Page image

A.—3a

(d) A charge at the rate of £600 per annum for leave, pensions, &c., granted to the staff. (e) Insurance charges on buildings and plant. (/) Interest at the rate of 5 per cent, on the original purchase price of the island and the value of all buildings and plant as estimated at the 31st January, 1928, together with interest at the same rate on the cost of any future capital expenditure. (g) Annual contribution at 3 per cent, on the value of all buildings, plant, and works as estimated at 31st January, 1928. Payments on this account to be made to a separate account, to be known as the " Makogai Replacement and Building Fund." The question of this charge to be reviewed at the end of five years in the light of the amount of the accumulated fund at that date. (5) That a loan, to be called the " Makogai Loan Fund," be raised as and when required for the purpose of providing funds for capital works ; payment of interest and repayment of principal to be made by equal annual instalments over a period of twenty years. (6) That the control of the institution shall be vested in the Fiji Government, who will consult the other Administrations concerned before undertaking any important works involving increased capital expenditure or any substantial increase in the working-expenses of the institution. (7) That any outside administration that is not prepared to make a capital contribution will give an undertaking to participate in the scheme for a period of twenty years. (8) That a junior Medical Officer be appointed at the earliest possible date to act as assistant to the Medical Superintendent. (9) That accounts to other Administrations be rendered by the Medical Department, Fiji, to — (a) New Zealand —Department of Public Health. (b) Cook Islands —Minister for the Cook Islands. (c) Samoa —The Administrator, Samoa. (d) Tonga —The Premier, Tonga. (e) American Samoa —The Governor, Pago Pago. (10) That a proper survey and estimate of the proposed road from Nasau to Dalice be made as early as possible, and that a refrigerating plant be installed.

APPENDIX No. 1. Memorandum by the Acting Colonial Secretary. In July, 1920, a despatch was received from the Governor-General of New Zealand inquiring whether the Fiji Government would provide accommodation for and undertake the treatment at Makogai of lepers then at the Samoan Leper Station of Nusufee. The Governor-General stated : " The cost of maintaining the leper station in Samoa is excessive, and owing to its isolated position it is impossible to give the patients that skilled medical supervision and attention which the sufferers from this dread affliction receive at the very excellent institution established by the Fiji Government at Makogai." The Fiji Government undertook to receive the Samoan lepers at Makogai on the following conditions : That the Samoan Government should pay the cost of the necessary accommodation and should pay for the patients at the following rates —Half-castes, £70 a year ; Chinese, £60 a year ; Natives, £40 a year. The first batch of thirteen Samoan lepers arrived in August, 1922, and an additional seven arrived in May, 1924. The present number from Samoa at Makogai is twenty-seven. In 1922 the Samoan Government paid the sum of £1,048 for the original accommodation provided, and in 1925 paid a further £400 for additional accommodation. 2. In March, 1923, the late Mr. T. E. Fell, Colonial Secretary, paid a visit to Makogai. On his return to headquarters he submitted a report to the Governor, the last paragraph of which is as follows : — " I could not but think that there are great possibilities of making this leper institution a general one for all the British colonies of the Western Pacific. There is ample room in the island for such extension. Were Fiji, the Western Pacific High Commission, Tonga, Samoa, and the Cook Islands to combine in this matter, it might be possible to run an auxiliary schooner for leper-transport only, and to divide the cost of it, and the total cost of the institution amongst the different Governments according to the number of lepers transported and accommodated. It is possible that with such a division of cost the total cost to the Fiji Government might not exceed the present figure, whereas the extension of the institution to other British possessions would confer an immense public benefit throughout the Western Pacific. Whether the idea is worth working out in detail is for Your Excellency to decide." The Governor submitted a copy of Mr. Fell's report to the Secretary of State, and the last paragraph of his despatch stated : " I should be glad to learn whether you would approve of my taking steps in the direction suggested by Mr. Fell in the last paragraph of his report." The Secretary of State, in reply, stated that copies of the correspondence had been laid before the Colonial Advisory Medical and Sanitary Committee in London, and that " the Committee strongly supported the proposal that lepers from all the British colonies in the Western Pacific should be concentrated in the Asylum at Makogai. I therefore approve of your taking steps in the direction suggested by Mr. Fell." It was thus that the scheme for converting Makogai into an institution for the treatment of all lepers in the Western Pacific had its beginning.

6