FREE MEDICAL INSPECTION.

Taranaki Daily News, 29 September 1919, Page 5

FREE MEDICAL INSPECTION.

. -*" EDUCATIONISTS' PROTEST. , "There is a limit somewhere, or there - should be," remarked a Taranaki dele- : gate (Mr. P. I 'J. H. White), at Friday's , educational conference held in Wellingi tori. The conference had passed a , lengthy list of resolutions invoking the - did—mostly financial—in some form or : the other from the State, and it had ; reached a remit which stood second from the end of the order paper recommending ; medical inspection of all children in all i schools, and where necessary, free treati ment. "We shall," continued the ; speaker, "lose our independence and selt'- . vespect altogether if we continue to go i cap in hand to the Government for ! everything. I hope there is still going i to be left in this country a little bit of , independence, a little bit of self-reliance • —a little bit of common sense!" (Members: Hear, hear.) It was, he added, too big an order to expect the State to s give absolutely free medical treatment ias suggested. They seemed to think , the State had a Fortunatus purse. 1 Mr. J. H Howell, director of the Wei- . Hngton Technical School, opened up an . interesting possibility when he pointed 1 out that in certain cities in the world i the services of trained nurses were retained by the schools. In Toronto (Can- ; ada), for instance, in every large school ; there was a nurse attached to the school, ■ who looked after the health of the child- . ren. Every child not attending Bchool , was visited by the nurse, and, if neces- '. ary, treated. " This system was. he roni tended, infinitely preferable to that . which obtained in New Zealand, and in ; Toronto, if the people were to take their choice, they would choose the nurses in preference to the fully-trained medical man. After one or two delegates had endorsed the views of Mr. White, Mr. Purdie (Auekland\ vigorously defended the remit and the measure of financial assistance sough*- It was, he said, the bounden duty of the State to care for every child. If it cared for the mental health of children, it should have equal regard for their bodily health. No distinction should be raised in asking the Rtate to carry out what was logically its 3 duty. "The children are chewing caramels in- ' stead of hard biscuits," growled one dele--1 Dite, while the majority were inclined to the opinion that free medical attention should only be given in necessitous cases. Eventually a modified motion was adopted that medical and dental treatment be carried out free of cose in all cases necessary, owing to the financial position of tlie parents and guardians, and further, that it be obligatory on ] parents and gurdians to carry out the recommendations of the medical officers.