LIFE SAVED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 273, 17 November 1936, Page 5

LIFE SAVED.

STEAMER DIVERTED.

WHO SHOULD FOOT BILL? LORD HOWE IS. GRIEVANCE. (From Our Own Correspondent.) SYDNEY, November 12. When the Monowai was on her way from Sydney to New Zealand last January she received a radio message requesting her to change her course and call in at Lord Howe Island. The wife of one of the residents, Mr. W. S. Nichols, was seriously ill and required urgent treatment, and at his request the Monowai diverted from her fixed route, picked up Mrs. Nichols and carried her to Auckland for immediate operation. The case produced some stir at the time, because Lord Howe Island is politically part of /New South Wales and it might be supposed to be the duty of the Government of New South Wales to see that the residents of this isolated dependency receive adequate medical attention when it is required. There is, however, no medical man there. The efforts of the resident's to induce a doctor to seclude himself on this isolated spot have been unsuccessful, and it might have been supposed that the Government would take tlie necessary steps to appoint a medical officer itself. Apparently the matter has been allowed to stand over, in spite of remonstrances and appeals from the residents, and so it became necessary to send a special steamer to the island last January to prevent the sacrifice of human life. Compromise Suggested. To take a large steamer hundreds of miles out of her course means heavy expense, and the question arose who was to foot the bill. Mr. Nichols was certainly not in a position to pay the whole cost, which amounted in this case to over £700; and further, it did not seem equitable that he should be com-pelled-to

for the neglect of tlie Government. However, the. Board of Control, which .attends to the affairs of Lord Howe Island, suggested a compromise and decided that Nichols ought to pay costs up to £110. with interest, and that £1 10/ per month out of his earnings m-ust be set aside for this purpose. Several of our newspapers expressed Ihe view that Nichols was being penalised to cover the Government's neglect, and last week the matter was raised in the State Parliament by Mr. Civile, M.L.R. for King, in which electorate Lord Howe Island is situated. He pointed out that the Government of New South Wales was primarily responsible for the health and safety of the islanders, and he suggested that as the chairman of the Board of Control had sent the message requesting the Monowai to diverge from her course, the State Government ought to be liable for the consequences of its own apathy and inefficiency.

The Chief Secretary (Mr. Chaffey) made answer that the-State Government was satisfied that the arrangement suggested by the Board of Control —£110 with interest by' monthly instalments, instead of the full amount of £700 — is a fair and just one, and that he can see no reason for varying it. Still, many people hold that as the expense was incurred through the failure of the State Government to discharge its obvious duty of providing medical service on the island, Nichols has been unjustly treated and his grievance should be redressed.