THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1880. MR. THOMSON’S LITTLE HOLIDAY.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 2071, 13 October 1880, Page 2

THE GLOBE. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 1880. MR. THOMSON’S LITTLE HOLIDAY.

The resolution passed by the Board of Health on Monday will, we imagine, be generally approved of. It was to the effect that the Government he requested to cause the Hospital inquiry to he held without delay, as any delay might he prejudicial to a fair inquiry, It is singular that this view of the question never struck the Chairman of • the Hospital Board. But then he is permeated with two ideas—firstly, that he is an incarnation of the Hospital Board, and that, consequently no inquiry could possibly he held unless be was on the spot, and, secondly, that his little holiday must not he interfered with by either gods or men. The holiday comes first in his mind and then the Hospital. The first is immediately necessary to restore the spring of his thoughts to a respectable elasticity, the second can easily wait to he placed on a satisfactory footing. And it would appear that the Hospital Board quite agreed with their Chairman. No protest against the proposal is recorded. Whether the Board had of late noticed that their Chairman was duller than usual, or whether they were looking forward to Mr. Thomson’s return and a succulent narrative of high jinks in Melbourne, a la Captain Barry at home, or whether some other cause moved their sympathies and smothered all dissent, the fact remains that, apparently, there was not a whisper that the Chairman’s proceeding was an arbitrary one and considerably “ out of form.”

But the public, not being behind the scenes and recognising the importance of the enquiry on public grounds, would really like to know more of the matter. There should be a quid pro quo in everything of this nature. At first sight it would seem that the sooner the enquiry takes place the better. The public have had placed before them the various reasons why this should be so. The possibility of the disappearance of witnesses, the danger of facts after a time escaping the memory of witnesses, &c, The thing is quite self-evident. Will the mere evidence to be given by the Chairman of the Board balance the delay that he proposes ? We hardly think so, nor can we imagine that this is the only reason. There must bo something in the little holiday itself that will turn the scale. Let us examine, in the abstract, a little holiday as taken by an abstract chairman of a Hospital Board. The passive and active effects of such a holiday might be considerable. One of the passive effects, as we suggested above, would be a restoration of the elasticity of the mind of the abstract chairman, a rejuvenescence, in fact, of all the faculties which had hitherto rendered his assistance so valuable. The powers of what, in colonial parlance, is called “ bossing it properly ” must by long usage become dulled. A fillip to the faculties would naturally result in more energy being thrown into the process on the return of the chairman to the bosom of his expectant Board. A rejuvenescence of the powers of antagonism to the Local Board of Health might further be looked for and, further still, an increase in the ideas of the importance of the position and powers of a chairman of a Hospital Board, caused by friction with, and social dinners with, other chairmen of similar institutions. So much for the effects of the little holiday as acting on the chairman himself. Its active effect on outside objects might also be considerable. Not to mention the sociable Chairmen of similar institutions to whom wo have already referred, and who might with justice bo supposed to suck in a considerable amount of wisdom from the lips of our abstract Chairman, the introduction of such a solid dignitary into the pleasures of a capital en fete would tend to lend a considerable tone to the festivities. It would be impossible for the lightest Frenchman or the most irreverent Yankee not to be affected by his presence.

But to return to our owu affairs, we trust that tho Government will not he moved by tho puerile suggestion of the chairman of tho Hospital Board. Should Dr Skao at once open the inquiry we feel confident that ho would find ample materials on the spot to guide him to a just decision, notwithstanding the absence of the chairman. With tho exception of, perhaps, a further insight into any redtapeism connected with tho affair, it is difficult to understand what special knowledge is in the possession of Mr. Thomson.