THE EPIDEMIC COMMISSION.

NZ Truth, Issue 732, 28 June 1919, Page 1

THE EPIDEMIC COMMISSION.

Will "Rickctty" Russell Resign?

, After a considerable delay which m Itself denoted that something was doing-, or' trouble was a-brewing-, the reportVof the Royal Commission on the Influenza Epidemic m New Zealand has been issued/ and "Truth" has no hesi-tation-in declaring that m view. of the nature of the report, the Hon. G. W. Russell, Minister of Internal Affairs, has no option but to .resign his office, and, what is more w.the point,- submit himself to a decision of his <xmstituen.ts. It is well-known that as a direct, result of a public outcry the National Government decided on the appointment of 'a Royal Commission to inquire into and report upon the dreadful visitation to New Zealand towards the end of last year, a visitation directly responsible for nearly 7000 people going to their graves. The Commissioners appointed were Sir J. E. Denniston, an e x-judge of the Supreme cCourt, the Hon. B. Mitchelsbn and Mr. David McLaren. This Royal" Commission was established m pursuance of a promise made m. Parliament by the Prime Minister,- who could hardly ignore the. clamor "which, had arisen due to the extraordinary circumstances surrounding the failure of the Health authorities to quarantine the R.M.S. Niagara, upon which during a voyage from Vancouver to New Zealand had occurred a serious outbreak of what was called "Spanish Influenza." Moreover, among the passengers on this vessel were Mr. Massey, himself, and Sir Joseph Ward, who were returning from one of their trips to Europe. Public feeling then, was that the failure of the authorities to quarantine the-Nia-gara was due no leas, to the fact that Mr. Massey and Sir Joseph Ward were passengers. That was the opinion at the time, and Royal Commissioner's report notwithstanding, such is 1 the opinion which still prevails. The failure of the authorities to quarantine or even isolate the Niagara, and which the Hoh. G. W. Russell must be held primarily responsible led, as we all recollect, to an angry exchange f>t wires between the Mayor of Auckland, Mr. J. H. Gunson. and the Minister, and the Minister's retorts showed that he had lost control of himself. While Gunson and Russell -were exploding, the people, m their hundreds, were dying; thousands were prostrate, business came to a Standstill and it became very dear that "Ricketty" Russell, one'vof the most unpopular of politicians at any time, was very greatly, concerned about his political welfare, arid greatly perturbed at the' turn which matters had, taken. ■'■" ■ .•• ''••■. '••-.;'•

It was mad© perfectly clear that even a servile Parliament was determined on Betting to the root of the whole trouble, and when the .Prime Minister promised eC full inquiry, he made a virtue of a necessity. Such an inquiry naturally meant that the PtrbHe Health Department would have to stand its trial,, <with the ' Minister, political (head; the chief accused. It cannot be- said that the Minister himself Objected to the inquiry. As a matter of commonsense any objection on his part would have been fatal. With that bluff, characteristic ■ of braggart politicians, he professed to welcome any inquiry but — a mighty long time elapned before the personnel of the promised Royal Commission was announced. What, happened m Cabinet Is, of course, not known, but it ib clear that the Minister of Public Health sought to get his own way m many respects, but he was not allowed to have his own way. At any rate, when the Commission got under way, Sir. John E. Denniston, as chairman of the Commission, made it abundantly clear that he was seized of the serious nature of the investigations he was called upon to make, and was not m the:ieast moved by the fact .that somebody or other's political reputation was at •take, and so far as .the report and findings of the Royal Commission are now concerned, "Truth" trusts that the. people of New Zealand will refuse to n\ake this matter,. the lO3S 0f. .7000 citizens, a political question,' apart altogether from the fact of insisting that all yho^ have been weighed and found S wan»fai|* m the balance will not he 8-U«n*?ed to escape the consequences pf/ their neglect. It is very likely -/tynat the report and findings of the Royal Commission will be used as a weapon t6 beat and drive the Minister out of office. It will be a weapon used by the) Reform Party, »nd if the Hon. G. W. Russqll has any . regard for the party with which he is connected, he ■ ought ,to . "get from under," and not be a millstone round the necks of the Liberal Party at the next General Elections. ■'.•"■ •' ■ • .:• The report,' the findings, and the Recommendations of : the Royal Commission . constitute, where the Health Department of New Zealand is affected, a grave and a serious indictment. It finds the Department guilty of negligr* eace and of incornpetency, and, m

