THE HOSPITAL INQUIRY.

Thames Advertiser, Volume VII, Issue 1862, 26 September 1874, Page 3

THE HOSPITAL INQUIRY.

The other day, from tho Bench of the j Warden's Court, the people who live here were complimented upon being I " reasonable men .;" aud while endorsing j the opinion of our worthy Warden, we ' may supplement it with one of our own, that the men of tho Thames are longsufferinfj to an unexampled degree if they can be much longer satisfied to regard the proceedings of the Hospital Committee with silent regret. It may perhaps bo to the advantage 'of all parties if wo briefly picturo tho committee iu its present position as viowcd by the public. It wore unnecessary to say that, as-almoners'of a public charity, the' conmiitteo have in charge tho execution of an offico closely allied in its attri-, butes to tho sacred calling of God'sminister, to,which character they_might bo cxpected tho more closely to assimilate by reason of tho number of such ministers onlisted'in their ranks/ Howover, be it as it may, while the Hospital is in chargo of this body an unfortunate man becomes aa inmate of the institution by reason of an accident, which end& in his > suffering 'literally a loss, which', in common language, is typicailly udo'd'tcprepresent tho greatest loss a.man can^suffor—that of his right hand.Should' We, in course of our remarks',, liavo to complain' 'ofj> any Jack of zeal on the. part of tlio' committee, wo will; here ,do them the. | justice to say, that:! the .subject of thi-i mail ind his loss and) his sulTcriog, liavo. been met with, a dispassionato calmness, which contrasts strangely with the spirit .in which'have boe'n'appVoa'cli'ed the subjects unfortunately arising out of it. Continuing fi'6m J th r e'p6int Svh'ere peaceful labour was disturbed by tlio trumpet of war- as ; sounded by Mr-McCullough, wo. find the first and se : corid persons to throw cold wat'eri on:the herald's performance are Mr Mcllhone and tho'li.ev. J. Hill, wlio with seeming.propriety ,of feeling declined .to listenrto.anonymous letters. , Would .that ivo-could relievo ou?'minds-of asuppicion tliat at thb moment Mr Mcllhono know, the fetter, to be; t]ie .bautling, of .his own henchman, O'Haire, and would that we could ignore the fact that later on in the proceedings tlio.'. rev. "• member Of the Church militant shot a whole load- of dirt ; at • a brother Committee man solely, on , the strength of sopae,rumours' pf a, real'or. imaginary tai&perihg. "Next wo find Mr McCullough, having been 0 seemingly snubbed for his obtrusion of tho anonymous, affording an "example of Christian forgiveness in appointing his" snubbers" on.the committee of enquiry, and we only regret that it is not every such instance ;of touching confidence that is so well regarded as in this, where we jboth these gentlemen most energetic in Isupport of their nominator's views. And jwe would like here to step aside to coinipliment Mr McCullough, always supposing him to have been acting without iconcert, upon his choice of material from jsuch opposite platforms as those upon i which Mr Hill and Mr Mcllhono are 'mostly employed, as well aa upon the tact I with which 110 threw in a relative iof a resident medical man, the plate- | bearer of Mr Hill, with that" stock" but | somewhat threadbare .< piece of : imj partiality, Mr Benshaw. Of course the I absence of any Episcopalian was an accijdenfc to which we,should bo sorry to call i attention. :.The procedure of, this ~com-; niittee, 1 so fortunate iin :its selection, was unique. Thoy.hear,i we can hardly call, it" evidence," but rigmarole.statements,. including versions of what- somebody had said to. somebody else, of which matter each member jotted down notes of what most tickled his own fancy, the whole prosecution being 'under'tho conduct of the sapient McCullough. This first-act. of the farce completed, in the second . our, valiant defender" against all manner of aggressions is discovered solus, playing the editor, and with scissorsand paste, with .here and there a dash of original 'composition; compiliug "the report of the committee," Mr Mcllhone doing the invisible harlequin business, and with silvery tongue, instead of magic wand, invisibly leading the pen ofn the pure divine in the way it should go. Next-': Mows what,;. if-,-.:we ' .were sufficiently suro of, our knowledge of legal .procedure ; to venture upon a' simile from that' mysterious source, wo should describe as' a '• successful application on the'part of tho defendant for a. new. trial on the ground of the improper reception and rejection of evidence, and of improper conduct on tho part of the jury. & new and enlarged' jury being impounded, aud being composed of such discordant elome'nts as the old one, and those who. had charged them- with misconduct, as might reasonably bo expected, . they, fall to fighting among themselves, or 'rather, to change our legalallegory to pastoral, to worrying an obnoxious sheep out of the fold. The Rev. Mr Hill being moved thereto by what he-described in honeyed terms as a vague rumour, but which, being interpreted, meaas Mr Mcllhone (we must be in error here, because we find Mr MellllSne, following Mr Hill, says. " he is not prepared to say what'is in the-reverend gentleman's knowledge,") brings a charge against some person or persons unknown, in the shape of an assertion that " we have reason to believe that some of-the. .witnesses have been tampered with, to wit, 'our best witness.'" Nosv, though "our best witness" happens to be a domestic in Mr-Tyler's establishment, that gentleman, with less acumen than we credited him with, takes the charge to himself, and denies it. The scent being... thus " crossed" by. moro' lively gamo, the whole pack, forgetting: poor Powor, tho .-Hospital, its management, and the grave chargo hanging over a-medical ; man,-start in pursuit of the unfortunate lawyer, who is finally run to earth in.his own domicile, by the gallant hound who first gave, tongiio' to him. The age of miraplos has not passed. Tho Hev. Mr Hill and Edward King Tyler, .;Esq., : when nest aeon of the public eye,' were arm in arm, literally and figuratively. "Hill was satisfied and magnanimous, and would put the whole thing right." Miss Milgrow ; (we really regret that this young person's name should bo of -necessity used) had been seen by Hill. Tyler discovers " that Hill is not such a bad sort after all, and, liko the rest of us, liable to mistake, but in his case open to conviction." With keen relish, Tyler looks forward to the following Wednesday, when, the " not-such-a-bad-sort" will put him right .before the world. But, alas, in the meantime, Mcllsone sees Hm, and then at the meeting which was to afford tho pleasing spectacle, of virtue vindicated, Hilli silent himself, puts up Mcllhone, and tho ill-used Mr Tyler is so sat upon, so belaboured, and, worst of all, so bereft of a friend with tho courage to speak that he is foroed to, perhaps, exousablo flight. :

Now, having tjivon what we belipvo to:■ be -'a. lair hißtorioal • reside• of the" Hospital inquiry so far, wo uslc oat nepers if they cguM twvo

imagiued anything so disgraceful being enacted among us, any such prostitution of the office of almoners of a public charity to tho basest purposes; and if they require any more proof than this story affords, that thoae who are allowed to take tho lead in the committee of the Thames Hospital are unworthy of the trust reposed in themP As in thus speaking we are but giving expression to public opinion, we have no hesitation in adding, that the further conduct of the enquiry at the hands of the present belligerents should not be longer tolerated, but it should be handed over to' some tribunal not entirely forsaken by common sense, common honesty, and -'all common decency. Otherwise, whatever may bo the result of the question of negligence —a question we have studiously avoided—we feel satisfiedthat a most deserving institution will languish utider such ■ party squabbles aud tho neglect resulting from want of-public confidence in its management. — [Communicated.]