PDF (Whole thesis) - UTas ePrints - University of Tasmania

249
CrO\'Ither 's letterl '
which Hal l described as clear and manly, immeCiiately
lifted the sordid affair from the petty level of personal antagonisms to
that of attitudes ) '
policies and organization , and put it on a more
rational basis in which personalities played no part.
Hall also replied to his critics in a lengthy but simply
written letter to the Mercury on August 7.
These two letters, l'lritten
in reply to the same article , provided an interesting and revealing insight
into the attitudes and characters of the t\'IO doctors who were engaged in
the same task of caring for the orphan children .
Whereas Crowther saw
the problem with the eyes of the progressive administrator l'iho was later
to become the Premier of Tasmania, Hall regarded it, as always , as a gentle,
humane physician who was primarily interested in the health and happiness
of each individual child, and, though fully cognizant of political
realities, looked upon efficient administration merely as a means to this
particular end.
Hall's strong sense of responsibility, his great love
and sympathy for children , the depth and penetration of his understanding
of their problems , his untiring and selfless dedication to their welfare
were no better revealed than in this letter which is worthy of reading,
not only to appreciate Hall's character and work , but also as an example
of the high idealism of the best nineteenth century social reformers and
philanthropists .
After a brief defence of his actions as a member of the Board,
Hall emphasized h0\'1 necessary it was that he should continue to assist the
children ;
as a sanitary reformer and vital statistician, he knew that the
Queen 's Orphan Schools were not yet in order .
During the present measles
epidemic of 1861, 90 children out of 250 at the Randwick Asylum in Sydney
were affected by tlie disease and yet not one died;
in the Orphan School
in Hobarton, where the epidemic began at the beginning of June , out of
475 children, 8, all above 5 years of age, had died by July 31 and there
would probably be more.
This number \'las equivalent to the number of
deaths in the \'lhole registration district of Hobarton l'ihere there \'iere
14 times more chi ldren of the same ages . Hall disclosed that all his
attempts to assist Benson forestall the ravages of the disease, even to
the offer of voluntary medical assistance, \'iere ignored by him.
The sanitary statistician elsewhere wi ll draw the conclusion
at once from these premises that there must be something
radically \'irong in the Queen 's Orphan Schools to cause such
enormously discrepant results . We may squabb le forever
over minute details, and one medical man's statements and
opinions be esteemed to outweigh another 's, but the inevitable
deduction by the sanitary reformer will be, your house is not
yet in order.