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Hokitika Guardian, 25 February 1920, Page 2

The very practical address, Mr C. P, Skerrett delivered to the pressmen hitting ip conference yesterday at Wellington, will find a good deal of endorsement all round flic Dominion. Yet Mr Skerrett said nothing piufi was new; in fact it was all quite obylviis. B»t it is as well for some ope to Ije heard on the part of the genera) public, and there is no one more able than Mr 'Skerrett to marshall his facts npd put. liis c ase clearly and definitely before the public as a' jury. As the

head of the Welfare League, Mr 8. Skerrett, is winning Ids way into a very prominent position in .the polities of this country. Not only is he saying what is obvious, but lie is saving it at a very opportune time. In

addressing the pressmen.of the Dominion, lie speaks to men of all shades of opinion, and his address will have its effect in the days to come. He will lie moulding opinions which will find

expression as time goes on. His view point is that of the vast body of public opinion which stands between capital and labor, the innocent, victims of the class war waged from time to time. As education is believed to lie a cure for the labor and industrial ills we suffer from, Hie enlightenment of such

an address as Mr Skerrett’s will have its effect all round, not alone on the public writers of the day, but on the leaders on both sides of this class war, who are afforded an opportunity of a new vision in relation not to the rights

of capital and lalbour, but to the rights of the public upon whom both capital and labor live. The awakening will be not .without its benefits. The Hospital and Charitable Aid Board made al substantial addition to its annual expenditure on Monday night, when an all round increase was made in the salaries of the staff at Westland hospital. The occasion to give ri6o to this considerate action was the difficulty in obtaining probationers at the .existing rate offered. The pre-

sent rate was rather less than 10/per week, and seeing the respciisible duties imposed, the remuneration i s out of all proportion to the position. The salaries of the first and second \i ar probationers was, therefore, doub’ed, and a substantial increase made to those in third year. It is hoped by this means to induce applicants to c-ome forward, and take up the very necessary, duties without which it will be impossible to effectively -staff the local in. stifaition. The general conditions of employment in these -changed times -also suggest that an increase was necessary in fact overdue. And having ' tou'ched, one department, the Board , felt impelled to extend its favors over ' all the staff. An excellent beginning j was made with the matron, whom the | members recognise as a most efficient head of the institution in its internal [ -rtdonomy. Increases were made all

round, the salary list increasing from £7lO to £931. This averages an increase of a little over thirty per cent, and sugegsts that the Board took a liberal view of the present situation. At the same time it lias to be borne in mind that the staff carry out semiprofessional duties which are quite indispensible in the efficient conduct of a hospital, and public health and safety demand the work should he thoroughly done. It is well therefore to attract the best talent to the local institution for the public benefit, and on the whole the Board will be praised rather than blamed for its action—for heretofore some of the salaries were ridiculously low. At the same time the money has to he found- and the rate, payers must not complain later when they find levies increasing and rates rising. It will /be a natural result of cause and effect.