THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1866.

Grey River Argus, Volume III, Issue 136, 24 November 1866, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 1866.

Is our last issue' it was noticed in the reporb of; the Provincial Council proceedings that Mr Hoos, one of the "Westlahd members, had obtained leave to bring in a Bill for ..the .establishment and regulation of District Hospitals in "Westland. \By the. last mail we received a copy of the Bill, the, provisions of which are as follows :— By clause Ist the Superintendent is empowered to reserve and set aside for Hospital pur-, poses in any district land not exceeding two acres in extent. These sites may> by clause 2nd, be cduveyed to the Superintendent and Executive Council .for the time being, who for the purposes of the Ordinance; are to be created a Body Corporate,- with full powers to sue and be sued, te and such sites are to be held in perpetual trust for the use and purposes of public hospitals. The trustees thus : cre,atect are. to receive all donations, ; bequests; iaiid .subscriptions given for the benefit of hospitals. Clause 3rd provides that, every subscriber of twenty pounds' atone time shall be a life goveingr, and all subscribers of one pound or upwards annually are to be governors during the term^.of such subscription. It also stipulates that ;jiie Gr^prnment shall subsidise ||the funds of: each district hospital to the extent of an ' amount / equal to the annual subscriptions. Clause dth is so anibiguotis that we give it verbatim :—".Sh ould there be at the termination of each financial year a surplus over expenditure, said surplus *o be reimbursed- by Government, said, reimbursement not to exceed the coiiH /tributiori made by the- Government during the past financial year." i&jf,,, clause 5 the affairs of each Hosp^l arc to be directed and controlled by two bodies of Governors^; to be called the " General Board", and :^fe'.?:Committee of Management." Clai^^C prescribes 'that the General BoarcVi's to consist "of all the Govez-nors of the Hospital, nine of whom shall be necessary to constitute a 'Board." The General Board is to possess the sole power of making, alter.ing, or, rej^aling bye-laws, and to be investccV^^pu supreme authority on all matters. '""According to clause ' 7 ; the. General Board is to. meet at 'least twi||la year, and oftenei 1 if j^ess^iy, Chuise 8 provides for 'thefrePction^Riy the General Board oi& president treasurei> ,an.d- secretary. The'^fCommittee of Management is ,by the. following clause, ordered to ponsisjb : ", oFtiie j)J|sident anil the treasurer,, Avho shall be .ex officio inombcrs, and nine Governors (not being medical. Orj:surgi.cal pfficers , of the institution), -who ;be; elected at the .annual .meeting ■ of; the.i^neral BoardOf the governors thus elected six shall' retire : in rotatibiv at- the end of every year, but shall be. eligible for re-election. J By clause 1 0 the Commit tee of Man age-j-ineht is to regulate the affairs of the Hospital, subject to the powers vested in the General Board, and to have power to . appoint and remove and .fixjffthe salaries of theiuedical oificer and other.: officials. The General Board is by the next clause, ordered to forward to {the on the Ist of May in each y.eaiy coi-rect; co2)ies of all laws, byt'Jaws and regulations, and an account of all monies received and expended, ,an libstract of which is to be published in the Piovincial Gazette. Clause j "l2 makes itiHtVgal-, under ji penalty of ten

pounds for each offence, for any person 'to behave in' a disorderly manner on, the. premises of. the hospital, or to* supply any., .spirituous liquors to the patients contrary to the bye-laws then in force. The last clause makes it imperative that the medical or surgical officer shall be legally qualified, ■ The Bill of which we have given the outline has evidently been hastily 'iind loosely ' drawn up, and will probably uiidcrgo . considerable amendmt'iit in committee. With its general principles we quite agree, but there are one or two [joints -which appear to call for comment, In the first place we consider the proportion'to be paid by the Government to be too small; "When ie is remembered that the bulk of the patients is composed of persons who for the most .part are non-subscribers, and whom the Government: would be compelled to look after in all destitute cases, the contributionallotted to the Government is much too small. The difficulty too that exists of organising a regular subscription list amongst a. scattered population, causes the chief amount of tmflannual subscriptions to fall upon the inhabitants of the towns. It will be . noticed that the Bill provides only for an amount from the Government equalling 'thc< amount of the annual subscriptions. Surely it | would be reasonable enough that the subsidy should ;at least be ■e'qiiiil to the amount raised by ; the inhabitants during any year from whatever source?. There are many * ways aiid means of supplementing the subscription lists which arc idinost absolutely necessary in such a community as that of Westland, and if the inhabitants choose to augment their funds by such' means, it matters little how the funds of the hospitals are raised, provided they are obtained. In Otago the Government gives two if not three pounds for every pound annually subscribed, and if the. Government 'pro-, portion is to be adjusibldby the. amount of annual subscription's they ought not to give less. Another omission in the, Bill which may give rise to future misunderstanding is this— no reference is made to tlie peculiar position of the Groymoutli Hospital, which as is well known derives assistance frbin both, the Canterbury and Nelson Gqyernmeuts. Would the contribution of the Nelson Government be regarded ■under the Ordinance as an annual subscription ? If'so, of course it ; would foil bw that the Grey Bivcr Hospital would under such circumstances, receive subsidies equalling thrice 'lsP;a.ipount of .;. annual; subscriptions. We fancy however : that the Canterbury Government would hardly recognise such an interpretation, and it is desirable that there should : be no mis-; understanding on this point... ~SYe dontl know if there be yet time- for tlie Hospital Com in ittee to com inn hicate with Mi Whall on- the subject, : but we would certainly i-ecominenid that he be written to, desiring him to bring the circum-\ : stances under the notice of the Govern- 1 • ment.' . ! ;"' . /' . :V. •/.'.. '" ■■ ',; .'' „- . I