THE HOSPITALS BILL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 643, 21 October 1909, Page 5

THE HOSPITALS BILL.

DISCUSSED BY WELLINGTON BOARD, TOWN V? COUOTUV. Some views of tho now Hospitals and>Charit> j able Aid 13iU wore oppressed at ycstcrday'6 \ meeting of the Wellington .Hospital Board. ' v : ■ ■ ; Mr. R. C: Kirk said that the Government, m the desire to get the . Bill through, had pyen wair in the matter of , tho separate districts. For instance, Wairatapiv would liavo a hospital and charitable aid district apart from Wellington. This would throw, the onus. of"?'., charitable aid largely upon tho city, Ho. no- . : ticed that there were no fewer than six hospit.nl and charitabU aid districts.between Palmevfrton North and New Plymouth. The Govorn- , i. mcnt had evidently yielded to local pressure in its desire to pass the Bill. sHe recoiled that the Hospitals Conference was, strongly- in fav- \ ' our of the present system;, of electing tho boards, as'economical and satisfactory, but tho 7 Bill provided for olection on the local body 1 ' franchise. Ho had . not yet looked carefully ' through the . Bill to see now-many of tho ro- . • commendations of,'.tho conference had. . been.;-, , i adopted. .-. The chairman (Mr. : J.'P. Luke, M.P.), said lie' thought the Bill - would meet tho' require- 'v, < ments of this part of. the country fairly- well. After it had become, law, proporly amended, . much stricter accounts would be kept between--tho different local bodies, and there would- be less overlapping,, and when-indigont people - ' cam? into a district from-some putside area .-S. there'need bo 110 sentiment, about charging -. ■ the authority of that area' for maintenance., ' 3 Mr, Kirk said the arrangements for that pur- -.- 'j pose had never .been satisfactory and never i would be. The districts .that t contained most • ■ of. tho poor would havo to keep them, and. thia i ' .'1 would be very hard on. the large centres. - a Mr.'C;': J. Crawford: It ; was very heavy on ' Wellington last winter, 1 was it hot? ' " ; Mr,. Kirk: Three or four thousand pounds." : ' The chairman said ho thought it was not " the bona fide resident® of the conntry districts, but the floating population that .became '- /'} able on the city authorities-for relief. ' - •. Mr. Kirk 6aid the charitablo aid of the . whole country onght to'be . pooled. tinder the :: Bill, tho. largo landed estates' in the country districts would be. let off easily. . - : : Mr: Crawford said the floating population in the country had' a* swag, on • its ;back. 'The, swaggers had always been a heavy '.tar- on. tho-.'i ■ farmers, bat .apparently ,whßni. they came to the cities, the charge came upon, the rates, ■ Mr. J; Godbor said then- were not'so swaggers as there iised.to.be, , The chairman said -that uniting tW admin*. : . istration'' of hospitals and charitablo aid under ■ v the same authorities would lead .to more. ecotiomical administration. .., -, ; T;> Mr.-Godber: No doubt about.that. ._■>-■■■■ ~- .1 ;• A* the members-had:not yet examined th« details of the:Bill'no resolution was-moyod.'.,-'