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

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20
an abundance of everythi.ng at a cheap rate; plenty of emp loyment
and the labourer is wel l paid. Raiment and fuel are almost not
needed; they have there neither endemics or epidemics , and the .
consequence of all this is health of the ighest order ; and ths
the more marked from the improvement of the health of all e1grants . ,
by the long voyage passed thrugh, a fine climate all the way,
cheerful ·society, rest, good livi.ng, and the hope of betteri.ng
their condition with t h e novelty of the charmi.ngly changed scene
and climate on arrival and hereafter. However , let rio man go as
surgeon without ample remuneration, bel;rgaini_ng also to b e
brought back. If he do not do this, he must become a clerk or
a cattle driver, or he must starve. 2
Naturally those 9octors who igrated to Van Diemen •s Land and
found their services not required , comp lained bitterly about the wrong
impressions and false hopes. given to them in ngland.
One such doctor,
s.igni.ng himself 11A:nglicus11, wrote to the Tasmanian in October, 1832, a letter
which bro.ught forth a spirited reply from 11Veritas11 in the Colonial Times on
October 23, 1832:
The great influx of medical men into the colony during the last
twelve months , appears to have produced those effects which have
long been anticipated, viz disappointment, dissatisfaction and
regret; and when we consider the rumours current in the Mother
country, relative to these colonies , we cannot wonder that these
gentlemen, with poverty staring them in the face, should complain;
and that such of them as have labored in vain to obtain Government
appointments , should proclaim themselves ill-treated. It is most
certainly to be lamented, that men of liberal education should,
at any time, experience a dearth of emp loyment , but they should
ever remember the mercantile axiom, that the supply should cease
with the demand, instead of resorting to such ungentlemanly revenge
as the prOP.Ogation of falsehoods in a public newspaper .
The inability of medical men who were aspiriṇg to settle in
Van Diemen •s Land to obtain either Government employment or a private living
was only one aspect of the medical prob lem. In fact, it was generally
consdered that the whole state of the Medical Profession was imperfect, and
yet very few people understood why. In an attempt to enl.ighten the public
and to improve the situation, Dr Richards , in 1834 , contributed to the
February numb er of Melvi lle•s Hobart Town Magazine, a lengthy article which
was commended by the Colonial Times and repub lished in that newspaper on
Tuesday, March 4, 1834. On March 14, 1834 , the Courier also agreed .
In Richards • opinion people had little choice in their selection
of a doctor: indeed , in nine cases out of ten, they were forced to employ
one in whom they had no faith whatsoever . Medical men in fact, were
divided into two distinct classes , those who were emp loyed by the Government
and those who were not. The Government surgeons were principally young men
2
Lancet, 1837-8, Vol. 1, p. 716 .