The Daily bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Hawaii]) 1882-1895, 1891-12-15
THE LEpER SETTLEMENT.
EDITOR BULLETIN -

Receiving such far invitation to
do little more newspaper wrang-
ling" on leprosy l re-enter the lists.
wish to discuss this question of
grave public responsibility as dis
passionately as possible, for it will
not hurt the public bit to keep ON
reminding them that great numbers
of uniortuuates are annually "cast
away to die" for their sakes.
j. Emmeluth, in his article, cites
the trial of several boys "on the
charge of entering the premises of
the Bishop Home and enticing awoy
young girls for immoral purposes" -
an occasional occurrence in almost
any well ordered community--pre-
sumably (for arguments sake) in
support of the charge of failure to
afford protection. | contend no
failure is proven there. The very
fact that these miscreants were
brought to trial goes to show that
"enticers of girls" run the risk of
being landed in Jail. The failure of
the court to punish the offenders is a
separate question entirely. The
duty of the protectors is to prevent
offenscs or to apprehend the offend
ers. One is an executive, the other
a judicial function.
Mr.. Emmeluth, having had the
opportunity to be at the settlement,
states that it is the desire of the
Sisters "that girls entering the Home
should do so with the explicit under
standing that they were not to leave
it until they have attained their
majority" Now this is wise sug-
gestion, and, coming from such
source as j. Emmeluth states, should
be made one of the regulations for
the settlement.
Before touching on other points in
Mr.. Emmeluth's article | shall again
revert to the charges of "hagrant
immortality" made against the leper
settlement, To make such sweeping
charges against one of our estab.
lished institutions without any justi-
fication or any proofs is an outrage,
and it ought not to 60 unchalleuged.
Reading the proceedings of the
Anglican Synod published in the
BULLETIN few weeks ago | find not
single example cited in support of
the charges, no instances mentioned,
nothing of the kind whatever, but
series Of groundless charges piled
one after the other as it suited the
speakers rhetoric characterising the
place as a hell of lawlessness and
lust!"
With grim irony, the speaker, in
the midst of his remarks, makes the
statement that eve consider it our
Christian duty to defend the unfortu-
mates from the attacks of Pharisees
who impute their disease to the vice
of immortality" Then before he
closes he winds up by charging these
unfortunates, whom he would defend
from imputations of immortality -
(for who else are there but they ?)-
with making the leper settlement "a
place where vice and immortality is
so notoriously rampant" Such con
Trajectory statements as these knock
the charges of ''dagrant immortality
into cooked hat, and discredit them
before they are made. So much for
the charges of immortality before
they slip out Of the public mind.
AS to the project of building OF
equipping hospital for the treatment
of incipient cases of ieprosy, com
monty allowed to go at large under
the surveillance of Health Agents as
"suspects," am heartily in it; and
can be counted on for keeping up
the newspaper wrangling" on that
score, although my pocket isn't deep
enough to purchase the paper Oh
which to map out the plans. There
are many benevolent societies III
Honolulu seeking to promote worthy
ends, yet none, so far, has been
established to alleviate the lot of the
lepers an object worthy of the
noblest philanthropy. Let it not be
government job" but let it be
spontaneous movement from a people
who will not remain deaf to the
"never ceaslng vail of the lepers as
they are being cast away to Molokai
for the sake of the public. If the
public mind is of the same bent as
that of "Equality'' and EmmeIuth,
a committee of our influential people
would be organized, funds raised,
and such an institution would be
hourishing as fitting monument to
the benevolence of our mid-ocean
community.
Apologizing to you and to the
public for disregarding my promise
of quietness, | remain yours,
Equality.
Dec. Is, 1891.