
and a copy of their resolution be forwarded to the
Bishop of London. The committee also passed a
unanimous resolution, and on the motion of the Lord
Mayor, in substance, that, in their opinion, it would
be undesirable for them to select any public institu-
tion, or to take upon themselves any responsibility
in reference to the placing of orphans, but that the
amount (£5,000) previously resolved to be devoted
by them to that purpose be divided among the
various local committees, and that these local com-
mittees should be empowered to select the erp:lau
children, and to arrange for their m,Liutenance, sub-
ject to the approval of the Mansion-house Com-
mittee. There were present at the meeting yester-
day, besides the Lord Mayor, Sir Mordaunt Wells,
Mr. John Abel Smith, M.P., Mr. Charles Hutton,
Mr. H. W. Ripley, Mr. Richard Hoare, Mr. R. B.
Wade, Mr. W. J. Maxwell, and Mr. R. N. Fowler.
The Lord Mayor took occasion to say that those
resolutions having. been adopted, and the informa-
tion they had received from various quarters lead-
ing them to believe that the disease was materially
subsiding, they would forthwith hold a conference
with the local committees, to whom they were all
deeply indebted for their cheerful and valuable so-
'who had done the work
aoLeirgantediontoin
tthheememweerlf,eanneyd,
in whom they had im-
plicit confidence, as to the disbursement of the
money which the Mansion-house Committee had set
aside both for the benefit of convalescents and for
the maintenance of children made orphans by the
epidemic. The whole committee signified their ap-
proval of the course suggested by the Lord Mayor
in those respects.

Touching the disposal of the many children made
orphans by the disease, Mr. Ernest Hart, who took
so conspicuous a part in bringing about the recent
inquiry into the condition of the sick poor in the
metropolitan workhouses, has addressed a letter to
the Lord Mayor describing the provision made for
the 18,000 children committed to the charge of
the Administration Generale de l'Assistance Pub-
lique of France and placed under the care of
nurses and protectors in the country. All
the children, .he says, admitted to the asylum are
immediately sent into the county, unless they are
subject to some affection which requires special care,
or their state of weakness or disca.se does not allow
them to travel. The placing children of one and two
years of age is carried out with facility, and under
conditions which are considered. to be satisfactory.
Some difficulty is found in providing guardians for
those of ages between six and 12. This is because
only six francs a month are allot ifed for them, which
is far from representing the cost of keep and cloth-
ing which they entail. This is for: the department of
the Seine. Others allow more. The Seine et Oise
pay 12f. a month for children from 6 to 7 years old,
and 12f. for children from 8 to 12 years, and so on.
It is proposed, he says, to offer za higher tariff within
the department of the Seine four these children. The
present effect of the very low )ra tes paid in the latter
is said to be that those who talte charge of them seek
to employ them in the care of e attle, or other occu-
pations, causing them to neglect -attendance at school,
which is, however, obligatory, In 1864, of 7,628
children from 6 to 8 years of age , who ought to have
attended the schools, 6,518 wen in regular attend-
ance, being 85 per cent. ; and, of 2,586 children from
10 to 12 years of age who ough t to have attended
religious instruction, 2,003 werei n attendance, being
77.45 per cent. The medical s =vice is so organised
that the guardians (nourriciers)
• have always at a
little distance from their home a doctor to whom re-
course may be had. It is thoi ight, however, that
country persons of the class emi iloyed are not suffi-
ciently disposed to call in early the services of the
physician, and this carelessness is considered to be
a cause of a great part of the rather large mor-
tality of the children in the CCIIIII try. It is com-
bated as much as possible. Them edical officers in-
dicate to the administration when a child requires
to be removed to an hospital asylu .m or to be sent
to the seaside. When a child has been preserved
from all accidents from its birth D p to the age of
12 its guardian is entitled to a reward of 50f.
In 1864 this was paid for 317 children (equal to
15,850 f.) Every person taking el) urge of a child aged
12 years, and undertaking to sui Tort And teach him