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21
or men who had been appointed when mere lads and ha grown older in the
service;
they were under the supervision of the Principal Colonial Surgeon
and could be sent to any district or even to a penal settlement .
Usually,
each newly appointed srgeon received an appointment to a penal settlement
,
.
first before he became eligible for a more comfortab le position. In 1834
the only penal settlement was Port Arthur which was under the control of
a Srgeon-Superintendent, who was also a agistrate, in conditions similar
to that found on a prison ship .
As he was responsib le for the egree of
punishment inflicted upo the prisoners , Richards firmly dis.agreed with
the policy of appointng yong , immature men to such a position.
official or formal qualifications were necessary for such Government
appointments , but, as the Principal Colonial Sgeon was held completely
responsible both for their conduct and their professional activities , it
was necessary for him for his own sake to be cautious about whom he appointed
to the various districts .
Richards found no real fault with this system except that it
al lowed too much favouritism.
More than one Government su .
rgeon was
enj oyi_ng a lucrative position without ever bei.ng compelled to serve his
term at a penal settlement .
Altho.ugh there were too few District Surgeons,
Governor Arthur intended to remedy this situation as soon as he could obtain
the money and the consent of the British Government .
No
Until then, the
situation was distressng; it could even be fatal - each settler was
obl.iged to pay 10/- a year medical fee for each ass .
igned servant ;
frequently he had to send fifteen to twenty miles to obtain the assistance
of a doctor ; in rgent cases this meant death to the victim of an accident .
Richards described one case whi ch occurred on the property of a \'/ell-known
and _
respected settler near Oatlands where a og of wood had fallen upon an
asigned servant ;
arrived.
narly seven hours lapsed before medical attention
Such cases were not at all infrequent in country districts where
heavy and dCl;ngerous work like land clearing \'las in pr_ogress .
actually some lCl;rge, fairly wel l populated districts like Perth and
Green Ponds where there were no District Srgeons at all.
There \'/ere
Therefore, it
was the Government's duty to supply medical men who were properly qual ified:
We say emph atically 'properly qualified medical men' because we
would have this Department of the Government beyond all reproach and
above all cavi l, for the situations in which the distant and
isolated practitioner may be and often is placed, are frequently
of the mos urgent responsibility. Life and death may depend upon
the prompt1tude and boldness of his decision and the limbs of
His Maj esty' s leges are continually at his mercy . From the nature
of the men's employment in this colony, there is, perhaps no country
f• .
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