The Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1876.

Oamaru Mail, Volume I, Issue 47, 15 June 1876, Page 2

The Evening Mail. THURSDAY, JUNE 15, 1876.

Pt.-Di.t«;' l)wlic« ? like private individuals, arc occasionally very impulsive in their aetudu*. If a matter crops up before a puMte I>«>dy dcmaiuting immediate action, the members are immediately imbued with a desire to do .some public good. They act with an impulsive unanimity which is •juite refreshing, and somewhat out of the ordinaiy Hthargic style of doing business. We had an instance of this the other day, when our Borough Council, taking alarm at the prevalence of sickness in town, determined to form itself into a Local Board of Health. It will, no doubt, bo remember; d that the Council decided to refer the matter to a Select Committee, instead of adopting the course which we pointed out as the only necessary one, viz., to apply to his Honor the Superintendent to be gazetted. We endeavoured to convince the Council at the time the subject of a Bor.id of Heatthwr.3 broached, that all thcy retp.itve to do wn-3 to send in their names to the Superintcndont, and intimate that the pressing circumstance--* of the case urgently demanded a Board of Health and a -Medical o;Ueer T then all the routine of a Select Committee would have been obviated, and at the present time we should have some duly appointed person to look after our sanit.uy condition. Instead of this desirable st;»te of things, what is the result I Why, that we are in no better position now than we were twelve months before the Council took the question in hand. We have no desire to be classed as alarmists—in fact all through, we have carefully avoided what is known as tall writing »u ths subject, and merely stated the t'p.-if.r without exaggeration. We don't believe in the skull a-:d cross-bones style i»f looking at our sanitary condition, representing Death at the front door waiting to enter, and a six-foot-six undertaker at the back with a coliin and hearse ready to convey the victims away. This is not the way to get a much-needed reform carried out. If the public have the facts of the caao placed before them in their true light, their own common sense will be sntticieut to convince them that the sooner we have a Local Board of Health and a Medical Ottieer, the better. We know of a fact that at the present time a medical man in this town is attending a family, and has been for some weeks past, and is likely to for some months to come, for a class of fever occasioned solely by bad drainage, and of course the concomitant evil, filth. The doctor lias told the mother that it is no use him giving her medicine unless these fever-breeding surroundings are removed ; but this, of course, though very good advice, is comparatively valueless, because there is no Medical Officer to whom the doctor can represent the case, and insist on the premises being thoroughly cleansed. At present, so far as preventing the spread of disease is concerned, a medical man is simply powerless, and will be until a Board of Health is constituted, vrlwn the Board's Medical Officer will then be fully empowered to cany out a doctor's recommendations. It is certainly to be hoped that at the next meeting of the Council this question will be brought forward, and some progressive action taken in the matter. At any rate, we shall be anxious to know when the Select Committees report will be submitted to the Council.