The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE. SATURDAY, JAN. 8, 1887.

Waikato Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2262, 8 January 1887, Page 2

The Waikato Times AND THAMES VALLEY GAZETTE.

SATURDAY, JAN. 8, 1887.

Eiukl and exact justice to all men, Of whosoever state or persuasion, religious or political.

We are glad to find that the members of the Waikato Hospital Board are thoroughly in accord with us as to the necessity of at once taking active measures for the establishment of a hospital. It is highly probable that the work of destributing charitable aid will be delegated

to the various local bodies, as efficiency and economy are more likely to be attained by so doing; but the hospital question will have to be taken in hand by the board itself. We think it is conceded on all hands that a hospital for Waikato is a necessity. The separation of Waikato from Auckland and the Thames is not likely to remove the possibility of all further sickness and accidents occuring in Waikato, and we must either send our patients to Auckland or erect a hospital of our own. It is true that one of the reasons urged in favour of separation was the striking disproportion existing between the number of patients sent to the Auckland institution and the amount we were assessed to pay towards its maintenance, but it is also true that the hospital at Auckland was not, in any wide sense of the term, a hospital for Waikato. The long journey from this district to the Northern metropolis, and the jolting and loss of time thereby occasioned, simply excluded certain classes of patients from participating in the advantages of skilled medical and surgical attendance and efficient nursing, such as can be looked for only in a properly appointed hospital. We could point to several instances in which death or permanent injury has been the result of this condition of things. Everybody knows that there have been numerous cases of persons, able and willing to pay for hospital treatment, who have been denied this benefit.

If a hospital be a necessity of modern days, there can be no two opinions about the necessity of one in Waikato. But ther« is, of course, no need for insistance upon this point, since everyone, so far as we know, is in sympathy with the views expressed in these columns and at the board meeting on Wednesday. Some time ago Mr Wells, of Cambridge, recommended the adoption of a system of boarding out patients, but as nothing more has been heard about it, it is reasonable to suppose the idea, not finding favour, has been abandoned. But even Mr Wells, who was evidently anxious to minimise the expense, tacitly admitted the need of supplying facilities for hospital treatment, and so obviating the necessity of* sending patients to Auckland.

It is about time that we left off pulling at the apron strings of the City of Auckland. Years ago we persistently advocated the separation of the South of Auckland from the Education District of Auckland, and we trust the time is not far distant when this shall be accomplished ; we have fought also for the establishment of Government offices here, a boon which will soon be conceded, and ever since the passing of the iniquitous Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Act, we have never ceased to call out for separation full and complete. Well, we have obtained separation, and we should make the utmost of it, and send as little of our money as possible to the city which has been so effectually sucking our life-blood for many years past. We sincerely hope the Hospital Board of Waikato will stick at no half measures, but at once set about devising a scheme whereby we may be able to undertake the sole care of the sick and destitute of our own district.