Proposed Hospital Loan

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 6, Issue 66, 20 April 1943, Page 5

Proposed Hospital Loan

Despite the strongly worded plea from a deputation of some thirty prominent residents from the country districts, headed by the Whakatane County Council, for a deferment of the present loan proposal for £45,000, the Whakatane Hospital Board last Thursday decided to forward its -application to the Loans! Board for approval as pl'anned l . Three County delegates Messrs C. H. McCready, F. Burt and A. McGougan objected, and the action was the subject of a prolonged debate after the deputation had withdrawn. Mr J. L. Burnett, chairman of the County Council, in speaking for the deputants said that the Council had strongly objected to the. fact that according to reports the Board at its last meeting had apparently not seen fit to consider its Avritten objection before passing its resolution to proceed AA'ith the application for the loan, and it Avas only by notice • of motion being lodged by a County 5 representatiA-e that the matter had been delayed. The Council felt that its communication upon such an important matter should, have met with greater courtesy. District Financial Pulsjß Speaking as a representative of " residents in the County he said he "felt that the Council Avere possibly • the best judges of the. financial pulse >of the district. The primary pro--ducer Avas in the unfortunate position of lowing the prices for his produce pegged Avhercas there Avas no limit to his mounting costs. What they Avere. afraid of to-day, Avas not so much the actual loan but where it all Avas going to end. This would not be the end of the hospital leA-y. There Avould as time Avent .on be the increased administrative -costs, increased staff and increased upkeep. All Avas. going to be loaded on to the ratepayer and the country people felt that it was definitely time to call a halt. Steady Rise in Rates He pointed out that from a leA-y of l-3rd of a in 1935 the. rates had risen to 1 7-8 d in 1942 until it embraced one-third of the total rate. With the new loan in the offing and the county finding three-quarters of it, the rates were going to sioar; again. Whilst all Avere agreed that the sick of the district should be cared for the country people considered that some consideration should also be. giA'en the man Avho foots the bill. It was avcll knoAvn that, the GoA-ernmcnt intended doing something about relicA-ing the position •= of. hospital -taxation and had inti-. -mated as much through the Minister of Health. The council would urge therefore, that the board await this, statement and in the meantime find other means, improA-isation or makeshift, until such time as the inew policy had been defined. He /■did not think that as indiA'idual men the members of the board •could proceed with any major building scheme at the present t*imc and therefore he asked them to consider the matter in the 'light from the ratepayers point of A-iew. The chairman (Mr L Buddie): /How long do y6u propose Ave defer this matter? Mr Burnett: Until the Government has clarified the position. It would be a thousand pities if you went ahead arid some new method -of relief or subsidy Avere forthcoming. The Government is. not in the habit of making such things retro-. .spectiA'C. Mr J. Mullins, chairman of the Rangitaiki Plains branch of the New '.Zealand Farmers Union said he. could .assure the board that had transport facilities" been forthcoming they AA T ould not been able to accommodate the deputation, so high was the feeling against the method of financing the ucav loan. He asked the board to reflect that although primarily it Avas appointed to administer the. affairs of the hospital, it OAved. a dtity to the people Avho pxit them there as Avell. The. farmers felt they had a very sound case, and although they realised that nothing could be too good, for the sick, as conditions changed so should the method of -administration. Unless a protest •was forthcoming from the farmers tfheir attitude Avould be. taken as acquiescence and willingness to shoulder the groAving burdens which the doA'crnmcnt was pushing on to them

