The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1907-04-15
STRONG SPEECHES
AGAINST CHANGES
OF LEPER LAWS
Continued from Page ~

in the legislature this session. At times
the speaker was eloquent. He spoke
with an impressiveness that was one
of the best expositions of the leper
question that perhaps has ever been
heard-certainly in recent times i'm
Hawaiian senate.
Humanity and moderation were the
basic themes of his address.
He spoke in pathetic manner of the
pain and grief that is caused to the
people here by the separation of chill
dren from parents and mothers from
babes, but he pointed out that such
separation was for the benefit Of the
entire community and especially the
Hawaiian people as they were especial
! ly susceptible to diseases Of the char
acter as leprosy. 1t was very unwise
it would be the height of folly, he
continued if the Senate, the body that
was supposed to be the dihnifed and
safe branch of the legislature, were
to give way to any popular Glamour
to enact any measure that would mo-
dify, seek to change the present sys-
tenn of the segregation.
He told of the efforts of the United
States government TO treat the dis
ease and to try and effect cures. He
dwelt upon the disgrace and misery
that would be caused to people suspect
ed Of leprosy if they came before the
magistrates and appealed to a jury to
determine whether they were lepers.
He told of the publication ofg such in
quiries, the sorrow and misery that it
would cause. He had had a great
deal to do with leprosy and he had
thought that if he ever had the disease
he would go to the leper settlement, he
felt that this would be right, for the
benefit of his wife of his family, but he
would want to be spared the shame of
having it published that he was a leper;
he would hate to have the stigma pub
Ideally put upon his people that one of
them was afflicted with the terrible dis
ease.
Replying Senator Chillingworth said
that the Hawaiians did not oppose the
segregation. But they did oppose the
danger of people who did not have the
disease being sent to the settlement to
be condemned to a living death There
were frequent cases of people who had
not the disease being sent there. He
referred to the case of Robert Waiamau
the deputy at the settlement. This
man had been committed as leper and
after being there for some years it was
found that he did not have the dis
ease. Yet the man had declined to
people regarding him as a man who
had lived six years at the settlement.
He contended that the suspect would
not have to go to trial before the dis
trict magistrate at all as the official
would simply order the suspect to go
before the examining board of physi
clans. The bill gave the sunspect
right to have one of the examining ply
sicians appointed, one would be APP
pointed by the government and the
third by those two. Amend the bill
if necessary but not kill it altogether.
Smith withdrew his motion to inde-
fnitely postpone in order to enable
amendments to be made
Lane moved that the bill be amended
so as to make these preliminary exa-
limitations available to persons having
| the incipient stages of the disease This
motion passed and the bill passed on
second reading on motion of Lane.