The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-22 00:00:00

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. Pit'll'4,

LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 22. 1848.

Medical practitioners, of all men in the world, are
entitled to the consideration of society, and those
members of the profession who consent to partici-
pate in the labour of affording physical relief to
pauperism are, above all others, entitled to the con-
sideration of the Legislature. We insist upon the
accuracy of this " position" for several reasons, any
one of which would be found to be sufficiently un-
answerable. Regarding the matter as it affects each
of us individually, it is beyond all denial that the
proper estimation of the exertions of the surgeon and
the physician is among the most rational as it
is among the most sacred of our domestic re-
sponsibilities. To act thus, is to act
only as self-interest, justice, humanity, reason, and
conscience dictate ; it is to act in a manner which is
expedient, convenient, advisable, judicious, and abso-
lutely and obviously essential. Such, we maintain,
is the eonduct which every just sentiment and every
reasonable reflection forces upon the more prosperous
and independent members of the community. Ap-
plying this argument, which is so powerful in its
influence upon individuals, to a :collection of indi-
viduals, or, in other words, to a medical district or
a union, it is manifest that its operation
ought, as a matter of justice, to be pro-
portionately increased. If it is correct to pay due
attention to the interests of the medical practitioners,
as-far as each isolated patient is concerned, it becomes
a thousandfold more requisite to have a proper re-
gard for those interests when the health and lives of
a very large portion of the population are entrusted to
their abilities. Nothing can be more indisputable
than this ; it is a statement as clear and irrefragable
as the fundamental rule of arithmetic that two and
two make four. For the sake of the paupers—for
the sake of the rate-payers—for the sake of the poor-
law medical officers themselves—for the sake of the
entire community, this is most expedient.
I. For the sake of the paupers.—lf the surgeon
appointed by the local board of guardians be inade-
quately remunerated, it is clear that the most power-
ful of all inducements is held out for the evasion of
his duties, for the diminution of his efforts, for the
neglect of the sick labourers, for the hurried admi-
nistration of relief, for the niggardly supply of
.drugs and medicines, and for a hundred other conse-
quent miseries and grievances.
11. For the sake of the rate-payers.—ln the event,
of this supposed parsimony to the medical officer, and
of the subsequent dereliction of the duties of that;
officer's position, it is plaia that the causes of dis-
_ease must be multiplied, that sickness, which might
otherwise have been brief and unimportant, may
become prolonged and dangerous ; that the mortality,
must, in a vast number of instances, be increased,
-and that, consequently, the parochial expenditure
must by necessity be more frequent and less effi-
cacious.
111. For the sake of the Poor-Law Officers them-
selves.—Those who cannot recognise on the instant
the force of this assertion, as applied to a numerous
and most important class of society, are incapable
of- appreciating the arduous character of their avo-
cations, the mental labour and monetary disburse-
ments which are alone the means by which their
education is accomplished, and the trouble and anxie-
ties by which the lives of the majority of them
are peculiarly embittered.
IV. For the sake of the entire community we have
said, in conclusion—because the result of the nig-
gardliness which we have imagined would, as we have
already observed, lead to a deplorable increase in the
mortality, distressing maladies would be generally
enhanced in virulence, and the ravages of contagion
and epidemics would be visibly extended and
deepened.

What we have put as a merely lamentable possibi-
lity is unhappily one of the most glaring and deplor-
able of realities. It has been already remarked by
ourselves that, of all men, medical practitioners
may
saare
the most fully entitled to consideration, and w
now add with equal emphasis, that, of all men, they
medical practitioners employed for the relief of the
destitute sick by the poor-law guardians are treated
with the least consideration—their interests are alto-
gether overlooked—their convenience is in no one
circumstance consulted—they seem to be regarded as
the veriest drudges of charity, drudges who are appa-
rently expectled to do the work of six instead of one, to
have the toughest constitutions, the longest legs, the

most imperturbable patience, and the most übiquitous
bodies, and to live like a sort of eleemosynary chame-
lion, upon the mere breath of benevolence ! That
we are not depicting one of those extravagant per-
sonages to be met with only in the wanderings of
Senor GIL BLAS DE SANTILLE, or in the peregrina-
tions of Master JEDEDIAH CLEISIITHEOTHANI, we take
to be sufficiently proved by the " Address to the
Public" which has just been issued from the Com-
mittee-room of the Poor-law
.Medical Conven-

