The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1868-09-19
THE PACIFIC
Commercial Advertiser.
SATURDAY,, SEPTEMBER 10.
Leprosy and the Board of Health.

g MAJ pdke.' Us lCatiiEoIne character, and It's
insidious but rapid progress among the %natives,
especially among females, should call forth every
effort that human agency can devise to arrest its
progress.
To those who have witnessed It's actual exist
ence, as it il 70 be seen here. this disease Is a
continued source Of alarm lest its rapid spread
soon lay aside the distinctions Of class and color
beside adding Its disgusting and deadly presence
in greater prePonderancc to the many other
sources that are already 50 active in dopopulating
these islands. It is said that there i no e~ffectual
remedy or cure for this disease, and that the
victim once innocalated with it, blighting poison,
has before him no hope but a life Of misery, ter
~minating in a lingering death.
How great then ought TO be the vigilance with
which every means in the power of those TO whom
the care Of the public health Is committed, should
be used IN tine attempt % exterTninate this terrible
and contagious ma.ady. Yet how lax and seem
ingly inconsistent Las been their conduct as seen
IN facts which have become patent 20 the public.
What reasonable excuses can they plead in e-
~tenuatiOn of their manile-tly discreIant conduct?
The ideas that they themselves have promul-
gated, Of the importance Of the subject. together
with our own observation Of the inconsistency
Of their actions with avowed sentiment, are sufi-
cent reasons for calling public attention to this
subject.
In the Report Of the Board Of Health (Vage -
in reference 70 the question whether the disease
Is ooHtagiOus, it SAYS a. although there is high
authority in other ~eountrie. to the contrary, the
Board believes that it may pronounce a positive
opinion in the affirmative, and 1t is believed that
\ that opinion will be upheld by every physician
Iacu fHa f.1,uIz vrhn has h.H ewUers.uca ~ rho Ii--
ease."
I OF the terrible and revolving nature Of the dis
ensc we need 10 further evidence than what may
be witnessed almost any day in our very midst
but by way Of supplement to the list Of its visible
horrors, and rs if its Importance could never be
too fully inculcated, we are further informed,
through the report, with some of its distinctive
peculiarities, such AZ, its being hereditary, and
being positively incuTable, and other particulars
of n like nature. This minutise of course will
have the natural effect Of increasing public dread
Of the disease but by what sort of peTversity it
should thus have been used. it would be difficult
to conjecture, since 1t renders the community
doubly alive to any errors or neglect on the part
OF the Board.
The Report also proposed to abolish the hospital
at Kalihi, and. from the foregoing, it is probable
that this intention also sprung from the painful
consciousness Of its communicability IL is Ger
tain that they have greatly increased an alarm at
the disease by facts published officially similar TO
the above. But as if inconsiderate of the public
health, to the last degree, instead of fulfilling the
promise, with which its report was pregnant, of
increased vigilance in this department, the Beard
have pursued n course so far, exactly the opposite
of what We had been led to expect.
They inform Us that the disease is contagious,
yet, through motives known only to themselves,
give US the further evidence that means have been,
and are being taken, of a nature rather 10 aid in
iS propagation than TO prevent it. This may he
seen not only in the maintenance Of that farce al
Kahn, where without sentinels and night watches
Chose indispensable requisites of such institu-
tiOns) the inmates are expected 10 submit to in
voluntary confinement, but also in the liberty
allowed to certain kH5wH iepeis. If the disease
Is so contagious, the strictest guard should be
preserved over these lePers, whatever may be the
expense.
Numerous are the instances Of these unfortunate
beings having absconded from the hospitals, caus-
ing the authorities no small difficulty in re-apprc-
bending them and two, ~ We are informed in
the report, have succeeded IN eyading altogether
the most vigiIan. search. In addition to the
above, if not a set, the impression has pretty
generally obtained that through want of more Sc
cure confinement, tile lcpcrs conscious of their
advantage, not unfTequcntly spend the greater
part OF the night among their m~GkamGLas or
friends. What the utility Of such an institution
thus kept can be, If not positively hazardous to the
public health, il l. difficult % say and vet it is
maintained at the public expense. and IN direo,
-. - ii -L---sT- w---- =
the report, that it ought to be abolished. But
this Is not the worst
OF late it has been thought advisable, in order
TO secure the more refractory leIcrs during fits Of
characterization, in which they resist bein. con-
fined ut Kalihi. to build Tor procure) a proper
place Of confinement. The place selected for this
desirable object j. none other than the gard known
A. the powder magazine adj1inirg the prison.
Have the authors OF this singular proceeding, while
contemplating IL, already forgotten that they have
expressed it a. their opinion, that the disease l.
e0HfGgi0us? IL i positive injustice TO harbor such
people in the proximity Of n prison where the in
mates are confined within an allotted space and
necczsitated 10 endure the anxiety attendant on
the fear Of contagion, even il the effects they 30
much dread are not realized, rs We have every
reason TO expect they viii be, under the present
dispensation.
In addition % what has been before quoted
from the report, the following is suggestive -
=. InasmGch however, as the only justification FOR
taking possession Of these people, and d~cpriving
them Of their personal liberty, Is the attempt to
externinatc the disease, complete and absolute
isolation should be recognized as necessary
The remarkable consistency Of their practice with
their preaching may be seen by comparing the
clause quoted above and the one following, ex-
tracted from the Gazette Of August 9Th 1T is
the design of the Beard Of Health, to give each
patient the opportunity to cultivate and sell any
article for which there is a market demand
We are not informed what the nIticles 70 be