THE PUBLIC BOUNTY.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 963, 2 November 1910, Page 4

THE PUBLIC BOUNTY.

PRESENT METHODS. LACK OF; SYSTEM CONDEMNED. A CONFERENCE. A conference attended by representatives of thirteen churches and charitable organisations,, including tlie Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, assembled yesterday to consider, methods of co-operating in the work in which they aro engaged. Mr.. J. ,6. W. Aitken (chairman of the Hospital' Board) pre-, sided over an attendance of about 33 representatives. Among those arosent wore Mr. D. M'Lareu, M.P., and Dr. Valintine, Inspector-General of. Hospitals' and Charitable Aid, who was tho first speaker to address the gathering. At the outset tho chairman announced that Dr. Valintine had been called upon by an urgent wire from the Prime Minister, to return in :-a. brief period to Parliament House. The business in hand, was however,-transacted so expeditiously that, the Inspector-General was enabled t-o- remain until, tlio proceedings clokjd. - •.

Address by Dr. Valintlno. Dr. Valintine . said lio.took-it that tho object of the board in calling this meeting was to confer with representatives of private charitable institutions with a view to ascertaining to what extent representatives of the various private charitable institutions- were prepared to co-operate with the Charitable-Aid Committee of the Hospital Board, in.placing matters connected with the.care of tlie sick and needy upon a sound and economical basis. He took it they were there not to consider what, tlie ' effect would bo on their own societies, but the foundation upon which,the. wholefabric of hospital and chant-able aid should rest... It was absolutely essential, both in the interests of the Dominion and of those relieved, that the whole system should be put upon a,very much better'.- basis than- at - present. There was a: great deal of overlapping in tho work of the public and■ private, philantrophic organisations. Tlie speaker sincerely trusted that one outcome- at,-least of this meeting would be to. put, matters on a better basis. Overlapping at. 'present occurred in the case of institutional, noninstitutional, and charitable aid organisations. ...First, as.,to organisations of an institutional ~ order,., tliero was.. a great deal of .overlapping iii this direction. In this city tnere'-were no- less than three homes ■' for incurables', three maternity homes, three homes for children, and three for, the aged, and needy. In "the 'non-institutional- class werb-the. Ambulance Association,... tlio District Nursing Association, and the Plunket Nursing Association. , In the charitable aid department there were the board, tho Wellington- Christian Ladies' Association, an.d the various denominational agencies. ' Dr. Valintine' said ho desired to .lay special stress ori ' the fact that, overlapping was not confined to tho department of charitable aid. Classification Necessary.

As it was uow, their public institutions had no. system of classification. It would,bo a great advantage if they had—if, ill their, institutions, it;- were possible, to classify the aged! and .needy and the sick from various diseases in a proper way; By; co-ordination of their societies some meas'ures at least mightbe taken ,in- thii direction.. In, regard to . no)i-instituti6nal ; organisations, a great deal could lie " done, .particulailyin the'field'of district, nursing. At present tho board did not undertake district nursing, but it was quite, competent'for it to do so, under tlie new Act. It c'o-.' operation between tho. .board jind .the various' bodies engaged in district nursing could be arranged. In this way the treatment - of such cases' as sick children .suffering from whooping cougli or measles could bo,placed on a much better footing. The same applied to ,111curabld cftses" not admitted to institutions. Last; but not least, might bo named consumption. A great deal could bo,done by the .agencies represent", ed at the meeting' to help tho board ill discovering cases oi' consumption at an early stage. If * this meeting -attained nothing moror.than, to" niako possible the better finding, of early cases of coilsumption it would indeed not be 'in. vain. If they could only get tlio patient when he was first stricken to come in and report, a great deal could be done to restore him to health, and in all probability he would be able to return to his daily occupation and the support of his family. Another matter in which there was overlapping, was Plunket nursing. Certainly some portions of the work could' very well be covered by an organised system of district- nursing. •