tion, and by the recent report of that
same Committee, which was published last
month in the form of a pamphlet.* From those most
interesting but painful documents it would actually
appear that during the past winter of 1847.8 " there
have been unions in which the whole payment to the
doctors has not amounted to threepence per case !"
Taking that fact as the index to many deplorable
revelations, we congratulate the committee of the
Convention headed by their chairman, Dr.
HODGKIN, and by their indefatigable and in-
telligent secretary, CHARLES F. J. LoRD, Esq.,
—upon their having taken the initiative in the
struggle which is now beginning to be made towards
the amelioration of the condition of the sick paupers,
of the local rate-payers, and of the poor-law medical
officers throughout the United Kingdoms. The
subject demands the aid of the Press and the interpo-
sition of the Parliament ; and now, that the move-
ment has commenced with an air of such vigorous
determination, we have no doubt whatever of behold-
ing a speedy and permanent improvement.

The accounts from Ireland respecting the potato
crop are, we regret to say, of a very unfavourable
character, and the most gloomy anticipations are en-
tertained respecting the future prospects of that
unhappy country. There is too much reason to'fear,
that unless the most strenuous and timely exertions
be made, there will be a repetition of the horrors of
1846-7, and the people will be more than decimated
from the combined operation of pestilence and famine.
In the more distressed districts it will be utterly
impossible for the landed proprietors, if there should
be a failure similar to that which occurred two years
ago, to provide food for the destitute masses although
the entire incomes derivable from their estates should
be made applicable to that purpose. Extensive
assistance must be afforded from the national re-
sources, or we must be contented to see thousands of
our fellow-creatures swept away from the face of
the earth by the most heartrending and painful
deaths. We believe we may safely affirm that no
Englishman, whatever might be his indignation
against those mischievous men who stimulated the
people to repay with vile ingratitude the former
bounties of this country, would for a moment hesitate
as to the course that should be adopted, whatever
might be the consequences to himself, or however
large the necessary expenditure. Our brethren—it
may be, our erring and misguided brethren—must be
rescued from the melancholy fate that otherwise
awaits them ; and the only question for present con-
sideration is, as to the means by which that glorious
achievement may be accomplished.

If the national resources have been to some extent
diminished since 1846, and we should be required to
enter upon our arduous undertaking with decreased
means, we have at least the advantage of our dearly
acquired experience, by which we may be enabled to
obtain far greater results at a lower expenditure than
formerly, and may also avoid errors such as those
that were then committed. The Labour-rate Act,
the provisions of which appeared so admirably calcu-
lated to meet the difficulty of the case, proved a
failure, and it is now generally considered that it is
better to feed the people gratuitously, than to apply
their labour on works of doubtful utility, which are
not of a reproductive character. The spectacle of
myriads of able-bodied men, well qualified to work,
and willing to bestow their labour on any beneficial
object that may be indicated, wasting their strength
in idleness, and unproductively consuming the na-
tional resources, in place of being the creators and
producers of national wealth, is, indeed, a melancholy
one, that should be avoided by every practicable means.
It may be a necessary evil to some extent, at least,
but every exertion should be made use of to avert an
alternative so impolitic on the part of the donors, and
so degrading to the recipients.
This desideratum can alone be obtained by stimu-
lating private enterprise to the utmost, and affording
to every one willing to provide useful employment for
the people, and able to give sufficient security for the
amount he may require to be advanced for that pur-
pose, the means of doing so. The various industrial
resources of Ireland should be brought into operation
as speedily as possible. The fisheries should be es-
pecially encouraged, because an additional and most
valuable supply of food might thus be obtained.
There are nearly 100,000 person engaged in the Irish
fisheries, whose labours are not one-fourth as produc-
tive as they might be made if they were possessed
of proper and suitable vessels, nets and tackling ;
nearly nine- tenths of those persons fish from open
boats of small burden, in which they are unable to
venture to any considerable distance from land, and if
they should be so fortunate as to fall in with the shoals
of fish, they are unable to take due advantage thereof,
being speedily filled, and obliged to return to the
shore. A considerable portion of the fish captured is
also wasted from the want of proper appliances for
curing and saving them ; there are no markets at
hand in which they can be disposed of, and thus not
one-tenth of the value is realised that might be under
judicious management, and with useful apparatus.

