On the whole, the record of work done in most trying circumstances is, we think, satisfactory. It is true that the universal democratic fault was evidenced in the lack of preparation for conditions which were fairly obvious. Nevertheless the adaptability and growth of the hospitals in time of great emergency were achievements of the highest order.
Yet it would be unwise to leave the subject with the usual Anglo-Saxon expression of satisfaction that the crisis was passed. The history reviewed has too deep a significance. It must be regarded not merely as an individual incident, but as an indication of the inefficiency evidenced by too many departments of the Empire.
The causes which found the medical services unprepared, which forced them to expand to the breaking-point, and which led to the criticism of the hospital authorities, are not departmental or sectional—they are national. If attacks on individuals are permitted, initiative will be stifled; if on the other hand we are content to follow the time-worn policy of "muddling through," the virile people who skirt the border lines of our Empire will sooner or later bid us make way for stronger men.
Our policy for the future must be one of scientific organisation and calculated preparation in every department. We must not only appoint capable administrators, but also trust them. We can again, if we like, obtain that temporary mental tranquillity which comes to a democracy—and to an ostrich—which does not or will not see the calamity which threatens it, but temporary beatitude will be purchased at the price of an Empire. Never was it more certainly true that the price of liberty is eternal vigilance.
CHAPTER XI
POSTSCRIPT
CLOSURE OF AUSTRALIAN HOSPITALS—THE FLY CAMPAIGN—VENEREAL DISEASES—Y.M.C.A. AND RED CROSS—MULTIPLICITY OF FUNDS—PROPHYLAXIS—CONDITION OF RECRUITS ON ARRIVAL—HOSPITAL ORGANISATION—THE HELP GIVEN BY ANGLO-EGYPTIANS.