The Evening Star MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1871.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2673, 11 September 1871, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1871.

“The Joshua Bates, with 286 China- “ men for Dunedin, put in in a leaky “ condition. The Chinamen have the “ scurvy. They have been placed on “ Motuito Island for a few days, and “ are then to proceed to their destina- “ tion. Two died in the harbor and “ three before arrival.” This was our telegram from Auckland on Saturday, and we wish to draw the attention of the Provincial authorities and our fellow’ inhabitants to this fact. It is now some months since we had to comment upon the neglect with which the Executive treated the quarantine station, and nothing has been done to remedy the disgustingly inhuman arrangements there. Last sitting of the Council no vote was taken for erection of proper buildings ; no appointment was made of a medical officer to he resident upon the islaiul during the time that passengers remain in quarantine. In fact the Provincial Executive appear to think that their duty is done when they pass resolutions about land laws, and succeed in repelling party attacks in the Council. They then leave administration to others, and whether the Province sinks or remains above water seems of little concern. If works are needed on a sudden, the Secretary for

Laud and Works is not here; and nobody will like to accept the risk of being called to account for laying out an unauthorised sum, no matter how necessary, for the well-being of the people; If legal advice is needed, the Provincial Solicitor is not here to give it. Not that we think that any great loss J for we have plenty of competent men in the City : but as they will have to be paid, in all fairness the extra cost should be deducted from his salary. To this, in honor, he could not object. On the arrival of the Joshua Bates, the authority of both these officials may be required ; for although the disease is reported to scurvy, there is no blinking the possibility of its being something usually considered more malignant. We are far from wishing to raise a needless alarm, but it is our duty to point to the necessity for precautionary measures, and we do this because a social responsibility is laid upon the Press as an organ of public opinion. Were no other end served, it is a good opportunity of pressing Upon the public that their safety has not been duly cared for ; and we fear party spirit has had much to do with the neglect for which we have paid so dearly. Too many families have had to mourn the careless manner in which the quaratine of the Robert Henderson was conducted. It cost the Secretary for Land and Works nothing out of his immediate income : he may have thought on the subject —we hear there was something done as a make-shift for disinfecting clothes—but beyond that things remain as they were. But it has cost the Province many valuable lives. We cannot but think that the Executive, notwithstanding the report of the Board of Health, and the strong remonstrance presented by them, imagine there is nothing needed : but it is not enough that in their positions they are ignorant of their duty. Ignorance in most persons is pardonable, but in an Executive it is culpable. There is a moral obligation upon them to know what they ought to do and how to do it; and unless this is felt, they cannot be said to have such sense of responsibility as to fit them for office. Two hundred and eighty-six Chinamen, in bad health, will, in a few days, be on their road hither. How are we to receive them for their own sakes’ and for our safety ? Ourduty arises out of our common humanity. These Chinamen, heathen though they be, are human. They are strangers —but that does not deprive them of their claim to care and sympathy. We had rather they hud been born in England, Sootland, or Ireland : but they were not. They come amongst its uninvited, but they are sick and need such care as some of us when sick had given to us : but even diseased cattle, in proportion to the requirements of their nature, have more Oareful provision than is at present made for these men. We do not believe there is a man or woman outside the Executive who would not willingly make sacrifice to restore them to health on the score of humanity only : but there is another duty which comes home to every one—the safety of those that are here. It is not for us to pronounce an opinion whether scurvy is or is not a contagious disease. We know it has been asserted, though on high authority we are informed it has never been proved, that scurvy is propagated by contagion. That is usually held to be an error. A medical writer, however, tells us that:— There is a great'similarity between scurvy, the disease which was then called St. Anthony’s fire, ergotism (the peculiar disease produced by spurred rye or other grain), and some of the pestilential fevers of the Middle Ages, both in their causes and symptoms. The question then really arises, Is what is reported to be scurvy, really scurvy, or is it some other disease less manageable and more deadly in its attacks 1 This will have to be ascertained, and even should it prove to be sea scurvy, it will be a question for strict precautionary measures. We do not think there is any necessity to urge upon the Board of Health to do their duty. Their powers are very limited : we do not believe they have authority to take any steps involving the outlay of money. They are merely a Board of advisers, who give their time and professional labors gratis; but the public ought to insist upon attention being paid to their advice. Let us not act like fatalists, who imagine that nothing can be done to avert an evil, and therefore make no effort to prevent disease. No doubt we have too much fatalism and superstition amongst us; but it is high time that men knew that health or disease is very much under their own control. “ Forewarned is forearmed and as we know what is impending, it is for us to meet it as rational and responsible beings.