The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1882-02-01

Az article in the Adssrtissr speaks strong
" in favor Of Branch Leper Hospitals upon
the other islands. Upon the advisability
of such step there is much to be said
The argument urged by the p. c. i. Is
that the opening Of the Honolulu Leper
Hospital has been followed by very great
results In this article it is by no means
the intention to belittle what has been. or
Is being done, by the gentleman in charge
of that hospital; the whole community
must be as one, upon the point of being In
thorough sympathy with any man, who Is
trying 10 fight our most inyeterate foe; but
however much all men may feel in accord
upon this point, however much sympathy
they may shew, they must give an expert
ment fair trial. The plan now being
adopted had a trial some years ago; a
hospital Of similar character was estab-
ished in haihi Valley: that proved a
thorough failure: because It failed then,
there is no reason why 1t should fail now;
the gentlemen in charge may have been
untitled for carrying 1t out properly, and
now. the right man for the right place may
have been found. In all this however
there Is the element may" 1t would be
very unwise to rush to a conclusion after
the experience of couple of months, or
even Of SIX months: the former expert
meIt in halihi passed through its stage of
popularity and then waned; the present
experiment has yet to show that it Is not
going through the same process. Every
right thinking man must hope that no
such fate IS in store for it. that it may
prove a triumphant success; but before
the government can take action in the
matter, before it can pour forth its funds
in a steady stream. 1t must be assured that
It is a success: 4 government which went
off at a tangent, as the p c. l. suggests,
would not be worthy of the name.
Has any one any idea how much this
country may have to pay for this dread
plague spot Of leprosyE There are at
least 2,0O0 lepers on the islands, some
medical men say 1900: taking the latter
figure, for which there is considerable
authority, as a basis OF calculation, the
Hawaiian exchequer would have 10 pay at
least $4,000 for supporting lepers, about
one-third of the entire national income. 1t is
with no spirit of niggardliness that this
remark Is made, but It Is well for people
to understand what is before them. when
they are considering the advisability OF
going in for an expensive reform. The
establishment of branch hospitals on the
OlheI i-!ehus VIII very AuCu eHHanCe Lne
cost of keeping lepers, and it is for the
Legislators and the community at large to
consider, whether 1t can afford such an
additional strain upon the national purse.
Such an enormous expenditure viii mean
the most rigid economy III all branches of
the executive; it may mean the cutting
down of all government salaries, high and
low With this before them, the govern
ment should be very chary how it acted. IT
should watch carefully what Is being done,
IT should get the best professional advice
upon the matter it can command. and then,
and only then, should it act. There is
homely proverb about buying pig in
poke" but many homely proyerb breaches
strong common sense