The Medical Charlatan

New Zealand Tablet, 24 September 1908, Page 10

The Medical Charlatan

There must, a/tet- all, be some modicum of truth in the lines of li'udibras : ' '"'' ' " ""' " ' Doubtless the pleasure is as groat Of x being cheated as to cheat. ' The moth may possibly know a. few moments of delirious joy in. the warm, wild whirl that, lands' it in the candle flame. The big, deep-chested, bien annado* (iong-hor;n'ed) black or brindled bulf' from the Andalustari meadow's has (we were once solemnly assured) the time of his' life goring and tossing the used-up nags ridden by the picaderos, chasing flying chulos to (and sometimes over) the six-foot first barrier of the plaza de ioros, charging, with storms "of furious hope, ihe risky and nimble-footed banderilicros, and indulging in other forms of superlative bovine exertion before he feels the~famous espada's heavy blade descending into his vitals, and, beaten at last and prostrate, receives the welcome blow of the shavp^Jiuiterillo that brings to him Ihe end of all. And so, conceivably, there may be a joy— tin joy at least of the hope that tells a flattering tale— in (he breasts of the thronging crowds that trip each other's heels as they press into the sanctum of "that parasite upon our social life, the clamorous quack or the medical charlatan. * However that may be, there are great numbers of people who arc drawn to the quack and the irregular and fraudulent practitioner as nibs and iron nails are drawn to the poles of a horse-shoe magnet. And this passion for being ' taken in '— this pkasure ' of being cheated as to cheat —is,, like the passion for fiery water.-,, proof, against the warnings of reason and experience. Last week, .one of the worms turned in Sydney— a far too race experience in the annals of this form of heartlessness and imposture. A case was instituted by a farmer for wrongful treatment against a ' medical institute ' which did business for a time in New Zealand, and which vainly sought the hospitality of our advertising columns. The plaintiff was" awarded 4S o damages; the jury added to their verdict a rider 'urging that measures be. taken by legislation or otherwise o ! suppress all such pernicious institutions .is the one in question ' ; I and Mr. Justice Cohen, Jn. summing up. at the Supreme Court,' blistered the business .with the, following- comment :—' There arc occasions when,, in the public -interest, however strong the desire of a judge to preserve jiis mind utterly undisturbed may be he -should give fairly fulUexprcssion -to his feelings. This is an occasion when public interest calls for a frank and outspoken ' expression. This institute, by 'rfiose concerned in .its management, for cruel cunning, unmeasured audacity, and hypocritical pretence— l doubt' whether the .annals .of the court* of this State - disclose a case to which the application of these epithets could ' be niore justly is V strong illustration of man's inhumanity to man. It shows how' crafty, cunning, and designing men m their haste and hunger for money can set at naught the ' feelings and sufferings of- their fellowmen, no matter what sacrifice may be .involved, jn their machinations. The circumstances of this case show to us humanity in one of. its worst forms 'The whole atmosphere of the institution reeks with wickedness, and "" it is. only men with callous .dispositions and. with thdir 'hearts* stone-steeled, perhaps by hunger for- money, whp can trade upon the credulity of their .fellowmen .as -the: proprietors of this institution -preyed Upon their. fellow-men-. '•- . In our primary and secondary schools nowadays,' the '« young idea ' is" packed ■ with odds and ends and snippets of enough ologies to fill a barn. " A Professorsh'ipof Common Sense would be. a useful addition- to' the steadily growing length and girth • of our school curricula. . Meantime, our Legislature so. far regards, the public in 'statu pupiJUri-^rt its' " legal ' childhood or minority^that, in th« Quackery Prevention Bill, if is taking steps to protect its- wards in some ■ mVasu/e from ihe Wiles -and .ways of the white tohunga. alias thfe.medical'.charlntan.