The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1875-09-11

iHh NoN-ARRsFAL Of a foreign mail and the
general dizziness IN business circles during the
past ten days, has probably had something to 30
with directing public attention and discussion in
to an unusual ehannel.that Of the consideration
oil physic and physicians. The action of the
Board Of Health in prosecuting one person in
court tor practicing medicine without license and
warning two others against practicing, has been
criticized iayoTably and unfayorably - for of
course there have arisen parties-and the contro-
Versy has waxed warm. 1t is therefore quite
within the province Of the newspaper to say a
few words upon the subject.
As regards the first case that has attracted
public attention-that Of DR.. Mohabeer-there
may we'll he an honest difference Of opinion about
the fairness Of the action Of the authorities
IN refusing him a license TO practice, in his way,
while granting the same to others who were vast
ly his interiors in intelligence and education vet
1t was very evident that he knowingly and in fact
delnntly violated n plain provision of law, the
enforcing Of which upon him wac right and
proper. lie openly p~racticed medicine whatever
style OF medicine il may have beenl for d" com
pensation or reward ~ and that constitutes the
offense under the law. The fact that many per
sons are ready to testify that he was successful in
curing or alternating their diseases, does not alter
the legal aspect Of the ease. The grayamen is
that hc did it for money. And therein it might
appear that the law was made, not so much for
the protection Of the public health, as for the
purpose OF preventing anybody but the licensed
practitioners from ~proiting by the public i'll
health. In reference to the punishment which
Tell upon DR. Mohabeer, it may appropriately be
maintained that there is something at fault i'm
our prison system, inasmuch as there is no pro
vision for the classification Of criminals. ali pris-
oners being sent together to the same employment
without regard to the nature Of the crime or
ohense, or to previous individual habits or phys
zeal condition. Thus n mana gentleman, let us
say-advanced in years, who has never been ac-
eustomed to severe bodily exercise, is required,
under n brOiling sun on the wharf to work all
day at discharging lumber from a ship, in COM
pany with murdercrs and thieves and : bossed -
by n driver who belongs to the same class of
criminals. This kind of punishment falls un-
equally and we think it will be conceded that
there should be a classification of the prisoners
in our Jail.
But to return to our mutton-otherwise our
physic. Almost ever since foreigners have re-
slded in these islands, there has been a great deal
of medical practice, mostly of the simple sort,
which has been afforded to the native people
without /" compensation or reward. This prac-
tice was commenced by the American missiona-
ries, many of whom were educated either partial
ly or thoroughly as physicians, and all the old
missionaries kept supplies of medicines at their
stations, which they gave away among the peo-
pie. Occasionally, whenever 4 native was able
to pay for medicine, it was accepted, ON the very
sound principle that Il thing is apt TO be valued
in proportion to its cost. The same practice Of
giving away medicines is still kept up to a con-
siderable extent in the remote districts by some
foreigners, though the people greatly miss the
old mission dispensaries. PROFESSIONALLY 4 vast
deal of good has been accomplished among the
natives of the poorer class, and n great amount
of misery has been alleviated through thu irreg-
ular - practice. Admitting that serious mistakes
may sometimes have been made; who shall say
how many such belonging to the regular"
practice are hidden in graves?
There arc two gentlemen in Honolulu ut the
present time, not 1" regular" physicians, who do
a great deal in the way of medical practice, gra-
tuitously, and for the mere qualification Of doing
good the one exclusively among the natives, as
an allopathist, and the other among both natives
and foreigners, rs 4 homeopathic. 1t is unnec-
essary to mention names, as they will be readily
recognized by the description. Against both of
these gentlemen the Board of Health has recently
illuminated its precautionary thunders. The first,
who has devoted n lifetime to the service Of the
Hawaiians rs a missionary, and whom they re-
gard rs n real father, had been allowed under
former administration q license to practice medi-
cine. This, il is now demanded he shall surren-
der not, rs far as is known, for any malpractice,
but because he is not a regularly educated physi-
clan. The second, who has devoted the leisure
of years to q study Of pathology and medicine as
. matter of taste and inclination, and who has
VIGOROUSLY effected some wonderful cures and
gained the grateful love and esteem of multitudes
to whom he has proved 4 Good Samaritan, is
threatened with prosecution by the Board of
Health if he 81 continues to practice medicine. -
Ib will be difficult to make the general public
comprehend that the persecution of these gentle
men by the Board is prompted solely by n regard
for the welfare of the native race.
intelligent public have long since ceased
to regard with old-timc reverence the mysterious
parchment of the medical schools,-while contin-
uing to hold educational advantages ut their true
value. And the belief is gaining ground that
doctors, like poets and. cooks, are born, not
made that a man may go through all the col
leges and medical schools and lecture rooms, and
vet, if lacking the natural bent, the intuitiVe
capacity to study and treat human ailments, all
his learning will not make him n doctor. "IIu-
man nature is the same in all professions, says
Sterne.
RnIcrLE is somctimes moro effective than argu-