MINISTER OF HEALTH.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5385, 8 February 1929, Page 2

MINISTER OF HEALTH.

VISIT TO PAEROA. SUPPORT FOR MATERNITY HOMES. The; Minister of Health, the Hop. A. j. Stallworthy, accompanied, by Dr. Valintine, Director-ueneral of Health, and Mr A. M. Samuel, M.P. f,or Thames, visited. Paeroa on Wednesday. At the Borough Council reception the Mayor, Mr W. Marshall, officially welcomed' the Minister on the occasion cf his first visit to Paeroa. Mr Marshall, continuing, said that at first they were under some apprehension when the ne,w Minister was appointed, but, shortly after he took over the portfolio all doubts set aside by the prompt way correspond-, enee was attended to and attention given. Frcpi the borough’s standpoint, they had had evepy confidence in the Health Department of the late Government, and would continue to have in the present Government. From the hands of the Health Department they had always received every consideration. At last, through the; good offices and tact of Mr Stallworthy, the unfortunate dispute over the Paeroa hospital had ended, and from now on the scheme started, by our forefathers in 1897 was moving towards completion. The hopes and wishes of men were about to be fulfilled. Unfortunately many of them were now dead long singe, leaving but few to see; the actual accomplishment of their dreams. The present, generation could not claim all the c,redit: it had taken a third of. a century C|f persistent effort. In 1897 £550 had b,een subscribed and trustees ’ appointed. Now, through Mr Stallworthy’s efforts, a satisfactory decision had been reached which would be approved by the general public. The subject had be(en treated more than fairly by the Government, who thougjht of, the matter from a national as well a£ a legal point of view. He assured the .Minister of Health that the Borough Council would be happy to assist the Hospital Board in every way possible, and help to economise in the running all they could.

Cr. A. R. Robinson, Ohinemuri County, welcomed the distinguished party on behalf, of his council, and expressed his appreciation not only as a county councillor, but as a member of the Hospital Board, fqr what Mr Stallworthy had done. Mr A. M. Samujel, M.P., as member for the district, extended a sincere welcome. Although opposed to the Minister of. Health politically, hq had the greatest respect for him personally, a feeling that had been deepened by the last few days spent in his company. Mr Samuel remarked that he did not follqw much what newspapers said about politics, but he was quite certain that the new Minister, with the assistance of Dr. Valintine;, intended .to did the best possible for the Government and people alike, getting the mOst value for the money spent. In his opinion Mr Stallworthy was a gentleman qf vision, and a man who made quick decisions, who did things quickly and did not have recourse to long-winded letters. On the matter of the Paeroa hospital he had instantly made U p his mind on being shown all particulars. A visit to Coromandel the previous q'vening alsq illustrated his perspicuity. Mr Samuel stated that the Minister would listen carefully to any reasonable requests not only affecting his, department, but those of other memjiers of the Cabinet.

Mr Stallworthy, in replying,, said it afforded him great pleasure- to meqt men and women who were djeVoting their time, at financial Iqsi to themselvep, to communal interests. He favoured administration of. local affairs by the bodies concerned as against control from Wellington. The people actually on the spojt knew more about local affairs and How to ,run them than the authorities' at the capital- Decentralisation was his policy: it aided the outlying districts. With reference to Mr Samuel’s remarks, Mr Stallworthy ' emphasised that although they migjat belong tq different political partifeg, it did not count, as the'present Government was beyond party politics, ajid at anyrate no political differqnces were taken' into consideration as far as the Health. Department was concerned. An incidtent of Mr Samuel’s intuition was at. the Coromandej Hospital Board meeting which they had attended the night previously. The board there had been petitioning for sevejn or qight years for electric lig'ht. At presenj, and for all those years, they had nothing but candle; light for wait! or theatre. One equid imagine the situation during an operation if. the c.andle blew out V The day before the official mqeting, Mr Samuel, had informed them what the Government’s decision was going to be, leading Mr Stallworthy to believe that although not in the sa,me political boat hq knew the inner mind of the Cabinet. “United we stand and divided we fall,” he was glad of Mr SamuqJ’s fine companionship. Referring again to the present Government, Mr Stallworthy said that we were a young country in which our fathqrs 'had done the pioneering, but we were faced with pioneering of a different sqrt. In the work to be done there was no time; for disputes and dissensions between local bodies. The economic resources pif the country wejre limited, her wants large, and. he was very gla.d to say she .wanted only of. the best; her higji standard of living must be maintained. The present Government was facing -terrible responsibilities through the accumulation of certain factors, and with that before them members Jiad nd timq to indulge in party politics. They wished to serve the country in the best possible way in thq interests of. all. As a Minister of the Crqwn of sue.h a Government he had) the greatest of pleasure in Mr Samuel’s company. He and paid tribute to Mr Samuel’s sincere service to his constituency. He could see how, the ■member for OhinepiurS paid diligent attention to his resptansibilities regardless of As a Minister of. the Crown, too, he felt he would fail in *his privilege if he did) not express his keen pleasure and appreciation at

