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254
CHAPTER 18
SOCIAL
IDEOLOGY
The Government 's decision, though not unexpected and perhaps
necessary in the interests of peace and unity , sharply focused the complex
question of public and governmental as oppoed to private and individual
responsibility for those people less ab le or fitted to care for themselves:
a question of social welfare versus charity which remains a subject for
debate even to the present day .
Consequently, Hall's efforts to secure
medical and social reforms in the past and his work in 1862 and subsequent
years assume a new and vital significance as the initial stages of a long ,
protracted strugg le in Tasmania, as elsewhere in Aus tralia, to secure a
better, fuller life for every citizen, irrespective of natural or
environmental endowment.
Uncertain in motivation and direction though these early efforts
\ere , by January 1862 the urgency of the pressures and difficulties -
political, economic and social -
confronting the colony, which was no
longer supported by Britain's convict system, forced fundamental issues
to the surface so that they were recognized, formulated and discussed.
Hal l, Bedford, Crowther and Hunter were amongst those who debated these
important ideas ;
attitudes and actions which were previously lacking an
analysis of their underlying motives were now subjected to examinat ion ,
and the results woven into the fabric of social theory , either as a personal
justification or a direction and stimulus to others .
In its discussion hesitant and exploratory in tone , of the
,I
doctors '
exclusion from the Board and the Government 's failure to replace
them by three other independent members , the Mercury demanded that an
immediate solution be
found to the disturbing and confusing prob lem of
the charitable institutions .
If these institutions are to be under the control of the
Executive , let it be in such a sense as will leave to the
Executive its full measure of respon.sibility to Parliament.
If they are to be subj ect to popular management , let the
official element disappear. 1
1
Mercury , January 3, 18 62.