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'A Nation's Health is a Nation 's Wealth': 

Perceptions of 'Health', 1890-1914 

A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of 
Philosophy in History at Massey University, Albany 

Anna Rachel Deason 
2003 



ii 

Abstract 

This thesis is an examination of the way health issues were perceived in New Zealand 

from 1890 to 1914. It investigates how these views changed and the manner in which 

they were reflected in health policies and programmes. Perceptions of health are 

examined within their social, political and cultural context. It is argued that in the 

period from 1890 to 1914 health issues were increasingly prominent on the public 

agenda. The nineteenth century was characterised by a distinct lack of interest in 

health , primarily because New Zealand was believed to be an inherently healthy 

country. From the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries this view was 

challenged by the growing importance of medical science, the increasing influence of 

the medical profession and a number of public health scares. With the biomedical 

revolution of the 1880s there was more scope for human intervention in health matters 

and a different understanding of health. More frequent debates about health 

increasingly characterised the health status of the population as a national asset. New 

Zealand 's strength as a nation was thought to be connected with its health. This shift 

in perceptions was related to increasing government intervention to control and 

protect its population ' s health. The Liberal Government responded to this need by 

incorporating health into their programme of government intervention through a 

centralised bureaucracy. By looking at a number of health policies in their socio­

political context this thesis provides a holistic view of the history of health in New 

Zealand. From this framework of analysis a number of broader themes are discussed: 

the changing role of medicine, the role of the government in providing for health, 

New Zealand's relationship with Britain, and the construction of a national identity. 



iii 

Contents 

Abstract 11 

Acknowledgments IV 

Abbreviations v 

Preface 6 

Approaches to the Topic 10 

2 New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 17 

3 External Threat and Internal Weakness 40 

4 Preservation of Health 51 

5 The Decay of a Nation? 71 

6 Control to Protect JOO 

Conclusion 120 

Bibliography 125 



iv 

Acknowledgments 

I am sincerely grateful to my supervisors, Professor Kerry Howe and Associate 

Professor Michael Belgrave, who have provided both advice and support. Both have 

been willing to discuss my concerns and anxieties at short notice and renewed my 

faith when things became overwhelming. The opportunity to have two different 

perspectives on many issues was thoroughly beneficial. Associate Professor Peter 

Lineham has provided useful suggestions and answered many of my more obscure 

questions. Numerous other staff at the School of Social and Cultural Studies at 

Albany and the Department of History at Palmerston North have been both helpful 

and supportive. 

Librarians and archivists around New Zealand have regularly gone out of their 

way to provide assistance in the location of sources and to point me in the direction of 

other useful material. I am grateful to librarians and archivists at Archives New 

Zealand, both Auckland and Wellington, Alexander Turnbull Library, Auckland 

Institute and Museum Library, Auckland Public Library, Takapuna Public Library, 

University of Auckland Library, National Library, and the Parliamentary Library. I 

am particularly indebted to librarians at Massey University Library, who always 

willingly assisted me in locating sources and material, no matter how obscure. 

I am indebted to the North Shore Branch of the New Zealand Federation of 

Graduate Women who provided necessary financial support and showed a keen 

interest in this project. 

For my weeks in Wellington I am grateful to both the Milkop and the 

Mathieson families, who welcomed me into their houses and made me feel at home. 

Many other acquaintances, friends and family have been willing to listen, discuss 

ideas, and provide a necessary distraction away from the computer. I would 

particularly like to thank Julie Brown, Marie Ellis, Melanie Hirzel, Matthew Kim, 

Noel and Shirley Young and my grandparents for helping in a number of different 

ways. Grant Young has been particularly supportive throughout this year, always 

willing to talk over issues, and, from experience, could relate to many of my concerns 

and anxieties. I thank my parents for their interest, support and assistance this year 

and throughout my university education. 



AJHR 

BMA 

NZG 

NZJH 

NZMA 

NZMJ 

NZPD 

NZS 

WTU 

Abbreviations 

Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives 

British Medical Association 

New Zealand Gazette 

New Zealand Journal of History 

New Zealand Medical Association 

New Zealand Medical Journal 

New Zealand Parliamentary Debates 

New Zealand Statutes 

Alexander Turnbull Library 

v 



Preface 

This thesis examines issues relating to health in New Zealand in the period from 1890 

to 1914. In particular it investigates changing perceptions of health and locates these 

in wider socio-political concerns and anxieties. It is a study of ideas. It is not 

possible to discuss every perception of health held in this period; rather this thesis 

examines ideas which were prominent on the public agenda. This ideas-based study 

brings together a number of different perspectives to provide a multi-layered 

examination of health. That is, it displays how health issues were important not only 

for their health-related significance but also because they often reflected broader 

social and political concerns and trends. 

This study of perceptions of health has been arranged chronologically and by 

broad themes. Chapter One discusses the approaches other historians have made 

towards the area of health and places the arguments proposed in this thesis within that 

context. 

Chapter Two provides a discussion of pre-1900 health issues and argues that 

in the nineteenth century health concerns were not so prominent; New Zealand, in 

both popular and medical frameworks, was commonly believed to be a healthy 

country. It is argued that health was viewed in environmental terms. Maori, at the 

time of contact, were believed to be a strong, healthy race because of New Zealand's 

6 



Preface 7 

climatic advantages. In turn, it was thought that the Pakeha settlers would be able to 

benefit from this advantageous climate. By the close of the nineteenth century, 

however, these views were beginning to be challenged, particularly by the medical 

profession. 

Chapter Three looks at these challenges and suggests that 1900 was a turning 

point in ideas about health with the first questioning of the state of health in New 

Zealand prompted by the bubonic plague scare. It is suggested that the external threat 

of the plague highlighted concerns about New Zealand ' s sanitary state: the first 

occasion that health issues were perceived as a threat to the entire nation. The 

emphasis on sanitation is likely to have been influenced by the growing knowledge 

about the bio-medical developments of the late nineteenth century. 

Questions about New Zealand's healthy state led to the establishment of the 

Department of Public Health. The creation of the Department, along with a survey of 

its early work, is incorporated in Chapter Four. It is argued that this was the first 

major recognition of health as a national asset and highlights the growing significance 

of health issues. Maori health work is discussed and parallels are drawn with broader 

health policy. The chapter also stresses the importance of the Liberal Party in the 

direction of and emphasis placed on health policies. 

Chapter Five is based around the theme of degeneration and it is argued that 

concerns about degeneration and the related anxiety about the low birth-rate had a 

profound impact on perceptions of health. Concerns in New Zealand were stimulated 

by similar anxieties in other parts of the British Empire. New Zealand's health was 

seen as a facet of the strength of the British Empire. It is argued that much of the 

response to these anxieties was directed at infant and child health: the 'future' of the 

nation. 

The response to growing anxieties about health in the early twentieth century 

was embodied in the implementation of a number of policies which increasingly 

restricted and controlled society in general and the practice of medicine in particular. 

This is the focus of Chapter Six. It discusses a number of pieces of legislation which 

have otherwise been viewed in isolation and argues that these policies were a result of 



Preface 8 

increasing concerns about New Zealand's health and part of the desire to create a 

'healthy society'. 

A number of different primary sources have been used in this thesis to assess 

changes in perceptions of health, particularly public opinion and government attitudes 

about health. It has not been possible to carry out extensive primary research into 

every event and policy covered in this thesis, but a number of sources have been 

chosen which gauge the opinion of different sectors of society. One of the most 

useful sources has been a number of contemporary pamphlets, particularly those held 

at the Alexander Turnbull Library and the Auckland Institute and Museum Library. 

These include Plunket Society pamphlets, speeches and articles written by doctors and 

health officials, government department publications and other pressure group 

material and propaganda. These have been particularly useful because they often 

display strongly held opinions about the state of New Zealand's health and other 

health related matters. Much of this material was circulated throughout most levels of 

society and was often targeted at a different audience than say, for example, 

government department reports. 

Newspapers were another effective gauge of wider public opinion of the time. 

A selection of newspapers has been chosen: two of these, the Press and the New 

Zealand Mail, because of their extensive indexes, which are held at the National 

Library. The indexes made the newspaper research, which can otherwise be rather 

overwhelming, much easier and more complete. Other newspapers which have been 

looked at are the New Zealand Herald and the Auckland Weekly News. The Press and 

the New Zealand Herald were daily papers which were primarily news focused and 

the other two papers had more feature articles and non-news related material. 

Advertisements in newspapers were also a useful gauge of the prevalence of non­

standard medical treatments which played an important part in health debates. 

Numerous articles in the New Zealand Medical Journal (NZMJ) gave the medical 

context of health issues and thus provided an important source. 

The most useful official publication was the Department of Public Health's 

Annual Reports in the Appendices to the Journals of the House of Representatives 

(AJHR). These reports included a wealth of material and the opinions of key health 



Preface 9 

officials came through very strongly. Other reports of Native Medical Officers and 

the Education Department were also of use. The Parliamentary Debates also 

provided an excellent portrayal of the government's intentions, contentious issues and 

a variety of opinions on every issue. Specific reports in the British Parliamentary 

Papers and Australian Royal Commissions were also valuable official sources and 

highlighted debates in other parts of the British Empire. 

Unfortunately there was only a limited amount of relevant primary material at 

Archives New Zealand. There were few Department of Public Health archives before 

1920 and they primarily consisted of material such as local boards of health reports, 

which detailed numbers of infectious diseases . There was a small body of material in 

the Internal Affairs Department and the Maori Affairs Department. The archival 

material was generally lacking material on public health issues and debates , the 

primary concern of this thesis. Much has been written by historians in the area of 

health and debates which are relevant to this thesis are considered in Chapter One. 



1 Approaches to the Topic 

In a thesis which focuses on the perception of health, it is necessary to discuss issues 

related to its meaning. In this case health is most appropriately described as public 

health, if the term is used in its broadest sense; that is, the general health and well­

being of a community. In different medical, social and historical contexts health and 

well-being may be defined in different ways. In some, well-being may not be an 

appropriate term at all. The focus here, however, is on perceptions of health: how 

health was viewed by different sectors of the community. Health is a generic term: it 

may be used in a variety of different situations to mean different things . Although the 

term health is primarily used to describe the health of the general public, it has also 

been used in specific situations to illustrate health on an individual level. 

