UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 771, 18 September 1929, Page 9

UNEMPLOYMENT RELIEF

HEAVY DEMANDS IN AUCKLAND HOSPITAL BOARD’S POSITION Arising out of the heavy demands for the relief of unemployed, the Auckland Hospital Board has applied to the Government for a monetary allowance of £IO,OOO to recoup the extraordinary expenditure. The board has also reiterated its claim that unemployment is a national question, and that local bodies are still spending large sums of ruonej’, which if not spent would result in further unemployment, in a letter to the Prime Minister. Very little of the local bodies’ expenditure has been subsidised by the Government. Discussing the position at the meeting yesterday, Mr. W. Wallace, chairi man, said that the calls for relief had | been so heavy that the disbursements ! were well on the way to £50,000, ! though he hoped it would not be | reached. He had appealed to the Mayor and local bodies to call meet- ! ings to discuss the position, but so far no action had been taken. He i thought the best means of awakening ■ public feeling was to allow the demands to go on mounting up. A communication was received from Dr. T. G. Gray, Director-General of Mental Hospitals, urging the provision of six beds in the Auckland Hospital as a mental observation ward. The board decided, however, that j the mental side of patients’ treatment j was the function of the Mental Hospi- ‘ tals Department. An inspection of “Cintra," Sir i Arthur Myers’s old residence in ! Syraorfds Street, is to be made by the j board. Meantime discussion on the ; question of purchase is to be taken in ! committee. I ■ =