UNKNOWN

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 272, 23 April 1914, Page 7

UNKNOWN

Ki,'. 'U( ...;'U.\CIL CRITICISED.

!;Y •••'"ITAL BOARD.

A }. LXTlCHU'lilil. 1 -v- w: ; v«ly interlude to the mvii: -s«£ • ordinarily -taid aud sober XV . hh ■ ; ospital 130i!i.( yesterday, wiiiiy lii-li the actions of the New J'ij-icottti: . -.iMiigli Council regarding nmfj ■ i-f i.ii.aion, and especially the fa,i. 1 Ukci. tiie Council wil.li regard to A. -■ Kendall, health inspector, were -even i incised by several members ~i tin. . ..ml aud strenuously defended by j; . Vv. Browne. One member I the Council as a "spineless body."

SOME ST.v.TUNG STATEMENTS.

Tin: chaii" u of the Board (Air. F. 0. J. Miring! \ opened the ball with a forcible sps He desired to draw attention to Uiements made at a recent special xucoi'iig of the New Plymouth Borough Ox .1, which were- entirely contrary to i,;«••». Reflection.-, had been passed on Board's inspector (Mr. Kendall), at:.,, the Council had attempted j siwi !i>«r its responsibilities concern ng the meant outbreak of typhoid fc/cr on to Jie Board. In reviewing the circunisUuees which led up to the spec>.i> meeti;,:; of the Council, lie stated that tie ha<, oeeu primarily responsible for tiia im ~ligations made into .the state of .St. A;ib\n township. The position appear.n to be that the Borough Mr. Kendall to act as healt.ii msjiirior, and when his reports indicated thai- they should put their own house in order first, the Council became dissatisfied, and attempted to put Mr. Kendall in a false light by suppressing those portions of his reports which related to municipal institutions, making it appear as though he were lax in his work. On one occasion it was only by reporting direct to the Board that Mr. Kendall was able to get his report (on the salt water baths) published at all. Although his reports had always been treated lightly by the Council, articles in both newspapers' (which he quoted) had taken a different view of them. Mr. Kendall had at all times reported fearlessly and faithfully, and the Council had been wrong in trying to shoulder its responsibility on to. the Board. He then read statements by Mr. Kendall, which were to the effect that Cr. Clarl.e had for a long time harbored personal animosity towards him. It was generally he who was most prominent in adverse criticism of the four reports presented to the Borough Council by Mr. Kendall, portions of which were intentionally kept out of the press. Cr. Clarke's unfriendly cirticism of his reports and inspections, for which he (Mr. Kendall) received the sum of £6 110s, was very different, for instance, to the comments of the News' leader of October 15, 1913. From time to time there had reached him subterranean information directly and indirectly from certain then meinbers of the Council that his services were renuired with a view to relieving the Council of imaginary moral obligations to keep certain pledges madg to certain districts which later merged in jthe borough. Cr. Clarke, as deputy-Mayor, must have known when he made his remarks as published in the Herald of April 4, 1914, that >lr. Kendall's instructions were to report on the St. Aubvn and Moturoa area after the completion of the whole borough inspection, which latter it was impossible to carry out for £(i 10s. Cr. Clarke's remarks were exactly what the reporter took down, and, as one councillor informed him (Mr. Kendall), lie came to the meeting quite prepared. It was I some time nfter an inspection by a borough elliciil that lie personally discovered the most insanitary conditions that existed in the typhoid-stricken area, and he immediately found the chairman and verbally reported it, at the same time recommending the immediate condemnation of these most insanitary premises by local medical men in order to save time. His recommendations were given effect to within an hour. The following matters embodied in his reports to the Council had not yet been satisfactorily dealt with:— Public convenience near (private box lobby, Mangaotuku stream, stables, rubbish collection, rubbish boxes, Kowhai street (Fitzroy)., salt-water baths, and also that some, if not all, of the following were suppressed or censored from his reports when published: New Plymouth water supply, salt-water baths, Morley street rubbisndepot. Other suggestions for temporary improvement which at the time of his report were ridiculed or questioned, had since been given effect to. The water supply storage and filtration were (as he reported in effect some years ago), at times of flood in the river and also during dry weather, very inadequate. The storage capacity of the reservoir at present was no greater than it was when the original waterworks were installed nearly 40 years ago, and much better and more qualified supervision was required in other branches of the municipal administration. 'l'llking the water supply for town consumption and power from the name intake would prove extremely detrimental later on.

He also reported that the drain which he had to report upon in Leach street had been piped bv the borough authorities for a distance of about six chains and made to discharge into the same Poti stream which he suggested. THE BATHS AGAIN.

He visited the salt-watef baths, but was unable to the ladies' and caretakers' joint w.c. in the wash-house owing to the hot salt-water bath leading thereto being in occupation by a man who was at_the time of his visit (the morning using the bath, which was within the door marked "Ladies" on a bonrd fixed to the doorpost.

