The Star. MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1902. THE PLAGUE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7423, 9 June 1902, Page 2

The Star. MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1902. THE PLAGUE.

The boy in the fable who ieried."Wolf ! Wolf!" so often lias incurred 1 the odium of every respectable nurseay occupant ever dnce, but, wiile the youth's intentions were not the most honourable ia the world, :.« might plead in defence that indirectly }•.'■.• was a power for good, inasmuch as he '/a.viratedi the fact that <mcc bit is far too j;-,! twice shy. He %vas a moral lesson, in fact, dressed in- the jacket of a practical , joke. The fable would -nob be a fair parallel t)i draw with the action of the Health, authorities in regard to the allege^l plague cases afc Lytt£lton, even though. Iwth tho latest cases have/been definitely announced j not to be plague.' Froih- the first the authorities have been careful to make only the most qualified statements with' regard" to the cases, and the extraction^ of information by an enterprising newspaper press has been like the drawing cf reluctant teeth. If there has not been a conspiracy of sdlence around' the subject, there'has been at least a unanimity of nescience. Indeed, the most that could be definitely learned' until the arrival of the Chief Health Officer was that something resembling a "wolf had been seen hovering around Lyttelton, and even this the doctors were not anxious to " cry." It is a relic of a very barbaric form of! thoughtfulness to imagine t3mt secrecy constitutes safety, or is even a form of kindliness. Prevention 1 is always better than' cure, and the eai'liest information upon, so igiportant a subject as the possibility of a plague epidemic is a public right. Itstrikes at the community and .tihe oolony in a hundred different • ways that do mot require demonstration. There is not the slightest possibility of a pcare in our midst, nor is there any yellow journalism which the authorities may fear. Fortunately Dr Mason appears to coincide with 'these views, for application to -him for information is invariably met with a full, courteous and ready response. It is to be hoped that in future ihis subordinates will adopt a similar attitude, instead of assuming the responsibility of a silence which may at any moment become significant. But the fable has an application at tihe other end .of the stick. Although, there have, been several false alarms', it behoves the good people of Lyttelbon, as well as tihose of Christchurch, not to relax their precautions nor to cease from the labour of putting their houses in order und of generally sweeping and garnishing their respective cities. It must be borne in mind; that at least one ascertained case of plague 'has already occurred at the Port, and this, in itself, should be sufficient to indue© a. policy of increasing vigilance and scrupulous care.