MR J. B WHYTE AND THE HOSPITALS BILL.

Waikato Times, Volume XXV, Issue 2099, 19 December 1885, Page 2

MR J. B WHYTE AND THE HOSPITALS BILL.

Tin- following lot tor lias been addressed to the Chairman of the Piako County Council : — H.imilton, December 12, 188~>. l)K\n Sik,— l this d.iy loceived youis i>f the ( .)tl), lefemng to the injustice which your county siiHVis under tho pioviMons of the Hospitals and Ch.uitable Aid Act of last session, and in icply teoriet to *.iy th.it I see no way other th.m through the bo.ird of obtaining spp nation from tho Thames H. .md C. A. distnot iintd P.nliameut aguu .i>M>inl)le>. I may explain, liowevci, that tlie mifoituu ite p >sition in which youi county, m common with many othci country distnct-, find-, itself, is on ing to no fault of mine or of my colleague, Mr Liko Tli» Bill as .it fii-t mtioduccd by the Government, piofosed to pl.uv the contubutions of the v.uious loctl governing bodies upon the lu-is of population. This appealed t<> u-. t<> be no in ne th.m loasonable, as finely it i-> population aim ist entuelv th.it leips th' 1 I) in hfc <>f hospital-, and ch.uitiblo aid ll.mu'.ei, befoie the Bill pissed it- second reading, to oui intense astonishment th" l'lemiei intiui'itcd his intention of alteiing th it I>.im-. ti> one of l.iteabliM.ilue. This, it is ■- ud, Mas the iv-.nU of piessuiebiought to b'.u on the (Jin eminent at a entie.il tini" liy ximoof thuii wa^ciui^ strip tit"t(of which them wmc not.i few), h.iilingfi.nii luyi t 'litii's of ])opul.ition. Howe\ei, we still hoped in c miiiutti'e t'> pie \ fiit the basis of population fioin bemp excised from the Bill, and in tin-. 1 naturally expected that the (Joviunmi'iit would.it least tuitly 01 abstun from actively mutilating their own iium&uro. However, in this we were disip pointed, and the result h tho inju»ticß to which spusoly-populitod di'tiicH an- now liable. When tho Premier iiitunited the chanpfo hr-»t i cfoi i ed to ho also pf.ivo notice of many other radical alterations in the Bill, in fact .so many and so important that tho Opposition, Mippoited by several (Joverninent s>uppoitei>, suggested that tne Bill should be taken bick, remidelled, and rcpiinted. Thi^ was, however, too gie.it a humiliation even for such a longsiiffering < {overnment as tho pie^e">t one to submit to, and the Opposition, having in mind bow ]iatiently they had submitted to then dictation on many previous Decisions, did not piess the point. The consequence of this w'ds that when the Bill got into com mittce tho House was Hooded with supplemental y Older papers, all containing innnmpiable amendments, and also, t» cap all and complete the confusion in the minds of nmmbeis, still further amendments upon these amendments were tabled by the (Jo vernment. Tho lesnlt was therefore that veiy few members indeed, if any, cleaily uudei stood what they w ere doing. Any one who has seen the manner in which Bills aie pushed llnoiigh Committee can te.idily nndeistand this, o^pl > ( uilly in the case of (iovornment bills. However, to letum to your own particular case. When Mr L ike and myself saw that the basis of rateable value was sure to bo earned we succeeded on Mr Lake's motion in forming the conn ties of Ragl.ui, Waipa, Waikato, and Piako, into .1 separate district. In thi.s we of com so meant that they should form a sepaiate district, both as reg.udx hospitals and charitable aid, especially the latter. However, a majority of the House decided that as regards chaut.ible aid, our and other outlying districts should ho iniliidi'd in ho-pital distucts al le.uiy existiiiff. Out piincipd object being thuicbv frusiiati'il, [ in >ved th it tho conn ties -if It i{l in, vV.iipa, and Waikato should be iuclud.d in the AucUl md district, and Piako m the Th.nnis distuct. It seemed to mo that of two evils it was better that Piako should be ticked on lo the Thames rather th m on t> the An kl md district. There aie varioii-, ieas.ii- foi this winch I need baldly go into at |>ie-ent. I may nay also as regards our action in the matter of this act that <>n tho third reading of the 13*11 t.he ad\ inability of i ejecting the bill in totu was .seiioiisly discussed, but tho feeling of tho great majority of of the Houso in favour of a Bill, how ever faulty, in preference to tho then existing state of things was ho evident that no veiy energetic effort was made to do so. In this, porliaps, wo were wrung, although I haidly think so, as tho etfoct has been to ventilate the subject so thoroughly, mid to awaken men's minds tit the gravity of the question so completely that in all piob.ibihty wo shall Mioceed boforo veiy long in solving this exceedingly important and difficult local problem in a fanly satisfac mnnnci. Of course noeffoit on my pait will bo wanting in cndeavoui mg to do so.

1 inn, iitc, J. B. Wini'K.