ELECTION BREEZES.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIV, Issue 101, 29 April 1913, Page 8

ELECTION BREEZES.

HOSPITAL BOARD ISSUES.

LIVELY CANDIDATES' MEETTNG

A BATTLE ROYAL. f \ 1 BETWEEN EX-CHAI'RMAX AND * EX-MATRCMs. i > p 1 A lively election meeting took place ] last evening at St. Paul's Parish Hall, j ■when eevera.l Reform party candidates t addressed the electors. PTOceedinge were ( exceedingly lively, due to the fact that \ an ex-matron, Mies Griffiths, and a party 1 of a dozen others who accompanied her, kept up a. continual stream of interruption throughout each candidate's address. Mr Diinbar . Johnson presided, <■ aiul there was a fair a-tLtucUnce. Mr P. M. Mackay, the first speaker, 1 leininded the audience that the amended I legislation giving a popular franchise had < been brought into operation -with ft view ' to inducing greater public interest in th-e < hospital institutions of the country. < ■When they remembered that Jialf a mil- i lion a year wae spent on hospitals and « charitable aid, and that £56,000 was 1 spent iit the Auckland district alone, they would realise that there were big i interests, at stake. When the amending legislation, was brought into operation, i he occupied the position of chairman of s the Auckland Board, and at the time he brought down a policy for numerous im- ' provementfi, including the establishment £ of a nursing home, various internal rearrangements, and a scheme foT the I Jntroduction of a system of district ] nursing; (whjeli included maternity 1 Eurßmg). An extraordinary develop- < ment in the 'present election contest was '■ that certain members of the outgoing i •Board were now taking practically all i the credit for his policy. Mr Mackay i proceeded to deal with hospital problems generally, and, after giving an account 1 of Mβ stewardship, proceeded to outline "what he considered to be a necessary 1 programme for the future, prominent in w&ich was the consummation of the die- 1 irict nursing echeme before mentioned. CONTENTIOUS SUBJECTS. It was when Mr Mackay commenced ; to deal with contentious subjects that > trouble came-from-a section of the audi- : enee. A good deal of personality had, ' he said, been introduced into the con- ' leet. It had been declared that the BJf.A. wae responsible for the institu- ' tion of tiie Reform party "ticket." He wanted to give that a assertion a flat denial, not only for himself, but for those associated with him. Miss Griffiths and a chorus of female voices: "Question?" Continuing, Mr Mackay said the Board had admittedly not been a happy family. The Teason of the cleavage wi connected with the iate lady superin- ■ tendent. As the then chairman of the ' Board he had been forced into taking n certain course of action. It became evident at the institution, Boon after her arrival that espirit de corps was lacking. Matters became woree. and Dγ i atst as chairman of the honorary staff •■frrongM down a report relative to the matrons position. This w-ae challeneed by a section of the Board, and ultimate!v an the trouble that followed, theee memSJers became partisans. question. ' a voice: Oh, go and get your head , T wn, not *» ana TREATMENT OF HONORARY STAFF. Mr. .Mackay. proceeding with hiaddress, outlined the treatment of Dr.' Pabs. by certain Board members, and said a butcher boy would have used better language to the chairman of the honorary staff than did some of the memopr*. Miss Griffiths:.He should have resigned next morning. ° Mr. Mackay: One of the members of the Board asked that the inquiry should not proceed further, and in consideration thereof promised that the matron 3 resignation would be produced. That was only a subterfuge, and the next move was an attempt to drag the Minister for Hospitals into the trouble, in the hope of havin" Dr. Pabst removed. Miss Griffiths: And Dr. Hardie Nell. Then, continued Mr. Maekay, the election of chairman for the year came off. Dr. Guinness was absent, and the voting was even for Mr. Schofield and himself. Their names were placed in a hat, and Mr. Schofield's being the first withdrawn he took the position of chairman; hie election had been in this way a fortuiton3 circumstance. He questioned Mr. Schoiield's attitude in accepting the chairman"sbip under each, conditions, when the outgoing chairman's policy in regard to buildings and other matters was still The trouble leading up to the matron's Spitirement was then Jfuily dealt with by ■Mr. Mackay, and aleo the incident, o*l the confidential register. In connection ■with the latter happening, the speaker said the ex-matron had ueen cesured by the Inspector-General. Mr. Valintine: I do not believe it. Mr. Mackay: Here are Dr. Valintine's own words: "The late matron should not have been allowed access to the confidential register after her resignation." Mr. Valintine: Ifs rot; all rot. The Chairman: You inuet behave yourself. Mr. Valintine: I don't agree with all my brother says, and as for the speaker's opinion, it' 3 bunkum. Mr. Mackay: You are not a ratepayer, and not a resident. Mr. Valintine: I am here as an honest man. Miss Griffiths: He is not a schemer. (Uproar.) The Chairman: Order; we muet have order. Mi 33 Griffiths: Well, I want to ask a question. . The Chairman: You will get your opportunity at the close of the meeting. Several voices from the storm-centre:: .!We_dont mind staying here all night. DISCBEDITING THE HOSPITAL. Mi. Mackay: The hospital has been ■held Tip as a disgrace. A woman: So it is. Me. Mackay: The Minister eaye that the management of the hospital places it second to nose in New Zealand. No one could say a ■word against Dr.. Maguire. Miss Griffiths: It's Dr. Valintme ■Wβ; want;!to talk about. ... MflMnta-. As an administrator Dr.

