THE TE ARAROA EPIDEMIC.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 15079, 29 November 1919, Page 3

THE TE ARAROA EPIDEMIC.

ANSWER. TO EX-MINISTER'S ASSERTION. " o. CASE FOR THE HOSPITAL BOARD. Strong exception to the attitude taken by-Mr G. W. RusseTi. ex-Minister of fublic Health, respecting the typhoid ep demi'* af, Te Araroa was taken by representatives of the Waiapu County Council mid the To Araroa Health Committee to-day. The ex-Minister, it will be recn-'led', comp'ained to the- iii- '' adequate arrangements made by the Hospital Board. Messrs -Geo F>rk. of Pt. Awpwhi. si"' C. Beckett, of Te Araroa, waited upon a Herald represen'titf.ve m order to put their side of the case before the public. * The posVon. they stated, was tha'' the Waiapu' Hospital Board by deputa tion at We.lli : n<rtori m May. 1917.''interv:ewed the Hon, G. W. RusseX and Dr. Freneley, asking him to visit the Waiorm district, ineilud'ng Te Araron ar>d Ruatorea. m order to clear up the nosit'on of the Wa.'arm Hospital Hoare 1 m respect of hospital matters.^ Under the then existing arrangements, the Government anr>o : Ttte'd the Nat've rwses. and paid th" ir salary, whilst the Waiapu Hosp : tal Boari paid the. c~= 4 of tbeir keen and the probationers' Ka'arv. The Board was anxious f«r matters "o be placed on p'ritwr f^^iii" and desired to hay •*'■* **4-\«-'t'nn tiffined as they (the ■ Roai-di had! T»r**ftie*dl"*- ; p" control. The T in : "try— nd hi* " TVmvt,mentol liP.*»d (Mr Fren\*'ev'i nrmiH'od t-o vvsit -the district and '■■•* iwk "»>t->> .m-J---t- ''. Mr .R'lgFc'l bn<l bce'v- reiv">tp<l'v • ••nTiiesfp.^. swiee hv» \rf '"'• to- "V'dt •'" Wn.inpn. bn'. ♦■•he r -p Ivul V" v "i."n ' tHpoi'S" wha,t^v?r Vinti 1 4 he vo-iy* 1 *-'«',». • r .- Dv WV+. tWiiT the l><v-M <«.o. l .;.nvwle«*^ 'l>e Native mirees. he " r e"'t: .«*•' ->*> -Wi- ■ '<*"( Te Ara.i*p«" about.-s ix "iq! , ! ,, .- s vy \rVn -Hie -''M»ndit- : ons,-- enVre'v^ changed iiwl tiie nursing f tnff a.t Te Araroa wn.« pp-"vfrr'd W the Board. • y ' VAt Ruatorea. howevpr. t)»(> ■nm'PPs were st- M ' under th'o Native 'Devi'rtmentYcontro 1 . . ;The y e was a small .eoffcg^' {.here, and the Board declined to ehlarjfe and embark on a .larger scale at Ruatorea: although it- was needed; 'wnfciT it hod asceii^ined its position with the Department ; Wid cleared 1 up the whole matter.: ; Thfs^hi|;|Board had been endeavoring Jo do fb^the i "past two years within* succesß. The position had also been fully represented to Dry Watt during his recent visit tc* the Gpast, Vbtit. so far tliere had! been no outcome to the representatt'ons. • Another anomalous position arose m connection with the Health Inspector for "the district, who was engaged, by tte /Government, but paid by the Board. According to the Minister's statement appearing m the Herald , the Hosplta' Board was blamed in> connection with the epidemic, but m this connection they, failed to 'understand why .the local au-. thorities should be Kamed when the Government was represented on the spot by Dr. Wi Repa. (who is subsidised .by the- Government to attend to the Natives), by the local health. inspector, and when Dr. Buck," a Government official, had visited Te Araroa earty m the epidemic. "'.-.;• As a matter of fact, the Te Ararh'n settlers had been . ba.tili.hg- with tlie Denartment for several years. and as far back as th© Hbspittil-Commi"3sion;in Gis-; home they had been urgiiig the Govern, menl to e'es-r- the matter up. Dv. Val- : *vti : ne.' on that occasion, paid a hurried vrit. to Waiapu. hut proceeded .-.only of far as Te Puia Hospiti.l. The posit-on was . mi.*! before him as fully as popsi'-C^* at the short notice, and he pvonvWl *■' come up again at an <vu'ly, date; One of the clauses m the Government's *" stnictions to the Native nurses; they w>in" ,, ed dut, was that rthe^' were .to. 'at* tend to the Natives aiid ma'y.'".lnVoa'se-.6f emercencies, attend to^E^roheans. The Board. .. howevei'. Wanted' : patients whether pakeha or Maorv to he treated alike, without any discrimination, and th : s had been one of the bones of contention right throutrh m the representations to both the Minister and Dr. Frene-Jey. The Board had done its hest m connection w'th the epidemic, hut after all. they were oni v novices, m connecVon with '^matters affecting the public bea'th. They- considered it was • the Government's diuty to send 1 trained mcd v cal orderlies up from We!linoton (where they- had' plenty) to cope with the situation, instead of merely sending men up to report and which* i*eports they had never seen. If the nursing arrangements, as now contended by the Minister, were inadequate,' it was ' eureSy the duty of the Department's officials to have pointed + hjs out to the Te Araroa committee These resurrincr epidemics of tyohoi-i ; n the Waiapir, they declare, are doubtless entirely due to the conditions undowhich the, Maoris live, and whilst the Government passed lettislation compelling settlers ---to provide proper quarters for shearers, they failed -utterly m their duty to the Maori people amd n* waf orro«sly xmfair that the responsibilntv and cost of coping-; Wiith thesei successive emdemic* shoulld fall on the shoulders of tb© European - settlers through > the Government's ineptitude. Effective measures should be taken to stamp out the disease.