STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 51, 25 November 1918, Page 6

STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER

GOOD NEWS FROM ALL

CENTRES

Acting on medical advice, the Hon. G. W. Kussall, Jlinister of Public Heultli, took ;v rest on Saturday and Sunday, but he hopes to be back to duty to-day. Interviewed by a Dominion representative' yesterday, the Ministei stated that from all parts of tlie Dominion ;t!ie news continued satisfactory, especially horn Auckland, where to-day a partial reeumptiou of ordinary business would probably be arranged for. That city, it must be remembered, however, wast-jime ten days ahead of the rest of New Zealand, and consequently was likely to get through its trouble earlier. On the West Coast the position was also much better. On Saturday he . had received from tlic Mayor of Greymouth the following telegram:—"Position greatly improved. Business people open premises to-day. Doctors aud health authorities consider no harm res'uine normal business, operations in Urey hospital district." In Wellington. Koferring to Wellington, Mr. Itussell states that out of tho 414 beds available at the emergency hospitals throughout the city there were, at noon oil Saturday, 41 vacant; there were 27 admissions during the previous 24 hours and 23 discharges, and the deaths during the same period numbered nine, which was a perceptible diminution on the previous day's record. Out of the SI beds at the three convalescent homes there were 22 vacant, and during the 21 hours U convalescents had been admitted and three discharged cured. The figures for Sunday had not reached him. The position was satisfactory/ sa'j the Minister, indicating as it did that the congestion at the hospitals had ceased, and all immediate necessities had been provided for. As required, further convalescent homes would be established in order that tho emergency hospitals might be evacuated as rapidly as possible. The South Wellington School was-to be opened nt once as an additional convalescent home, while the Normal School was to bo opened for expectant mothers. Worst Over in Christchurch. ■In Christchurch, he added, the organisation hau been ■ exceedingly complete and the. reports from there were that undoubtedly the worst of the epidemic had passed. Neither of the southern cities had experienced the disease in the same virulent form as Auckland mid Wellington. "Possibly the colder climate has something to do with this," observed Mr. Russell. "But. there are probably other reasons which must cume into purview. In Wellington, for example, the.crowded ,state of the city us regards lodging-houses, due to the'war conditions under which the cily has been living for four years past, has had a great deal to do with the severi( v of the epidemic, a large • number of the eases bc-ing of young men who> were taken to the hospitals from overcrowded boardinghouses. The conditions under.which a portion of the population in b#fh Auckland and Wellington have been living have been brought to light, and they demand the gravest consideration at the hands of Parliament. No one who has studied even superficially the enidoinie and ils results can doubt the absolute necessity for tho passing at the earliest possible moment of a Town-Planning Bill." Position Among Maoris Acute. He rgretted that the position regarding the Maoris continued very acuie in various districts. To-day information was received from the Mayor of Hastings that an emergency hospital for Natives was being established in that (own. The reports stated that there were eight deaths amongst Natives yesterday mid five serious cases under trimlmenl. For the European population at Hastings thu fine buildings of the Itawko's Bay I!ncing Club had been placed at the disposal of the authorities and were proving a valuable adjunct. Tho greatest difficulty the Department was faced with was still the shortage of medical men and trained nurses. From Jlaaterton a piteous appeal camo yester-

day for medical assistance as every doctor, in that town was now down with influcuzii. Tho chairman of tho Hospital Board had applied to Trentham for help, but the medical staff there was unable to spare assistance on account of the necessities of the camp. A few days ago the Department sout a medical man to Greytown as that district was in great dilliculties.. At present tho only medical assistance in Maslerton was a medical ■ student who was dispatched there early in the week. The appeals that were coming from the country districts for help were almost harrowing. The medical men had done splendidly throughout the campaign, but many of them had gone down. Those who were still in action were doing yeoman service night and day to meet the needs of the population, and so far as possible help was being sent the outlying districts, but tho Department had now come, to a point where it was almost impossible to know where to turn for aid. Now that Auckland was improving, however, the Minister hoped that they might be able to get immediate relief by securing tho return of the medical men whoso assistance was granted by the Defence Department for that city. State Medical Service. Iu his opinion the whole question of the medical service and the public health of thfe Dominion must be reconsidered in tho light of this epidemic, and he proposed to lay before Parliament at the earliest possible date a complete statement arid proposals dealing with tho matter. He was glad to say that the news from tho Taranaki district was most reassuring, apart from the position, of the Natives, who, in the Manaia district, were suffering badly. Information had also been received from the Wanganui River area that the principal kningas-in that district are seriously affected, particularly at ICoromiki. Prom AVaikanae, Manakan, and Foxton information had been received as to the needs of the Maori population. Where it had been iiupoesiblo to send doctors the inspectors of the Department had been dispatched with the necessary medicines, and good work had been done. Gradually it was dawning upon the Natives that the policy of fatalism led surely to death, and they were being aroused to the necessities of the situation, and were beginning to take advantage of the.advice- and assistance that was given them. Pamphlets in the Native language were also' being circulated, and lie hoped would do good. Great assistance had beep given by the Railway Department in the manufacture of equipment for tho inhalation carriages which were now in use on several of the trains in the Dominion. These has been found-of great assistance in the north of Auckland, where one had been installed between Whangarei and Opua.