Large County Deputation l DEFERMENT OF LOAN URGED BOARD DECIDES TO PROCEED

Objection to Schedule System Mr R. W. Dunning objected strongly to the construction of the work by the, schedule system instead of by the older method contracting. It amounted to a direct subsidy from the primary producers by spending £45,000 on a building Avorth £30,000 and they A\e,re go'fig to fight it with the utmost of their strength. It was the board's duty to look alter the ratepayers as well as the patients. Mr Grace, chairman of the Taneatua meeting of farmers and ratepayers which had objected to the raising of the. loan said although the method of rating land to meet capita'l costs was no new thing he felt that it had been accentuated latterly uhil it had become unbearable. If the board did. not see lit to hold up the loan meanwhMe, it was. the intention of the farmers, to call upon the co-unty members to resign as a protest. Election Year Mr G. R. Cawte said he represented a district where the settlers were struggling hard to make headway and Avhcre eA r ery penny counts. He pointed to the fact, that this Avas election year and the GoA-ernme.nt was most likely to assist in the matter oT hospital rating if the board would AA'ithhoM its hand arily.Mr Smith said he did not like di-» rect action but when the coal miners seemed to get aAvay Avith it when they desired something to be done he thought the farmers might in this instance try the same Avcapon. Farmers should be prepared to buck against the present unfair incidence and be prepared to take the consequences. Anything revolution-' ary demanded sacrifice. Mr Neilson pointed to the fact the large military hospitals now being built would probably be utilised in normal times as main central institutions, which avouUl OA*ercomc the necessity for building large district hospitals. This point should no be OAeiiookcd. Board Chairman's Explanation! Mr Ruddle before the deputation Avithdrcw said he Avoukl like to explain something of the manner in Avhich the board at its meeting had passed its resolution before considering the council's letter of protest. Each member of the board had had in his, possession a copy of the letter for a Aveek before the meeting and a\as at liberty to speak to it at the time. He admitted a departure from the. agenda and although possibly a technical breach lie only resetted that eight, other members had been drawn into the oversight and. held blameworthy. He could assure all members of tlie deputation that objections Avcre fully anticipated and the real place to take them Avas to the Loans Board w I)en the appjication Avas under consideration. Hoard, members Avere themselves ratepayers but their outlook as members was possibly another thing. The arguments advanced by the speakers had been noted down and Avould receive eAcry consideration .

BOARD'S DISCUSSION members unusual dilemma On the motion of the chairman, the hoard in discussing Mr Me-. Crcady's notice of motion, decided to allow* the mover 10 minutes to set out. his case, each successive •speaker fi\ e minutes and the mover a five minute period for right to reply. Mi McCready said he considered his action fully justified by the deputation which had just withdrawn. It the debt was to be based on one's .ability to pay, he would not be op- ; nosing it but on the present basis it was unjust and. uncalled for and the board was not helping the position by being afraid of being put out ol a job. We wore supposed to be on the threshold of a grand new order free of debt and worry and yet the board was lending it-, self to a wicked and viscious system which committed, the ratepayers to something they could not pay. Mr F. Burt said his suggestion was that the board confine its activities meanwhile to tlie building of a children's 'ward which would then.

lie thought relieve the position sufficiently to meet the overcrowding problem and not commit the rate.-' payers to such an exorbitant, loan. Duty to the Sick Mr F. Savage said he. felt it his duty above all things to see that the sick, the aged and the infirm were given full and proper attcntion in their hour of need, and where this was concerned it should not be regarded in the light of a few pounds going on to the rates. In having and enjoying his own good health he felt lucky in being able to- help the chap who hadn't. He agreed with Mr McCrcady in all his arguments regarding the unfairness of the method of raising the money but. felt that the care of the sick and injured outweighed all the points in that direction. Mr McGougan dwelt for some time on the question of. affording the ratepayers time for objection and said that although he had voted for the original scheme he felt now in view of the reaction of the ratcr> payers and. the opinions expressed by the deputation that he was in duty bound to adhere to their wishes and back up Mr McCrcady. He thought the suggestion of Mr Burnett, the county chairman, that the scheme should, be shelved for a short time a very reasonable one. Unless the board fneed up to the Government and told it that it had to take over this growing liability, it was letting the. other boards down in their fight for fair play. Borough not Antagonistic Mr Suckling said he had no qualms about the matter anSr felt as a member of the board, they should proceed with their duty to supply the need for greater accommodation. He had received no protests from the Borough ratepayers so had assumed that they were resigned to the raising of tlio 4oan. 1 was therefore his duty to support the proposal. Mr Barr stated that after hearing the deputation he. had not heard any reason to force him change; his views. As a private, ratepayer, of course his views might, be different. It was unfortunate that the method of financing Avas as it Avas, but as long as party politics remained he could not see how it could be; altered. » Lady Member's Views "If there is one point in which we can be accused of being inconsistent. it is that wo haven't gone far enough witb the accom mo da tion we are providing,'' said Mrs Haultain. She went on to say that knowing all the circumstances and the growing need of the hospital, together with the prospect of hundreds of new homes being founded! when the men returned from the war,, the Hospital Board could readily be accused of having! failed iji its duty by not thinking of the future. She was in perfect agreement with the deputation in the arguments put forward but did not think that the slpeakers could be expected to know the situation as the board members knew it. The suggestion of the board resigning in a body was to her mind a very weak course of action,

