Friday, December 4, 1857.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XIV, Issue 1089, 4 December 1857, Page 2

Friday, December 4, 1857.

LUCEO NON URO. "If I hare been extinguished, yet there rite A thousand beacon* from the spark I .bore"

We have already, stated that notwithstanding the iinposibility of giving general support to the < Taurekareka Government, we have no desire to throw unnecessary difficultiee ia'i&eir way, or to see them hampered in any endeaWtt to promote the public interests. We do nofcNWbt, that after haying sufficiently subserved tfieju* own interests, they will really pay as much attention as, they are able to those of the pnblie. For it is worth their while to do so. We have also stated* that we should be at all times ready to offer suggestions for the amelioration of the public service* and accordipgly, begin with a subject 1 that has oorf r late acquired much additional importance, from the circumstance of so dang erous a disease as the small pox having established itself in an adjoining colony. > *" We allude to^ the sanitory side of the Provincial establishment, which we believe to be at present undermanned. No one man could effectively perform all the,duties required of him, unless, i like Sir Boyle Roach's Irish bird, be were able to be in two or more places at once. -' The duties of the provincial Surgeon are,. we believe, to take charge of or attend upon" 1 The Hospital , - 2 The Lunatic Asylum, 3 The Stockade 4 The Gaol 5 The Lock Up 6 The Police Station and Police cases ; also 7 To board the Emigrant ships. Now is it not possible that these duties can be properly performed by one medical man. The Hospital alone, or the Hospital and the Lunatic Asylum, which is contiguous, ought to absorb the whole of his time and attention. He ought never to leave the ground. There are circumstances under which a House Surgeon cannot leave his hospital for half an hour, without serious risk to life ; — as for instance, in cases of Hcemorrhage, or of recent amputation. The Stockade — if only from its distance by the road, must take up no in considerable portion of the Provincial Surgeon's time, in daily visiting. And, unless such visits be regular, an opportunity of feigning sicknees is afforded to the hard labour men, on the days when the Surgeon's attendance is intermitted, But in cases of accident, fever, &c, the Surgeon's attendance may be imperatively required twice in the day. The Gaol does not often present serious cases j but unless it be seen to daily, is liable to the same difficulty as the Stockade. For those who are sent in by the Bench of Magistrates for 24 or 48 hours " hard labour , " wiM frequently plead ill health, to evade the labour; and as the ' majority of these cases are cases of drunkenness, the mere gaol detention is thought lightly of. Indeed it becomes no more than a quiet time for sleeping off the effects of the debauch. The "Lock Up" cases, /we apprehend, must give more trouble than the Gaol to a surgeon residing at such a distance as at the Hospital, inasmuch as its cases generally require a sudden visit, and not always in the day time. The Surgeon may be called upon at any moment to attend cases brought under Police charge, at the Police guard room ; also in any case of sudden accident coming under the surveillance of the Police authorities. We believe that only one Emigrant ship has as yet required the attention of Health officer. But even a single visit on board ship involves a serious loss of time to an officer who is overladen with serious duty elsewhere. And the most rigid performance of all duties connected withquarantine is now imperatively required. For notwithstanding the great and laudable exertions which, have been made by Mr Kissling, Dr Bacot> and others, to extend the practice of vaccination among the native race, it is to be. apprehended that they would still be swept away by thousands,, were the fatal small-pox at once to shew itself among them. We believe that two medical men would be equal to the whole of the work j the Hospital and Lunatic Asylum being assigned to one ; the remainining duties to the other. Such was the arrangement under Dr Campbells Superintendeticy, after the demise of Dr Davie's. But in our opinion, a still better arrangement would be to maintain a Provincial Surgeon, dwelling in Auckland, who should take upon himself all duties, including the supervision of the Hospital, in which a Honse Surgeon should be constancy resident.