Health tends to be viewed in negative terms by illness or disease. It is viewed 

as a deviation from the normal expectations of a particular society. If a society lacks 

illness or disease it is described as healthy. In contrast, if sickness is present, above a 

certain level, the society is viewed as unhealthy. Health policies tend to focus on the 

removal of ill health rather than actions to facilitate the establishment of good health. 

Western healthcare ideologies see illness in terms of its biomedical treatment. 

Conversely, non-western cultures have often emphasised other aspects, including the 

spiritual, with a more holistic view of health. Spiritual transgressions have been seen 

as explanations for illness and disease; this is particularly relevant to the traditional 

10 



Approaches to the Topic 11 

Maori view of health and illness. 1 The supernatural was at the heart of pre-European 

Maori perspectives: illness often resulting from an offence, a hara, against the 

supernatural domain.2 

In the last thirty to forty years , social scientists have emphasised the 

significance of the social, cultural and political context of health and have suggested 

that health is culturally constructed. One of the most prominent exponents of this 

interpretation, Michel Foucault, has studied the development of the 'clinic',3 the 

origins of western medicine and the importance of power and knowledge in the 

determination of health and illness. Foucault emphasised the significance of the 

medical gaze or medical perception; that is, the way the body, and in turn health and 

illness, were viewed in different ways in different periods. He suggested that there 

was no one medical truth, rather that it had changed over time.4 Foucault's work is 

particularly relevant because he looked at the way language and ideas used by doctors 

created society ' s knowledge about health and illness. He also discussed the way that 

these perceptions of health have emerged and changed over time and the way they 

have been constructed to permit some groups to exert power over others. Foucault's 

book was about control, about the subjugation of one group by another. 

The medicalisation thesis , developed during the 1970s by social scientists, 

emphasised the use of medical knowledge as a form of social control.5 Medicine was 

seen to construct and redefine aspects of normal life as medical problems.6 Michael 

Belgrave, in a discussion of the treatment of medicine by historians has argued that: 

In shifting the emphasis of study away from the doctor and towards the patient , many 
researchers looked more closely at the way medical treatment was an exercise of 
power. . .. the scientific rationality of medical technology has come under attack as 
medical knowledge and the process of clinical innovation are placed in a wider 

1 For an extensive overview of Maori health systems from a contemporary perspective see: Mason 
Durie, Whaiora , Maori Health Development, 2"d ed., Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1998, 
Chapter Two. For a historical perspective which focuses on Maori health and medicine see: W.H. 
Goldie, Maori Medical Lore, Read before the Auckland Institute, 7•h December 1903, Christchurch: 
Kiwi Publishers, 1999. 
2 Raebum Lange, May the People Live, A History of Maori Health Development 1900-1920, Auckland: 
Auckland University Press, 1999, p.8. 
3 This is an English translation of Foucault ' s 'la clinique', which referred to both clinical medicine and 
the teaching hospital. 
4 Michel Foucault, The Birth of the Clinic, An Archaeology of Medical Perception, New York: Vintage 
Press, 1975. 
5 Clive Seale, 'Medicalisation and Surveillance', in Medical Knowledge: Doubt and Certainty, Clive 
Seale and Stephen Pattison (eds.), Buckingham: Open University Press, 1994, p.112. 
6 Sarah Nettleton, The Sociology of Health and Illness, Cambridge: Polity Press, p.27. 



Approaches to the Topic 12 

intellectual and cultural context. The result has been an uneasy and often tense 
dialogue between the physician-historians and their social science critics; the former 
fearing that medical history has been high-jacked by a hostile and radical [clique] 
ignorant of the clinical aspects of disease ; the latter suspecting that traditionalist 
medical history serves professional monopoly rather than academic enquiry.7 

Historians of medicine have often taken an approach which advocates the 

primacy of medical developments at the expense of a discussion of broader social and 

cultural issues. F.S. Maclean's Challenge For Health, traced the history of public 

health in New Zealand but did not come to any conclusion about underlying forces 

which may have been driving health policy, other than a recognition of the role that 

infectious diseases played. Indeed, Maclean divided his history thematically into 

infectious diseases and wrote a chapter on each. There were also chapters on infant 

welfare and Maori welfare : a suggestion, perhaps, that these two spheres of health 

were nothing more than another 'epidemic ' .8 A more recent example of a health 

history which emphasised medical developments was Derek Dow ' s Safeguarding the 

Public Health. It was an extensive history of the Department of Public Health . What 

it lacked was a discussion of broader social and political forces shaping society. This 

would help to explain why particular policies and programmes were initiated. For 

example, Dow discussed the growing importance of child health in the early twentieth 

century but did not explain why this occurred.9 A discussion of health issues requires 

recognition of the important role medical developments have played, but should be set 

alongside a discussion of the social and cultural context in which they existed. 

Thomas McKeown has disputed the impact of medical developments in The 

Role of Medicine , Dream, Mirage, or Nemesis?10 McKeown argued that facts such as 

diet and environment had a more significant effect on populations than medical 

developments. This thesis does not seek to provide statistical and medical analyses 

for the beneficial, or otherwise, effect of the policies mentioned. But McKeown's 

argument must be taken into consideration when the effect of any health initiative is 

discussed. Like McKeown, F.B. Smith, discussed the impact of medical 

7 Michael Belgrave, "Medical Men ' and 'Lady Doctors', the Making of a New Zealand Profession', 
PhD Thesis, Victoria University, 1985, pp.8-9. 
8 F.S. Maclean , Challenge For Health , A History of Public Health in New Zealand, R.E. Owen: 
Wellington, 1964. 
9 Derek A. Dow, Safeguarding the Public Health, A History of the New Zealand Department of Public 
Health, Wellington : Victoria University Press, pp.12, 79. 
10 Thomas McKeown, The Role of Medicine, Dream, Mirage, or Nemesis , New Jersey: Princeton 
University Press, 1979. 



Approaches to the Topic 13 

developments in the nineteenth century in Britain and has concluded that medicine did 

not play a decisive role in any lowering of the death rate in the nineteenth century. 

Smith argued rather that nutrition , housing and working conditions, had a more 

significant impact on people 's health. 11 Environmental factors were certainly thought 

to be an important facet of health in the nineteenth century, and Smith argued that the 

turning point in the impact of medical developments was 1906, when the infant 

mortality rate began falling decisively .12 

At the other end of the spectrum some social historians have seen health as 

important only in that it provides a site for other social issues. A prime example of 

this approach was Erik Olssen' s 'Truby King and the Plunket Society, An Analysis of 

a Prescriptive Ideology' .13 Olssen focused primarily on the ideology of regulation and 

control established by the Plunket Society. 

A holistic approach, one which considers the importance of medical, social 

and political issues , might provide a more balanced interpretation of events, and 

recognition of the complex nature of health issues. 

The emphasis of social and medical historians has meant that the important 

influence of centralisation and growing state involvement in society in this period has 

not always been given significant weighting. 14 This context is important when 

di scussing the numerous policies and programmes which were developed and 

implemented by the Liberal Government. Growing state intervention was entirely 

consistent with Liberal philosophy and therefore should be part of a discussion of the 

implementation of new health policies. The level of state intervention also showed 

their recognition of the growing importance of good health to a nation's development. 

There are varying viewpoints among historians on the motivations behind the 

Liberals' policy: this divergence of opinion will be discussed in Chapters Two and 

Four. W.H. Oliver argued that the Liberals' state socialism was 'strongly disciplinary 

and paternalist ' and disputed explanations which insisted their primary goals were 

11 F.B. Smith, The People's Health, 1830-1910, Canberra: Australian National University Press, 1979, 
p.415. 
12 ibid., p.11 . 
13 Erik Olssen, 'Truby King and the Plunket Society, An Analysis of a Prescriptive Ideology ', New 
Zealand Journal of History (NZJH), 15:1 (1981), pp.3-23. 
14 See for example: Dow, Safeguarding the Public Health. 



Approaches to the Topic 14 

'justice, compassion, humanism, and of popular demand'. 15 Oliver's suggestion that 

the Liberals' motives cannot entirely be explained in terms of utopian idealism may 

have overstated the negative aspects of paternalism. 16 Although the Liberals' health 

policies may seem paternalistic and controlling, their motivation was to protect 

society. A paternalistic approach does assume that the Liberals believed they had the 

best interests of the public in mind. 

Not all historians of health neglect the political dimension of the construction 

of health or healthcare provision. Though the system of charitable aid was not a 

particular focus of this thesis, Margaret Tennant's Paupers and Providers has 

provided a thorough analysis of both the central and local politics behind the 

charitable aid system. Tennant discussed the relationship between the public health 

system and charitable aid, arguing that the amalgamation of health and hospitals in 

1909 meant that 'charitable aid fell even further down the list of priorities' .17 

Alongside the political analysis, Tennant provided a social analysis of the charitable 

aid system. This socio-political examination of charitable aid is the approach which is 

to some extent followed in this thesis. Patricia Sargison' s history of nursing also 

included political dimensions. It discussed the registration of nurses in the context of 

the Liberal Party's ideologies and principles. Sargison argued ' Measures which 

catered for the interests of particular sections of the community were acceptable if 

they promoted self-reliance as well as the interests of the community as a whole, and 

particularly if they were perceived to protect the colony from "Old World evils"' .18 

Historians of hospitals have been more likely to deal with the impact of political 

frameworks on the operation of hospitals because they have a formalised structure 

which lends itself to such an analysis. 19 

It is argued in this thesis that events and issues in Britain stimulated concerns 

about health in New Zealand. Current health history has generally accepted the 

15 W.H. Oliver, 'Social Policy in the Liberal Period', NZJH, 13: 1 (1979), p.29. 
16 Oliver's emphasis of the negative aspects of the 'paternalism' of the Liberals may have been 
influenced by the time he was writing: 1979, at the height of Muldoon's paternalism. 
17 Margaret Tennant, Paupers and Providers, Charitable Aid in New Zealand, Wellington: Allen and 
Unwin, 1989, p.41. 
18 Patricia Ann Sargison, ' "Essentially a Woman ' s Work": A History of General Nursing in New 
Zealand 1830-1930', PhD Thesis, University of Otago, 2001, p.109. 
19 See for example: John Angus, A History of the Otago Hospital Board and its Predecessors, Dunedin : 
Otago Hospital Board, 1984. 



