KING TUBERCLE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 73, 19 December 1907, Page 9

KING TUBERCLE.

,' DOMINION/S ATTITUDE TOWARDS 1 CONSUMPTION. Copies of.;an; interesting paper, written by the' Chief Hoaith Officer (Dr. Mason) for the '.'British Journal of Tuberculosis," which has been'printed in London in pamphlet form, reached Wellington on Tuesday. The'paper, •forms one of a series which tho "Journal? is obtaining from "every country in /the/ world, as an informative record of hat ,-is being done to fight tho forces of King •Tuborolo, , and parenthetically to noto imdor-which system p{. : attack, tho best results aro being obtained. ....,- • ■-•''^ lViSOn "■■ rehoarsos what is being done' m>New/Zealand,, ami the precautions that are benig taken to provent, as far as possible, /the introduction and spread of tho UJNiad white plague. . .:.■,-.■ ' Incidentally, he says:.— " '<*'•■•■ J-'Somo criticism, occasionally, of an unfair ■character, has boon made with rogard to β-ar regulations with respect to sufferers from arriving in Now Zealand. Under an Act called the Immigration Restriction Act—the child of our orudit'o and tal-ented-High Commissioner, tho' Hon. W.' P. K<sovos7-passengor3 from oversea suffering from.'an.infectious disease may bo prohibited .from landing. Now, whilo it would bo inhumane tpj refuse.to any invalid from another: country the benofits which may come from'our oxcollcnt climato, thero can bo no doubt-pf the justice of our refusal to allowi •Now- Zealand to becomo' the dumping-ground or all indigent incurables who may elect to .■journey thus far from thoir homos.' Apart altogether 'frbm- the inhumanity of divorcing adying, impecuniou3 man from his friends,-and-all. that; might go to moke his ; , last montho:bearable,-it-is.'unfair to expect that the ratepayers of the colony should Ibb called upon to support .tho indigents of another.,/ The shipping. companios trading to JNow Zealand havo boon notified of our. regulations,- and I have drawn attention in the medical journals in Britain to them, and yet noarly, every vessel arriving here brings someone,whoi ought nover, to havo left the Old. Country'..: /Imagine-the feelings of a '■poorlysoul,, who' has been advised by his medical; attondant'. to ■ undertako the 13,000 • miles. ..< journey. !after . tho will-o'-the-wi6p health;, being told by the Port Health Officer cannot land. ,Can there bo anything moro cruel? and'yet, who can biamqjlo,authorities here?, • I s fis my. present task to dis•icuss:.the';yaluo, or pthenviiso of a long sea voyager..iij. .the; treatment of consumption; obler,;J)ens-than mine have discussed the pros and cons, but ono has only to voyage in a ; ; sailing-vessel with half a dozen phthisical, patients to understand tho futility of suph advice. One such ship I'know: out or < six saloon passengers, three .were suffermgffrom consumption. The cabins and v.c. s all ivgijtijatwl. into r tho dining-saloon. Wo. had. several spells of ..bad weather, when everythihg\was shut down.. Tho patients •were all taking creosote in one or other had been asked to framo a conditions ..calculated to depress thoir/opsonio index,, and endanger the health of .the(other pa'jsongcrs, lie could, not havo improved on th;),, conditions which obtained on .board- tho good ship. Creosote may have its .value-in the treatment of consumption, but to live for days at a time in an; ; atmpsphore, of second-hand creosote' is neither, .appetising '.nor calculated to make for mea'ltn,' ,''".".' • ... "Oice again l' would' draw the'attention ? f j m .y' : p on . J ' roro s in Britain to tho fact that indigont sufferers aro not allowed to land in New-. Zealand v That advanced oases, even money, must enter into a.bond. ~>r. r 4niire'd—to reside'in. a sanatorium. at their /own expense.' Of ' course, those re-tumir-.g to New Zealand are admitted, with«jut/question'."' . . ' :