The Motueka Star PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS. "TE ORA MOTA IWI." FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1902.

Motueka Star, Volume III, Issue 111, 5 September 1902, Page 2

The Motueka Star PUBLISHED TUESDAYS AND FRIDAYS. "TE ORA MOTA IWI." FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1902.

A short ton- ago it was announced that the Government intended to introduce, dining the present session of Parliament a Bill providing that members of Hospital Boards should be elected by those voters who are entitled to vote in the election of municipal and similar local bodies. If the Bill passes both Houses, and we trust it will, the ratepayers of this important Borough will for the first time have a say in the administration of the Nelson Hospital and Charitable Aid Boards’ affairs. For years past a levy of over .£6O (last vein* it was .£.64 10s) has been made, and for this contribution, fixed or. a population basis, the contributors I have, practically, received no quid pro j In fact, patients sent from this i side have been refused admission.

Thanks to favorable climatic eo iditions, the Netsoo, institution, is practically of no use to Motueka- residents and the toll might as. well be devoted to the upkeep of. the Queen’s Gardens or a Joss house, but so long as we pay our share towards its maintenance (and the period will only be determined when it is deemed advisable to erect a Hos pital and Charitable Aid Board of our own) the local ratepayers ought to have a voice in the conduct of affairs.. The present conditions are anomolnus and that the Government recognised such to be the ease is proved by its intention to alter the system which is also objected to by the people erf Woodville, Dannevirke and Weber, who have no representative on the Waipawa District Hospital Board. The only wonder is that an alteration was not made long ago,, but the English people are slow to move ; patient and long suffering.