HOSPITAL COLLECTIONS

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVII, Issue 8354, 14 February 1913, Page 6

HOSPITAL COLLECTIONS

To-morrow and on Sunday next tho animal public collections will be made towards tho funds of the Wellington Hospital. Slay wo bespeak for this appeal a' generous respoaine? May we hope that the people of Wellington will rise to the occasion, and show, by way of tho most liberal subscriptions, practical sympathy with the great humane work of healing the sick P Hero is an opportunity for spontaneous, openhanded encouragement of tho worthy staffs of physicians and nurses who devote their lives to healing the maim and tho halt—men, women and children—and especially those who are not too well blessed with this world’s goods. Let those of our citizens who are in the happy position of being able to do so make of this a “golden” opportunity. Let .others give as they can spare. Let the 1913 collections exceed all others, as they certainly should in a growing and prosperous city, so that those of our citizens who give up their time and labours to the administration of the institution, as well as those bands of devoted men and women who dp the real work of healing, may experience a genuine, substantial encouragement in the goodwill of th ecommunity practically expressed in the terms of pounds, shillings and pence. Primarily, of course, the State accepts responsibility for the maintenance of our hospitals, their staffing and management, equipment and finance. That is well. In these days of progressive thought the duty of the State to the individual finds expression in very many directions, and it is an accepted principle that, broadly speaking, the provision qf hospitals and sanatoria could not be left to tho chance energies of individual philanthropists or unofficial organisations, much as the activities of such agencies are to be applauded and are sincerely appreciated. But this is a phase of the work of tho general Government in which the public _may very properly participate. Definite schemes for State action iu such matters are demanded by considerations of justice and humanitarianism, but they were never intended to dry up the weUsprings of charity. On the contrary, a useful stimulus is supplied in the" form of a Government subsidy amounting to twenty-four shillings in the poundr. It is therefore part of the system—-tho deliberate hope and inten. tion of the Legislature—that tho public shall supplement the grants or money made by Parliament. This we regard as in every way a proper and worthy sentiment, to which hearty response is duo. No hospital, no Institution whose object is to lessen the physical sufferings that flesh is heir to, can be too plentifully supplied with funds. The more commodious the accommodation, Fbe more complete the equipment, the' greater are the prospects for patients’ cure and recovery. It is of importance that a hospital should include not only the highest skill available in tho personnel of its staff, but the best and most modern appliances that the resources of science can produce. Every penny of the money the public of'Wellington contributes to-morrow and on Sunday will bo profitably expended in directions that must appeal to the hearts of. all good people. Need we say more ?