ALLEGED T.B. CURE

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 920, 13 March 1930, Page 11

ALLEGED T.B. CURE

HEALTH MINISTER ANSWERS CLERGYMAN PROMISE NOT HONOURED An extremely frank expression of his opinion of the failure of the Rev. Edgar Ward, of Point Chevalier, to honour his promise to submit his claimed T.B. cure to test by Dr. Maclean, is contained in a letter forwarded to THE SUN, by the Hon.. A. J. Stallworthy, FvJmister of Health. The Minister’s action is prompted by the publication in The Sun a few days ago of copies of correspondence that passed between himself and the Rev. E. Ward, who handed the communications to this paper. In an explanatory memorandum, the Minister says: "I notice that, in addition to several letters not supplied, is one received by Mr. Ward in reply to his last letter to me of February 12. It is due to you that you should have a copy of this last letter as under.” ERRATIC ATTITUDE “Please accept my thanks for your letter of February 12, notwithstanding; that your attitude to the Health Department has been so erratic and unsatisfactory. When you interviewed me voluntarily in Auckland 1 accepted your, assurance that you were genuinely interested in suffering humanity. Though your negotiations with the Department in 1928 broke down apparently on your side, I decided to gi\e you the benefit of the doubt and afford you every reasonable assistance to have your claimed remedy put to an condition precedent 1 arranged with you, and you explicitly agreed, to disclose your formula to Dr. Maclean. This first step was vital. You have so far failed to fulfil your promise and none of your cryptic utterances exactly explains why. On August 16, 1928, when you formerly broke off negotiations with the Department, you gave as one reason that ‘negotiations were on foot to place the remedy on the market and therefore your offer to the Department was no longer open.’ Then, as now, apparently, you allowed personal financial considerations to outweigh your solicitude for the sick. For my part no financial consideration was a bar to the trial suggested upon the terms you agreed to at our first personal interview. - Your reference to a reported Press interview with the Director-General of Health has no weight. As .Minister. 1 am not waiting for any recommendation from the Director-General either one way or the other. I was, and still am, simply waiting for you to honour your promise to disclose your formula to Dr. Maclean to enable him to report as to whether the Department would be justified in proceeding further with the suggested trial and any expense that might be involved. Up to the present, in the absence of both formula and report, the question of financial help to yourself has not been considered. 1 cannot make it too plain. The fault is yours entirely^ “However. I have to thank you for everything for which my acknowledgments are due. As a result of the negotiations the gentleman who claims to have first given you the remedy has furnished particulars; from your 1928 correspondence the name of the plant iTom which your medicine is derived is disclosed: the form in which it. is used and the dosage are stated, and at least one doctor has your formula. As a matter of fact, the medicinal value of the plant referred to has actually been under trial for sume time, notwithstanding the difficulties you have placed in the way. “While it would have been more satisfactory to have your larger cooperation, I am gratified to know that other help has made it possible to put i in hand ~. • red t