The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1882-04-19

number applying for relief has been steadily in
| creaslng the last weeks attendance being the
largest he has ever had, amounting to about 130O.
II appears therefore from the above figures that
the total nuntnr Of calls at the Hospital Dispen-
sarJ for fa,ss saoaths was considerably less than
Dr- Fitch averages every firee days. 1t also APP
pears that the ruInber Of new cases who apply at
the Hospital Drpensary in thrse months is less than
| DIR. Fitch sometimes has in one saV T,ae number
OF new cases applying to DIR. Fitch for treatment
Is egfy-o'e times as great the number applying
az the other establishment. These are very sig
nlncant facts and seem in their face to demand
explanation The explanation however. is very
simple AID is to be found IN the fact mentioned
by Dr. Fitch IN his report; that natives will not
go 10 physician whom they do not like and re-
spect, any more than white man will" That
the natives as rule, dislike the Hospital Physi
clans personally and have confidence in them
professionally Is fact 50 notorious that It Is
hardly worth any ones while to deny II. The
Hospital Dispensary has been in operation for
years past and the establishing of the Dispensary
on Maunakea street is open confession on the
part of the Government, that the other institution
was failure.
The unpopularity of the Hospital moreover.
extends quite much to the indoor as to the out
door service. few figures from the last quarter
" report will to illustrate and confirm this
statement. find the average number of patients
in the Hospital during the last quarter is given at
10. The number remaining at the date of the re
port was CO. OF these 60 patients however, II were
foreigners leaving only 46 natives inmates of the
institution on the 1st of March. l find enquir-
ing that the Hospital contains over one hundred
and thirty beds, and can accommodate comfort
ably from one hundred and twenty to one hundred
and twenty-five patients This much Wanted
medical charity Is therefore, even including for
eigners, scarcely half full. And Of the 46 natives
1t Is morally certain that not all were voluntary
inmates. 1t should be remembered that there are
somewhere between one and two hundred register
ed prostitutes in Honolulu, all of whom are
required by law to be examined every two weeks.
and If found to be diseased compelled to enter
the Hospital for treatment
Now this state of things is not due to prejudice
the part Of the natives against the Hospital as
such, nor as often alleged, TO inherent unwil-
lngness TO avail themselves of the services OF
foreign physicians. The crowds who daily besiege
the doors of the institution on Maunakea street
eectuallv dsposes of the latter fallacy II is due
simply and solely to the dislike the natives have
TO the men who run the Hospital, and to their
way of treating patients and doing business
generally. There are three four medical gen
tlemen In Honolulu, any one of whom would so
administer the affairs of the institution that it
would be constantly filled to overlooking If the
Hospital Is really good thing and the treatment
to be obtained there of benefit to the people, it
surely follows that change which would double |
or treble the number of inmates. would increase |
the good accomplished in like proportion. The |
above statements concerning the unpopularity of |
the Hospital and Its all matters of COM
mon nOtOriety and must be quite as well known to
the Trustees as to the rest of the community. In
fact the distrust of the natives for the institution
and their unwillingness to enter its wards as
patients has been a subject of repeated official |
has not been confessed and the only available |
remedy applied, is a question l will leave for
others to answer. OBSERVER.
Honolulu. April 10th, 1882.