being, in the midst of Paeroa’s representatives. He; was ..glad to have settled a long-standing, disagreement. Mr stall worthy humorously toojk exception -to- Mr ; Marshall’s remark about economy, if Mr Marshall meaht economy, in babies he; thoroughly disagreed with him. What the country wanted was babies and more babies. He sincerely liOffled that before long the; Paeroa hospital would have to. be enlarged. New Zealand wanted) her own babies, as the finest type of im-. migrants for a cduntry whose inhabitants were among, the finest, if, indeed, they were not the finest, in the world. They should work to make ■their race more pure; even than those at Home. The finest partnership on earth was that of man. and wife/ and he was out to see that the mothers should get qvery care and gomfort. He wanted to see maternity homes throughout the country, with qualified midwives in every locality, s», that the doctors could) be replaced in many easels wltere they had not time to give all the attention necessary at ghild birth. Dr. Valintine took immediate exception to this remark, and in answerng him Mr Stallworthy was careful to. explain that he wanteji maternity attention augmented in ordter to help doctors in their struggle in adverse circumstances. Mr Samuel, after thanking and cbtaaplimqnting the Minister on settling the vexatious Paeroa hospital dissension, suggested to the Mayor that should ask Mr Stallworthy to bring to the ndtige of the Minister in question, and to all those concerned, the matter of the Paeroa-Pokeno railway. It was the most necessary railroad in New Zealand. The Mayor said that while appreciating Mr Samuel’s suggestion, as they expected a visit from the Minister. of Public Works shortly (Mr Stallworthy : “Yes, very shortly”) he would prefer to approach the Government through him instead of through / the Minister of Health, to which Mr Stallworthy agreed. The reception over, a* visit was made to the hospital site. Mr Stallworthy expressed pleasure at the beautiful situation, the; position being admirable. VISIT TO WAIHI. The Paeroa visit concluded, the Minister, Dr. Valintine, and Mr Samuel proceeded to Waihi, where they wene met at the hospital gate by the chairman and members of the board. At the hospital the party was met, in the; temporary absence of the acting medical superintendent (Dr. Gray), by Dr. Shcjrt, assistant superintendent, and the matron, Miss Lord. A brief visit to the wards and departments was made, and aftepicfon tea was dispensed in the matron's sittingroom.. The Minister, in a’ brief speech, thanked the members of the board for their courteous reception and congratulated them on* their very fine hospital, which jhe was sure must mejet the needs of the district. He also referred to the good' wbrk done by the medical and nursing professions, and by the hospital boards generally, a,nd hoped that by uniting in their work >vit.h the; department they would be enabled to build up an excellent hospital servige throughout the Dominion.

Mr Samuel in a brief speech referred to the work of the 'Minister of Health, the department, and the hospitals.

The chairman, in replying on bqfralf of the board, expressed their pleasure at meeting the visitors, and hoped that next time thqy would stay longer and have an opoprtunity to see the beaeh and surroundings of Waihi.