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Mr. Crow. As at present manned, I doubt it. Regulations might be made for the proper entry of prescriptions made up by them, and this would be a check. These different prescriptions could be made up in our Department and issued to these dispen- saries, and a record would be kept of their stock; and if a prescription book were kept we could easily account for the quantities. I think they must be controlled by a European official.
Mr. THURBURN. Suppose you have a dozen or half a dozen dispensaries at Kowloon and different parts of the town, is it practicable to control these men in charge properly?
Mr. CROW.-They must be left to themselves to a great extent. There is the difficulty that they might be tempted to dispose of the medicines, and I have no doubt some of them would avail themselves of the first opportunity of doing so.
them.
Mr. THURBURN.-What I say is that we have not Europeans to thoroughly supervise
Mr. CROW.-That is a great difficulty in connection with them.
Mr. THURBURN.—It would be impossible, practically, to supervise these men properly if you had four or five of these dispensaries?
Mr. CROW. I think if the Department worked on strictly hospital lines and issued these medicines in given quantities the men in charge of the dispensaries making requisition to the officer in charge of the Central Department, that officer could be able to detect any irregularities between the amount issued and the entries in the prescription book.
Mr. THURBURN.Do you think these men would act properly in giving the correct number of prescriptions and that they are capable of acting as dispensers and doctors? A Chinaman might act well under control of a doctor in the Civil Hospital but if left entirely or almost entirely to himself in some out-of-the-way part of the Colony do you think from your knowledge of the Chinese character, that he would carry out the regulations properly? That he might be very careless in issuing medicines and would fill up returns of deaths without being very particular whether the returns were right or wrong?
Mr. CROW. I think some of them might be trusted, but that can only be decided by experiment.
THE PRESIDENT.-If dispensaries were opened and supplied in the way you suggest, would you require more staff?
. Mr. CROW.-I think we would.
Dr. CANTLIE.-If one dispensary were opened at Kowloon, would you require any assistance ?
Mr. CROW.-No.
Dr. CANTLIE.-Do you think with one dispensary you could detect any irregularity? Mr. CROW.--I think so. It would be a case of trusting to returns in the books. Mr. THURBURN.-In fact, trusting to the men entirely?
Mr. CROW.--Yes.
Mr. MCCONACHIE.-Would he not make up his own prescriptions?
Mr. CROW.--Yes.
Mr. MCCONACHIE.-How are you to know that though he has down so many prescriptions that he has not sold the medicines ?
Mr. CROW.-I could not tell that at all.