The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1872-06-12

Daily experience confirms this. Whole families, and
those who have lived with them, member by mem
her, becoming diseased; such being the nature OF
the disease it is terrible sight to see sometimes,
on entering native house, leper, some relative or
friend of the family, sitting among little children,
and perhaps eating with them ont of the same Gala
bash, with sores on the fingers and poisonous breath
The lives Of half dozen persons endangered by
the aloha 70 person who should already be con-
sidered lost 1t is poor way Of showing love to
other members of the family by assisting TO keep
such person in the family. Still, it is done in
many cases. and every obstacle is thrown in the way
of the authorities when endeayoring to secure the
isolation of the diseased woman.
We repreat again here that these people are well
taken care Of and by no means unhappy
Let us think for moment and imagine what a
state we should be ill., if all these lepers, instead OF
living together at Kalaupspa were running free and
scattered around the Islands, in the towns and vii
lagos, settlements and families. We could not go
anywhere without meeting leper: there would be
hardly valley on the Islands without having lepers
amongst its population. The consequence must Ill
timatey be the ruin OF the Hawaiian race, and the
foreigner would soon beucludedin the catastrophe.
But that would not be all, strangers not used to
such sights would receive evil impressions; the
opinions OF forcign.countries would be very differ
ent in regard to 10 what they now arc The Is
lands would be stunned on all occasions, and no
vessel orstanger would enter our ports unless forced
by sheer necessity and woud make their escape
from the plague striker spot as quickly possible.
The conclusion to be drawn from this is that al
though the cost connected with the establishment
is large yet it is matter of absolute necessity that
Il be continued, and the money so spent may well
be looked upon as an encouragement to the trade,
agriculture and enterprise Of the Islands
In Europe the lepers are collected in large stone
asylums, in fact prisons many stories high, audsur-
rounded by high stone walls. The strictest seclu-
sion is enforced between the Inhabitants OF these
asylums and other people and We do not hesitate TO
say that the settlement of HalauPapa viii compare
favonbly with any institution OF the Kind in the
world.
The annexed table marked B will show the num-
Der of births aud deaths throughout the Islands for
the last two years as returned TO the Bureau of Pub
lie Instruction, by the officers to whom those du-
ties are condded by law in the several districts;
it is believed to be nearly correct; the Census OF
1866 showed excess of deaths births, for the
preceding six years. of one thousand one hundred
and twenty three and half annually. The returns
made the Board OF Education for the three years
ending 1870, showed an excess Of one thousand one
hundred and fifty five deaths annually. And those
now made show excess oftwo thousand three
hundred and forty nine-or eleven hundred and sew
enty four and a half annually. The return is not
pleasant subject for consideration; at the same time,
the fact that the births have steadily increased
last five years ought not to be overlooked. They
have been as follows.