On Thursday Mr. Balfour announced the intentions of the Government
in regard to the proposed Hospital Commission. It was proposed to appoint a Committee of three persons— Dr. Church, President of the Royal College of Physicians ; Professor Cunningham, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in Trinity College, Dublin ; and Lord Justice Romer—the terms of reference being "to report on the arrangements for the care and treatment of the sick and wounded during the South African Campaign." In the course of a subsequent debate raised on Mr. Labonchere's Motion to adjourn the House, it was urged that the composition of the Committee disregarded Lord Roberts's demand for business men, and gave an undue preponderance to medical opinion. The appeal to the Government to enlarge the Committee proving general, Mr. Balfour yielded to the sense of the House " against his own judgment," and promised to consult his colleagues with a view to adding two more members. Personally we are entirely of Mr. Balfour's opinion as to the superior efficiency of a small Committee. But it would never have done to allow lay opinion to be submerged. One doctor, one lawyer, one man of business would have been the ideal combination.
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