THE SICK AND DESTITUTE

Westport Times, Volume III, Issue 365, 1 October 1868, Page 3

THE SICK AND DESTITUTE

It would appear from the following, which we extract from the Evening News, that distress has already set in amongst the miners, at Auckland : By the courtesy of his Honor the Deputy-Superintendent, and Mr King, the Relieving Officer, we are enabled to lay before our readers an abstract of certain statistics in reference to the sic k and destitute, which will be submitted to a meeting to be called at an early date. The statistics at full length would occupy too much space for our columns, but the following facts may not be uninteresting to our readers at the present time, when the question of the maintenance of the sick and destitute is brought so prominently before the public. There are, it appears, 13G orphan at the Ordhanages at the North Shore, Three Kings, Parnell and Freeman's Bay ; the allowance for each has been Bs. 4d. monthly. The returns for the last month give 364 persons in receipt of Government aid, of which 181 are children under 12 years of age 59 women, and 67 persons helpless from age or confirmed sickness, the greater part of whom may be considered standard applicants for relief. The aid invariably consists in food in daily rations, which are of two kinds, viz., one of one half.pound of meat, without bone, one and a half pounds bread, and the other, one-half ounce tea, two ounces sugar, and one pound bread. The mode of administering relief is upon the recomendation of a clergyman or others, after which a personal visit is made by the Believing Officer, who, when satisfied with the applicant's being deserving of relief, gives an order upon the contractor for rations. The annual rental of the Hospital Trust Property is set down at £353 19s net, aud there are other properties belonging to the same trust, the leases of which have been abandoned, and from which there is no present income. 245 persons have been received into the Hospital during the six months ending August 31, 1868, of whom 27 have died ; and during the .same poriod 20 have been received into the Lunatic Asylum. It has been calculated ;that each patient in the Hospital •costs 2s,per day, including all expenses and tha cost is somewhat more per head in the Lunatic asylum. It is manifest, ■therefore, that the income is utterly

inadequate for the support of the sick and destitute, and as the Provincial Government has no funds at its disposal for the purpose of affording relief, and the endowments are mortgaged, it isobvious that the care of the sick and suffering, which are sadly numerous amongst us notwithstanding the brightening prospects of the Province, will have to fill to the public, who will not be unmindful of the claims of their poorer brethren when the facts of the case are fully brought before them. A. public meeting will doubtless be called at an early date, when the subject which is a most important one, will be fully ventilated and means taken to provide some adequate provision for all cases of real destitution!.