FORSICK CHILDREN

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1388, 14 March 1912, Page 7

FORSICK CHILDREN

THE NEW HOSPITAL OPENED. SPEECH BY THE GOVERNOR. 'CONGRATULATION'S AND COMPLIMENTS. Bathed ii\ generous sunshine, ami gaily decked with bunting, the new Children's Hospital looked a smiling little haven yesterday afternoon on the occasion of its official opening. The sun rooms and convalescent balconies were especially favoured; by tho sight-seeing, crowds, and I ho whole institution wore an uir of gaiety hot at allreminiscent of sickness and surfering. Indoors, I he- spotless white of the walls, the rows of little white cots were generally admired, and the'happy: people who had given of their substance towards the cost of this new hospital must have felt that their gifts had bcen P ut to B° od account. The opening ceremony was held inia courtyard in front of the main door,, where sick'children.will take the air, and where, on very lino days, those who are nearly well may- bo permitted to piny. Long'before the arrival of his Excellency the Governor, who was to declare the institution open, all points of vantage had been taken by visitors and photographers, and in the end there must have been 2000 people present. Tho speakers at the ceremony were his Excellency the Governor, the l!ev. W. A. JOvans (chairman , 'of the Charitable Aid Board), Mr. If. C. Kirk (chairman of the Hospital Committee), and the Hon. 1). Buddo (Mimster-in-Charge- of Charitable Institutions). Mr. Evans presided. Most of the-speakers spoke generously of the principal-workers to whose efforts the ■raising of sufficient funds for'the building was mainly- to be attributed. Apologies for. absence from the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph. Ward), Mr. Jlnson, Mr. J. G. W. Aitken, and Mr. Hugh' Ward were read by the chairman. The Cry of the Children. The Uev. W. A. Evans, chairman of the board, said that the building which was to bo opened was the materialisation of the entliu>iasm of 'the Wellington people in their desire to allay the sufferings of the sick poor. The building was dedicated, to the memory of our late lamented. Sovereign, King Edward the Seventh, and it would stand as a tribute- to the noble qualities of mercy, and charity, and devotion, to the poorer section of his people \\~hich marked his character, and characterised. , liis sovereignty. In opening tho hospital the people of Welling-, ton were responding to the cry of the qhildren. It wns not because tho trustees of the hospital did not listen to the cries of the children that tliis. work was not undertaken before, but simply localise there wove manifold needs to be. met,. and tho condition' of tho finances would not permit of any but the most_ urgent needs' bein? attended to. Now, thanks to tho efforts made two years ago, they had been enabled to respond to the call of the children, and to satisfy the needs of the children for soinu time in the future. Generosity of the People. Mr. It. C. Ivirk, chairman of the Hospital Committee, gave a abort sketch of the movement which had led to the building of tho hospital. He looked back to rjiu time when tho sick children of Wellington were in a room in the west wing, until tho trustees, finding these quarters too small, erected temporary- quarters on- the site of the present children's hospital. Those tompqriiry. quarters were occupied for nearly 20 years. Presently the board was ablo to give its attention to tho project to erect a new building, and tho Hon. C. M. Luke, in his valedictory address to the trustees, paid: "One- of the most pressing needs is a children's hospital." He, with his coir leagues, was glad. to the nobto work Mr. Lukc^dKras , .chairman.for. 28. years," and'he was glad that one of the wrfruV in ' the""new- hospital- was to ■' be railed, the.... "CharlftC'M,. Luke.Ward." Tlie boafd.decided to appeal to. the.public for funds, but their.ideas were not) then so'extravagant as the-generosity of the people of Wellington turned out to : be. Aii appeal, was made to the Mayor (Mi , . T. M. Wilford), and at the same time Mr. Trevor asked the lady Mayoress to inspect the old quarters of the children. Immediately she had seen them she made an appeal to the people, and what she did then and afterwards for tho people of this city would stand for all time. One of'the wards would be called the "Gilford Ward." Then there was at the time in the city l a quasi-stranger, Mr. Hugh ,T. Ward. He promised a donation of .£IOO if ton. others would make similar donations, and also he gave the result of a matinee by his company.- Not ninny Would forget the cataracts of. rain which fell that morning when Mr. Ward was working to collect funds for this building. With the results of the matinee, the money lie collected ,and his own donation?, he added well' over JIOOO to the funds. It: was only fitting ■ that such splendid service should bo recognised, and the board liad to call one of the wards the "Hugh Ward Ward." Mr. Kirk read a letter from Air. Hugh Ward, thanking the board for having conferred such an honour upon him. Ho was only too. proud to have been lucky enough to be connected with such a delightful project. Some day lie hoped to visit Wellington again, and then he would perhaps walk through the hospital, and feel glad. (Applause.) , The citfzens, said Mr. Kirk, had shown their sense of gratitude to him by giving him a magnificent send-off, in the end. the campaign was rounded off by a magnificent donation of 4SOO by Mr. and Mrs.-T. G. Macarthy. It had' therefore been deemed fitting to name one of the wards'the "Macarthy Ward." The'sum of .67,11-1 was collected, and the Government had very generously supplemented it with the full subsidy, which they were not bound to give, of 245. in' the £, so that tho sum available was His Excellency tha Governor had helped the committee, offering valuable suggestions, from the store- of. his experience as chairman of a big English hospital for many years. His Excellency had consented to allow one of the -wards to be cailed the "Islington Word." Hon. D. Buddo's Remarks. Tho Hon. D. Buddo, who was the next speaker, congratulated the people.of Wellington on having taken un this important humanitarian work to help suffering children. He did not wish to introduce u discordant note by referring to economy . of administration, but voluntary contribution, in his opinion, was one of Hip ivavs nf getting over stringent economy. It said much-for the administration of hospitals that although the amount raont on 'lem had increased very largely, the actual cost per bed had decreased in the last few years. Ho was glad to see that, the Wellington Board had put up a biiU'.ing which was not a makeshift" but ,•.liiiih would last for mony years. . SDeech by the Governor. His Excellency tha Governor was applauded on rising. The ceremony, he said signified the realisation of a long earnest-ly-desired ambition of all members ol tho Hospital Board, and all concerned in tho General Hospital of Wellington. WHlst it would prove of utility, it would also be the greatest possible blessing tc secies of little children for generations to cunc. Of all institutions founded in recent years in Wellington, few, if any, had attracted more widespread interest, and more sincere sympathy among all classes of the community than the Children's Hospital Seldom, if ever, had a more ready and literal response been given to any charitable undertaking in Lhe city. Of thost who had taken a conspicuous part in tho founding of tho hospital, it was a ir.attei for regret that the Mayor and Mayoress of Wellington should bo absent from the ceremony— (applause)—and he was voic ing the opinion of all citizens in express ing a hope that they would return soon and that tho Mayor would be restored t< health. For his own part, he deeply appreciated the compliment paid to liir/i ii associating his name with the uisliluti'in and his share in iho inceplion of it woiilc be one of the happiest memories of hi! tenure of office as Governor ol >.3v /.ea No Finality. But it was not only the large and gen CTOU3 contributors to tho funds who de served to be remembered. There was als< n very long list of small, modest coutribu tort, 'ami thi; was one of the most gratify iuf features of the campaign. (Applause..