In our- subsequent columns will he found tha cheering intelligence contained in the September Indian mail. Delhi captured, after desperate fighting on both sides V^ l s King/ the mookiMogul, a prisoner ; Cawnpore taken, and Lucknow relieved. The guijt of ihe King of Oude, who ap- r pears to Tiave been the morer in the sedition, ..indisputably proved, also of his prioiefminister, Ally Nukhee, who, in despair, has committed, suicide. There appears to be no dissen-

tient voice aslp the necessity onrafrowifig a just eeverity, in retribution of the horrible atrocities foommitted,,by the mutineers. , ; . Lefc tiS give thank i to Providence that so great a orisii in the fortunes of the British Empire' has been surmounted, to the ultimate strengthening,, as , there . seems every reason to believe, and complete consolidation of British rule in that noble empire. And although experience has been bought at a fearful price, the timely warning may prove, after all, to have been for the best. Had it been delayed much longer, the old erroneous system would have been still persevered in, generating accumulated discontent, until the outbreak had become so general as to defy repression. -. ■ ' To our mind,.the most reassuring fact is this,— that repression of the mutiny, to such an extent as to leave no doubt whatever of complete success, has been accomplished from Indian resources alone, without the, aid of reinforcements from home. It thus appears that the Indian empire is even yet sufficient to itself. It appears, however, that the British Government, for the most part slow to move; has been effectually frightened from its snpineness, and has dealt aasi3tance with a laviih hand. 25,000 troops, at the date of our latest advices, had actually been despatched to India; 10,000 u,ore were actually embarking, or under orders to embark And this, says the "HomeNews,"!is considered aronly the.firat instalment' of the aid which would be required to re-establish our empire on a secure basis. Lord Panmure stated in Parliament that for the next there years annual levies of 20,000 men would be found necessary to maintain pustule in the East ; subsequent events, however, and a closer insight into the difficulties cf our f position, have disclosed the fallaoy of that estimated We must keep up the European force to the standard of at least 80,000 troops, which is more than double the number that has ever before been quartered in India. At present no difficulty whatever seems to stand in the way of accomplishing this object. An admirable spirit pervades the people ; recruits are flocking in by hundreds and thousands ; the season is propitious towards the close of a plentiful harvest; and Government have effectually Stimulated the labours of enlistment by offering a commission to every qualified person who can bring in 100 recruits. We feel a pride, having some connexion with that most Irish of counties, Tipperary, in extracting the following statement : — On receipt of the really alarming news from the East, and before one word was said about calling out the militia, the men of the South Tipperary militia met Sn large numbers, consulted together, and sent a deputation to the senior officer in the county to express their readiness to aerve forthwith in India. This gentleman, touched by the rude valour of those stalwart fellows, collected the wishes of the officers, as as well as* of men, and with scarcely an exception, all agreed to join in the volunteer offer. It was made through the colonel-in-chief to Lord Panmure. Had their services been accepted, a fin^r body o' men, — 861 strong, and most of them trained gunners from an 18 month's embodiment in forta*nd garrisons — has never landed in India. 'To this, contained in a letter, the following editorial comment is appended. "The refusal of the services of these gallant fellows, at a moment when the country requires all the aid, especially disciplined aid, that can be procured, is one of the enigmas of red tape and routine." It appears >that at home 15 regiments of the Line are to be augmented to double their strength, other regiments are to receive a more restricted addition, and 15, 00 militia are to be called out.

The arrival of the English September mail has compelled us to exclude interesting extracts from our Southern contemporaries. The political news from Wellington is the return of five opposition candidates for the Hutt District, vis., Messrs. Ludlam, G. Hart, Corbett, W. Phillips, and, Wilcock, to the exclusion of Mr. Fitzherbert. In the Country District, three members have been returned in opposition to the Government party, Viz , Messrs. J. Wallace, Ashton St. Hill, and T. D. MeMaraway, and two in its favour, viz., Mr. Brandon and Mr. Johnston. From Canterbury we learn that Mr. Moorhouse had been elected to the Saperintendency, beating Mr. Brittan by 375 votes.