" UNFAIR AND .MONSTROUS." Mr. D. McAlluni referred to the Tnranaki Herald's report of (.lie special meeting of tlie Borough Council, in which Cr. Clarke was reported to 'have said tliat lie wished it to be made quite clear that the Council was absolutely innocent in tin; matter, and to 'have referred in hostile terms to the work of the inspector. The utterance of this grossly unfair and monstrous statement must have caused Cr. Clarke much uneasiness, as on the 9th lie requested t'he Herald to correct the report. The only difference lie could see between what lie was reported to have said and what he Baid he did say was the difference between "Twcdledum" and "Tweedledee," which was practically nothing-. It made no difference to this Board in what words he conveyed the impression that the Hospital Board and its inspector were .to blame for Jhis disgraceful state of affairs, or that the blame for this disgraceful state of affairs lay 011 the Hospital Board and its inspector. The fact remained that he accused the Board of allowing this disgraceful state of affairs to exist. He tried to shoulder the blame from the Borough Council of New Plymouth, where it rightly and only belonged, to the Hospital Board. This he teß ented. Mr. 0. W. Browne, the

Mayor -of New Plymouth, and a member of this Hasp;...il Board, '.resided over that special cting. ..mi iiis Council were copv-.ant of ti.e arrangements entered into between the Board and his Council, lie was aware that at the express wish of his Council embodied in a letter, this Board was asked to instruct its inspector to report on the condition of tie borough as follows: — (a) inner area, (b) balance of former central ward, (c) former eastern ward, (d) western ward, (e) Fitzroy, (f) Hurworth, (g) St. Aubyn and Moturoa; and yet being in possession of that knowledge he and his Council allowed the impression to go abroad that his Council was blameless. The disgraceful state of affairs lay entirely with the Borough Council of New and on no other body. His contention was that the Board's inspector did not have time at his disposal to make all the reports required by the Council before the discovery of the existing unpleasantness in St. Aubyn. Mr. McAllum then referred to the press reports of the Works Committee of the Borough Council of the 20th inst. A letter had been received from Mr. Lush re sewerage. That, of course, the Hospital Board had nothing to do with, but the latter part of the clause, viz., "that he be further informed that the decision to enforce by-law 260 in this locality being in pursuance of a recommendation of the Health Inspector, the Council has not broken faith with the residents." THAT PLEDGE AGAIN,

That clause .the Board had to do with. Here was another deliberate attempt made to shift the blame for the enforcement of the-by-law from the 6houlders of the Borough Council to the Hospital Board. What had this Board to do with the enforcement of a by-law passed by another body! What had this Board to do with promises given to the residents of a district that if they would consent to merge into the Greater New Plymouth scheme these .by-laws should remain inoperative T They had nothing to do with such things, and he strongly protested against this Board beng used as a shield by the Mayor and councillors of the borough. Why hadn't the Council courage and backbone sufficient to shoulder the blame of its 'own shortcomings? Why, if because of his sins he belonged to such a spineless body as it had proved itself to he, he would sing his swan song And depart to utter darkness. THE BREEZE GATHERS.

Messrs M. J. Macßeynolds and J. Brown supported Mr. McAllum'a remarks.

Mr. G. W. Browne presumed that the Board intended to bring the matter before the Borough Council. Mr. McAllum: We intend to bring it before the public.

Mr. Halcombe remarked that none of the inspector's recommendations had been carried out by the Council. Mr. Bellringer: They suppressed his reports.

THE WATER SUPPLY. Mr. Bellringer continued that the Council should have let the public know whether the water supply was filtered, or whether it was being brought through the by-pass direct into the reservoir. He had visited the works on Sunday last, and found that a considerable amount of water was being brought direct into the reservoir, and very little through the filters. This was admitted by one of the men at the works. MR. BROWNE IN REPLY..

Mr. G. W. Browne said he spoke from the dual position of Mayor of the town and a member of ,the - Board. It was known to the Board that the Borough Council had for some months been considering a scheme of sewerage extension to the suburbs, and had instructed the engineer to report on the matter. Mr. Bellringer, as a former chairman of the Works Committee, knew that sewerage had been carried out as far as possible, and a duplicate system had been put in King street in order to reach Belt road. The Council had always endeavored to cope with questions of sanitation. The fact that one of the councillors had made a remark (which he had subsequently qualified) did not implicate the whole Council. Mr. J. Brown: There was no protest made against it by you as Mayor! Mr. Browne, continuing, said that the effluent pipe at the saltwater baths was as originally constructed, and had remained so while Mr. Kendall was borough engineer, yet he had then made no protest against it. It had become blocked, and the blockage had lieen removed. When Mr. Kendall made his report as health inspector, the ycntillation of the baths mentioned by him had already been attended to. Air. Bellringer: But what about, what he says now about a man haviiig been in the ladies' quarters?

Mr. Browne said that this could not be correct, as the caretaker had informed him that men were never allowed there. The ladies, moreover, had access to their own conveniences. The pledge given to suburban ratepayers had been given by his predecessor in office, lie emphatically denied that the Council had suppressed any information. Eventually a resolution was passed to the effect that the Board had perfect confidence in Mr. Kendall, and protested against the Council's action in attempting to shelve its responsibility on to the Board.

Mr. Browne desired to vote against ,the latter portion of the motion only, but was over-ruled by the chairman.

AN EXPLANATION.

At a later stage, Mr. Browne said he desired to explain that when he said that the report on the baths had been handed to the press, be was under a misapprehension. It appeared that the Council had dealt with it in committee, although he had thought the report was made public.