I It had been contended for many years in the Old Country, thnt public .--ib-iidy 'and private generosity wero not compatible quantities in regard to institutions of 1 this character. It was said tliht the moment the fountain of Hie .State was opened, tho channel of private jdMierosity was ciirt espondingly njiu effectually dried up. This "w us certainly mot homo out by experience in the Doiniuinn of Aow Zealand. It was true that n sovereign contributed In- the Sla to wotil.l buy a.s inudi as a sovereign contributed by a private individual, but Ibtt .ethical and moral valine uf the latter (Miutiiui'tion was infinitely greater. He wiisKi'ad to see tlmt the Wellington Hoard riKOjjih'ncd thai; tlirro was no liiiality to thfc wivk of InKpibil exU-iiMou. lit approved -of Iho work already done, and liu approved alfw of the hosjr'tal .-ysti'in of !Xe\v /»?alan i, paying a special tribute to thi! maiorni ty iio-pitaN. He hoped it would ho possiVile to extend t}ti-. bntm'li of hospital wcok to mako tliu bejiclits accessible, to tb.« people of tho outiyin:,' districts, wl.'ere : in the years to conic, with less liardshi.v a lie.ilf.hy, vijimous iioimlalion might' )a; rraroil. in liis observations ini press-d liini mure than the extraordinary :Bntural facilities of this fair country, espec jilly as to flunatc and soil. 'Cliere was room in it. fur a very much lavgur jiopnlnti \n\ tlmn it now held, and lie sincerely 1 »pcl that in (h« future , there would b » found scope and opportunity for a he. llthy. vigorous race in the remote districts to live happy lives, build \ro a sturdy na tioiml ch.wacter, and contribute to the i irospwity of the country. An Honoured Title. His Excellency spoko in terms of approval of tho itork done by hospital ix>ai\'ls,'aud also ii> the devoted, self-sacri-ficing matrons and nurses who tended the sick within this walls of the hospital. In formally dcclartuß tin , institution open, ho said at'wns a mlittor for congratulation that such an hoii >ured title should be borne by Hie hospital as "The King Edward Manorial Hovpitnl." His lato Majesty was' not onk intimately sympathetic to littli; children, hut diu'ing his vejsu .1.-istintr reforms in hospital niliniuistratinn vero carried out eri his initiative, and tluoufrh his instrumentality. Let it be the earnest prayer of all 'classes of all .creeds 'that by' t.hsii , iiiutual "help and co-operntbn the fine stnicture would effectually disdlinrge it? pjirpose in alleviating tho sufierings of all IHV:In patients within its wards, aoid sending them away viijorous. strong, nnd healthy,, to grow up useful successful, citizens of New Zealand,, and also patriotic members of our Kmpive. A voto of Olinnlcs; was accorded to his Excellency for performin* the. ceremony. Mr 0. T. Londnn wfU the mover of the resolution, and tha lion; C. M. Luke the seconder. After the ceremony Ins Excellency was conducted through the institution by memliers of the board and tile metlical superinterulnnt, Dr. llavclwicke Smith,'and the dc'ors were opened aiso to everyone who cared lo inspect the hospital.