Approaches to the Topic 15 

influence of Britain, usually displaying how various policies were modelled on similar 

British ones.20 What is not always discussed, however, is the influence of British 

concerns on debates in New Zealand and the way that these anxieties became New 

Zealand' s anxieties. If New Zealand had an unhealthy and weak population then the 

British Empire was weakened, so the claim went. 

Maori and Pakeha health issues have tended to be viewed in isolation , 

historians separating the two. In Maclean 's Challenge for Health, it was a separate 

chapter. Other hi storians have written entire books on Maori health. 21 There has not 

yet been a substantial discussion of the inter-relationship between Maori and Pakeha 

health. This thesis cannot fill the gap entirely. It does, however, propose a number of 

correlations in the relationship between Maori and Pakeha health which could provide 

the basis for further research . Ideas about Maori health often influenced and 

stimulated the direction of broader New Zealand health debates. The idea that Maori 

were originally a particularly healthy and strong race because of New Zealand's 

climate helped to entrench the notion of New Zealand as a healthy country. Late 

nineteenth century concerns about sanitation in Maori communities and an overall 

decay and decline of Maori pre-empted many concerns in the early twentieth century 

about Pakeha health. As a consequence of this relationship between Maori and 

Pakeha health it did not seem appropriate to have a separate chapter on Maori health 

issues . Rather Maori health has been integrated throughout to further demonstrate 

this connection. 

There is a tendency in much health and medical history to use what might be 

termed a 'Whig interpretation' of historical issues. Thus, a medical development 

which has had a profound impact since its discovery is focused on even though at the 

time of its introduction it may not have been particularly prominent. This argument 

has been developed by Davey and Seale: 'A history of medical know ledge focuses on 

the thoughts and actions of a relatively restricted section of society, whose 'high 

profile' in the twentieth century may deceive us into imagining that important medical 

20 See for example Cooper's discussion of the influence on the British Midwives Act on a similar act in 
New Zealand, Marion A. Cooper, 'Towards the Professionalisation of New Zealand Midwifery ', 1840-
1940', M(Phil) Thesis in Midwifery, Massey University, 1998, p.35. 
21 See for example Lange's , May the People Live, Derek A. Dow, Maori Health and Government 
Policy, 1840-1940, Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1999. 



Approaches to the Topic 16 

discoveries in the past had an immediate impact on society as a whole' .22 Historians 

have sometimes viewed health policies out of their social and political context. This 

is particularly noticeable in the discussion of policies which have had a negative 

effect on groups of people or have been seen to unfairly restrict or control sectors of 

society. Although the negative impact of such policies should not be excused, an 

historical interpretation must highlight the broader social, cultural and political 

context in which they occurred. A prime example of this in the New Zealand context 

was the recent portrayal of the Tohunga Suppression Act. 23 In recent public debates 

the Act has often been described as a piece of cultural suppression but, as will be 

argued in Chapter Six , it was passed at a time when a number of policies were 

established to control the practice of medicine. 

The primary contribution of this thesis is the creation of a health history which 

brings together a number of health ideas, issues, events, policies and legislation which 

collectively display shifting themes and broader trends in society. The use of health 

as a 'lens' with which to examine the past provides a perspective on the nature of 

society. Perceptions of health, reactions to health events, the role of health and health 

policy in society, all changed between 1890 and 1914. This examination of health 

uses themes as a basis, rather than policies or events, and creates a more holistic view 

of health. These issues cannot be seen in isolation from other contemporary trends 

and broader concerns in society. There has been extensive research into health history 

but it has been almost entirely on a policy by policy, or event by event basis. There 

are histories of Plunket, doctors, School Medical Service, establishment of the 

Department of Public Health, smallpox, and tuberculosis, to name a few. In isolation, 

however, the study of these issues has not always highlighted more general trends 

which were at work in society . When a number of health related issues are examined, 

other trends and concerns may be more obvious. These include the breakdown of and 

reaction to the healthy country 'mythology', the progression from a view that health 

was primarily environmentally determined to one that was largely medically 

determined, the movement of health from a private to a public concern, and the need 

to control in order to protect the health of society. 

22 Basiro Davey and Clive Seale, 'An Historical Approach to Medical Knowledge ', in Seale and 
Pattison, p.30. 
23 David Williams, 'Matauranga Maori and Taonga' , Wai 262, Waitangi Tribunal, p.124. 



2 New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 

Environmental factors were viewed as the key determinants of health in the second 

half of the nineteenth century and New Zealand was viewed as an inherently healthy 

country. New Zealand's climatic and other environmental advantages, such as wide­

open spaces and fresh air were considered to be the cause of this healthy state. New 

Zealand was even promoted in Britain as a health resort and an ideal place for invalids 

and sickly people. This healthy country mythology contributed to a lack of concern 

and public debate about health issues. Public health policy in the 1890s continued 

essentially unchanged, along the lines of the system which had already been in place 

for 14 years. What makes this continuity more remarkable was the extensive medical 

developments which occurred in the late nineteenth century and the possibilities these 

held for public health. The limited public health work which was undertaken was 

directed at sanitation, quarantine and vaccination. Although there were calls for 

improvements in sanitary conditions, poor sanitation basically went unchecked in this 

period. Requests for intervention to stem the 'decline of the Maori' also went 

unheeded. As well as the influence of environmental ideologies, the political 

motivations of the Liberal Party were also a restricting factor in the initiation of new 

policy. All these issues are considered collectively in this chapter to demonstrate that 

health policy in the late nineteenth century was influenced by a number of complex 

and interconnected social, political, cultural and medical ideologies. 

17 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 18 

The public health system at the tum of the century operated on the basis of 

legislation enacted in 1876. The fact that this legislation existed without major 

change for nearly fifteen years shows that the lack of health policy was not a new 

characteristic, rather it was a theme which characterised New Zealand 's early colonial 

history . The Public Health Act 1876 was enacted to deal with problems which arose 

under the 1872 Act as well as the abolition of provincial government in 1876. One of 

the fundamental changes in this new Act was the appointment of a Central Board of 

Health, presided over by the Colonial Secretary, which would have between four and 

seven members appointed by the Governor. The Board was to oversee the work of 

local boards of health, who were to submit reports to it on the sanitary conditions of 

their district. The local boards of health also had the power to appoint officers to 

carry out their sanitary duties in the district.' Like much of New Zealand's 

legislation, the 1876 Act was based on a British act which had been passed a year 

earlier. There was little debate in either the House of Representatives or the 

Legislative Council , although brief concerns were raised by one member about the 

Jack of power available to compel local authorities to undertake their public health 

duties , and another was concerned about the centralising nature of the Bill.2 

It has generally been agreed that the Central Board of Health was a completely 

ineffective body , from the time of its institution until its di sestablishment in 1900; it 

met only sporadically and generally in times of potential crisis.3 An article in the 

Press termed it a ' man-of-war without guns' .4 One of the central tenets of public 

health in the period prior to 1900 was a reliance on local authorities for the 

implementation of policy. The Central Board of Health failed to compel local boards 

of health to undertake their sanitary responsibilities and in consequence very little 

work was undertaken in the 24 years of its existence.5 This failure may be blamed, to 

1 Public Health Act 1876, New Zealand Statutes (NZS), 1876, pp.380-382. 
2 New Zealand Parliamentary Debates (NZPD), 21(1876), p.499 (G.M. Waterhouse), p.501 (J.A.R. 
Menzies). 
3 The Central Board of Health 's ineffectiveness has been highlighted by both Derek A. Dow, 
Safeguarding the Public Health, A History of the New Zealand Department of Public Health, 
Wellington : Victoria University Press, p.34, and F.S. Maclean, Challenge for Health , A History of 
Public Health in New Zealand, Wellington: R.E. Owen, p.119. 
4 'Proposed Public Health Department ', Press, 5 July 1900, p.4. 
5 Attempts to locate the Central Board of Health minute book failed, despite considerable assistance 
from archivists at National Archives where it is supposedly held. The last known reference to the 
minute book was in Michael Hannah, 'The Plague Scare, 1900. Factors relating to the establishment of 
the Department of Public Health ', BA(Hons) Essay, University of Otago, 1975. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 19 

a certain extent, on the nature of the Public Health Act 1876.6 The Act was 

permissive in nature, although the Central Board of Health and local boards of health 

were not short of powers, there was no compulsion to exercise these powers. For 

example, the provisions of the Act were qualified with 'may, if it thinks fit', 'may, 

from time to time'. 7 In the debates over the Public Health Act 1900, Joseph Ward, the 

first Minister of Health, argued that 'in any reform of the health laws of the country, it 

ought to be one of the first essentials that it should remove from the local public 

bodies the duty now devolving upon them, which is never, or hardly ever, carried 

out' .8 Some local boards of health met sporadically throughout the 1880s and others 

through the 1890s but there was no continuous program of health policy or sanitary 

reform. The Auckland Local Board of Health 's minute book showed a number of 

brief meetings were held throughout the 1880s but from 1888 to March 1900 the 

Board failed to record any minutes of meetings held, suggesting a total disinterest in 

public health.9 

There has not been , as yet, a comprehensive and adequate answer to this 

question: why was there such a complete disinterest in matters relating to public 

health ? F.S. Maclean has argued that 'Some of the blame for thi s deplorable 

inactivity must rest with the successive governments of that period ' . However, we are 

not provided with any further analysis. 10 Derek A. Dow, in Safeguarding the Public 

Health, has suggested that attempts to prevent infectious disease foundered on the 

belief that ' New Zealand was a peculiarly healthy country'. 11 Dow provided a few 

early examples of this belief from the 1860s but did not discuss further the reasons 

why this belief was held or the long-term effects it might have had on policy. 

The inaction over public health is particularly interesting in the context of the 

extensive and far reaching scientific discoveries in the latter part of the nineteenth 

century. The discovery of the 'germ theory' of disease fundamentally changed public 

health. Through the work of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch in the late 1870s and 

6 The New Zealand Medical Journal (NZMJ) published an article on the failure of the Public Health 
Act 1876: Dr. Ogston, 'Sanitary Affairs in New Zealand', NZMJ, Series I , 3 (1890), pp.238-244. 
7 Public Health Act 1876, NZ,S, 1876, pp.377-417. 
8 NZPD,I13 (1900) , p.191. 
9 YBAD 4483 I a Local Board of Health Minute Book, Archives New Zealand, Auckland. 
10 Maclean, p.120. 
11 Dow, Safeguarding the Public Health, p.15. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 20 

1880s, it was shown that a number of infectious diseases were caused by the presence 

of a particular bacillus. 12 This was a significant shift from previous theories based 

around the idea of 'miasma': that is, the transmission of diseases through bad smells. 