which meant falling at the first fence. As an individual she thought it best to fight for her principles •as a hospital l board member and would do so. Dr and Matron Runciman Avho Ave re present at. the chairman's invitation once more emphasised the overcroAvding which Avas taking place in an institution built for 50 beds and averaging 56 cA'ery day sometimes as much as 70. The danger of cross-infection through having the beds so close Avas mentioned and also the. strain upon the nursing staff in trying to cope Avith the croAvded conditions. An Urgent Necessity The chairman said that the board had had the plans since 1942 and all realised that the scheme had now become an urgent necessity. There had been opportunity after for any member to object on a patter of principle. All had been given the fullest information. Noav was the time to decide for or against the project and he would like that decision adhered to. He had taken notes on the points made by I ho various speakers of the deputation and he did not think there was anything new in the arguments put forward. Mr McGougan said he felt that his actions Avere. thought inconsis-. tent but he could not have been expected to anticipate the reaction of the ratepayers. Mr McCready: The inconsistency is on the part of the board in trying to bulldoze, this loan through without knowing Avhether the rate--payers can pay it or not. Airs Haultain: I disagree! Mr McCready: You can if you like!

Mr Savage: Now don't get cross. Mr McCrcady: 1 won't get' cross, but your going to get it whether you like it or not. if you were in my jjosition, you would reiili.se just what a burden this is going to )|e to hundreds of small farmers. You won't l'eel it. You've been on the pigs back. Strong Opposition He went on to say that the risk of cross-infection stressed by Dr. Dawson was hard to understand in view of the. fact that lie himself had been in a military hospital for four months with the beds touching each other. There were all kinds, of diseases there including one bail case of V.D. —yet no one ever heard of cross-infection. The board was put in office to represent the ratepayers. By pushing this loan through they -were no more representing the ratepayers than the man in the moon, lie was amazed at the atti-« tude which was being taken up. I/f they were going to talk about neurosis cases, there would be plenty to treat in the hospital if the loan went through. By adopting the loan proposal on its present basis of financing the board was simply abetting the Government in the present, method and this was part of the new Christian Order. It made him sick to have to. eveni debate on the subject. Take, the 'booze' question? That would lill the hospital alright. But no one thought of spending money to stop that evil. The chairman interposed asking the speaker to keep to the subject under discussion. Struggling Ratepayers Continuing Mr McCrcady' said he could take the members to some of

the farmers homes on the Plains where, they could see for themselves the certain ratepayers had to make without increasing the burden of the new rate. He knew, as his father had been broken by rates--—£36o annually on a patch of IUO acres. That was what was going on and. when a man could not stand the. pressure and had to walk off— he was called a 'washout.' There was no Christianity in that—just a senseless piling up of debt upou debt. He, strongly aclvocated holding the 'loan up until the Government's policy was made, known. Motion Lost The notice of motion was then put to the vote and lost those voting for being Messrs McCready, McGougan and Burt, and, against Messrs Barr, Suckling, Savage, Mrs Haul tain and the chairman.. The original motion that the board apply to the Loans Board for consent to raise £45,000 for urgent hospital improvements, was then put to the meeting and * carried also, with the same three dissenting. A suggestion by Mr Savage that the board Avrite. the Count}' Council stating that whilst sponsoring the loan it. was, strongly averse to the method of, linancing it, was criticised by Hio supporters of the notice of motion who claimed, that by so doing the board Avoukl be creating a farcical position for- both the council and itself. There were a few more exchanges between Mr McCready and, members, Avhen he stated that such a course would be a darned insult to the council. The board had simply knocked all the protests aside and then Avanted to say to the council; — 'kiss me brother.' It Avas. finally decided to embody in the letter ad\ r ising the tion of the outcome of its represent tations, the fact that the board itself endorsed the council's vieAvs Avith regard to the method of rating.