Carrying It Too Far?

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 33, 31 March 1948, Page 5

Carrying It Too Far?

Petrol Denied Delegates To Important Conference Representatives of the Bay of Plenty Hospital Board were not present at last week's meeting of the provisional Sanatorium Committee at Hamilton, because their application for eight gallons of petrol for the trip was turned down by the Oil Fuel authorities. "Evidently the authorities do not think the meeting is of sufficient importance to warrant the use of the petrol," remarked the chairman of the meeting, Mr H. D. Caro, in apologising for the absence of the Whakatane delegates. Both Mr J. Mullins, chairman of the Bay of Plenty Hospital Board, and Mr F. Prideaux, secretary, confirmed Mr Caro's statement that the only reason they and Mr C. A. Suckling (the other delegate) had not been able to attend the conference was the fact that the application for petrol was refused. Naturally, they had regarded it as a certainty that their application for such a purpose would be approved without question, more particularly in view of the fact that they had planned to make the trip in a light car to save petrol and had asked for only eight gallons to cover the return journey of just on 250 mile's. Too Long To Say "No" ' Mr Prideaux said he had applied a week before the trip was to have been taken and quite expected that the matter would be fixed up forthwith. He made it clear he did not blame the local postmaster, Mr Trask, he said, had been helpful, but had not the authority to issue the license. It was the day' before the meeting that- a definite answer was obtained, and that only after Mr Trask had telephoned the Controller's office.

Mr Mullins said the application had taken so long to go through to its negative conclusion that there had been no time to arrange any alternative. The incident, he said, illustrated just how .unsatisfactory, the present system of central control could be, even if it did save a bit of office work.

He recalled having told another Board member at the last meeting of the Hospital Board that it had been his experience, when petrol was rationed before, that all reasonably applications got favourable consideration. It would appear that the old wartime system of local control had advantages. Mr Trask, when the matter was referred to him, confirmed that the Oil Fuel Controller had been communicated with through his head office in Wellington and his instructions had been to decline the application. Of National Importance

The meeting was to discuss agreement for the establishment, financing and control of a sanatorium at Hamilton to serve the Auckland, Waikato, Thames, Bay of Plenty and Opotiki Hospital Board areas. At the present time, patients from these districts all go to Pukeora, at Waipukurau. Treatment of tuberculosis, and the provision of adequate sanatorium accommodation is regarded by all health authorities as a matter of national importance.