[Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Liverpool Port Health Authority.

  • Port Health Authority of Liverpool. n 2014184020.
Date:
1919
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1919] / Medical Officer of Health, Liverpool Port Health Authority. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/142 (page 8)
    The Rats Older, 1919, and the Amending Order, 1919, have now been replaced by the Rats and Mice Destruction Act, 1919. This Act applies to a vessel as if it were land and the master of the vessel is deemed to be occupier thereof. It requires that an occupier shall take such steps as are necessary and reasonably practicable for the destruction of rats and mice on. his land, or for preventing such land from becoming infested with rats and mice. In case of failure to take such steps the occupier is liable, on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding .£5, or if he has been served with a notice under this Act, not exceeding ,£20. The master of a ship who does not take all necessary reasonable practicable steps for pre¬ venting the escape of rats from his ship after receipt of a notice under the Order, is liable to a fine not exceeding £20. The Act is quoted in ertenso in the Appendix to this Report. Plague is a disease of rats, and the danger of the importation of plague is intimately associated with the prevalence of rats on ship-board. It may be mentioned here that the Spanish Government has recently insisted that in future all ships entering Spanish ports from the British Isles must be able to present a certificate stating that they have been properly fumigated at the port whence they sailed. The Aliens Act was in abeyance during the War, as special arrange¬ ments were made for dealing with aliens desiring to enter this country, but the Aliens Order- of 1919 came into force on April 1st, 1920. The Port Sanitary Authority is mainly concerned with the Medical Provi¬ sions of this Act, the purpose of which is to secure the exclusion of aliens (1) whose presence is likely to be a danger to the health of the people in this country ; or (2) who are likely to become a charge upon public funds, either by reason of their existing or probable future incapacity to support themselves and their dependants or because their condition is such as to render it probable that they will need treatment and care which they are unable to pi'ovide from their own resources. With the above objects in view, every alien landing at Liverpool who int ends to remain in this country for a period of three months or longer, is medically examined by the Medical Officers to the Port Sanitary Authority, who report to the Immigration Officers on the state of health of the alien. All aliens who are lunatics, idiots, or mentally deficient,