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members of friendly societies alone. When he last spoke on this subject in the North he advocated the formation of an Anti-tuberculosis League throughout the colon)', and His Excellency the Governor then expressed himself as willing to accept the presidency of such a league. Much had already been done to create a healthy public opinion in this direction, and Taranaki has shown its earnestness in a most practical way. If taken up as it would be all over the colony it must afford to sufferers from this disease not only a feeling of hope, but aii actual means of relief, and even of perfect recover) - . Surely there was no better work in which people of all classes without distinction of any sort could engage than one which would make these bright islands brighter and happier still. As I dealt at length with the economic side of the question in my report to you last year, I will not further labour it now; but I here wish to put on record the splendid service which Dr. Valintine has,rendered on behalf of this most-to-be-pitied section of the community. With a zeal untiring he has stumped the country, and by his eloquence has untied the purse-strings of the wealthy not less than the poor. Through his earnestness and devotion to this cause he has enlisted the sympathy of the many. He has been backed up in the most whole-hearted manner by the medical profession, which is in strong contrast —if we are to believe a recent writer —to the attitude taken up by the medical men in some parts of America. Speaking of the State of Indiana, he says,— There is a State law providing for compulsory notification and disinfection, but public sentiment, led by medical sentiment, is against it. It is a dead-letter. The reverse has been the case in New Zealand, and, while I do not forget the grand work of the many, I would like to record my appreciation of the work done by Dr. Newman and Dr. Albert Martin, of Wellington. Truly a phenomenal result attended their efforts in Wellington. In the space of a month over £2,500 was raised for the purpose of erecting an annexe in connection with the Wellington Hospital district. The campaign has extended to all parts of the colony, and good work has been done by many. Nurse Holgate has given a large amount of time, and has been able to set up a small tent sanatorium in Wellington, while Nurse Maude has bravely filled the want in Christchurch. These ladies are deserving of all praise for the excellent work they have done. Many more have put their hand to the plough, and T regret that all cannot be here mentioned. Gratitude, we are told by some latter-day philosophers, is becoming a lesser quantity. While 1 am not concerned to argue the matter, I would like to say that two ex-patients of the Sanatorium have given practical evidence of their gratitude for the treatment they received in that institution. Miss J. Barker, of Wellington, raised £40 by means of a bazaar held at Kilbirnie for the purpose of helping on the housing of the poor consumptive, and Mr. Beuth, of Cambridge, gathered over £25 for the purpose of setting up a library at " Te Waikato." To New Plymouth is due the credit of having erected the first annexe by public subscription, and great praise is due for the excellent example of self-reliance which the capital of Taranaki has set. We are moving slowly but surely towards a complete provision for all indigent sufferers from this disease. That measures such as these and others which- we have so strennuously advocated are powerful factors for good is shown by the fact that "owing to the general sanitary and hygienic improvements, the death-rate in Liverpool from tubercular diseases has dropped from 430 per 100,000 of the population to 234 per 100,000." "If the present rate of decline continues," the same writer states, "I anticipate this disease will be rarely seen in our midst another thirty years.hence." It is estimated that consumption costs London over £4,000,000 per annum, and that in Liverpool alone the working-classes lose £300,000 a year in wages when on the sick-list from tuberculosis. One of the best tributes to the practical money-value of these outdoor sanatoria or annexes is the fact that the insurance companies in Germany find it cheaper to place the sufferers in such hospitals rather than continue paying sick-pay. Even from a purely selfish point of view, all moneys spent on such institutions repay the people and the State more than a hundredfold. Another important aspect is that consumption claims its victims at or about the period when the patient would otherwise be at his best —namely, from twenty to thirty years of age. Out of a total of 598 deaths at all ages which took place in New Zealand in 1904, 205 fell out of the race between twenty and thirty years of age. The following diagram indicates this clearly: — Cancer was responsible for 571 deaths in 1904, giving a rate of mortality per 10,000 living of 6.75. The steadily increasing toll which this disease exacts is most certainly a matter for grave consideration. The recent alleged discovery of a curative serum by Dr. Doyen, of Paris,

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