THE GLOBE. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1881. THE LAST ON THE MEDICAL QUESTION.

Globe, Volume XXIII, Issue 2169, 7 February 1881, Page 2

THE GLOBE. MONDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 1881. THE LAST ON THE MEDICAL QUESTION.

The wordy warfare in which the medical men of Christchurch have been engaged for some time past has apparently come to an end : the cackling and crowing—i.e.y the roar of battle—has subsided; the contumacious medicos have, pro tem, ceased from troubling, and the weary (public) are at rest. Blessed dispensation I But alas, it is a false calm, only caused by the want of ammunition on the part of those erratic skirmishers who at present occupy the outskirts, and who, permit us to suggest, only await their opportunity to expend the large superfluous stock of bile still corked up within the several breasts of that amiable collection of gentlemen. We have no intention of stirring up these troubled elements to fight their battles o’er again, being heartily sick of a subject which, from first to last, has only been relieved from the character of a miserable farce by reason of the bad blood and bitter feeling imported into it by certain active partisans. We simply refer to the matter again by way of showing that the opponents of the present Medical Staff and the Hospital Board, have in reality done themselves no good, whilst the public have been made to suffer grievously on their behalf. That, in fact, their attempt to gratify personal spleen has most signally failed, and society has had to bear the burden of their wretched folly. For this the Local Board of Health as a body are chiefly answerable, seeing that they allowed themselves to be made tools of, to serve the ends of their medical officer. Prior to the commencement of what is vulgarly known as the Hospital row, the medical men of Christchurch were working with as much harmony as was possible with the profession in Christchurch, which is not, perhaps, saying a great deal for the amiability of their relationship,- but for doctors, who are ever prone to differ, they were doing very well. The fire smouldered, but being banked up, as it were, passed unobserved, till the head stoker, if Dr. Nedwill will pardon us the pleasantry, applied himself to the rake, and the rake to the fire, and an explosion was the result. In this labored effort, to the performance of which the Health Officer brought to boar such loving care and devotion, the Board of Health, in a weak moment, largely assisted by requesting the Government to hold an enquiry into certain charges of mismanagement in the Hospital, It is said the Board did this in a weak moment advisedly, judging by results, and seeing also that certain members of the Board, remarkable forshrowd business habits and correct were originally averse to the proceeding, but allowed their scruples to bo overcome. An enquiry was held, the result of which is known. Of Dr. Skao’s decision it is not proposed to say anything further than the Government had to accept

it, for the simple reason that on such a question they could not well condemn their officer and retain his services. Thus the “ outs” would seem to have gained a victory. Yet it is not so. The position on the face of it remains unchanged; and as to Mr. G. S. Cooper’s letter to Dr, Anderson, the reference to a probable change in the personnel of the Board was a piece of silly sop which ought not to have deceived sensible men. Mr. Cooper, in fact, simply stated what everybody knows, who knows anything at all about public affairs—namely, that the administration of Hospitals and Charitable Aid, is a question which will sooner or later be submitted to legislation as a colonial question. Thus far, then, the “ outs ” have been able to gratify themselves, whatever such gratification may be worth. But even supposing those gentlemen to have attained the summit of a lofty ambition (!) have they not done so at the expense of the public P We say emphatically “yes.” The cry was raised by them in an ecstacy of patriotism and lofty sentiment, that the health statistics of the district were being vitiated; at the same time that they must have known—supposing their charges to be true—that they were doing their level best to make bad worse. The older members of the profession took the initiative in this false, pernicious step, and the younger branches, who have wandered to this part of the world, followed blindly in their wake, only showing perhaps

How much a fool that has been sent to

roam Excels a fool that has been kept at home. The result of all this agitation has clearly proved our assertion that a social wrong most serious, on their own authority—has been perpetrated by the old staff in a childish attempt to revenge themselves on certain “ hated rivals.” They complained that cases were not reported from the Hospital. Well, the cases of infectious disease in the Hospital are as nothing to those which occur outside, and one medical man has openly declared that he will no longer report cases in connection with his private practice. Wo have no actual authority for the statement, but we have good grounds for the belief that other members of the present staff will also decline to report such cases, rather than run the risk of being insulted by a public officer to whom they owe no allegiance, but who on the other hand, has exhibited towards them open hostility of the most decided kind. Thus, then, the public are so much worse off than they were before in regard to health statistics, and the “ outs” have not improved their position one iota.