view of the indictment, only one thing is possible, viz., the remodelling of the whole Department, and for which the recommendations provide. However, what to "Truth's" mind provides • the whole crux of the position is the conclusion arrived at, viz.: "That" the cause of the introduction of the recent epidemic of influenza m New Zealand was the conveyance by sea of the'infective element of the epidemic influenza lately prevalent m Europe, Great Britain, South Africa, and America." That the Royal Commissioners realised that they were treading on slender ground when they had to consider whether the Niagara was responsible is borne out by the following excerpt from the report: '(a) That, although the matter Is not one capable of -absolute demonstration, the evidence be.fore us raises a very strong presumption that a substantial factor m the introduction of the epidemic was the arrival m Auckland on October 12 of the s.s. Niagara, with patients infected with the epidemic disease. (b) The evidence does not . exclude the possibility of other sources, such as the presence of infection from other vessels arriving ' • m Auckland at the same time, or shortly before the .arrival of the Niagara." .. (c) The foregoing evidence proves, 'm our opinion, that the official action before, m, and about the release of the Niagara showed either non-recognition or a disregard of the gravity of thg' position, described by the wireless message of October 11.

From the report, it is gathered that a wireless message was sent from the Niagara to the Naval Intelligence Officer m Wellington to the following effect: — "Please advise Health Department Spanish influenza cases on board increasing- daily. Present time over a hundred crew down. Urgently required hospital assistance and accommodation for 25 serious cases. Arrival schedule." The report proceeds : "This message was sent by the master of the ship. It was forwarded immediately to the Union Company, and it reached Dr.. Hughes, medical offtcer at Auckland, on October 11. Prom the evidence cited, it appears that two medical men on the ship did not consider the sickness virulent." Commenting on this/ the Commissioners say:— "lt is singular that throughout the whole \>t the evidence apparently hardly any mention is made of this ominous wireless, with which all the persons interested must have been familiar. Apparently it was ignored, and no explanation asked or tendered as to the discrepancy between its description of the situation and that eiven m the evidence of the medical men on the ship, and m the telegram j finally forwarded to the Minister. The first .step directed towards ?the disembarkation of passengers was stayed by the Minister at a late hour, and he then apparently, without any further information as to the condition of matters on board, telegraphed to his representative to report, not on general terms, but by answering categorically two questions:— "(a) Number of deaths, if any. on ship since leaving Vancouver? "(b) Whether disease is . or is not pure influenza, presenting same indications as that which prevailed m the Dominion for some time?

"To this telegram the Health Office (at Auckland) replied : —'On 1 Niagara one death last night; broncho-pneu-monia after influenza. Disease purely aimple influenza. Only two passengers for New Zealand on board with it. 1 The Minister replied at once: 'Ship may be cleared. 1 " The Commissioners comment thus: "It is difficult to see how the Minister could be satisfied by these communications m the face of the earlier, official information from the -ship'- as to the condition of things, which, if true, made her a menace to the health of the city. It Js alsb difficult to understand how,. thje^ health officers on board the vessel accepted the diagnosis of the acting-ship's cloc■tor as to the form and .characer of the sickness without (as' far as appears) any reference to. ? or explanation of the compromising telegram " The Commissioners also find that the chief faults of the Administration arose from : . . (a) The local (Auckland) branch of the' Department being understaffed. ■ (b) The Chief Officer not having sufficient powera of direction; and '

(c) The official attitude towards the disease m postulating a distinction between ■ "simple ■• infiu- .:',:' . enza" and "virulent." asjif only ! '. ' the 1 latter were infectious or of \ danger to the community. • -• « Now, It must be borne m mind that these are the considered conclusions of three Royal Commissioners, the chief of whom Is an ex-Judg^ of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, and against whom a charge of bias or prejudice can hardly be hurled. Tet, the * Hon. G. W. Russell does not hesitate to impute bias and impugn the honesty of the Chairman of the Royal Commission. The Minister has issued a very lengthy reply to the report ai>d findings of the Royal Commission, and seeks to build up a defence by quoting a number of newspaper reports, but with the true characteristics of the Minister he has gone out of his way to attack the ex-Judge, who, m the early stages of the Royal Commission, made it clear that he was concerned only with arriving at' the truth, because of the serious nature of the business, and not with political reputations. •

"Truth" is not concerned with the defence of the Royal Commissioners, individually or collectively. #All 'we know ,pr care about is that the Royal Commission has made a report, which condemns ' the Health Department, from the Minister downwards, and as the Hon. Mr. Russell was bound to stand or fall by that report, we submit that he has no option but to resign. No doubt this report and findings has had something to do with hast-, ening what seems to be a political crisis, necessitating the urgent raturn of Sir Joseph Ward to New Zealand. It will not do the Liberal Party any good to stand by the discredited * Minister (we speak politically), and he should not be permitted to drag down his party, or even his colleagues, because of the incompetence which has marked the administration of the Public Health Department. The graves of many victims of the dreadful scourge are the monuments of incompetence. Thousands of citizens who suffered, and have not yet been freed of the effects of the curse, are entitled* to demand the Minister's resignation. If 'the Minister refuses to resign, public indignation meetings Should be held to compel him to consider his position.