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

Az article IN the -4dreltissr speaks strong
" u favor Of Branch Leper Hospitals upon
the other islands Upon the advisahility
OF such Z step there Is much to be said
The argument urged by the p C. L Is
that the opening Of the Honolulu Leper
Hospital has been followed by very great
results In this article 1t 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 a. one. upon the point Of being IN
thorough sympathy with any man, who Is
irving 10 fight our most inveterate foe; but
however much all men may feel in accord
upon this point. however much sympathy
they NAV shew. they must give an expert
ment q fair trial The plan now being
adopted had q trial some years ago; q
hospital Of similar character was estab-
ished IN kzlihi Valley: that proved q
thorough failure: because II failed then,
there Is no reason why It should fail now
the gentlemen IN charge may have been
unified for carrying It out properly, and
now, the night 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 Z couple Of months, OF
even Of SIX months: the former experi
ment IN halihi passed through Its stage Of
popularity and then waned; the present
experiment has yet to show that it Is not
gong through the same process. Every
night thinking man must hope that no
such fate l. IN store for it, that it may
prove . triumphant success; but before
the government can take action In the
matter, before it can pour forth its funds
IN 2 steady stream 1t must be assured that
It u q success; government which went
of at q tangent, as the p C. 4 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 leprosyl There are at
least 700 lepers on the islands. some
medical men say 5000: taking the latter
figure, for which there Is considerable
authority. as q basis Of calculation. the
Hawaiian e1chequer would have to pay at
least $4,000 for supporting lepers, about
one-thlr1 Of the entire national income Its
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
gong II for an expensive reform. The
establishment Of branch hospitals on the
other islands VIII very much enhance the
cost Of keeping lepers, and It Is for the
Legislators and the community at large to
consider. whether il can afford such an
additional strain upon the national purse
Such an enormous expenditure viii mean
the most ngid economy ID 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 he very chary how IT acted. It
should watch carefully what Is being done,
II should get the best professional advice
upon the matter Il can command. and then.
and only then, should It act There Is a
bomely proverb about buying a pig in a
pike, but many . hOInely prOverb breaches
strong common sense.