EARTHQUAKE LOANS

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 45, 16 November 1937, Page 9

EARTHQUAKE LOANS

"Should Be Treated As National Matteri' i H.B. HOSPITAL VIEW Disappointment that the Goverajnent had not treated thh 1931 eaTthquake as a national _ matter was exjsressed by members of " the Hawke's Bay Hospital Board yesterday when the Minister advised that the principal jnoneys of the boards earthquake loan of £66,500 could not be remitted. The Minister advised that rate of interest had been reduced from 4 per cent. to per ccnfc. The board decided to request tho three Parliamentary representatives for the Hawke's Bay district to take jtp the question of wiping out the loan with the Prime Minister and the Minister of .Finance. «It will come as a keep disappointment to everyone that the Government Jtas not seen fit to treat the 1931 earthquake as a national disaster," said the chairman, Mr C. Lassen, "You will all yemember the Parliamentary party who paid us a visit after the eaTthquake. Everyone gained the impression that the matter would be treated as a national one. "Standing on Its Own." "Money was offered' us from overseas but the then Prime Minister, 'the Rt. Hon. G. W. Forbes, said that New Zealand couia stand on its own. Now the sufferers from the earthquake are ask©d to sta"nd very much on their own. 4It seems to me that it has not taken the Minister of Finance long to forget what was suffered here. Lives were jDBt, others were wrecke^and we still have sufferers in the hospital. "Mr Nash stAtes that the reason why |he Napier borough loan was wiped out was because its ratepayers had suffered most. This action in regard to the Napier loan I fully agree with, but I think that the Minister should treat these loans as a national matter." ju.r Jjasseu conwuoe' logns should be treated in the same way as the Napier Borough loan. Many ef the county rtepayers- who would have to pay on the County Hospital, Harbour and Rivers Board loans, had suffered more hardship than the Napier borough ratepayers. It was not fair « just to discriminate between one Xocal body. and another. The Hospital Board as a charitable institution, had a justifiable claim for the wiping-out «f its loan. Telegram to Members. Mr Lassen then moved that the "Board send a telegram , to the three Hawke's Bay Parliamentary . representatives requesting them to press for * the " " Wiping-out "of 1 the hospital' board's earthquake loan; and, failing this, that All the local "bodies affeeted be invited to. meet and discnss the whole matter "You touched upon a vital point When you mentioned the visit of the Parliamentary party which took place shortly after the eaTthquake," said Mr C. 0. Morse in seconding the motion. "I can remember quite well .thelate Mr Harry Holland saying that he and his Party would extend to this district and this hospital their fullest sympathy. A reminder would cause the present members to feel 4hat they were ealled Upon to honour that expression. This loan should he treated differently from those of other local bodies. In the caring for the sick and needy we Are doing quite different from the work 6f local bodies. v ' i(l believe that the only tangible.way that we can deal with this question. is to have a conference with the Prime Minister, the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Health. We have suffleent guns to bear and if we tackle fhe matter in this way we should meet frith 6uccess." The chairman's motion • was carried dE.animously. . . .