, 1891-04-22

~ $500 ."
view to the retrenchments proposed by the
Budget Committee, would certainly propose
to the Council that instead of renewing the
contract for 4 years, it should be renewed
only for one year from the LIST March 1891,
and that the $500 posted under D. II Is
compensation for attendance to- the poor III
the Country Districts be not included in the
terms OF the contract. At the present time there
are very few,f any,, poor on Estates needing
medical attendance, since almost all estates
have contracts with the physicians and who
attend to the sick poor, if there be any. On
such Estates where a few of such persons are
still found, they are given some little light
work on the estates with a NAL pay, say Z
or 3 cents, and they are entitled to medical
attendance from the physician employed by
the Estates this is at least the case. on the
Estates, he has under administration, and
there is not one single person excluded from
that medical attendance he believed it ia the
same elsewhere. The amount Of 5000 from
the Colonial Treasury for attendance to Poor
In the Country is therefore not necessary, and
he would therefore recommend the Council
not to grant the amount.
TIL acting Vice Governor In reply to the
remarks from the honorable Chairman would
beg to say, that he must admit that the Govern
ments letter on this subject has come in late,
but he could not at present enter into the reasons
Tor doing so.-As regards the reality of the
question, he would point out that it is only a
repetition of the old contracts, which expired on
the 2Sth February &C, namely to grant 2 public
physicians each $500, the one for attending to
the poor in Christiansted and to the Communal
Hospital at Richmond, the other for attending
to the. poor and to the Communal Hospital
at Frederiksted. The duties are very hard,
the doctors having to attend calls day and
TIUht tO n AVx rrraof ow4Apf on1 upraoNor
several other duties are performed by them
without payment the amounts allowed are
therefore not too much. As regards the Poor
III the Country, it was only a few years since,
as far as he knew in 1883-84, that an arrange
ment was made between the Government and
the Colonial ouncil that the two communal
physicians should attend to the Poor pension
es IN each country district for q salary of $500
eachA besides that, the Island should be divid-
cd in 4 parts, each of the practising doctors
in the Island being allotted one part, in which
they had to attend to all the sick poor who arc
not pensioners, whenever called by the Police,
on condition that only travelling expenses Do
paid them, and to meet these travelling ex.
penses 5000 more were granted this amount
was not intended to be expended with $50 to
each physician, but the amount was to defray
the travelling expenses to the doctors, when .
ever they by request of the Polieemaster had
to attend the poor who are not pensioners.
Consequently the whole Of the last mentioned
amount had not always been expended; in
1889-90 there was used Sl72.3O and in
1890-91 there had been used only S24.07.
TIL other $500, or 5000 to each doctor, il
the salary for attending to the sick pom
sioners in the country. The honorable
Chairman said there was no need of doctors
to attend the poor in the Country because
there are none on the estates who are not
employed to do some work or another. and
receive some compensation for such work,
they are therefore included in the contracts
with physicians employed to attend the es-
tates' people; now, he 1.-THE Vice Govemor)
could not say if the honorable Chairman is
correct in saying that he had no personal
knowledge of it; but he would beg to say that
he had received a list from the Police in
Christiansted's Jurisdiction, showing that on
the LIST January 1891 there were on Estates
in that Jurisdiction lat Poor Pensioners in
the Quarter from LIST January to Slst March
this year 6 died, and there were then on
the 1st April 141 poor pensioners in Chris
tiansted's Country District if some of them
work and get payment, he could not tell,
but it seems not likely that all can any how
he would not follow up that matter further.
But he would ask honorable members not
to put any obstacles in the way of re-engag-
ing the services of the two communal doctors.
for the original of 4 years term, namely L,