Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1911. CONSUMPTIVES IN MASTERTON.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10136, 14 January 1911, Page 4

Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JANUARY 14, 1911. CONSUMPTIVES IN MASTERTON.

'• *_ —.- A report has been industriously circulated that the Natives of the Wairarapa, and particularly those living in the neighbourhood of Masterton, are being decimated with disease and dying ( off like rats from the dreaded i consumption/ ( That such a. report should have been .. giv.en .. currency without the most searching investigation! is very much to be deplored; for not only is the district stamped as unhealthy, but a direct charge.of negligence is levelled against thoscupon whom specially devolves the responsibility of guarding the health of the. Natives. It is true.that, for years, past, the Natives of, this arid every other district of the Dominion have, suffered fromt pnlmoiiaa-y diseases r . It may safely b© said that fifty per cent, of them have suffered from asthma or other chest complaints. The, cause of this trouhle has largely been the disregard of sanitary and other. conditions in the pahs or . of dealing with the health of the Na- , tives was brought home to the Government some years back, and special, health regulations were prepared, the administration of which way placed in the'hands of medical experts and others. It may safely be said that the sanitary conditions obtaining in the various kiangas are greatly improved to-day, compared with what they were ten or twelve years ago. To assert that the general health of the Natives is worse to-day than it was a decade back is simply to romance. There may be seeds of consumption in the young Natives of this district, as there undoubtedly is iii the Natives elsewhere. It is absurd to suggest, however, that a special home should be provided for'the treatment of Wairarapa consumptives. If a special home f ( br Native consumptives is required—and it had'yet to be shown that the Cambridge and other sanatoria are not available to the aboriginal and adequate for all requirements—such a home should most certainly be provided in a locality more suited than the Wairarapa, and at the expense of the country instead of that of individuals. The residents of Mastertoa liave every re3Sßtt te complain; 6F the suggestion that.the

district is a hotbed of consumption. They have also a duty imposed upon them in vigorously opposing any movement which would introduce consumptive patients to the district. The Wairarapa, more particularly Masterton, has been conspicuously free from disease in the past, and its • reputation for salubrity of climate and healthy environments should be jealously guarded. The climate, good as it is, however, is not in the least suited for consumptive sanatoria. The changes are altogether too rapid, the rainfall too great, and the distance above the sea level insufficient. He would be an enemy to the NaiJVe, and an undoubted enemy to the district, who would seriously suggest the provision of a homo for consumptives in the, neighbourhood of Masterton.