The debate on the Public Health Bill in 1876 displayed the prevalence of miasmic 

views of disease: George Lumsden raised concerns about 'the filthy drains that were 

running under people's noses'. 13 However, numerous articles in the NZMJ from the 

late 1880s showed that New Zealand doctors were aware of the new medical 

developments and many supported them. Other doctors were more sceptical. The 

editor of the NZMJ, in a discussion of the germ theory of influenza, argued that: 

It does not follow in the matter of the bacillus theory the new generation is right and 
the old generation wrong. It takes but a few years' experience of medicine to reali se 
the fact that an attitude of good, honest doubt is the safest to assume with regard to 
alleged new discoveries as to the origin and cure of disease; that when a theory looks 
most perfect we should then be most specially on our guard against fallacies. 14 

The editor went on to give the example of the discovery of the plasmodium malariae, 

which upset the bacillus theory of malaria. The significance of contemporary medical 

discoveries was not always recognised because there was not yet understanding of 

their wide-reaching and long-term effects. Even if the germ theory of infection was 

accepted and sometimes promoted by medical practitioners, for changes to eventuate 

in public health, both the public and the government needed to be in touch with these 

developments . Despite comments in a Press editorial of 1891 that, 'It is one of the 

most hopeful signs of the times to observe the growing importance that is being paid 

to medical and sanitary science. Without attention to these important subjects 

civilisation itself would prove a huge blunder. .. ', 15 there seemed to be little public 

debate in the newspapers and in the House of Representatives on issues of public 

health. By the late 1890s, however, the government did establish a bacteriological 

laboratory which suggested recognition of the importance of such methods. It was 

likely that the disinterest shown by local and central authorities in matters of public 

health meant that new developments in medical science were given little regard. 

Public health work which was undertaken was directed around quarantine, 

sanitation and vaccination . The bacteriological revolution did not change the 

12 Roy Porter, ' Medical Science ', in The Cambridge Illustrated History of Medicine, Roy Porter (ed.), 
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996, pp.184-185. 
13 NZPD, 23 (1876), p.23. 
14 L.E. Barnett, 'The Asclepiad and the Germ Theory of Influenza', NZMJ, Series I, 9 ( 1896), p.27. 
15 'Editorial', Press, 21 January 1891, p.4. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 21 

direction of these policies. Quarantine was used as the first line of defence against 

infection and the provisions of the Public Health Act 1876 provided for quarantine 

stations at major ports and allowed the quarantine of vessels and persons from 

infected ports. 16 Maclean commented that the period 1876-1900 was 'a relatively 

quiet one, so far as quarantine was concerned ' .17 From 1890 to 1900 there were no 

serious infectious disease threats from abroad and it is likely that this added to the 

apathy of both central and local government in the area of public health . 

Even before the microbiology revolution of the 1880s, sanitation was seen as a 

key determinant in the spread of infectious disease . Theories of miasma insisted 

disease spread from rubbish and dirt while bacteriology held that disease was spread 

by bacteria which thrived in unclean environments. 18 Various drainage schemes and 

attempts to clean up cities did occur in the years prior to 1900. In 1891, the Times 

reported that in the previous year Christchurch 'was the healthiest of the four largest 

towns in New Zealand, and we doubt if there is another town of the same size in the 

whole world which can show such a light bill of mortality. Probably no more striking 

proof of the value of a good drainage system could be adduced' .19 Certainly there was 

an appreciation of the advantages of better sanitary conditions but , in general, little 

work was done to facilitate their improvement. Accepted understandings about the 

relationship between sanitation and infectious diseases were not, even by the late 

nineteenth century, entirely consistent with medical perspectives. This was reflected 

in debates in the Legislative Council where G. Jones argued that: 

The principal reason why we have not small -pox nowadays as we used to have it in 
olden times, before the days of Jenner, is that we are more cleanly in our habits, that 
our sanitary arrangements are more perfect , and that we are more careful how we 
live. That is the reason . It is well known that small-pox, like many other zymotic 
diseases, is the product of filth .20 

16 For a discussion of nineteenth century quarantine measures in New Zealand see H.D. Morrison, 'The 
Keeper of Paradise: Quarantine as a Measure of Communicable Disease Control in Late Nineteenth 
Century New Zealand', BA(Hons) Essay, University of Otago, 1981 . 
17 Maclean, p.50. 
18 Pamela Wood's PhD thesis discussed the significance of 'dirt' in nineteenth century Dunedin. Wood 
argues that dirt was viewed as representative of a settlement's progress. Pamela J . Wood, 
'Constructing Colonial Dirt: A Cultural History of Dirt in the Nineteenth Century Colonial Settlement 
of Dunedin, New Zealand', PhD Thesis, University Of Otago, 1997. 
19 'Topics of the Day', Press, 2 March 1891, p.4. 
20 NZPD , 102 (1898), p.57. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 22 

Vaccination was the area in which there were the most concerted public 

debates and in which there was more intervention by the medical profession. A 

Vaccination Act was passed in 1863 establishing compulsory vaccination and 

although in 1871 the compulsion to vaccinate infants was lifted, it was re-established 

in 1872 and remained in place until 1920. Vaccination was given importance because 

of the fear of smallpox. Alison S. Day, in her thesis on the 1913 smallpox epidemic, 

argued that the fear of smallpox 'shaped government public health policy of the 

nineteenth century by placing emphasis on quarantine, isolation and compulsory 

vaccination ' .21 Despite this, there were often vocal opponents to vaccination, 

particularly when compulsory. Many of these opponents were concerned with the 

arm-to-arm method of vaccination which involved the removing of lymph from a 

recently vaccinated patient. It was suggested that this method actually spread 

infectious diseases and even caused diseases such as leprosy, syphilis and cancer.22 

The Parliamentary Debates of the 1880s and 1890s were scattered with speeches 

about vaccination. It was consistently an issue where there was no consensus of 

opinion. Statistics were often provided by the pro-vaccinationists to show that 'the 

evidence proved that vaccination had been a good preventive against small-pox ... the 

benefit of vaccination far exceeded the risk of injury'. 23 However, others argued that 

statistics from London showed that as vaccination increased so did the deaths from 

smallpox.24 The anti-vaccination campaigns of the nineteenth century differed 

somewhat from those of the twentieth century , the main opposition being to the 

dangers of vaccination. The twentieth century campaigns, while stressing the 

dangers, also opposed compulsory vaccination on the grounds of individual freedom . 

Despite considerable opposition in the House of Representatives, returns from 

the 1890s show a relatively high level of child vaccination, particularly when 

compared with later years. In the years 1890-1894 the average proportion of 

vaccinations of children under 14 years of age was 49.60 per 100.25 According to 

Maclean, vaccination reached as many as two thirds of registered births in 1896-

21 Alison S. Day, 'The Maori Malady: the 1913 Smallpox Epidemic and its 19'h Century Background', 
MA Thesis in History, University of Auckland, 1998, p.3. 
22 NZPD, 43 (1882) , p.596 (T. Fraser), NZPD, 44 (1883), pp.666-668 (H. Dodson). 
23 NZPD, 43 (1882), p.341 (T. Dick). 
24 NZPD, 44 (1883), pp.665-666 (Dodson). 
25 NZPD, 95 ( 1896), p.486 (F.R. Flatman). 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 23 

1898. 26 There has been no obvious explanation for such high figures, whereas other 

peaks in vaccination can be tied to smallpox scares. It does suggest that there was 

some change in policy. Perhaps the Registrar of Births began carrying out his 

obligations under the Public Health Act, which required a notice of vaccination to be 

sent to every registered birth. 

Vaccination was also promoted among Maori, particularly from the 1880s. It 

was thought that if there were ever an outbreak of smallpox this would have a 

devastating impact on Maori communities. Mr H.K. Taiaroa, MP for Southern Maori, 

said that 'If small-pox should come to New Zealand, the Natives, on account of being 

ignorant of the disease, would not take proper precautions, and a great number of 

them would die in consequence, particularly as so few of them have been 

vaccinated' .27 When Richard Seddon, Prime Minister, was questioned on the subject 

of Maori vaccination he maintained that 'the Government was most desirous of 

extending to the Maori race the privileges given to Europeans ' .28 Debates about 

vaccination in Maori communities in the early twentieth century show that in general 

most Maori were eager to be vaccinated and it is likely that this was also the case in 

the late nineteenth century. 

The prevalence of the idea that New Zealand was a healthy country becomes 

obvious rather quickly in any concerted study of primary sources relating to health 

from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Despite this body of evidence the 

healthy country mythology has received little attention in work on the history of 

health in New Zealand. Dow has drawn attention to this claim with reference to a 

booklet published by the Department of Health: New Zealand - A Healthy Country: 

Striking Facts and Records: Survey of Activities of the Department of Health. New 

Zealand's healthy state was attributed to the work of the Department.29 Dow also 

provided a small number of examples of this notion from the 1860s but does not dwell 

on either the reasons for this idea or the possible effects it may have had.30 The title 

of a volume of essays edited by Linda Bryder is A Healthy Country, Essays on the 

26 Maclean, p.244. 
27 NZPD, 48 (1884) , p.229. 
28 NZPD, 83 (1894), p.585. 
29 Dow, Safeguarding the Public Health, p.9. 
30 Dow, Safeguarding the Public Health , p.18. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 24 

Social History of Medicine in New Zealand, and she raises it as a common theme 

among some of the papers.31 W.H. Oliver, in an article on social policy in the Liberal 

period, maintained that, compared with Britain, there has been little concern for 

public health and a possible reason for this was the belief in the advantages of New 

Zealand's colonial conditions.32 Although the 'healthy country' myth is raised from 

time to time, there is scope for a more thorough description, analysis and 

consideration of the effect this idea had on different governments and their policies. 

