New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXI, Issue 4861, 20 October 1876, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) FRIDAY, OCTOBER 20.

Papers were yesterday tabled in Parliament which show the silly action of the recent vote striking the sura for payment of an. Inspector of Lunatic Asylums off the Estimates, It will be remembered that last year the House voted directly for the appointment ;of such an officer, and on the 22nd February Mr. Rolleston , telegraphed to the Colonial Secrrotary as fodows : Government has taken steps to appoint an Inspector of Lunatic Asylums, and feel the necessity of external and professional advice ; and that, for want of this, expenditure is constantly liable to be wasted, and improvement in patients retarded. Can you tell me whether such appointment is likely to be made shortly?” He received a reply stating that steps had. been taken, and. the matter loft in the hands of the Agent-General, and that he had telegraphed from England on the 23rd March that , he had appointed an experienced Inspector of Lunatic Asylums. His successor,’ Sir W. Tyrone Power, wrote on the 26th July last Adverting to the Hon. Sir Julius Vogel’s letter P.O. 120, dated 22nd May, 1875. concerning the appointment of an Inspector of Lunatic Asylums, in the colony, I have the honor to Inform you that Dr. Frederick William Adolphus Skae, who had been appointed to the office by my predecessor, sailed for Wellington on board the ship St. Leonards, on the 22nd Inst. I am informed that Dr. Feathcreton selected this gentleman for appointment; aftek* making a most careful Inquiry Into his"’qualifications and’ capacity, and especially having satisfied himself as to * bis. practical ability in dealing with lunacy through the experience he bad acquired as; physician to the '

Stirling District Asylum. Impend a copy of a letter.: addressed to Dr. Featherstqn by the Secretary of the General Board of LunkcF in Scotland, testifying to the Board’s willingness to certify jo Dl. Skae’a,fitness for the office to which fie has been Appointed,"l also enclose a list of his references aud tesHmonials; / The long delay which hig intervened in:rega r d to this appointment, since the date b( Sir Juliuslyogel’s letter above referred to. will be tost explaingdibyitno letter of the Commissioners in Lunacy, of thji Otb Sep. tember, 1875, of which I'forward a dopy. - ' The Commissioners had been moved In the matter by the Colonial Office, In consequence of a letter addressed by thb-.HOffi'fherPremler.'dftrtiig Wvisit to England,* to Mr, Meade, the Assistant-Secretary of State ; and had. In consequence,- issued the .enclosed’circular in the month of June of last year. But. for the reasons assigned In the letter of their Secretary already mentioned, the Commissioners found it impossible to obtain a suitable candidate for the appointment. Careful personal inquiries which my predecessor subsequently instituted, but which were, under the; circumstances, somewhat protracted, resulted in his selection of Dr., Skae, as was notified to the Government in his telegram of the 23rd of March last. Dr. Skae then gave the requisite notice to the Board of the Stirling Asylum of his resignation of his appointment there, and arranged to proceed to the colony this month. I enclose a duplicate of the articles of agreement under which he holds his appointment, which were duly signed by him and by my predecessor. I I Tinderstand that Mr. Mackrell found some difficulty in expressing, in definite legal terms, the information .conveyed in the Hon. the Premier’s letter, as quoted in the circular of the Commissioners in Lunacy, that the salary would be “from 1 £6OO to £7OO, with prospective increases up to 800.” The salary was, as nis telegram already referred to has informed you, -finally fixed by my predecessor, subject to your sanction, at £700; and it : was his desire that the Government should be further informed that Dr. Skae had been appointed with the additional understanding that his salary should, according to the terms of Sir J, Vogel’s letter, and subject to such arrangements as the Government may from time to time appoint, bo ultimately raised to £BOO. Having regard to the term “ actual expenses out to New Zealand," in the Hon. the Premier’s letter to Mr. Meade, I have, in addition to passage for himself and family to the colony, allowed Dr. Skae travelling expenses and cost of carriage of luggage from Stirling to London, amounting to a sum of about £l7. <

It may be noticed that the delay in making the appointment alluded to in the above letter, is explained by the English Commissioners in Lunacy saying, in a letter to the Agent-General, that there .was great difficulty in obtaining a suitable person to fill the appointment, Mr. Skae, who was subsequently appointed, seems, from his printed testimonials, endorsed by the highest authorities in Great Britain, to be a highly qualified gentleman ; and the Parliament have now just to face the difficulty they have created, namely, that Mr. Skae, under his appointment, can demand three years’ salary from the Government, and get it, whilst the colony will be deprived of his valuable services ; for our legislators have virtually resolved that he shall be compensated for the loss of his appointment; but at the same time that he is to lose it.