TOWN EDITION. The Daily Telegraph TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1881.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3226, 1 November 1881, Page 2

TOWN EDITION. The Daily Telegraph TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1881.

That there has been considerable dissatisfaction with the management of the Napier Hospital is perfectly well known, and that there have been very reasonable i grounds of complaint is only too true. It jis not our intention, however, at the present time to attempt to apportion the blame of this mismanagement to individuals or committees, nor would such an attempt be at all desirable in the interests of tbe institution. We have felt it to be our duty on more than one occasion to utter a growl at what we considered weak or extravagant in the management of an institution in the well-being of which every inhabitant of the district has a special and peculiar interest. The Hospitals and other i charitable institutions of the mother country have been her particular boast and glory, and it should be the care of her colonies that tbey feel and exhibit an equal regard for the helpless and suffering among their . populations. The absence from our midst of any great amount of suffering and misery arising from poverty may bave a tendency to make us more forgetful of suffering than those who are daily witnessing the misery existing in the large centres of population in the older countries of Europe. But as the population of this colony increases there will be an ample amount of suffering to call for our warmest sympathies, and our most vigorous efforts to alleviate it. Ia the infancy of our hospitals and charitable institutions it should be the especial care of those who bave tbe management of public affairs that they are established on sound principles, and conducted in such a liberal and efficient manner as will secure for them the assistance and support of tbe general public. That the Napier hospital, both from its excellent design and extensive accommodation, is creditable to so small a community, is admitted on all hands; and the warm praise of numerous visitors from other parts of the colony has been grateful to those who have been mainly instrumental iv bringing about its completion, and has been well deserved. Now that Napier has a hospital that is as complete and thoroughly furnished as any similar institution in the colony, it remains with those resident in the district to say whether it shall continue to be a source of health and comfort to many, and a lasting memorial of the humane feelings existing among. tbe inhabitants of Hawke's Bay, or an encumbrance and a discredit to the district. Tbe hospitals in many of the larger towns of the colony have, rightly or wrongly, been built and furnished out of the public revenue, but the Napier Hospital is due entirely to the euergy and liberality of the people of the district, and it now becomes them to loyally continue and support what, they have so admirably began. Whatever may have been the deficiencies- in the past management of the hospital, we can, after a recent visit and enquiries, safely assert that there is no more thoroughly well managed institution within the limits of this colony, and no similar institution with a more thoroughly efficient and obliging staff of officials. The hospital buildings are familiar to most of us. The general wards and the rooms for private patients are lofty, well ventilated, well lighted, and comfortably furnished, and all the appliances for the comfort and convenience of inmates are ot the newest designs, and kept in a state of admirable cleanliness and efficiency. A most effective system of'checks upon anything like waste or peculation, and upon; all provisions received into and used in the hospital; has been established. The staff has been reduced to the utmost limit consistent with efficiency, so that every subscriber may feel assured that their contributions/ are devoted to the kindly purposes for which they are intended, and are not expended in maintaing a preposterously large staff of overpaid and underwDrked officials. It is desirable tbat the institution should mainly depend for its support upon the small contributions of the many, who may, at some time or other, bave occasion to take advantage of its benefits, so that the duty and privilege of contributing towards its support cannot be urged too strongly upon artizans in the town and the station hands throughout the country districts. Complaints have been made of the system hitherto adopted in admitting annual subscriberd as patients to the hospital, and instances have been mentioned where difficulties have been placed in the way of subscribers obtaining admission. Every subscriber of'one guinea per annum will be provided with a ticket which will admit him to the hospital either as an indoor or outdoor patient, providing of course that the medical officer considers the case a proper one for treatment at the hospital. Every reasonable person will admit that in an institution of this description there must be stringent regulations, and that these must be -strictly enforced, but these regulations have been simplified to the utmost consistent with efficiency, and no subscriber will find any difficulty in the way of taking the fullest advantage of the benefits of the institution. Nor need any subscriber look upon the benefits received in the light of charitable aid. It may be that a subscriber has only paid in one year's subscription, and is compelled to become an indoor patient for a considerable period. The institution is a clear loser for the time being, but it is not at all probable that such a subscriber will, on becoming convalescent, cease to take an interest in an institution from which he has benefited ; the probabilities are that his interest in the place has been strengthened, and a willing subscriber secured for many years to come. A visit to our hospital will convince any one of the admirable suitability of the premises, and of the general efficiency of the staff. The committee of management is composed of gentlemen who take a deep interest in the well-being of the district, and whose kindly instincts are fully alive to the value of the institution whicb they control. With a medical superintendent of the highest character and position, and an energetic and courteous secretary, the friends of the hospital may, we think, look forward with confidence to a period of prosperity, with a firm belief that the good sense and humane feelings of the bulk of our population will lead them to give a hearty and loyal support to an institution which, we feel sure, will prove a comfort and blessing to many a weary wayfarer. _________