The Globe. THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1677.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 879, 19 April 1877, Page 2

The Globe. THURSDAY, APRIL 19, 1677.

Ox the receipt of a telegraphic summary of Dr. JSkae’s report on the Auckland Lunatic Asylum, we had occasion to direct attention to the unsatisfactory condition of that institution. Since then we have received our Auckland files, containing a full summary of that report. Idle narrative, as the Herald remarks, is painful and most instructive, and will no doubt operate as an incentive to the taking of instant remedial measures. The building is fearfully overcrowded, no fewer than 150 patients being crammed into the space originally intended for fifty. The effect upon the health of the patients can easily be imagined, the tubercular disease of the lungs exhibited by every patient who dies in the hospital, bearing the strongest testimony to the poisonous state of the atmosphere. The stench in the bedrooms a few hours after the patients are in bed is, says the Doctor, quite overpowering. INot only is the building badly ventilated, but it is imperfectly drained, and has only two baths for patients’ use, and these not supplied with hot water. The cesspools are described as overflowing, the airing courts are dismal; no recreation is supplied to the patients, as there are no funds for thepurpose; the rooms are bare and uncomfortable : and the corridors desolate looking. But it appears from the report that the medical superintendent is not chiefly to blame for this deplorable state of things. Considering the means at his command, the mortality, says Dr !Skae, is very low. and the recoveries high. But it would appear that not only is the staff too small; it is not drawn, as a rule, from a class fitted to supply suitable attendants. Those comprising it have been appointed in such a manner as to be

“ indifferent to, and largely independent of, the authority ” of the superintendent. This is a grave reflection upon the management by the Auckland Provincial Government. That favouritism and political partisanship should have been imported into the selection of even the attendants in the Lunatic Asylum is an everlasting disgrace to the authorities. Thanks, however, to the General Government, this state of affairs will soon be at an end. Dr Skae has laid his recommendations before the central authorities, and it is satisfactory to find that it has been approved.

The rapidity with which the Australian colonies are rising into importance is shown by the class of vessels now competing for their trade. In addition to the magnificent steamers belonging to the P. and O. Company, we have also such vessels as the St. Osyth, and others, performing regular trips between England and Melbourne, 'and a yet larger venture is announced as about to be made in the same direction. The Pacific Steam Navigation Company propose to inaugurate a new monthly steam service via the Cape of Good Hope. The vessels belonging to this Corporation are, some of them, the finest in the world, and magnificently fitted up. The company principally trades along the east and west coasts of South America, running their steamers from Liverpool, to Lisbon, Buenos Ayres, through the Straits of Magellan, up to Yalparasio and Callao. Their reason, says an Auckland contemporary, for entering upon the Australian trade is, that they have overbuilt themselves, and arc compelled to find an opening for their vessels in some other direction. The Australian trade has been decided upon, and the names of the first three vessels of the line announced.

A CORRESPONDENT of tllC TiimrU Herald wishes to be informed of what a Protocol is, and what is the difference between it and a Conference, and this is how our contemporary answers the question:—“ The word Protocol is wo suppose, derived from the Greek proton, first, and holla, glue; though that derivation docs not lead the mind very clearly to its modern significance. A Protocol may, for all practical purposes, he said to be the first or original draft of an agreement, transaction, or treaty, and in diplomatic negociations represents the primary basis on which one nation proposes to treat with another. * * *' * * What the element of holla, glue, has to do in the matter, does not readily appear. Perhaps it means that the parties to a Protocol are expected to stick to it. A Conference is a totally different thing from a Protocol, being merely a meeting of delegates, envoys, or representatives, Held to confer on a public or diplomatic question. It frequently happens, indeed, though not necessarily, that the terms of a Protocol are decided upon in a Conference. There is no glue in a Conference. On the contrary, the several members separate of their own accord whenever they please. A good deal of soft soap, however, generally enters into the composition of such a body.”