, 1909-12-11

Arrangement men toned bv the honorable
Member before Il long time, hence when the
Minority and his constituents come to find
that circumstances have altered so much as
to allow of an Assistant being abolished and
two physicians can be had. But we on the
other side contend that the,absolute necessi-
ty ALREADY now exists Of providing medical
assistance for the Country District Of Fred
enlisted, and that circumstances admit allea-
dy now of our finding means to pay , ply
siciaus, Whe will certainly be able to afford
more time to attend the lal ourers and the
poor in general. An Assist ant Physician, such
as is advocated now, would neither in this
respect be recommendable it is Leyond q
doubt that such an Assistant vii, be il mere
subordinate Of the uhlic physician appo Mt
ed II he did perform any medical duties to
any patient, this Ia. Ell would always he eX-
posed to the risk of its being condemned and
undone by the Boss he could in fact do
nothing at all except At the VIII aud bidding
Of the physician aud if a conf.c ct Of opinion
as to the treatment Of eases were to arise,
the Assist ant could not c'ea " hold his own;
aud if the Assistant rs it is supposed to be
the meanings a mnu fully qualified and with
any sort OF independent character IN him, he
would resent that on the other hand such n
man would not, even whereeoccasion offered.
ne t1Oull6l WIS SUI pllS6l lD near EOi Itin
remarks fall from the Honorable Bird Crown
member to-day,-who, perhaps more than
amy other member Of the Council, was fully
aware Of the depjorabIe condition Of Things
existing in Frederiksted and Jurisdiction,
bv the necessity for n second doctor. The
low number suggests, that those who are 50
very DESTROYS Of having IA 2nd doctor, should
have got ore by private init atlye-ln other
words, that private parties should put
their bands in their pockets and pay for the
doctor. He (CouIter) would ask, why should
private people take upon themselves a re-
sponsjbility, and add another burden to their
already oyerburdeued shoulders, as taxpay-
ers-whch is undoubtedly the responsible ity
Of GoyernmeUt-wz to protect and safe
guard the health Of the inhabitants, aud to
provide for them proper medical service ?
The honourable Crowumember (Olsen)
has also made reference TO Il condition of
nervousness Of the people of Frederiksted
as being the cause Of the agitation for ,
independent doctors. He (Coulter) would
not contradict that assertion, but in reply,
be would ask if the honorable Member could
not admit that the sad and painful expert
ence of many in the community during the
past CT years was sufficient excuse and JUS
titication for being 'WercouS' over the fact
of there being but one doctor for SO 5000
persons. He has seen Il woman waiting out
side the tone doctors residence for hours,
with'a sick child IN her arms, and before the
doctor returned from the country, the wo-
mans child had died-there was no other
doctor to go to. He mas known of 8 s%quatter,
an apparently strong, abIe-bodied man, re-
turning from his work at 6 p m, eaten his
meal at 7 o'clock, retiring to sleep soon
after, taken i'll at midnight, when the doctor
was sent for. AS the doctor was out of
town, and there was no 2nd doctor available,
nothing could be done for the man, and he
died at about half past two o'clock, multiply
instances Of these kinds tenfold perhaps an
hundredfold spread over a period of Ct
years, and you will deny that the people Of
Flederiksted have not cause for '31ercouS-
mss? The l69 petitioners have made up
their minds, after a long and painful ex-
porience, borne with patience, for many
years-that they must have ? doctors-to
that end, the six representatives in this
Councillor the town and jurisdiction Of
trederiksted are Instructed to appeal to the
Council and the Government to pass this
Ordinance. The increased expenditure is
warranted by the present condition of the