In the nineteenth century at least, New Zealand 's healthy state was attributed 

not to any intervention of state agencies, but to a number of climatic and demographic 

factors. The idea that New Zealand was inherently healthy probably derived from the 

first impressions of Maori which were recorded by European explorers. Raeburn 

Lange 's first chapter of May the People Live, 'Strong made healthy looking people', 

provides a characteristic example of such impressions.33 Although some of this 

' healthy nature ' was attributed to inherent qualities of Maori, it is likely that observers 

looked for other possible factors which could 'breed' such a fit healthy race. New 

Zealand's climatic conditions were one of the most obvious. How else could an 

'uncivilised' race have such desirable physical characteristics? This view 

characterised impressions of Maori and was still firmly entrenched in the early 

twentieth century when the President of the New Zealand Branch of the British 

Medical Association ( BMA) argued: 'As in native races Maori land evolved the highest 

type of savage, so enthusiasts hope that it will develop the highest type of the Anglo­

Saxon variety' .34 

The first impressions of Maori by early settlers emphasised the 'savage', 'war­

like ' aspects of Maori culture. Images of Maori often focused on Maori as warriors. 35 

It is , therefore , easy to see how these images also assumed Maori were a strong, 

31 Linda Bryder (ed.), A Healthy Country, Essays on the Social History of Medicine in New Zealand, 
Wellington: Bridget Williams Books, 1991, p.4. 
32 W.H. Oliver, 'Social Policy in the Liberal Period', NZIH, 13:1 (1979), p.32. 
33 According to Lange the chapter title is a phrase from the journal of William Bayly, astronomer on the 
Adventure during Cook's second visit to New Zealand (entry for 12 April 1773): Robert W. McNab 
(ed), Historical Records of New Zealand, vol 2, Wellington 1914, 204, in Lange, May the People Live, 
A History of Maori Health Development 1900-1920, Auckland: Auckland University Press, pp. I, 285. 
34 'President's Address', NZMJ, Series 2, 8:33 (1910), p.2. 
35 For a comprehensive discussion of Maori in European art see: Leonard Bell, Colonial Constructs, 
European Images of Maori 1840-1914, Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1992. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 25 

healthy people. Even in the 1950s, the standard text on New Zealand public health 

presented such a view. Maclean wrote 'The Maori population before the arrival of 

Europeans is estimated to have been 250,000, and they were a warlike, vigorous, and 

healthy race' .36 An article in the NZMJ in 1890, described Maori men as 'tall, upright, 

well developed' and referred to Abel Tasman' s comments that Maori were of 

'gigantic stature'. 37 Constant inter-tribal warfare was thought to have kept Maori at 

the peak of physical fitness. This was aided by New Zealand's climate, which was 

thought to produce good health. Late nineteenth century views of Maori health 

stressed natural or environmental factors: good Maori health was through no major 

effort of their own. Nature was the determinant of their good health; Maori were 

viewed as responding to the environment like passive subjects. 

The advantageous nature of New Zealand's climate was promoted as a 

' popular' idea as well as by the medical profession and politicians. The climate was 

believed to promote good health; there were high sunshine hours, a moderate rainfall 

and plenty of fresh air. A Department of Tourist and Health Resorts pamphlet said 

that the advantageous characteristics of New Zealand's climate were breeziness and 

sunshine, and described New Zealand as having 'an air which exhilarates, sharpens 

the appetite and the zest for living' .38 In a debate on the Public Health Bill, F. Lawry 

said that New Zealand had 'the purest and most healthy population in the world, and 

we have that in spite of legislation . ... We have in this country every natural condition 

to bring about good health and longevity' .39 Not only was New Zealand promoted as 

a healthy country, it was regularly promoted as the healthiest country. Dr. W .E. 

Collins, president of the New Zealand Branch of the BMA maintained that 'We have 

the good fortune to live in a country the physical condition and climate of which 

conduces to the maintenance of a high standard of health and strength' .40 The lack of 

overcrowding and wide-open spaces were seen as further factors to New Zealand's 

advantage. Collins argued, in a paper given in London, that for a phthisical patient 'in 

an overcrowded country he is much more likely to take in by the lungs or by the 

36 Maclean, p.189. 
37 Thos W. Bell, 'Medical Notes on New Zealand', NZMJ, Series I, 3 (1890), p. 76. 
38 A.S. Wohlmann, The Mineral Waters and Health Resorts of New Zealand, Wellington: Department 
of Tourism and Health Resorts , 1904-1905, p.2. 
39 NZPD, I I 3 (1900), p.221. 
40 'Presidential Address by Dr. W.E. Collins at Annual Meeting of NZ Branch of BMA', NZMJ, Series 
2,3 :11 (1904),p.222. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 26 

intestinal canal, fresh quantities of poison, than he would in a country where there is a 

small population and plenty of fresh air' .41 

It was often stressed that New Zealand's healthy state lay entirely with the 

climate and bore no relationship to government initiatives. This is shown in the 

arguments of W.W. Collins, a Member of Parliament. He told the House, 

J think I might truthfully say that this colony is probably one of the healthiest spots 
under the sun; but that fact is not due to any wisdom exercised in the past by the 
Government of the colony. The health which we enjoy, and which we have enjoyed 
for so many years , is rather due to the fact of the natural advantages we enjoy than to 
anything which the legislature has done.42 

A key theme of nineteenth century perspectives of health was the emphasis on 

environmental causes for both good health and illness. In comparison to the twentieth 

century, there were fewer possibilities for public or state involvement in improving 

health standards. The prevailing view was that environment was the fundamental 

causal factor. 

Statements about the healthy state of New Zealand were not entirely fictional; 

statistical evidence was regularly used for verification. At a meeting of the Hunterian 

Society in London, a paper was read about New Zealand, which argued that the death­

rate was 10.23 for every 1,000 people, which compared very favourably with 

England's rate of 19 .00 per 1,000. 43 One speaker told those present that 'the Colony 

is a decidedly healthy place to settle in; and I submit that, indirectly, the death-rate 

might be brought down lower still if the New Zealand Government, which is always 

alive to the interests of the masses, were to introduce certain new ideas' .44 This was 

an ongoing theme in comments about New Zealand as a healthy nation. The 

country's health was accepted but it was often remarked that there was still room for 

improvement. In a debate in the House of Representatives, C.H. Mills commented 

that 'as we have grown up in a very genial climate we have become somewhat 

careless in sanitary matters' .45 Perhaps this room for improvement was tied in with 

41 William E. Collins, 'A Paper on New Zealand read before the Hunterian Society of St. George's 
Hospital, November 71

h 1895, London, p.10. 
42 NZPD, 113 (1900), p.205. 
43 The Hunterian Society was established in London in 1819 and still exists today. Its motto is 'for the 
cultivation and promotion of the science and practice of medicine. 
44 Collins, 'A Paper on New Zealand' p.2. 
45 NZPD, 113 (1900), p.204. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 27 

the growing concerns about degeneration raised in the twentieth century, which will 

be discussed in Chapter Five. 

Entrenched views about New Zealand's healthy status were tied in with New 

Zealand's relationship with Britain. New Zealand was seen as a place where 

emigrants could come to escape the evils of the old world, such as high rates of 

disease and death. As Miles Fairburn has argued, New Zealand was portrayed in 

British literature as an ' ideal society'.46 It is interesting to trace the development of 

the healthy country myth from the initial impress ions about Maori health and the 

apparent climatic advantages of New Zealand to the use of both these views as a 

marketing tool to prospective emigrants. 

The natural advantages of New Zealand led to its promotion as a health resort 

for those suffering from frequent illnesses. Thos W. Bell, in an extract from his 

Masters thesis published in the NZMJ, argued that ' besides a fine climate, New 

Zealand possesses other advantages, entitling it to rank as one of the most important 

health resorts in the world' . Thermal springs were thought to be advantageous to 

those suffering from a wide range of diseases because the 'hot and cold mineral 

springs, (are) exceedingly valuable in the treatment of disease' .47 Thermal springs, as 

well as having a tourist function, were promoted in many pamphlets as having 

medicinal benefits to those with specific ailments, such as skin diseases, as well as for 

'invalids' and 'convalescents' .48 The Department of Tourist and Health Resorts said 

that ' in the great majority of our recognised health resorts mineral-water treatment is 

looked upon as the chief curative agent' .49 Both bathing in the mineral water and 

drinking it were thought to be beneficial. 

Medical professionals often suggested that certain categories of people were 

most likely to benefit from New Zealand's climate; William E. Collins' paper to the 

Hunterian Society provided a list of the types of people likely to be advantaged. This 

list included those who were 'delicate', made a slow recovery from disease, 

46 Miles Fairburn, The Ideal Society and its Enemies, the Foundations of Modern New Zealand Society, 
1850-1900, Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1989, p.20 
47 T .W. Bell, 'Medical Notes on New Zealand, NZMJ, Series I , 3 (1890), p.71. 
48 The Health and Pleasure Resorts of New Zealand, n.d. p.17, 20, Wohlmann, p.I 
49 Wohlmann, p.4. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 28 

consumptives and those with bronchial diseases.50 Not surprisingly, concerns were 

raised over the number of sick people coming to New Zealand. In a debate over the 

Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Bill in 1885, Dr. A.K. Newman argued that 'one 

of the drawbacks which the colony will always suffer under will be its reputation for 

having a good climate .... The consequence of that is, large numbers of people come 

out here by direct steamers and otherwise in shoals, and many of them will be burdens 

on the colony' .5 1 Such people were also undesirable in a new colony establishing 

itself as a 'healthy society' without the ills of the 'old world'. Concerns over the 

number of sick immigrants easily led to concerns about degeneration within the 

population. Despite concerns about the cost of sick emigrants and the effect on the 

health of the nation the Chief Health Officer argued that: 'Viewed from the point of 

international equity, it seems to me it would be as unfair as it would be unchristian to 

deny any fellow-creatures the privilege of sharing the beneficent effect of our 

climate'. 52 

It is difficult to measure the extent to which ideas about the healthy state of 

New Zealand can be connected with the disinterest in public health matters in the 

period 1890-1900. Politicians readily accepted that New Zealand was an inherently 

healthy country because of its climate and this is likely to have undermined any 

arguments that there needed to be more government intervention in public health 

matters. Although politicians may have used the advantages of New Zealand 's 

climate as justification for a hands-off stance, the medical profession did not see it 

this way. Throughout the late nineteenth century there were increasing calls from 

both the medical profession and the public , especially in newspapers, for changes to 

the health system.53 

In contrast to the healthy country philosophy that circulated regarding Pakeha 

health in New Zealand, Maori health was increasingly questioned. Throughout the 

nineteenth and into the early twentieth centuries concerns were raised about the future 

50 Collins, pp.11-13. 
51 NZPD, 51 (1885), p.606. 
52 Report of the Department of Public Health, AJHR, 1901, H-31 , p. I 3. 
53 See for example: Dr. Ogston, 'Sanitary Affairs in New Zealand', NZMJ, Series 1, 3 (1890), pp.238-
242, 'Canterbury Branch, New Zealand Medical Association, President's Retiring Address,', NZMJ, 
Series 1, 4 (1890), p.52, W.E. Hacon, 'The Sanitary Defence of New Zealand' NZMJ, Series I, 5 
(1892), pp.153-156, 'The Plague ', Press, 30 December 1899, p.7. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 29 

of Maori both numerically and culturally. Some in the medical profession argued that 

any numerical decrease in Maori 'was in existence before Europeans settled in New 

Zealand ' .54 However, the more prevalent view was that Maori were declining, in one 

way or another, because of European settlement. This view was not unique to New 

Zealand . Throughout the Pacific Islands many explorers, missionaries and early 

visitors subscribed to a 'fatal impact' theory where the noble savage and their 

environment were seen to be irrevocably changed through contact with Europeans. 

