HOSPITAL CONTROL.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 768, 17 March 1910, Page 6

HOSPITAL CONTROL.

YESTERDAY'S ELECTION. MR. AITKEN HEADS THE POLL. THE NEW BOARD. The elections of members of the nowly-constitutcc} Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards took place yesterday throughout the Dominion. Very little public interest was taken in the event so far as Wellington was concerned, the polling in the combined district of City, Karon, and Mirainar being extremely light. There are over 33,000 municipal electors on the rolls, and yet the candidate who headed tho poll has only 1C67 votes to his credit. The number of ballot papers has not been offi- | cially declared, but it would probably not be very wide of the mark to say that only one-tenth of those eligible to vote took the trouble to do so. None of the candidates had prosecuted a particularly vigorous campaign eith'er on polling day or before. The only one who held a meeting—very sparsely attended—is amongst the rejected. The metropolitan district is allowed fourteen members.on a board of twenty. THE SUCCESSFUL CANDIDATES. The names of the successful candidates and the votes polled for each are as follow:— ; . J. G. W. AITKEN ...... 16G7 H.' VAN STAVEREN _.... 1617 .MARY E. RICHMOND 1547 R. C. KIRK' 1486' J. SMITH . .......... -14S1 W. A. EVANS 1331 D. ROBERTSON 1323 J. GODBER 1321 J. J. DEVINE ISB9 <• D. M'LAREN 12(32 J. TREVOR 1227 A. H. HINDMABSH ........ 1137 G. T. LONDON ............. 1098 J. E. FITZGERALD 1079 The election was conducted by Mr. James Ames, as returning officer. Polling closed .at 6 p.m., and the first returns reached Mr.. Ames's ■ office- at 7 minutes past' 7. It was from . Kelburne. The last was • that from (the Rechabite 1 Hall, which came to hand at 8.20 p.m., and'the result of the poll was officially declared a few minutes later. . PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE. It is interesting to note that a great majority of the successful candidates are members of the bodies which are about to be superseded by the: new board. Messrs. R. c.' Kirk, J. Smith, and Devino are members of the District Hospital Board; Messrs. Kirk, MTUuen, and Devine are members, of the Wellington and Wairarapa Charitable: Aid Board ; Messrs. Kirk, London, and .'Trevor of the Hospital Trustees; Miss Riohmond, Rev. W. A.' Evans, ' Messrs. Robertson, and J; Smith, of the Benevolent Trustees. These facts, while they, show that, the membership' ia such as to ensure continuity of administration, do not by any means exhaust the' 'experience of the members in connection with hospital management apd' charitable' aid. All but one or two have been at one time or another connected • (in some cases for long periods) with one or more of tho bodies mentioned above. The Rev. H. 'Van Staveren, who obtains second place, has had 21 years' experience of ; this kind. All the successful candidates .have taken part in local public life as City Councillors or otherwise, and the gentleman who heads the poll is an ex-Mayor of the' city, and ex-M.P, The first meeting of the board will be held at'the office of the old Hospital Board, in Johnston Street, on April, 1. Following are full details" of the polling:—