Professional Paupers. The most serious . overlapping of all was in charitable aid: There were peoplo in the.'Dominion who. could only be classified,as professional paupers. As things stood, .they ,were enabled to rro from one ..organisation to another, Urst to the board;'then perhaps to the Salvation Army, arid .'thence to. the coal and blanket fund, ..obtaining relief from, each. Consequently a great deal of abuso was going on to the serious detriment of thoso affected, and with a very ■ bad effect on the i.people of the community. The abuso of charity, Dr.: Valmtine declared, was one of the worst evils'-that could operate in. a community. They could only deal that day with the principle of the thing; ..they could not go into details in connection ,-.with thp various organisations and denomination?!!. They might, however, lie' ; would' suggest, set up a committee of-public welfare..' Tho objects of the committee '.and its constitution would bo as follows:'/be committee .to,be'composed.of representatives ,of .private, agencies and. some .members of tho Hospital Board. Its function: to supervise the administration of relief throughout the city.to the sick as well as to the needy. . ■ If such a committed were set up, disassociated Ei'om any prejudico, sectarian or otherwise, Dr., : Valintino concluded, the representatives present would bo I doing a great work for the community.. .

Views of tho Board's Chairman. The chairman (Mr: J. G. AV.; Aitken); after making brief , reference to the evil of overlapping, . agreed that the conference would lie well advised to set up such a committee as had been suggested. It would have • very , important functions to perform. , It would bp nccessaryj of course, that there should be the strictest confidence between one society and another. . There sliould be no chanco of the namfls of thoso who were poor and needy becoming public or boing in any; way used round the town to the detriment of tho people concerned. The system in vogue, Mr. Aitken continued, seemed framed almost with the desiro that tho independence of the recipients should be sapped. They came boforq tho Charitable Aid Committee, received aid, and wore free to go to other societies and receive aid and help from them. As things now stood, no check could bo .applied. Whether it would be wise to I let cvory society engaged in this clas.s of work know the names of people being helped was for those present to i.determine.

The Creation of Paupers. ■ Every endeavour . sliould bo made to preservo tho independence of tho individual, and .to pr.cvcnt the creation of paupers! The system in vogue was. one under which paupers.might be very readily arid'" yfcrjr easily created. 'I'

hope," /said Mr. Aitkcn, "that no one ■ will run away with tho idea that the committee of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board has any idea of saying that it will not help those who arc needy .or -sick —those who have fallen by tho way," There was, he proceeded, no such idea in the minds of those who had convened- the -mooting. The idea was to heiji those people in the most efficient possible way, and, whilo helping' them, not to sap their independence.' The "desire was to make them feel, thnt, by and by, they would be, as they had been' in tho past, able to help themselves, and, perhaps, able to help others also. Other Speakers. - There was little discussion, and succeeding speakers, among whom were the Rovs. Dr. C4ibb, Glasson, and W. A. Evans, and Jlr. D. Jl'Laren, M.P., were unanimous in favouring the proposal to sot up a committee. Committee Appointed. It was unanimously agreed, on tho motion of tho Rev. W. A. Evans, Dr. Gibb seconding, that a "committee be set up, consisting of ono representative of caclt organisation represent at tho conference to consider the questions laid before the meeting, and report at a later conference. Tho following were appointed members of. tho committee:—Rev. Reed Glasson (Congregational Church), Sister Mabel (Presbyterian Church), Sister May (Methodist Church), Mrs. Atkinson (Society for the Protection of "Women aud Children),. Father Venning (R-oman Catholic Church), Mr. W. H. Walton (Anglican Church), Mr. Menzies (Ladies' Christian Association), Mrs.Sullivan and...Mr. M.. .Kennedy (St. Vincent do Paul Society), Mrs. Macdonald (Society for tho Health of Wonien and Children), Brigadier Bray (Salvation Army), Rev.- J. J. North (Baptist), Mr. W. Allan (Home for Aged and Needy). Representatives of tho Charitable Aid Committee of the board have yot io be appointed. 'It was agreed that any charitable organisations, ; not represented at the conference, misht havo representatives upon the committee if they so desired.