It is often said that unvaccinated children are in special danger. That fable has been dissipated by a table given by Mr. Neville Chamberlain (who appeared quite unable to grasp the meaning of his own figures) on July 23rd, 1923. We reproduce it from the Star of July 26th, in order to incorporate the editorial comment.
The following table gives the number of deaths per million living from small-pox arranged in decades, and divided up according to the ages of the sufferers:
| Under 5 | 5-10 | 10-15 | |
| 1861-70 | 638 | 145 | 56 |
| 1871-80 | 518 | 285 | 138 |
| 1881-90 | 80 | 33 | 26 |
| 1891-1900 | 29 | 10 | 3 |
| 1901-1910 | 22 | 7 | 6 |
| 1911-1920 | 0.57 | 0.32 | 0.11 |
It will be noted that there has been an enormous decrease in the small-pox mortality among children under 15.
At the beginning of these periods (1871) It was officially recorded that 97.5 per cent, of the whole population between the ages of two and 50 was vaccinated.
At the end of these periods (1921) only 38 per cent of the births was vaccinated.
There has admittedly been a constant decline in the number of children vaccinated.
The Editor of Truth, commenting upon the above figures on August 1st, 1923, observed:
"No doubt Dr. Garstang will be of the opinion that for calling attention to these incontrovertible facts I ought to be sent to Broadmoor. For my part I think that a man who cannot see the significance of the above figures and those referred to in Truth last week ought not to allowed to practise on the pubic as a doctor."
Dr. Garstang is a medical man who, at a recent Medical Congress, had described all anti-vaccinationists as "criminal lunatics." They can at least draw a logical deduction from figures so easily understood.
The following figures form a complete refutation of the claims for vaccination. They were given in a written answer by Lord E Percy to a Parliamentary question by Mr March, MP to the Minister of Health on July 16th 1923
| Year | Vaccinations per cent of births | Smallpox deaths | Smallpox death-rate per 100,000 population | Deaths from cowpox and other effects of vaccination |
| 1872 | 85 | 19,022 | 82.1 | |
| 1873 | 85.2 | 2,303 | 9.8 | |
| 1874 | 85.05 | 2,084 | 8.8 | |
| 1875 | 84.9 | 849 | 3.5 | 37 |
| 1876 | 86 | 2,408 | 9.9 | 2132 |
| 1877 | 86.3 | 4,278 | 17.3 | 39 |
| 1878 | 85.3 | 1,856 | 7.4 | 36 |
| 1879 | 86 | 536 | 2.1 | 41 |
| 1880 | 85.1 | 648 | 2.5 | 58 |
| 1881 | 86.6 | 3,098 | 11.9 | 65 |
| 1882 | 85.9 | 1,317 | 5.0 | 55 |
| 1883 | 85.6 | 957 | 3.6 | 53 |
| 1884 | 84.4 | 2,234 | 8.2 | 52 |
| 1885 | 84.7 | 2,827 | 10.3 | 45 |
| 1886 | 83.4 | 275 | 1.1 | 45 |
| 1887 | 82.8 | 506 | 1.9 | 45 |
| 1888 | 81.7 | 1,026 | 3.7 | 58 |
| 1889 | 79.8 | 23 | 0.1 | 43 |
| 1890 | 78 | 16 | .0 | 43 |
| 1891 | 75.8 | 49 | 0.2 | 58 |
| 1892 | 74.5 | 431 | 1.5 | 59 |
| 1893 | 72.3 | 1,457 | 4.9 | 50 |
| 1894 | 70.04 | 820 | 2.7 | 56 |
| 1895 | 67.8 | 223 | 0.7 | 42 |
| 1896 | 66.0 | 541 | 1.7 | 35 |
| 1897 | 62.4 | 25 | .0 | 26 |
| 1898 | 61.0 | 253 | 0.8 | 34 |
| 1899 | 66.4 | 174 | 0.5 | 25 |
| 1900 | 68.7 | 85 | 0.3 | 17 |
| 1901 | 71.4 | 356 | 1.0 | 22 |
| 1902 | 71.8 | 2,464 | 7.5 | 26 |
| 1903 | 75.4 | 760 | 2.3 | 28 |
| 1904 | 75.3 | 507 | 1.5 | 26 |
| 1905 | 75.8 | 116 | 0.4 | 29 |
| 1906 | 73.4 | 21 | 0.1 | 12 |
| 1907 | 70.9 | 10 | .0 | 13 |
| 1908 | 63.2 | 12 | .0 | 11 |
| 1909 | 59.8 | 21 | 0.1 | 8 |
| 1910 | 55.9 | 19 | 0.1 | 14 |
| 1911 | 52.3 | 23 | 0.1 | 10 |
| 1912 | 50.1 | 9 | .0 | 7 |
| 1913 | 46.5 | 10 | .0 | 6 |
| 1914 | 44.6 | 4 | .0 | 11 |
| 1915 | 45.5 | 13 | .0 | 4 |
| 1916 | 44.7 | 18 | .0 | 9 |
| 1917 | 43.3 | 3 | .0 | 5 |
| 1918 | 41.5 | 2 | .0 | 7 |
| 1919 | 40.6 | 28 | .1 | 19 |
| 1920 | 39.5 | 30 (b) | .1 | 8 |
| 1921 | 38.3 | 5 | .0 | 7 |
| 1922 | a | 27 | .1 | |
a. Figures for 1922 not yet available.
b. In addition one death certified as influenza, and so classified, was regarded by the Ministry of Health as definitely ascribable to haemorrhagic smallpox.
[Vaccination] [Smallpox]