As well as the effects of disease and war, the ' native ' populations were unable to 

compete with the new, more advanced civilisations.55 

The size of the Maori population at the time of first contact has been debated 

in recent years and this thesis does not attempt to come to a conclusion about the size 

of Maori population at contact or the exact rate of decline.56 What is critical, 

however, is that Maori were viewed by a significant portion of the settler population 

as a race in decline and many believed that Maori would die out altogether. Official 

census results showed that Maori population reached its lowest point in 1896, with a 

total of 39,805. 57 Even before this time, however, concerns were raised about the 

decrease in the Maori population. Thomas Lambert, the Native Medical Dispenser in 

Wairoa, reported in 1885 that 'careful observation of the Natives during the last nine 

years leads me to conclude that the mortality rate is much higher than has ever been 

suspected, and it is rapidly increasing' .58 Similar comments were made in Parliament. 

For example, in a debate on the need for medical assistance to various Maori 

communities, Newman said 'the Maoris in that district were dying out in a 

shockingly-rapid manner ' .59 The notion of Maori dying out was not just limited to 

numerical extinction. It was also argued that Maori would be culturally absorbed by a 

more civilised and powerful race, Europeans. Maui Pomare argued in a Department 

54 Thos W. Bell , 'Medical Notes on New Zealand', NZMJ, Series I, 3 (1890), p.145. 
55 For a discussion of these ideas in terms of Pacific historiography see: K.R. Howe, 'The Fate of the 
'Savage' in Pacific Historiography', NZIH, 11:2 (1977), pp.137-154. 
56 The most extensive analysis of Maori population figures has been given by Ian Pool, Te Iwi Maori, 
A New Zealand Population, Past, Present and Projected, Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1992. 
57 Census of the Maori Population, AJHR, 1896, H.31B. The census which were taken were far from 
·accurate, this has been discussed in Pool, Te lwi Maori, pp.65-66. 
58 Reports From Native Medical Officers, AJHR, 1885, G.2A, p.8. 
59 NZPD, 56 (1886), p.105. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 30 

of Public Health report that 'there is no hope for the Maori but in ultimate absorption 

by the Pakeha '. 60 

There are numerous debates about Maori decline which emphasise the impact 

that destructive European habits had on Maori. Bell, in the NZMJ commented that 

'European customs and diseases, are also, without doubt, killing many. Excess 

alcohol and tobacco shorten their lives considerably' .61 Maori were thought to be in a 

' transitional phase ', in which they lived a life consisting of both negative Maori and 

Pakeha customs. 62 A census enumerator wrote that: 'I feel that as a people they can 

have no hope of permanency unless, having cast aside their old habits and modes of 

life , they adopt those of their European neighbours in their entirety, as at present, 

mixed up with the new habits and ideas which they have acquired from us , they still 

retain some of the very worst of their own old customs' .63 Some commentators even 

went as far as saying: 'The physical condition of those Natives who adhere to their 

old mode of living is, if not generally very good, much better than amongst the 

Natives who live near white settlements. The latter fall into the vices of the 

Europeans, but neglect to imitate them in taking means to preserve their health' .64 

Maori were thought by some to be better suited to traditional Maori modes of living. 

That is , when they were on elevated pa sites with good drainage and fresh air: 'The 

Maori of the present day does not possess the vigorous constitution of his ancestors . 

In former times they lived on the tops of the hills and the high ground, were clad with 

mats that protected them from the weather; whereas now they live .. . in low lying 

places, often damp and wet, and . .. the natural result is fever and pulmonary 

complaints' .65 

Arguments over Maori degeneration as a race also came through in the debates 

about Maori survival. Degeneration or decay may be seen, in this context, in isolation 

from concerns which were raised about European degeneration in the twentieth 

century and will be discussed in Chapter Five. Concerns about Maori degeneration 

were not stimulated by British concerns; rather they were a part of the growing 

60 Report of the Department of Public Health, AJHR, 1906, H.31, p.67. 
61 Thos W. Bell, 'Medical Notes on New Zealand ', NZMJ, Series 1, 3 ( 1890), p.145. 
62 Report of the Department of Public Health, AJHR, 1906, H.3 1, p.74. 
63 Census of the Maori Population, AJHR, 1886, G.12, p.3. 
64 Reports of Officers in Native District, AJHR, 1885, G.2, p.8. 
65 Census of the Maori Population, AJHR, 189 l, G.2, p.5. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 31 

anxiety about the survival of the Maori race. Various reasons were given for the 

supposed degeneration of Maori . Often this was put down to laziness. Maori were 

not always in paid work and this together with communal living was thought to have 

had a detrimental effect: 'The communism of to-day means indolence, sloth, decay of 

racial vigour, the crushing of individual effort, and spreading of introduced infectious 

diseases , and the many evils that are petrifying the Maori and preventing his 

advance' .66 Government officials thought that Maori did not have to work as hard as 

previously, and the image of Maori as a decaying warrior was common. The Resident 

Magistrate in Hokianga commented that 'The present generation does not appear to be 

nearly so healthy or robust as that which is passing away. This may, I am inclined to 

think , be owing to the fact that the Natives of to-day are not as provident or 

industrious as those of former times ' .67 A similar remark was made by the Medical 

Dispenser in Wairoa: ' In fact the majority of the younger Natives . .. have quite lost the 

grand physique of the old men and women who may still be met with, full of vigour, 

and di sease-resisting capabilities' .68 

Although the view of Maori as a declining or dying race was present in the 

words of government officials and politicians, the extent of this view in wider Pakeha 

society was unclear. Certainly it would have filtered through and been known 

throughout the wider society, but there is little evidence of public debate in 

newspapers , one of the best sources for contemporary views. Maori health was not a 

topic which seemed to register particularly high on the Pakeha agenda, but perhaps 

this was because of the isolation of many Maori communities from the growing towns 

and cities in the late nineteenth century. There is some indication that Maori were 

themselves concerned. The Resident Magistrate in Mangonui reported in 1885 that 

some viewed themselves as a dying race: 

They have been much di sposed in the past to regard the great mortality from fever 
which has occurred, in a superstitious manner, and to conclude that they were a 
doomed people. I have endeavoured earnestly, upon all poss ible occasions, to point 
out to them the utter foolishness and recklessness of such reasoning, and have urged 
that in physique and general healthiness, they are highly favoured.69 

66 Report of the Department of Public Health, AJHR, 1906, H.3 1, p.74. 
67 Reports of Officers in Native Districts, AJHR, 1885, G.2, p. I. 
68 Reports from Native Medical Officers, AJHR, 1885, G.2A, p.8. 
69 Reports of Officers in Native Districts, AJHR, 1885, G.2, pp.2-3. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 32 

Some commentators did attempt to challenge the prevailing view of Maori as a 

dying race; John Ballance commented in Parliament that the 1886 census showed that 

'the decline in the number of the Native race was not nearly so rapid as had been 

generally anticipated' .70 The previous year a Native Medical Officer had written: 

comparing the rate of mortality with that of previou s years, I consider it less ; 
probably, through the care and attention of those gentlemen who have been kindly 
supplied by the Government with drugs for the use of the Natives. On the whole , 
however, with the exception of typhoid fever, there is less di sease amongst them than 
formerly; and this I attribute to their more sober habits and general prosperity.7 1 

It was commonly believed that Maori were not able to pull themselves from the threat 

of extinction: the assistance of European medical treatment was essential. Maori 

health was also viewed in moral terms: sobriety was recognised as a facet of good 

health. It was interesting that during a time of national depression , this official 

suggested Maori were seen as in a place of 'general prosperity '. At the other end of 

the spectrum some commentators, when faced with statistics which provided evidence 

for Maori population increase, failed to believe them: 'The births reported have been 

slightly in excess of the deaths, but, notwithstanding thi s, I am inclined to believe that 

the Native population is slowly, but steadily, on the decrease. Deaths of both adults 

and infants take place on the gum fields and elsewhere of which no report is made ' .72 

The sub-enumerator in South Wairarapa came to a similar conclusion: 'The births 

seem to balance the deaths, but I think it must be admitted that they are steadily 

decreasing' .73 

Education in Pakeha ways of health , along with the assistance of Pakeha 

medicine, was seen as the only way to counter Maori decline. Newman, in a debate 

on the necessity of vaccination for Maori, argued that ' I believe it is inevitable that it 

[Maori] will disappear; it is questionable whether the Government can prevent this : 

but they can - and it is our duty as an educated people to see that it is done - delay the 

process of extinction for a considerable number of years' .74 Education was stressed as 

imperative in countering Maori decline: 'it is to education chiefly that we must turn as 

a means for raising the people generally. I do not hold with those who think that, of 

70 NZPD, 54 (1886), p.157. 
71 Reports from Native Medical Officer, AJHR, 1885, G.2A, p.1 
72 Reports of Officers in Native Districts, AJHR, 1885, G .2, p. I . 
73 Census of the Maori Population, AJHR, 1896, H.13B, p.8. 
74 NZPD, 48 (1884), pp.231-232. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 33 

necessity, the Maori race is doomed to extinction. I believe that education - physical, 

mental, and sanitary - rightly applied, will work its salvation' .75 

Despite the view of Maori as a dying race, there was little government action 

in the nineteenth century to address Maori ill health. Dow has argued the importance 

of the government funded Native Medical Officers and disputes comments by 

Apirana Ngata that prior to 1900 there was no government recognition of the 

importance of Maori health. 76 In comparison with the Maori health reforms which 

occurred in the twentieth century, there was only a limited involvement in Maori 

health. Ngata probably understated this involvement to the same extent that Dow has 

overstated it. Although Dow provided statistical analyses to show the doctor to Maori 

ratio was relatively high, it must be remembered that these were Pakeha doctors 

dealing with Maori patients. There were immense cultural and communication 

barriers and the effectiveness and rate of usage of the doctors would have varied 

depending on both the doctor ' s ability and the community's acceptance. Lange 

argued that the system was poorly funded and the numbers of doctors fluctuated: 

'Very little money was provided for the subsidies, and so they were thinly spread over 

the country. Some districts with few Maori had a subsidised doctor, while heavily 

populated areas did not ' .77 

In the nineteenth century, health work in Maori communities was also carried 

out through the Native School system. Lange has argued that 'the most 

comprehensive Maori health work before 1900 was done by the staff of the Native 

schools' .78 Health education was a key part of the Native School's curriculum. 

