Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, OCT. 14, 1902. The Palmerston Hospital Board.

Manawatu Herald, 14 October 1902, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. TUESDAY, OCT. 14, 1902. The Palmerston Hospital Board.

At the last ordinary monthly meet ing of the Palmerston Hospital Board we notice that Mr Goodbehere again protested at the absurdity of bracketing Foxton and Feildiug together for representation. We are glad to see that the Board, generally, agree with Mr Goodbehere, but laid the blame upon the Department. Taxation not being direct, the question of representation raises little interest, otherwise before now a change would have been secured. Every year a certain sum is demanded by the Boatd f.om each local body, both for Hospital and also for Charitable Aid, the Government supplementing the funds by a grant of twenty-four shillings in the pound so raised. To secure that each hotly shall have a voice in the expenditure a member of the Board is nominated, except in the case of the Boroughs of Foxton and Feilding, which are only entitled to send one member for the two bodies. In the Department’s wisdom it was supposed there was a community of interest between the two towns lying thirty miles apart! experience has shown that there i; none. The quaint manner of election is so ridiculously framed that without the standing down of Feildiqg, Foxton can never elect a representative, and Feilding is hardly to be supposed to ignore her interests out of consideration for a distant local body. Foxton thus stands out as being treated most exceptionally in having to provide funds in the expenditure of which she is debarred from having a vote. This irippla difficulty ap>

pears one much to intricate lor a Government Department to solve, yet to our mind it is easy of solution, if the Department desired to remove a serious blot upon its oversight of ibis expenditure. We admit the difficulty of getting one member to represent satisfactorily two towns, and so does the Board, and so may, in lime, the Department. This position might be rectified by the boroughs being each represented, but then the difficulty in voting power as to value contributed appears a block to our administrators. But need it bo ? If the rest of the contributing bodies are entitled to one vote, and Foxton and Feilding to one half vote, it would appear to be exceedingly simple to give those bodies having one vote, still the same personal representation, but let each member in voting have two votes, and the two boroughs one vote each ; thus the question of values would be determined. Wo have some hope that did the two local bodies thus handicapped represent their position to the Department with a claim for justice, an improvement might be secured, but whilst wa suffer in silence, and are satisfied with a yearly protest to the Board, wo shall ever remain as we are.