PASSING EVENTS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 4927, 17 April 1894, Page 1

PASSING EVENTS.

-♦ Not one of the leaßt recompublilCAns' mendationa that can be ethics. urged on behalf of the Alcoholic Liquora Sale Control Act is the marked improvement which it has produced in what we may call publicans* ethics. -That improvement is everywhere observable, and more especially 80 in districts where the electors, by active participation in the late local option poll, showed that they approved of the policy of the Legislature in endeavouring to raise the atatus of the liquor trade, while at the same time giving the people power to limit; the number of licensed houses. The annual report of the Otago Licensed Victuallers' Association has just been published, and a large portion of it is devoted to the question of " trade "ethics. Gratification is expressed at a decrease in the Dunedm membership of the Association— a number of what are doubtless considered the " black sheep " of the flock having been excluded by an increase of subscription, so that the position of the Association haia improved, both financially and socially. The committee recommends that the Association should be formed "into a strong friendly society, with benevolent as well aa defensive aims, in which the members will have sufficient interest, financially and legally, to compel them not only to strictly observe the law themselves but also to see that their neighbours do so." This accentuation of good behaviour is clearly a result of the recent legislation, which offers a premium to well-conducted houses, and discourages all unlawful practices. The Otago publicans claim to have information which proves that " wherever a license is suppressed there invariably arises a system of unlicensed trading in alconolio liquors —to the detriment, socially, of the legitimate trade." They, therefore, "urge upon the members to unite and endeavour to induce the Government to give them such protection against illegitimate traffic as to effect its suppression." This changed attitude will gratify everyone except, perhaps, the extreme prohibitionist, who may not be over pleased by the prospect of. decent hotelkeepera securing something like fixity of tenure as the reward of carrying on their business in a legitimate fashion.

The evidence given at medical the inquest at Petone on etiquette. April 11 on the body of a Maori woman named Wikitoria Eetimana has naturally excited a good deal of comment and come indignation in Wellington. It appears that the friends of the deceased took the usual step to obtain medical assistance, but one doctor declined to attend without having his fee paid in advance, another objected to meet at the bedside a member of the profession with whom' he had some misunderstanding, and a third was unprovided with the necessary instruments to deal with the case. Under such circumstances the poor woman's death, after two days of terrible suffering, was, of course, a very happy release, but the following observations made by the Post on Thursday certainly deserve the attention of the public and the profession : — • In view of the evidence given at the inquest at Petone yesterday, the Medical 'Association would certainly be doing good service to the profession and to the public if it would give an authoritative ruling on some of the points of medical etiquette which there cropped up. We know that medical etiquette is a strange and wonderful thing. Doctors, for instance, may not advertise themselves in a straightforward, business-like way, but they may do it indirectly, to their hearts' content, without violating any of the canons of pro'eesional honour. But what the public wan^s t,o know authoritatively is, how far etiquette may he balanced against human life ? la it allowable to sacrifice ' t or seriously endanger life on mere professional punctilio? Is it professional to refuse to attend without prepayment of fees in a case where a life — it may be Hve3 — is at stake ? We do not know that a medical man is legally compellable to give the benefit of his professional aid to a person who may die for lack of it, any more than a baker is bound to give a loaf of bread to a man who may otherwise die of starvation. Sis skill is his stock-in-trade, and he has to live by his fees, but at the same time it would be very desirable to know precisely what the profession, as a body, deems ie the duty of its individual members to do under such circumstances, and also the extent to which the sound principle of non-interference with another practitioner's case may properly and legitimately be carried. These are questions which arise at leaßt indirectly cut of yesterday's proceedings, and after the verdict of the jury exonerating the medical men directly concerned in the case from all blame in onnection therewith they may be considered without any personal application, and simply as matters of general principle in the settlement and understanding of which the public has a vital interest. It will be interesting to hear what the MedicaV Association has to say in reply — we may at least expect that it will not ignore such a pointed inquiry — and in the meantime it is easy to understand the

J Maoris' objection to the Pakehaa' suddenlyI awakened interest in the lifeless body.

A French economist, M. the cost Edmond Thery, has published of some voluminous statistics to peace, show the enormous increase in the amounts raised eaoh year by European countries for military purposes. The following table, taken from his numerous calculations, compares the amounts spent on the army and navy in different countries in 1869-70 with the amounts spent in 1892-93 :— Countries. 1869-70. 1892-93. £ & England 24,220,000 33,296,00 France 21,972,000 35,600,000 Bussia ... ... 24,624,000 44,284,000 Germany ... ... 13,833,000 32,908,000 Austria-Hungary 9,111,000 16,856,000 Italy 7,376,000 14,204,000 Belgium 1,472,000 1,880,000 Spain ... ... 5,112,000 6,812,000 Holland 2,020,000 3,012,000 Switzerland ... 192,000 1,468,000 £109,932,000 £190,320,000 . The increase in Germany has been 137 per cent, in Italy 92 per cent, in Austria 85 per cent, in Russia 79 per cent, in Franca 62 per cent, in England 37 per cent, and in Belgium 28 per cent. During the twenty-three years Switzerland has been forced into an army expenditure, and Spain and Holland have been compelled to follow the example of the r stronger neighbours. And this is not the end of the wasteful competition. The increases this year in nearly all the countries will be larger than ever, and while thousands starve, millions of money will be paid as the price of Peace.