The Globe. TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1877.

Globe, Volume VIII, Issue 889, 1 May 1877, Page 2

The Globe. TUESDAY, MAY 1, 1877.

We .are glad to see tliat at last a resident surgeon lias been appointed to the Christchurch Hospital. The absence of such an official for some months past has been a frequent subject of comment. The duties, we understand, were performed by gentlemen in private practice who devoted " off and on " whatever portion of their time they could spare to the work. Now, no matter how highly qualified those gentlemen may be, this state of affairs must necessarily have been very unsatisfactory. The case of Gilchrist, who died at the Sunnyside Asylum on Friday last, is a painful illustration of what we mean. Had there been a resident surgeon in the hospital at the time, we can scarcely imagine that he would have been guilty of the great blunder of sending a man suffering from typhoid fever to the Lunatic Asylum, under the impression that he was a fit subject for that institution. How this blunder came to be made has not yet transpired. The evidence adduced at the inquest yesterday merely proved that the deceased was admitted to the Asylum on Friday morning, April 20th, at 10.30; that when admitted he was in a very weak state, and Avas confined in a strait-waistcoat; that the certificates stated he was suffering from acute mania, raving violence, and suicidal tendency. The surgeon to the Asylum saw him the same day, and stated that he then did not exhibit any violence ; that he saw him again the next morning, when he ascertained, from further examination, that the patient was suffering from typhoid fever, and he was at once removed to the infirmary. It is plain, from the evidence, that the Asylum authorities did everything in their power to alleviate the patient's sufferings, and that no blame whatever is attached to them. But what the public have a right to know is what happened in the Christchurch Hospital, from Thursday afternoon, the time when the patient was admitted, till Friday morning, when he was sent to the Asylum in a strait-waistcoat. When taken to the Hospital, he had, it is said, all the appearance of suffering from fever. His friend who accompanied him said that at that time he was perfectly sane, and that no one was more surprised than himself when he heard that deceased had been taken to the Asylum. We hope those in charge of the Hospital will, for the sake of the institution, as well as in the interests of the public, institute a strict inquiry into the whole matter.

" "Why the G-overnor was hissed," is the title of a letter addressed by Mr. Stout to the Otago Guardian. Seeing that the his Excellency was never hissed at all, we think that the writer of the letter set before himself a task entirely unnecessary. But so good an opportunity could not be let slip of showing the Marquis of JNormanby and the people of Otago how independent Mr. Stout was, and of airing his pet theories of government. The imaginary hissing of the Governor, he tells us, was in consequence of his strong party feeling during the last J session. This charge has special reference to the Sir George Grey _ correspondence, in the course of which the J Governor found it necessary to express ] some opinions regarding the questions j at issue before Parliament. The whole correspondence was published at the \ time, and most people were thoroughly satisfied that his Excellency was per- ; fectly justified in the course he took. Even our contemporary the Lyttelton Times admits that Mr. Stout has found a mare's nest, and that " a review of the correspondence relating to Sir George G-rey's letter to Lord Carnavon fails to show any evidence of bias or party j spirit." The manner in which the letter has been received in Otago shows how entirely Mr. Stout has miscalculated public feeling in that province. It has occasioned scarcely any comment, and less correspondence. And so Mr. Stout by this time must be forced to the conclusion that his fellow-colonists are so "cravenhearted," and " their worship of aristocrats is so intense," that they have everywhere welcomed his Excellency with enthusiasm. But there is another explanation of the hearty reception accorded to the G-overnor. lie is the representative of her Majesty, and an honorable and upright gentleman, who, since his arrival in New Zealand, has striven to do his duty alike to his sovereign and to the people of the colony. The inhabitants of Otago, however strong their party feeling may be, have had the good sense to let Mr. Stout and his republican ravings quietly drop. That gentleman has for once mis-read the popular feeling. However strong they may allow party feeling to run, our friends in the South are not likely to forget that they are subject!? of her Gracious Majesty,