The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1903-03-10
A FRIEND ON THE MAINLAND.

The people of these Islands nave
made one friend on the mainland WhoSe
friendship promises to have lai
reaching value, difficult to estimate
hut certain to be very great Inns '7
Dr w c. VILE, who VIII be rethe'ii
horad as the gentleman who delivered
q, a crowded house here, for the peheh'
~ charity. an illustrated lecture on 'he
..poss;on Play of Ober-Ammergau'
m VILE is the editor of the New bns-
iond Medical Monthly, and was FORMER
l., ,resident of the American Meulcai
tssnciation. II will be seen, there
g., that he is a man of standing III
,is profession. and of much wider Iaihe
,han is common with physicians, Iha'
=. oleo a fairminded observer, nav
~, tho faculty to tell intelligently OF
,,hat he sees. is shown by the mahhei
.,,;ah he manifested his friendship
fnr Hawaii since his return TO 'he
mainland. 1900, reo-
nile here, DIR. Vile came down " ~,
islands with a view, primarily, TO man
ipp n close study of leprosy mere an
the san Francisco newspapers ma
coached here by the steamer aia''ieu"
yesterday show that he has peeh req
ing some of his conclusions since nis
raturn. These conclusions are III every
,,,v favorable to the Hawaiian System
Of dealing with this dread scourse' "
an interview in one of the san Fran
cisco papers, DR.. VILE has TINS 10 say
of ehe decrease of the disease mere
81 can saw positively from my own
;pvestigations that leprosy is not on .ne
Increase among the natives OF the ma
yaijan Islands. on the contrary, IL 10
moe, decidedly on the decrease, ana 'he
,,-osont system of rigid inspection anu
segregation is slowly but sraouai''
,,.i,in, ont all trace of the disease on
al, nj the Islands of the beautiful ha-
waiian group, the leper colony Oh nv
,a,,oi 81 course excepted. / was pres
ont at the investigation OF seventeen
leper suspects by the Hawailah fieai.n
BOARD and was afforded every faciil'y
for studying the whole leper question:
and I want to say that in the hahu'iie
of the leper question the Hawailah au-
,horities are moved by the most hu-
name and charitable feelings possiole'
They have made the leper coloily al
Molokai a garden spot, where the iepe,
natients are made as comfortable anu
happy as their unfortunate atnictiohs
will permit. >,
Again. speaking of the scheme 10
make Molokai the dumping ground Ior
all the lepers of the country, Ut. VIE
says:
..-rhe unfortunates at Molokai are
t,.,np cared for most scientifically ana
humanely, and to disturb its present
management would be to do terrlple
wrong believe that we should let
the Hawaiians take care of their own
I,nars as they have been accustomed 10
do for years and we should take care
90 ours 1t would be unfair for us to
force the Territorial government TO
care for lepers found in TINS COUNT,
as recommended by the Congressiohal
committee, and certainly UNJUST 10 'ne
fair name of Hawaii to designate lts
settlement as a haven FOR all lepeIs'
That government would ma IL oi'
cult matter to replace all the eNperi-
enced people now in charge of Molokai,
and all medical men who nave Nis'.eu
the place will join me in this eNpress'o"
of opinion ,-a
These expressions contain the views
of a man who, from MS proiess
must be regarded as an expert on an
questions affecting disease and health
Naturally they will carry more weish'
on the mainland than would the views
Of any layman, however learned OF
Influential A doctor, speaking on
disease, talks by the card. And the
people Of this Territory will be gratetul
TO DR.. VILE. moreover, for the evident
spirit that he shows to correct some
misapprehensions that are more wide
spread on the mainland than they
would be If Hawaiian conditions were
more perfectly understood. The people
down here are not afraid of men who
will only adhere to the truth. 1t Is
irresponsible Adventures, given TO
reckless statements, that find their way
into print because of their sensational
elements, that hurt us most. IL Is
far cry TO the mainland, and contradic-
tons travel slowly.