ch as the total drink-prohibition fad, the anti-dog-muzzling fad, and
others, each of which was worth some votes. Even the Peculiar People, a
society that makes a religion of killing helpless children by refusing
them medical aid when they are ill, were good for ten or twelve. Here,
however, I drew the line, for when asking whether I would support a bill
relieving them from all liability to criminal prosecution in the event
of the death of their victims, I absolutely declined to give any such
undertaking.

But although all these fancies had their followers, it was the
anti-vaccination craze that really had a hold in Dunchester. The
"A.V.'s," as they called themselves, were numbered by hundreds, for the
National League and other similar associations had been at work here for
years, with such success that already twenty per cent. of the children
born in the last decade had never been vaccinated. For a while the
Board of Guardians had been slow to move, then, on the election of a new
chairman and the representations of the medical profession of the town,
they instituted a series of prosecutions against parents who refused to
comply with the Vaccination Acts. Unluckily for the Conservative party,
these prosecutions, which aroused the most bitter feelings, were still
going on when the seat fell vacant; hence from an electoral point of
view the question became one of first-class importance.

In Dunchester, as elsewhere, the great majority of the anti-vaccinators
were already Radical, but there remained a residue, estimated at from
300 to 400, who voted "blue" or Conservative. If these men could be
brought over, I should win; if they remained faithful to their colour, I
must lose. Therefore it will be seen that Stephen Strong was right when
he said that the election would be won or lost upon anti-vaccination.

At the first public meeting of the Conservatives, after Sir Thomas's
speech, the spokesman of the anti-vaccination party rose and asked him
whether he was in favour of the abolition of the Compulsory Vaccination
laws. Now, at this very meeting Sir John Bell had already spoken
denouncing me for my views upon this question, thereby to some extent
tying the candidate's hands. So, after some pause and consultation,
Sir Thomas replied that he was in favour of freeing "Conscientious
Objectors" to vaccination from all legal penalties. Like most half
measures, this decision of course did not gain him a single vote,
whereas it