76
empowers you to carry out the measures to be taken to suppress and prevent the spread of
bubonic plague. These measures should comprise an organization for -
(1) the discovery of all cases of plague;
(2) the treatment of all cases in hospitals;
(3) the gradual segregation, as far as possible, of the probably infected, that is, of those living in the same room with or in close attendance on a person who is found to have the plague.
These are the objects to the attainment of which your energies should be directed. I am sure I need not do more than indicate that in all cases of obstinacy or misunderstanding on the part of those whom it is our endeavour to benefit, persuasion and gentleness should be used; that the privacy of women should be disturbed as little as possible and only by women ; and that the caste and religious usages of the people should be treated with all consideration.
It is essential that the hospitals should, as far as is possible and practicable, be open to the friends and relatives of the patients, who should be, as far as possible, accommodated near them and encouraged to come and see for themselves that the patients are well cared for.
Everything that can be done is to be done to avoid creating a feeling of distrust, and I hope that those employed under you will by combining persuasion and explanation with firmness avoid this evil.
Every advantage also should be taken of the services of natives of influence. Many influential gentlemen of the various communities, most of whom are Justices of the Peace, have offered their services, and I have great confidence that the assistance they will render you will be really beneficial.
In carrying out these measures you will have at your disposal the whole staff already employed in plague operations in the city of Bombay. You are empowered to add to their number and to arrange and organize them in what you consider to be the most effective way.
Believe me, yours sincerely,
SANDHURST."
"Malabr Point, 5th March 1897. DEAR MR. PRESIDENT,
My Government are about to issue a notification under the Epidemic Diseases Act appointing an Executive Committee to carry out, under the orders of Government, all the measures within the city of Bombay that we consider necessary to check and prevent the spread of the plague. It is my wish that there should be no misunderstanding of the reasons which have led to this course.
2. The epidemic has now been prevalent for more than five months; since October last it has been severe; during the past three months it has been so severe, that the total number of deaths has been from three to four times the normal number; and this without making any allowance for the large diminution that we know has taken place in the population of the city. Steps to check the spread of the disease have been taken; the Municipal Commissioner and the servants of your Corporation have worked with an energy and a devotion to duty that have commanded our unstinted admiration. The cleansing and disinfecting of the city have been thorough. It is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the continued presence of the epidemic in Bombay to its present extent is conclusive proof that it cannot be kept in check by cleausing and disinfecting, and all the other measures that have so far been relied on as sufficient. Other measures are needed. If we cannot summarily kill the plague, we can, I am advised and I believe, check its spread, reduce its strength and limit and weaken it, till it will die a natural death. But we cannot do this unless we take larger and different measures from those we have hitherto adopted. And first of all it is impossible to deal with this disease unless we know where and to what extent it exists. We must therefore search for and discover it. This is merely matter of enquiry, but the enquiry must be more widespread, more constant and more systematic than heretofore. Next, we must provide a sufficient number of hospitals, at convenient places, with every regard to religion and sex, for all who suffer from plague, and we must ensure the removal to them of all persons so suffering ; we must treat them well and show that treatment in a hospital is the most humane and hopeful course that can be adopted. Those in charge of hospitals will be instructed that, as far as possible and practicable, they should be open to friends and relatives of the patients, who should be encouraged to come and see for them- selves that the patients are well cared for. I am glad to find that private effort has already provided several hospitals; that is a good and wholesome sign. This is a time when the city needs every help and support that its citizens can give; it is the duty of each one of us, by example and persuasion, to demonstrate that treatment of plague patients in hospitals is essential to the welfare of the patient and to limit the possibilities of spreading the disease. It is a duty that I hope the members of the Corporation will take upon themselves earnestly and actively.