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207
He. considered neither Hobarton nor Launceston suitable for a sanitarium
owing to their heavy mortality rates :
No possible advantages supposed to be obtainable from
the housing and accommodation in Hobarton can outweigh
the serious drawback which its heavy mortality proves . 9
Hall was especially critical of the Board 's remarks concerning
the mortality of the troops in Tasmania, declaring them so erroneous
that the authorities in England would see at once the Commissioners were
not competent to conduct the enquiry on this point.
Here, for the
first time, he discussed at length their circumstances and conditions ,
revealing that the mortality rate amongst them was higher, and their
standard of health lower than that of the convicts , due to the poor
standard of accommodation provided and the poor diet .
That the quartering of British soldiers with their wives
and chi ldren , even in the rural districts of this Island,
has been not less disgusting and immoral than that decreed
by the Eng lish Commissioners , I know full well , from my
long period of service in the Government Medical Staff.
More than once I have been necessitated for decency 's sake
to request all the men in a crowded barrack room to leave
their beds in the middle of a severe winter 's night, while
I delivered the wives of some of their number. Hard as it
was upon the men , I am glad to testify that my wishes were
always complied with . 1 0
Hall, too , had much to say about the buildings :
the Female House of
Correction, the Comptrol ler-General's Office, the Military Stores and
the like, which were suggested as suitable accommodation for the invalids
from India.
He summed up his remarks
The 453 brave sufferers who might be subjects to such
illiberal and unwise arrangements for their welfare, would
absolutely, have less space allowed them than the minimum
Barrack allowance so loudly and so unanimously condemned
in England. Such a provision would go far to re-enact
the hospital horror? of the Russian War and Hobarton
Military Invalid Sanitariums might rival the mortality
of the uscutari u pesthouse ,11
However , he felt there was little likelihood of this happening , as the
errors in the ''Report'' were too glaring to enab le it to stand up to
examination by able statisticians and sanitarians in England;
in short
the Commissioners had done Tasmania a great inj ustice. Scathingly ,
9 Ibid, p. 291 .
1 0 Ibid, p. 310.
11 Ibid, p. 307 .