The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1867.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume II, Issue 171, 24 July 1867, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. WEDNESDAY, JULY 24, 1867.

It may be in the recollection of our readers that only last June we expressed our deliberate opinion that the fact that no law to regulate the qualifications of practitioners in medicine and surgery could be found in the Statute Book of New Zealand, was one of a very grave character. We are therefore gratified to find, on reading the Medical Bill introduced into the General Assembly on Tuesday last, th;.t it appears to be identical in principle with the measure the introduction of which we advocated id the article to which we have already alluded. The Medical Practitioners' Act, 1867, constitutes a Medical Board empowered to prepare a list of duly qualified medical practitioners, and to hand it over once a year to the Colonial Secretary for publication in the Gazette, provision being at the same time made for all persons in the colony recognised under existing Provincial Acts, and for no interference with chemists, druggists or dentists. It prohibits unregistered persons from assuming any title that might imply that they are registered under the Act, and from holding public appointments and giving medical evidence in Courts of Justice, but it does not in any way prevent unqualified persons from practising, nor the public from employing them. Our readers will therefore perceive that the Act has been framed entirely in accordance with the liberal and comprehensive spirit, the adoption of which we so strongly advocated. It is a matter of notoriety that it has hitherto been very doubtful whether medical men have any recognised legal status or power to recover fees ; whether, in fact, accordiug to the strict letter of the law — strange as such a paradox may appear — any such a person as a duly qualified medical man exists in New Zealand. Lawyers are registered as such in this colony, and the annual publication in the Gazette of a list of officiating ministers of the various religious denominations, under the provisions of a very similar Act to that now under our consideration, has been found to be a great public convenience, whilst it does not interfere with the privileges of any one, not even of a '* stickit minister." It is not easy to understand how any one but a " stickit " doctor can object to the bill in question, nevertheless, the Examiner, in its leading article on this measure in yesterday's issue, takes objections to it, and suggests as an alternative, that the English " College or Society ought to be able to prosecute" any one falsely assuming to be one of its members in New Zealand. Now, it is a matter of fact that ouly one corporation — the Apothecaries — has this power over a portion of Great Britain ; aud even were this not the case, our readers may easily picture to themselves the amusing spectacle which would be presented to the world by the solicitor of the London Apothecaries' Society or the University of Paris, conducting a prosecution of this nature in the New Zealand Courts ! The question of titles is also evidently a stumbling-block to the Examiner. Formerly Doctors and Bachelors of Medicine and Members of the College of Physicians were exclusively styled by the title of " Doctor," but of late, especially since some of the minor Scotch. Universities have conferred the degree of M.D. ou any

surgeon, whether he has had a previous university training or not, it has become the custom to call all medical men by a title which it is known they may so easily acquire. The bill in question therefore very wisely leaves medical men to assume aud the public to assign auy title they please to any medical practitioner, whether physician, surgeon, or apothecary, provided only that he is registered. The surgeon^who is registered is a medical man in the eye of the law just as much as a physician or "Doctor," and may assume any title he likes which implies that he is a medical mau. The unqualified quack is not a medical man in the eye of the law, and may not assume any title impljiug that he is. The new bill concludes by repealing the existing Provincial Acts, including, of course, the New Munster Ordinance, which is now the law in Nelson, and under which foreirners would be disqualified, were it uot that the omission ia too unwarrantable to be recognised in a civilised commuuity. The late Dr Thcbing, though a graduate of a most distinguished German University, was by that Ordinance — if indeed it had any meaning at all — disqualified from attending even his own countrymen in this province. We need not remind our readers how thoroughly the provisions of the Ordinance were set at nought in that instance by lhe practical common sense and tolerance of this community. The proposed bill, we may add, besides rescinding this absurd restriction, makes liberal provision for the recognition of foreign and colonial degrees. The only valid objection which can be made to the bill is a political one, which, curiously enough, seems to have entirely escaped the notice of the Examiner. This however will doubtless be met before it becomes law. We allude to the fact that it is, as at present framed, a very centralising measure, the Governor being empowered to appoint a Board which, it may probably be anticipated, would sit at Wellington, and would be composed of residents of that city. This difficulty however may easily be surmounted, and the Provincialists will probably see that all the greater provinces are recognised by the measure and be duly represented at the Board.