Hawaii Holomua, Volume III, Number 629, 27 July 1893 — Untitled [ARTICLE]

As we rernarked a onuple nfdayg ago, the Kilalau Dibtler and Dr. Tr.iu9«>eair8 n'eipnalion as one of the Board of nudic«l inspector8 on leper9 have cauBi d the suhjcct of leprosv to be well ventilated and diBCUS9ed in the eolunma of the loea’. |irc89, and by the pehlie on *trect8, »t hueineee, and m their homee. S.> far well and good. Until thc 9iibjcct iB well di9cus9ed and handled mueh cannot be known ih iiil it, nor will ihe puhlie sentiment crystallire and result in some decidcd acti»n by the government as the result of the jiopular will. But thero is oue elemenl in the disCū8sion whieh bas been imoorted into it by tlie ar.nexationist orgiins •nd that is the bearingof the tre.it ment of lepers upon poliliea. Now mueh ns we like to try •nd e >nvert our pilil eil opponents by de>iling out thc pUin truth to them in d ii!y d»seB we desire in ihie e tse to re.t8»n with tnem and not mere!y t» refute. F»r as we view it that w»uld be sirap!y adding fuel t» fire. Theref»re we will •imply ask why should it be allegcd that the rai«iiig of the question of the c»ntagiou8nc88 or otherwise of leprosy l>e rcgarded as an antiannexation. pro-Hoyalist |*olitical •eheme? Can men not deal sincerely and honestly with thia mt»st fearful cur»e tliat is in our midst witbout it beiug immediutely as■erted that their polilieal views have induced them to tainper with the health of the puhlie and that tbeir personal likea have caused thcm to morally eonauit treason agaiust the puhlie ■afety? Yet that is what the charge of Star aud Advertiser •gainit J.O. Carter and Dr. Trouseau amounts to when sifled down. The 8tar and the Advertiser, but e«pecially the former, have both cre»ted mueh unneces«arj bitt'*rB68s and hard fe«Iing among our «omiDUQity, by thc absolut«ly innne petty epiteful alander whieh lhey hare exhibited from timo to lime in plaee of arguraent, but Botbiog, «hieh tbey have ever «ritten or Dublished f»r its •bsolute!y dangeroue results, is8o bad a« tbis attempt to drag poliliea into philanthropy, to eouple •currility with general ouhlie welUre, and defam8tioa with duty. The subjecl of the puhlie health is «aeh s serious one. any danger to 4t thre«teaing ail alike from the highest to the loweai, from the

wealthiest to tbe pooreel, that it is the dutv of everycne to assiat, and participate in every attempt to preecrve it. For this purpose men of all parties and sects must unite. And to this end every attempt to create mulual ill-feeling and distrust amongst those engjgcd ia it« pret«ervali<m by raising the rry of politics or re'igion should be at onee sat upon by every right thinking citizeu. It is theref»re wilh exceeding mildncss. but with the neces«ary frtirness that we adm»nish the Star and the Adverti»er that they have been guilty of a serious crime »gainst the puhlie in thus attemoting, by raisingthecry of p»litics. to draw a red herring across the course to be pursued to avoid the danger of iepr»sy. And not on!y have thev d ne this, but they bave aggravated their oUenee by, in doing 3», sneering at, insulting, and defaraing two honorable, honored and respected members of the eommnnity. B»th Mr. Carter and Dr. Trousseau, wiiile no doubt, accnrding to puhlie rep»rt, against annexation and in favor of restoration, have maintained during the c»nrse ofl»nglives in the country, spotless reputations, as unbiaesed, unpartisan and judicially bnlaoced in all their judgme its and actions on men aud things. so that to assert that gentlemen like t hese, after bebuving in so unp,irtisan a way for so many years,would now be guilty of the w»rst and most diabolicalact that parli8anHhipcould give rise lo. that of attempting lo endanger the puhlie heallh and safety, is, as Nupoleon says, ‘w»rse than a crime —it is a bluuder. M Of the height of the personal, boeia!, and intellectual character of the two gentlemen, we have no reason to apeak aa even tbeir opponents have to ad uit theae and have admitted them, aIthougb tbe Advertiser this morning seems to whining!y insinuate that it ean destroy these “in detail as the oecasion require9.” As the Advertiser haa uot yet succeeded in destroying anything. but its own reputation for journali9tic truth, honesty, and value for news, we presume the two geotlemen will be ahle hereafter to lo»k with amused coutempt on nnr opiuion whieh the wisdom, and education, and aioral tone ot that journal offers on the subjects of “«eienee and manhood,” especially aa in the same artic!a “quite contagious” to theolherremarks ilcoatemptuously stigmatizes high-moraI grounds aa “old aud well worn.” We the following excerpt from the Star of Tuesday: If ever Ihe Iepers should be let lo»se oo this commuuity under tbe plea that tbe while plague is n«t iufeclious, g>od-bre thea to tbe prosperity ol the Ūawaiian Islands Not a tourist would stop bere except such few bardy souls as love danger f»r dauger’s aake, and as for export busiaasaour «ommenūai and agriculturai competitors wouid fill the prees of Amenea and Europe wiih fearsome tales of ieper- . made augar aad Ieper-picied £ruit—-

whereat a 3teadv decre*se of customers. The business sequenoe of such theoriea as tho#e of Dr. Trouaeau —theories whieh hiaown testimonv h*s refuted often and again —would be the harde«t and mo8t distressful times that everfeli upon ttie Sandwich group.” It shows that thealraightv dollar is at theb<>ltimofthisdes:reto hush up the question of the leproey and hide it from the wor!d’s gare. In other words we are to go on doing as we h.we done in ihe past,si'Dpiy pottering and fumbiing with the life and death of the people and hiding the fact that we are doing nothing so that s >meb dy may make a do’.lar. Out on such hideous reasonmg. such di;ibolical avarice! Let us be raen and quit us like men. The evil is here, let it be faced and manfully deatt with till the whole problera is solvedaudit isdefinitely seltledonce for all whether leprosy is so eontagious as Dr. \Voods asserts. thnt by merely toiiching a door handle after a leper has grasped it one may get the disease, or whether as Dr. Tronsseau states that is is not mueh more contagious than tubercular consumption. And until the Board of Heallh does this and frees us from our fear of danger. or confirms us in it, and takes precautions to remove it. let us hear no more of ti»e mercenary views of the Star. It is the life of the nttion that is at st ike not its purse.