THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1919. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Otaki Mail, Volume 26, 2 July 1919, Page 2

THE OTAKI MAIL. Published on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. WEDNESDAY, JULY 2, 1919. EDITORIAL NOTES.

Liquor on Trains. Our attention has been .drawn on several occasions to a growing evil—that of taking liquor on trains. It would appear that the authorities arc lax regarding' the matter. At any rate the evil has grown to such an extent that it is quite a common sight to see men drinking freely in trains, and indulging in drunken orgies of a disgraceful nature, even when women and children are travelling in the same carriage. Wc notice that the Canter: 1m ry Provincial Executive of the Fanners' Union has. approached the railway traffic manager in this matter, making urgent representations for the necessity of steps to remedy the evil. The chairman of that meeting declared that, speaking from personal experience, lavatories in railway carriages were frequently turned into drinking bars. Sonic of those who participate in the drinking conduct themselves in an unseemly and indecent manner, and it is intolerable that respectable people should have to put up with such behaviour when travelling. In oar opinion more rigorous steps should be taken in dealing with men under- the influence of liquor who travel on our trains; in fact, we contend such people should not be allowed on the trains at all. for their preser.ee is very frequently a source of annoyance and disgust to other passengers, and a menace to their own safety. Surfi people arc not fit to travel in close company with men, women and children, and it should be a direction to railway officers to refuse persons under the influence of liquor admission to trains. Recently the writer was travelling on a district train where considerable annoyance was caused by a drunken man. who persisted in making himself obnoxious until a passenger took steps to have him removed from the train. Unfor■tunately. these instances appear to be growing more common.. It is to be hoped that the representation? made by the Canterbury farmers will have the desired effect.

Unity in Hospital Administration. The Taranaki Hospital Board has passed the following resolution:— '•That in the opinion of this Board it is highly advisable to approach the Hon. Minister of Hospitals! with a view to placing before-him the advisability of calling a conference of all Hospital Soardi in the Dominion to take into consideration .several important matters in connection with the. welfare at Hospital and Charitable Aid work, more especially such questions as a uciAfjrm scale of salaries ibr the hospital nursf*. 4 .sjrerancuatioa scheme, the pnrthasirjg of istration of epidemic arujJOTrs? ******" anee." The proposed is an excellent: one. At present the hospital boards ■id . the Dominion -are ' working indemaimer that 'feu>ci&£ies Slave arisen. while many important qstsauuiti eosM he i£§2£ snia asgh. jaore -eSectiveiy.i£-■-

the various hospital boards joined forces and put their united, efforts iif the cause. The payment; of nurses, mentioned in the Taranaki resolution, 1 and the adoption of a. uniform .rate 6f charges for hospital maintenance are ; instances where excellent results might accrue from a conference. At present ! some hospital boards are charging alI most three times as much as others for I patients' maintenance, -which is surely j an extraordinary state of affairs, while ' in such matters as the proposed nurses' ' superannuation scheme and administration of epidemic widows' assistance a conference of representatives of all the hospital boards of the Dominion is a commonsense proposal that should j have most beneficial results. ■ ==.