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smouldered like a festering sore, ready to erupt at the slightest_;
provocation. Certainly, considering past events , the appointment of both
Bedford and Hall to the Board of Management was an act of optimism by the
Executive , rather than of wisdom and foresight; Hall's determination,
possibly too forthright and ins istent at times , and Bedford 's injured
pride \-lere too incompatible for harmonious cooperation, even for the sake
of the orphan ch ildren . S lo\-lly, \'lith mounting tension, the Board split
into t\'10 groups - Hal l, Crm.,rther and Hunter, the progressive popular element ,
versus Bedford, Nairn and Henty, the conservative officials , with the less
vocal allegiance of the other members varying uncertainly between the two .
At a special meeting called on May 21 to discuss the regulations
pertaining .to the Medical Officer 's duties , Hal l's outspoken and forceful
adh erence as a medico-vital-statistician to the truth regardless of
personalities , lit the fuse that exploded the Hall-Bedford feud once again
into stormy activity . In his speech supporting the rule that a record
should be kept of all cases treated, Hall referred to the previous neglect
of keeping such a record, and the inconvenience caused some years ago when
many deaths occurred ; had such a record been kept, it would have been
apparent that in some cases inquests ought to have been held, and blame
would then have been attached in certain instances . Although Bedford \'las
not present at the time, Benson's hostility towards Hall was undisguised:
in the discussion of a rule \'lhich proposed that in severe cases and during
the prevalence of epidemic disease consulting assistance should be obtained
from the medical members of the Board, taking them in succession and
I .
commencing \'lith the senior, Benson maintained there were three medical men
on the Board and to be forced to call in any particular one in whom he ,
perhaps , had no confidence placed him in an invidious position. It was
therefore decided to call in all three together . l7
At a later special meeting on July 11 to appoint extra medical
assistance to the Schools during a severe epidemic of meas les , Bedford
retaliated fiercely. As Hal l had applied for the position as a private
doctor, he \'las discreetly ab sent from the meeting, the only one he did
not attend. The new appointee' s duties were to take charge of a portion
of the sick under Benson' s direction and to assist in bringing up the
medical register of hospital cases . There were four applicants :
W.S. Keen 10/- per day
H.H. Harvey no amount given
1 7
Mercury, May 23, 1861.