The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1872-06-22
syphilis an un~snn mel.


10 ne EItor ~ ne Pdc5fc Commercial ddseyffssr.
San Ia your issue Of 10Th inst. I have read the
report Of the Sanitary Committee on the "Act 70
Mitigate" SC. and shall pass IL with but little NO
tice. but for the information Of its mcmbers ns we'll
as Of the President Of the Board 81 Health. who, for
reasons pretty generally understood BY the public -
well as myself. has lately taken upon hfnlself the re-
spOnsibility Of n~ullifying that Act. I viii give the
following incident that came under my observation
within the last few days. which I regret to shy. that
although probably an extreme one Is by no means q
Singular one. but only a type 81 the unfortunately
too many that may daily be found all ovl these isL-
ands. aud painfully il illustrates affairs as they exist
was requested by n Government official 20 visit a
person in whom he was interested. living In one OF
the valleys within a few miles OF Honolulu. just re-
ported TO him as being very III, and who had lost n
child within the last few days The household then
consisted Of seven persons. having been reduced In
a short time by two deaths. both children. They
hcSTs oil affected rtthssyShiiis, some Of them In ITS
most loaths0me forms. Their ages varied from about
forty years to three, the time i'll. from three 10
eighteen months The history they gave was this;
One female brought disease to the house, this she
communicated 20 some Of the other members OF the
family. All the treatment they received was from
native kahuuas and a reverend doctor. The disease
~ a matter II course went on progressing. the 40
gers became affected, yet they stu continued 70 eat
from the same calabash and dish, and in this way
the disease was communicated In a secondary form
10 the remainder Of the family. by mere accident
was this state Of affairs discovered, for with the usual
Hawaiian apathy about themselves when III. they
ecthleu PERFECTLY CoutCutous AliuoukN NtNNlhk tNcAully
worse. by the treatment they were receiving from au
old blind kahuna, under whose hands several 81
them wUuld have literally rotted 20 death. / len
this house with n sad heart, as IL was about the most
painful spectacle | have ever witnessed. and Il was
some time before | could efacc from my mind the
melancholy feeling that such n state Of Affairs could
exist in the nineteenth century. amongst n people IN
other respects 60 far advanced in civiisption. and I
could not help asking myself has all been done 70
arrest the mortality from this causef Let those In
authority put the same question 10 themselves and
answer il in n satisfactory manner " they can To
their own consciences The Board Of Health are now
taking very active, and proper measures 20 prevent
the spread Of smallpox, ne l have no doubt they
would il any other contagious disease should unfor-
tuuately be introduced amongst Us but u doer
appear to me most inconsistent that the President OF
that Board, himself n medical man, who knows full
well the vest havoc that syphilis for years has made
directly and indirectly in Hawaii mel. and even
refers 20 il in his able report on leprosy should abro-
gate by his own act the only attempt made 20 stay
the ravagOs of this The great curse OF this nation,
without even suggesting any other, or better means
to complish that object. The Jaw as u was. has
saved the lives Of many hundreds, but OF course has
not done all that could have been desired. Let us
look at, and accept affairs as they actually exist, not
as they should be. and meet them, and Afterwards
by education endeavor 10 improve them, rather than
see the remnant Of this noble race swept of the face
Of the earth so rapidly as Is now the case. Extreme
diseases often require extreme remedies, and In my
humble opinion preaching she freedom, aud consti-
tutionality Of the subject, which Is all many OF or
BoNh4O
much 70 save, but on the contrary shorten the days
of this people, and when only too late will they sec
the error they have committed. Better far return II
necessary (Which l do not think IL the CASEY to the
old feudal principle; when although not a civilized
nation. il was at least, a numerous, happy, and con-
tent one, when every chief looked after his own
retainers! and such a state Of neglect as i have above
instancedl could not have existed. II some OF our
Legislators could only sec a few a the painful sights
that I almost daily witness, l think n veil would be
lifted from their eyes, and they would however un-
willingly be compelled 20 admit that IL some more
active steps than have hitherto been taken TO arrest
the progress Of disease, and death. are not only In
stituted, but faithfully carried out. in even twenty
years only a small remnant Of the pure Hawaiian
race will be left Money seems to be freely asked,
and voted for grand buildings, and other much less
important objects, but il only n few thousand dollars
are demanded for the purpose OF endeavoring 10 pre-
serve the very existence Of this nation, they are
given s~paringly, and with q reluctant hand. Our
grand motto should be " Santos sanitatum, omnia
~sanitas."
am happy 10 be able TO state that the above
mentioned family are now all in the Queens Hos
pital, and that they will probably recover, and ulti-
mately return homo with a bitter, but In some
respects a useful experience.
RoBERT MoKIBBN, in, M. d.