Inspector-General James Pope saw the education of Maori and the health of Maori 

going hand in hand. Teachers were expected to distribute medicines and assist with 

nursing in times of epidemics. Health was promoted in an educational context 

through the Native school's system. This focus seems to have been largely influenced 

75 J. Thompson (Headmaster of Te Aute College), 'A Present-Day View of the Maori Race', Church 
Missionary Intelligencer, London, March 1892, in Report of Native Schools, AJHR, 1892, E.2, p.4. 
76 Derek Dow, "Specially Suitable Men?', Subsidized Medical Services for Maori 1840-1940', NZIH, 
32:2 ( 1998), p.164-166. 
77 Lange, May the People Live, p.73. 
78 ibid. p.75. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 34 

by Pope, in his role as superintendent. Pope's influence, as a civil servant, on the 

policy of the Department was a common theme of the Liberal era.79 

Pope produced a booklet for use in Native Schools which encapsulates a 

number of prominent views about the state of Maori and possible ways to reverse the 

perceived decline.80 The book, Health for the Maori: A Manual for Use in Native 

Schools, was promoted as a way to counter Maori decline through health education.81 

The object of the book was stated: 'to impress upon the minds of the rising generation 

of Maoris truths that are of the highest importance to their race, and which they must 

learn to respect if they are to escape extermination' .82 The book was essentially an 

education manual to share Pakeha knowledge with their less fortunate Maori 

neighbours. It was divided into two parts, the 'disease ' and the ' remedy'. Pakeha 

knowledge had helped them conquer the disease but Maori were still in the 'pre­

conquest' phase. Pope wrote of the importance of pure air, clean water, healthy food, 

proper clothing, regular work, European modes of medical treatment, and education. 

Fresh air, 'is one of the very best things for preserving health ... fresh air very often 

destroys or removes things that cause bad smells and that hurt the health ' .83 

Miasmatic theories of disease were still the norm in the 1880s; more recent medical 

developments had yet to filter through to those outside the medical profession. 

European medical practices were promoted over traditional Maori tohunga who, it 

was thought, could do a great deal of harm. The importance of work, a common 

theme in articles designed to promote the 'reform' of Maori, and the good health 

which would result were also significant. The main characteristic of the Maori health 

policies in the late nineteenth century is that these were Pakeha responses, operating 

through Pakeha frameworks and although neither widespread nor very well funded, 

they were no worse (and probably in some cases somewhat better) than the treatments 

afforded to Pakeha settlers. 

79 For further discussion of the relationship between civil servants and politicians see chapter three. 
80 For a discussion of health in the Native Schools see: Katharine Sophia Goodfellow, 'Health for the 
Maori? Health and the Maori Village School, 1890-1940', Research Essay, University of Auckland, 
1991. 
81 James H. Pope, Health for the Maori: A Manual for Use in Native Schools, Wellington: Government 
Printer, 1884. 
82 ibid., (Preface). 
83 ibid., p.44. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 35 

Although Pakeha and Maori health may be viewed in comparative isolation, 

they both raise a number of common themes. Environmental influences on health 

were a recurrent theme: health being determined, to an extent, by environmental 

factors such as climate. In an article which stressed New Zealand's environmental 

advantages Bell argued: 'Taking, then, New Zealand as a whole, considering its 

advantages, it is the healthiest country in the world' .84 Humans were viewed as 

relatively passive subjects, health policies able to do little to assist those with bad 

health. There was also, in the nineteenth century, a distinct lack of health policy for 

both Maori and Pakeha. This was particularly significant in the case of Maori health 

which was increasingly in doubt as the population declined. It is possible, though 

there is no evidence, that the increasing concern with Pakeha health in the early stages 

of the twentieth century was stimulated, to an extent, by the concerns raised about 

Maori health in the nineteenth century. Maori health did help to bring health issues 

onto the public agenda and although little was done at the time, Maori health issues 

were increasingly publicised. 

Along with the role that medical issues and debates played in determining 

health policy, the political motivations of the government were also a significant 

factor. The Liberal Party has generally been seen as a political movement for reform, 

particularly in their first decade in government. In the context of public health, in this 

decade, there is simply insufficient evidence to support this assertion. In the 1890s 

the Liberals neither introduced nor passed any significant legislation relating to public 

health. It was likely that the 'healthy country' myth played a role, but it is also useful 

to consider Liberal politics in the broader policy-making context. 

It must be noted first that there was some limited concern about sanitation, 

quarantine and vaccination. Much of this was related to the growing population in 

urban areas. Concerns were raised about the insanitary state of some urban centres 

and the importance of quarantine as a means to keep some infectious diseases from 

entering New Zealand. The urban population in New Zealand grew rapidly in the 

second half of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Auckland City and suburbs 

84 Thos W. Bell, 'Medical Notes on New Zealand', NZMJ, Series I, 3 (1890), p.75. For other examples 
of New Zealand ' s favourable environment see: NZPD, 51 (1885), p.606 (Newman), NZPD, 113 (1900), 
p.221 (Lawry). 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 36 

grew from a population of 10,206 in 1861to57,616 in 1896.85 Throughout New 

Zealand urban populations doubled between 1891 and 1921.86 The Liberal Party 

received relatively high support in the towns and cities and as David Hamer has noted 

'The more urban a community was, the most likely it was to vote Liberal [sic]' .87 In 

consequence, it would seem likely that concerns about sanitation and quarantine in the 

centres would have had an influence on the Liberals' policy. However, the Liberal 

Party also gained increasing support in the country and it is unlikely that their rural 

constituents would support public health measures which only benefited those in 

urban areas . This may have been one of the many factors which influenced the 

Liberals' apathy regarding public health in this period. Despite any possible electoral 

pressure, health issues basically went unnoticed in the first decade of the Liberal 

reign. The status quo was maintained, because the Public Health Act 1876, which had 

been in place for 14 years, was left virtually unchanged in the Liberal Government' s 

first decade in power. In this period the Liberals certainly did not live up to their 

reforming reputation regarding public health. 

Historians have debated in some detail what drove the Liberals. Some have 

argued that they were driven by ideology and others have suggested the ad hoc nature 

of their policy was essentially in response to particular events. Sinclair emphasised 

the ideological attempts in the Liberals' policy, writing 'their legislative acts were 

conscious attempts to apply, as far as they thought possible or desirable, certain 

political theories ' .88 In contrast, Oliver has called Liberal reform, 'intelligent 

improvisation to meet the demands of the moment ' .89 It might be argued that the 

establishment of the Department of Public Health in 1900 was such an example and 

this suggestion will be developed further in Chapter Four. Oliver's suggestion that 

the Liberals' policy was made in response to events is also valid in the period from 

1890 to 1900, as there were no significant public health demands. Although there 

85 'Colonial Auckland, Boom and Bust, 1850s to 1890s', New Zealand Historical Atlas, Malcolm 
McKinnon (ed.), Bateman: Auckland, 1997, plate 57. 
86 'The Urban System, Cities, Towns and the Links Between Them, 1891-1961', New Zealand 
Historical Atlas, plate 65. 
87 David Hamer, The New Zealand Liberals, the Years of Power, 1891-1912, Auckland: Auckland 
University Press, 1988, p.150. 
88 Keith Sinclair, 'The Liberal Party 's Legislation, 1891-1898', Ends and Means in New Zealand 
Politics, Robert Chapman (ed.), Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1961, p.11. 
89 W.H Oliver, The Story of New 'Zealand, London: Faber and Faber, 1960, p.147. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 37 

were sporadic outbreaks of infectious disease, there was no major international 

epidemic which threatened the health and security of New Zealand. 

Regardless of the influence of ideology, the Liberals saw themselves as a party 

of the people putting public opinion into practice. They prided themselves in not 

moving before the public called for it. It could be argued that health policy in the 

period 1890 to 1900 reflects this. Although there were growing calls for reform by 

the medical profession and the from time to time an editorial and article in the 

newspapers, essentially there was no concerted public debate on the issue of public 

health. 

Another factor which precluded a shift in policy by the Liberals was the 

financial burden of any comprehensive system of public health. Such a system would 

involve an increase in rates or taxes, and many individuals and local boards were not 

willing to spend more money. The President of the Canterbury Branch of the NZMA 

compared New Zealand with Britain in terms of sanitation expenditure and concluded 

'England has spent £27 ,000,000 on the improvement of local sanitation. Here in New 

Zealand we trust to quarantine, and spend nothing on local sanitation' .90 Funding for 

public health was always a limiting factor. Although the advantages of a 

comprehensive system were widely accepted there was often reluctance among 

communities to pay for it and a corresponding desire to cut costs where possible. For 

example, in a debate on Hospitals and Charitable Institutions, F. Sutton argued that 

'he had always held that hospitals and charitable institutions should be first charges 

upon local funds . He felt sure that these institutions would be far better and more 

cheaply managed if they were managed by the residents of the districts in which they 

were situated than if managed by the General Government' .91 Such sentiments were, 

however, seldom supported with money. 