The public generally are at length beginning to
understand the vast importance to the parent state
of a judicious and well-devised system of coloniza-
tion. They now perceive that there has been some
great and fundamental error somewhere, or that far
more would have been achieved than has hitherto
been the case. The mighty resources of the British
Empire have not been properly developed. Magnifi-
cent territories, that might long since have been a
source of national wealth and power, have pined be-
neath mismanagement that has converted them into
sources of private emolument—we fear in too many
instances we might add, of private peculation—
by means whereof large fortunes have been realised
by a favoured few, instead of competence and inde-
pendence by many, who, if properly encouraged, and
due attention paid to their interests, would gladly
have profited by the opportunities afforded, and di-
rected their industry and their enterprise into more
propitious channels than any that have been for some
time available in the mother country. The period
has at length arrived when the capabilities and the
exigencies of our various colonies must be fully in-
vestigated, and the fullest information with respect
thereto laid before the community in general.
We may .deplore lost opportunities; but is
it fitting that we should rest satisfied
with acknowledged evils, simply because they
have been suffered to prevail for a long series of
years, or withhold the necessary reforms, because
the pressing grievance has become
"An aged vice—a grey iniquity?"

Should we not rather set ourselves earnestly to the
task, ascertain whether the system of government in
force in each locality is suited to the genius, the in-
stitutions, the prejudices of the people, and gradually
beally
lay the foundation of a better and more politic course,
by which the natural resources of the colony might
developed to the utmost extent, and the greatest
degree of prosperity bestowed upon the inhabitants?
This is due, not only to our own citizens,
who have embarked their lives and fortunes in the
new settlement, but also to the natives who have been
brought under British rule, and who should be taught
the advantages derivable therefrom, and the supe-
riority of our free institutions to any with which
they had been previously acquainted.
There is no want of means for acquiring the fullest
information on every point where it might be con-
sidered desirable. Wherever Englishmen have so-
journed for any prolonged period, we shall find accu-
rate observers, intelligent reasoners, and faithful and
trustworthy witnesses. That is, if they have not
been disqualified by a participation in (may we term
it ?) the plunder of the public property, by
extensive grants of land, or other peculiar
advantages, so as to render it their inte-
rest to
perpetuate the existing abuses, to oppose
and retard every amelioration that may be suggested
by more officers disinterested parties. The in either
branch of her MAJESTY'S service are peculiarly

* " Report of the Committee of the Convention of
Poor-law Medical Officers. July, 1848; pp. 25. London."

valuable witnesses, for they generally enjoy oppor-
tunities for great and extensive observation, and may
arrive at calm and deliberate conclusions uninfluenced
by personal motives or local prejudices.
A very valuable pamphlet has recently been pub.
lished on "The Eastern Empire; Crown Colonies,"
by CHARLES WYNN PAYNE, Esq., which we are
happy to perceive is but the " first of a series" on that
all-important topic. Mr. PAYNE was for many years
an officer of the British army, quartered in the East,
and he bring's to the performance of the duty which
he has undertaken a clear and vigorous intellect,
zeal, energy, and devotion for the reformation of the
existing abuses and grievances which he has de-
tected and most ably exposed, and (to use his own
words) " a sound local knowledge derived from an
intimate social intercourse with the natives of Cey-
lon, during a sojourn of years upon that island ;" all
of which peculiarly qualify him for the task.
The present publication wholly relates to Ceylon,
in which Mr. PAYNE (we believe) chiefly resided,
and where he acquired for himself the title of
" The Natives' Friend," from simply listening to
their complaints, and making himself acquainted
and sympathising with their grievances. By these
means, and through the information acquired from
the grateful natives, he was enabled to afford valu-
able assistance to the Government for the correction of
abuses, the augmentation of the colonial revenue, and
the just appropriation of the resources of the pro-
vince. It is hard to select any portion from a work
in which all is valuable and condensed to the utmost
degree. Mr. PAYNE points out the extraordinary
advantages which the island possesses, and which, if
duly attended to, and maladministration no longer
suffered, would " elevate it to the first rank as a
colonial possession, and as a sphere towards which
the surplus population of Great Britain might be
directed." We shall return on an early occasion to
the consideration of this very able and interesting
publication. _

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