TO THE EDITOR

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 253, 1 November 1939, Page 3

TO THE EDITOR

HOSPITAL CONTROVERSY Sir:—Mr. Merry’s letter cf the 27th. inst. could be perhaps best treated with, silent contempt. Still, as Mr. Merry was secretary of the Hospital Board for many years and has previously offered, his services as arbitrator to the Board’s problems, lie may be entitled to a reply. As a member of the Board - I would welcome construct ive criticism. Tlie letter signed by Up Bill” appeals to me, As an individual I am not_going to run away from trouble. I realise my responsibilities to the public and trust 1 can do my duty as I sec it without fear or favour. As regards the enquiry of September 1938, I am, quite prepared to peruse the evidence pertaining to it when the board is in possession of all the letters and statements.' I may be an ignoramus and only a. humble working farmer and must admit that I find it extremely difficult to get to the bottom of t lie Hospital Board’s trouble. May be the trouble lies with the .Board and its administrative work. Will Air. Merry assist to clean up this side of the .matter and answer through your paper,"a number of questions in connection with the last balance sheetand administrative work? Questions which are of interest to the public, particularly tho ratepayers, questions which I am, in my humble capacity unable to enlighten them. E. J. BAIGENT. CATTLE GRAZING ON BOROUGH STREETS Sir.—During the last depression years when- local residents were sorely put to it to make ends meet the Borough Council permitted tho licensing of dairy cows to graze on certain streets. It was a godsend to many persons who otherwise would have been denied tho plentiful supply ol fresh milk and Imtter so necessary for the health of children and adults alike. The revenue received by the Council from this source also assisted materially in meeting the salary of the borough inspector and the council had not to face the added expense of having the grass removed from the roads-by mechanical means. To-day the people "of the Dominion are being urged by the Government to produce more foodstuff's and become more self-supporting. It is of vital’interest to the Dominion to produce more so* we are told. The system of licensing dairy cows to giaze on certain back streets and so utilise pasture that would otherwise be wasted should surely appeal to anyone a.s a step in the* right direction apart altogether from assisting those persons unfortunately placed in providing the necessities ol lile lor their family Our wise Council apparently thinks otherwise because they have banned the licenses and taken away the privileges which some of our needy residents relied on. L understand the Mayor. Councillor Short and other prominent Councillors were advocates of removal of cattle from tile streets. I am sure those Councillors who supported the withdrawal of the licenses ust feel proud of their action and I know that when the next Borough Elections take place their action will be remembered. DISAPPOINTED 15REA DAY INNER.

MEMBER’S EXPLANATION Sir, — I. uni attaching hereto a copy of a letter sent to me at tlie request of the. Hem. 1\ Fraser. It is the Acting Prime Minister's reply to the Council’s allegation that 1 am withholding information from the public oi Opotiki. You will recall that.,'* shortly* after war "broke out-. L wrote you at length promising to supply the information desired, but I have not had a moment tu spare since in which 1. (mild sit down and prepare the statement for presentation in tin* wav 1 should like to have given it at the .public meeting on. August sth. However. J will do so as soon as possible. In effect, however, the assurances 1 had from the Acting Prime Minister and the .Minister of Public Works meant that the railway would- be commenced this year and that amaddilioual sum would be placed on the ,supplementary estimates. As you knew an additional sum of £15,000 was subsequently placed on the estimates and the fact was published. 5\ lietliei the fact we are. now at- war will cause the work to be again postponed remains to be seen, but. I do know that considerable .pressure has boon brought

and is being brought to bear on the government—mainly' by the Opposition and the Tory Press of the Dominion—to postpone new works and severely curtail the prosecution of existing public works. In face of such pressure I am doing my best to claim that the Taneatua-Opotiki Pailway should be proceeded with. Any comment I have to make in regard to other matters raised at the Public meeting can lie dealt with in a letter 1 propose to write to the Council, it is all a matter of getting time to do the job. j, had little or no chance to deal with correspondence between the outbreak of war and the end of the session. We (members of the House) worked night aiid day on questions affecting the country as a whole, and now I am working hard here (at home) endeavouring to clear up accumulated correspondence and “clear the decks” so that I can go into camp with the 2nd. Ekschelon of the Special Military Force. , A. G. liULTQUIST. The Hon. P. Fraser’s reply to the Opotiki County Council is as follows County Clerk, 0.0.0.—l have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the lltli. September with further reference to the resolutions/ passed at a meeting of citizens of the Opotiki County, Porongh and adjoining districts held on the sth. August. You say: ‘‘lt seems surprising therefore to learn that the Member had a statement of the Government’s inten-

tions to deliver in reply to the re,solu,-. tions without a knowledge of what the resolutions contained”. ' it was not suggested in. my letter of the 18th. timo that the, statement, given to Mr. Hultquist was intended as a reply to any resolutions that might be passed at the meeting. He advised the Government that the meeting was to be held and .asked for a statement indicating the Government’s intentions so that he could inform the meeting in this respect. It is claimed in your letter that Air. Hultquist was given _im opportunity of reading the statement after the resolutions had been passed, but surely, since the statement had a direct bearing on the matter under discussion, the proper time to read it was. before and not after the motion in question had been disposed of. From newspaper reports of tire meeting it would appear that determined and successful effort Avris made to prevent Air. Hultquist from doing this, and in view of such treatment it is not surprising that lie was reluctant to avail himself of any later opportunity of addressing the meeting. There was nothing discourteous on my part in referring you to the AJ.cmber for information concerning the statement; but I am afraid I would have been guilty of discourtesy to Air. Hultquist had 1 taken any other course. However, lam asking him to' communicate to -.you the Information which' he received ' from the Government.