As has been argued above, during the 1890s there were a number of calls for 

the reform of the public health system.92 The most consistent calls came from the 

90 'Canterbury Branch of the New Zealand Medical Association, President 's Retiring Address', NZMJ, 
Series 1, 5 (1890), p.52. 
91 NZPD, 44 (1883), p.642. 
92 In Wellington in this period a Sanitary Reform Association was in existence, however the work of 
the Association is unknown. The only evidence of the existence of a Sanitary Reform Association is 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 38 

NZMA. In 1890 the 'permissive' nature of New Zealand's public health laws was 

criticised.93 There were also a number of requests for a Department of Public Health 

and a Minister of Public Health. At the annual meeting of the NZMA it was asserted, 

'That a Department of Public Health - with duly qualified officers - is necessary for 

the general wellbeing, is undeniable; but we must be prepared to wait for it, and urge 

its establishment over and over again' .94 A small number of articles in newspapers 

urged reform. The Press complained of the ineffectiveness of the Central Board of 

Health and also suggested the establishment of a Department of Public Health.95 

It has been difficult to gauge the impact such calls for reform had on the 

Liberal Government. Dow has argued that the NZMA played a leading role in the 

government's reform of the public health system in 1900 after years of agitation for 

change. He maintained that 'It is simply not true to claim, as did F.S. Maclean, that 

the 1900 Public Health Act was inspired by the threat of plague'.% The inspiration, 

Dow argued, came from the Medical Association. Two points should be made in light 

of Dow' s argument. The first is that although the Medical Association did have a 

relatively consistent campaign for reform, the Liberal Government did not heed their 

suggestions over a period of at least a decade and not until the threat of the bubonic 

plague was near New Zealand. The second point is that there was no concerted public 

debate on the issue of public health reform, and it is likely that much of the Medical 

Association's case fell on deaf ears. Doctors had been campaigning for reform of 

registration for a considerable period of time before it was granted in 1914. These 

circumstances suggest that prior to 1900, the concerns of the medical profession may 

not have been placed high on the agenda by the Liberals . The Liberal Party were 

unlikely to introduce or pass legislation in public health when it was not the subject of 

public debate, because the Liberals were driven by public opinion. Hamer endorses 

this view and argues that 'The limits of reform in the Liberal era were defined as the 

from a paper: Dr. Albert Martin, 'Causation of Specific Diseases', A Paper read before the Wellington 
Sanitary Reform Association, c.1890. 
93 Dr. Ogston , 'Sanitary Affairs in New Zealand', NZMJ, Series 1, 3 (1890), p.238. 
94 'Sixth Annual Meeting of the New Zealand Medical Association, NZMJ, Series I, 4 (1891 ), p.284. 
95 'The Plague', Press, 30 December 1899, p.7, 'The Plague, Experience of a Christchurch Doctor, His 
Opinions', Press, 28 February 1900, p.5. 
96 Derek A. Dow, 'Seddonic Plague', in Linda Bryder and Derek A. Dow (eds.), New Countries and 
Old Medicine, Proceedings of an International Conference on the History of Medicine and Health, 
Auckland: Pyramid Press, 1995, pp.44-45. 



New Zealand, A Healthy Country? 39 

limits which the people themselves wished to impose ... .In their use of the power of 

the state, the Liberals established a tradition of pragmatic interventionism' .97 

Nineteenth century New Zealand health history was characterised by the 

distinct lack of concern shown by both the public and the government. Most believed 

that New Zealand was an inherently healthy country, sufficiently protected against the 

threat of infectious disease. Environmental factors, primarily climate, were thought to 

have created in New Zealand a ' healthy society'. The image of Maori before western 

contact as the ' noble savage' was used to support the healthy country mythology. 

Maori health , however, had deteriorated. They were no longer perceived as warriors 

on hill-tops, who, having adopted a number of destructive European habits, could not 

compete with the more advanced, British civilisation. Maori health was not the only 

anxiety to be raised in this early period. There were also concerns raised that a 

disproportionate number of unhealthy immigrants were entering New Zealand 's 

shores to take advantage of the healthy climate. The healthy country myth seems to 

have also influenced the actions of the Liberal Party, which showed little interest in 

matters of public health in the 1890s. The only concerted calls for reform in this 

period came from members of the Maori community and the NZMA. These concerns 

were left unheeded until 1900 when New Zealand was faced with a potential crisis. 

97 David Hamer, 'Centralisation and Nationalism, 1891-1912', in The Oxford Illustrated History of 
New 'Zealand, Keith Sinclair (ed.), Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1990, p.126. 



3 External Threat and Internal Weakness 

In matters of public health, 1900 can be seen as a turning point. The bubonic plague 

scare caused New Zealand's healthy state to be questioned for the first time. This 

questioning took the form of a public frenzy, not based on medical knowledge, but on 

public perceptions about the serious consequences of an outbreak of the disease. The 

external threat of the plague sparked questions about the sanitary state of New 

Zealand . Urban areas in the late nineteenth century were growi ng rapidly, 

exacerbating insanitary conditions. Concern was also raised over the possible impact 

of the plague on Maori, who were already suffering from a number of other imported 

diseases. The impact of the plague scare highlights increasing public concern about 

health issues. The bubonic plague scare in New Zealand has been written about by a 

number of historians.' The plague scare has usually been viewed in the context of the 

establishment of the Department of Public Health . This chapter looks at the 

perception of the bubonic plague in New Zealand, the way in which it sparked 

questions about sanitary standards and the shift in popular opinion about who was 

responsible. 

1 Derek A. Dow, Safeguarding the Public Health, A History of the New Zealand Department of Health, 
Wellington : Victoria University Press, 1995, pp.42-48, Michael Hannah, 'The Plague Scare, 1900. 
Factors Relating to the Establishment of the Department of Public Health', BA (Hons) Essay, 
University of Otago, 1975. 

40 



External Threat and Internal Weakness 41 

The late nineteenth century seemed to be almost free, in New Zealand's case 

at least, from the threat of a major international epidemic. A cholera epidemic in 

1892 and 1893 in Europe caused a small number of meetings by the Central Board of 

Health concerning quarantine, but this was minor when compared with the mass 

hysteria and public outcry which arose over the possibility of a bubonic plague 

outbreak. 2 New Zealand, Australia and the United States of America, because of their 

distinct geographical locations, were relatively isolated from the epidemics of Europe. 

The growth of a major steamship network from the 1870s meant the speed at which 

infectious disease was spread was only limited by the speed of the steamships.3 Ports 

around New Zealand became the potential entry points for disease. 

New Zealand' s reaction to the threat of the bubonic plague may be seen in the 

context of the international experience of the plague and the similar reactions which 

occurred throughout the world. The outbreak of the plague which threatened New 

Zealand 's shores originated in the Chinese province of Yunnan in 1871. It spread to 

Canton and Hong Kong in 1894, Bombay in 1896, Calcutta in 1898, Formosa, Japan 

and Honolulu in 1899, Manila, Adelaide, Sydney and San Francisco in 1900.4 As 

with other outbreaks of the plague, this epidemic provoked mass hysteria and fear. As 

Rajnarayan Chandavarkar argued, 'no other epidemic evoked the fear and panic 

generated by the plague '.5 Much of the fear of the plague was unfounded and based 

on images of the Black Death of the fourteenth century which wiped out a quarter of 

Europe 's population. In general, the public knew little about the epidemiology or 

spread of the disease and medical understandings were highly contested. It was likely 

that this contributed to the fear in communities. In 1898 it was discovered that the 

plague was spread by rats and it was thought that this may have been through the fleas 

hosted by the rat.6 As P.H. Curson has shown, there was debate amongst the medical 

profession over the causes of the plague. Some accepted the theory of the flea but 

2 F.S. Maclean, Challenge for Health, A History of Public Health in New Zealand, Wellington : R.E. 
Owen, 1964, p.115. 
3 William H. McNeill, Plagues and Peoples, London: Penguin, 1976, p.147. 
4 Giinter B. Risse, 'The Politics of Fear: Bubonic Plague in San Francisco, California, 1900', in New 
Countries and Old Medicines, Proceedings of an International Conference on the History of Medicine 
and Health, Linda Bryder and Derek A. Dow (eds.), Auckland: Pyramid Press, 1995, p.3, Hannah, p.iv. 
5 Rajnarayan Chandavarkar, 'Plague Panic and Epidemic Politics in India, 1896-1914', in Epidemics 
and Ideas, Essays on the Historical Perception of Pestilence, Terence Ranger and Paul Slack (eds.), 
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1992, p.204. 
6 Chandavarkar, pp.215-216. 



External Threat and Internal Weakness 42 

others still believed that the disease arose from filth and insanitary surroundings.7 An 

Australian pamphlet on the disease tied the plague directly to sanitary conditions: 

' Once introduced to a community, the poison will spread, or not spread according to 

the sanitation of the district. In a clean community, Ii ving under healthy conditions, it 

has no chance, but under the opposite circumstances of filth and overcrowding it 

spreads like wildfire ' .8 

The general reaction of governments and local authorities to this outbreak was 

to increase state intervention and to institute programmes of sanitary reform. The 

ignorance about the etiology and spread of the plague meant that these programmes of 

reform were based primarily around improving sanitary conditions, as such conditions 

were thought to spread what was seen as a highly infectious disease. In fact the 

bubonic plague was not a highly infectious disease and was only spread through the 

presence of rats carrying fleas with the disease. It was rare for it to be spread from 

one individual directly to the next. In the case of India, where the plague killed six 

million in one decade , the state enacted a number of stringent and far-reaching 

restrictions and controls which Chandavarkar argued 'proved at best oppressive and at 

worst fatal'. 9 Jn Sydney , the local authorities carried out a campaign of quarantine, 

isolation , fumi gation , cleansing and rat exterrnination. '0 It was based on the premise 

that rats spread the di sease, which suggested contemporary medical opinions were 

known and acted on. Campaigns such as these were, however, preventative in nature, 

for once the disease had taken hold there was nothing public health officials could do 

to cure or even efficiently treat the disease . 

Although the New Zealand experience of the bubonic plague was limited to 

one confirmed case and death in 1900 and only a small number of cases in the next 

decade, there was an immense public debate over the possible effects of the plague in 

New Zealand. The strength of this outcry was influenced by concerns about the 

plague as an 'international epidemic ', for it had already shown that national 

boundaries did not limit its spread. As in other parts of the world, the fear of the 

7 P.H. Curson , Times of Crisis, Epidemics in Sydney 1788-1900, Sydney: Sydney University Press, 
1985, p.139. 
8 Alfred Neale, Plague and Security, Sydney: Turner and Henderson, 1900, pp.11-12. 
9 Chandavarkar, p.217. 
10 J. Ashburton Thomson, ' An Account of the Epidemic of Plague at Sydney ', Public Health: The