THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1869.

Grey River Argus, Volume VII, Issue 504, 8 April 1869, Page 2

THE Grey River Argus. THURSDAY, APRIL 8, 1869.

The very " pretty little quarrel" which is now going on in Hokitika between the County Chairman and the Borough Council is not very creditable to the latter body, or to the community whose affairs it administers. Looked at from this distance, the quarrel, if it may be so called, is one-sided, and simply arises out of a mistaken idea which seems to possess the residents in the Hokitika district, that in all their affairs they ought to occupy an exceptional position to the rest of the inhabitants in Wostland. This misunderstanding has arisen through the obstinacy of the Borough Council iv refusing to comply with the resolutions of the County Council in the matter of Hospital management. It may be remembered that a recent session of the County Council resolved to establish auniform system of government for the whole of the Hospitals in Westland, by voting a uniform scale of subsidy, and placing them all under the direct control of Local Committees, whose duty it would be to raise by private subscription in their respective districts for the support of the Hospitals one-third of their annual cost. Hitherto the Hokitika Hospital has been supported solely by the Government out of the general r/evenues of the County, so that the residents in the districts which supported their own Hospitals were also indirectly taxed for the support of the Hokitika one, while the residents in that district contributed nothing, beyond the indirect proportion coming from the general revenues of the County. This very unfair division of the general burdens was sought to be remedied by the County Council, when it resolved to place all the Hospitals on the same footiug, but the residents in Hokitika — to their shame be it spoken — in public meetiug assembled, refused to take over the management of their local institution, or to contribute directly anything towards its support, in -the shape of private contributions. In consequence of this refusal, the County continued to bear the burden of this Hospital alone until the next meeting of the Council, when it was resolved that in the event of a continued refusal to take over the management of the institution, the Chairman should be empowered to stop the amount which ought to be raised by private subscription out of any reveuues accruing to the Corporation and Road Boards in the district directly benefited by the Hospital. All that was asked of the Hokitika Corporation was to take the initiative in the matter of placing the institution under a Local Committee, but this was beneath their dignity. They would not be dictated to by the County Council, aud refused, not at all in a courteous manner, to have anything to do with the Hospital, and denied the right of the Chairman of the County to stop from them the payment of a sum of over £300, then due on account of surplus revenue, and also a proportionate amount from the Road Boards in the district. Mr'Hoos has, very properly, refused to pay- the amounts until the Corporation complies with the resolutions of the Council. Indeed, there was no other course left open to him, unless he chose to fly in the face of the instructions which were laid down for his guidance while the Council was in session. For acting thus he is now accused of misappropriating money legally the property of the Corporation and Road Boards, and behaving towards these bodies in a most unwarrantable manner. For our part we confess we cannot see the matter in the same light, as our contemporaries, and consider, that the unwarrantable conduct can solely be laid to the charge of the Corporation who have throughout the discussion of this subject taken up a position and adopted a tone towards the Chairman of the County, which is anything but

creditable to them, and to the residents in the district, who have so long permitted this state of things to last. There is some reason that the Hokitika Hospital, beingthe central one for the County, should receivesomemore consideration at the hands of tiie Government than the District Hospitals.. This has been recognised by the Council, and extra sums in the shape of the salaries of Resident Surgeon and officers, were voted ; but beyond that there is no reasou why the Hokitika Hospital should be placed on a different footing than the other Hospitals. Let our neighbors look for an example at the manner, in which the Grey River Hospital is conducted, the quiet, unostentatious system of local management, and the deep interest in its welfare which is taken, by the majority of the residents in the district, which is evidenced by the handsome sum of £1000 which is annually raised for its support by private contributions. Let them follow the example which is set them here, and they will find that under a system of local management by a committee appointed by the public, the institution can be much more efficiently and economically managed thau when it is entirely supported aud controlled by the Government. It is to be hoped that the good seuse of the Councillors of Hokitika will interpose to put an end to the unseemly squabble which at present exists. So far as it has gone, we commeud the Chairman of the County for the firm manner in which he has acted throughout this matter, and we trust he will continue to pursue the same course until the Westland Hospitals are all brought under a uniform system of management.