The woman, again:. Sit down, now, and giro the next man. a chance. Mr Mackay: An?attempt -was madeMiss Griffiths: One, two, three The Chairman:-"Order, order. Mies' Griffiths: .Pour, five, six ■ Mr Mackay: An .attempt was made Miss Griffiths: Seven,' eight, nine, out! The Chairman: Will the woman who •is interrupting cease hiding behind other women, and come and take a seat in front. Miss Griffiths (amidst loud applause from her supporters, and a counter display on the part of the audience ac she marched into a front seat): Certainly. Mr Valintine (following Miss Griffiths) z A true British woman. I'm proud to conic and sit beside you. After order had been restored, Mr Mackay proceeded with his speech. A member's duty, he said, was to assist to administer the affairs of the institution. Often complaints came before the Board, but rarely indeed were they anything else but trivial. THE "TETANUS CASE." Miss Griffiths: What about the tetanus case? Mr Mackay: That is an incident I was just about to refer to as a case in point. An inquiry was demanded, mainly on the strength of the extraordinary utterances of one man who was a member of the Board. When the inquiry came on that member was missing, and the facts brought out at the investigation quite satisfied the deceased's friends that the allegations were groundless. Miss Griffiths: It was a most disgraceful case. Mr Mackay: An attempt was made to create a sensation, but there was no sensation in it. Miss Griffiths: It was a sensation. The records were burned, and the tfuo story never allowed to come out. Other incidents of the kind were quoted by Mr Mackay, including one where a patient from Hamilton was supposed to have been kept needlessly waiting for an operation for the removal of a piece of steel from the eye. Had the operation in that case been at once performed there would have been- a danger of blood poisoning. Miss Griffiths: I want to ask a question. ■ M _ The Chairman: You cannot ask questions just now. Mies Griffiths: The last statement is a lie. NEED FOR GOOD MEN. In conclusion, Mr Mackay referred to the work at the Costley Home, and the new system there which enabled old married couples to reside together, instead of being separated, as previously. He also detailed the expenditure on buildings and improvements of the £ 70,000 which (as chairman) he had borrowed. Miss Griffiths (with fine sarcasm) : You borrowed? Continuing, Mr Mackay said he hoped ■that on Wednesday neit the electors ■would vote for the return of honest, reliable men Miss Griffiths: Yes, honest men, not intriguers. Mr Mackay: Men of dignity and some standing in the community, who could be depended upon to do their duty fearlessly. Miss Griffiths: Yes. and not bend the knee and kowtow to the B.M.A. Mr Mackay: Men of probity, who will see that there is British fair play r* *» «* »* ap^«£ d ee r idßt the -™ : MR COYLE'S RECEPTION. Mr M. J. Coyle, the second speaker on the list, said he hoped the small coterie of ladies on his left, who surrounded the late matron, would give him a fair hearing, and he would promise to answer as many questions as they liked to ask at the end of the meeting. There was he said, an effort being made to create the idea that a children's hospital was of far more importance than a new surgical ward. Anyone acquainted with the hospital knew that that was quite wrong. The children had excellent accommodation, and there was no urgency for a. new ward for them at all. In. the surgical department, however, there were no less than 40 patients awaiting admission at the present time, and the position was indeed urgent. Dealing with election matters, Mr Coyie said it was ridiculous to suggest that he was a nominee of the B.M.A. There had never been a more independent member on the Board than he. Misa Griffiths: Why are you on this "ticket" then? Mr Coyle: Because it is a good ■ticket." DISAPPOINTED DOCTORS. Continuing, Mr. Coyle said it was a fact that the honorary staff had not received the consideration it deserved., Xo doubt mistakes were occasionally made. But a small mistake was "no pxcuec for bounding a man down. The first cause of the trouWe was to be found amongst the doctors themselves. If a doctor wanted to get on the staff, and failed, he began to make things unpleasant. Doctore had f.ame to hhn with their credentials, and had indicated their desire to get on the honorary staff, but his reply had always been: "No, the doctors on the eta-ff are doing good .work; there i 3 no excuse for replacing them." -Every business man would pursue the came coirree in regard to hie own staff. A Woman: But why not appoint more medical men? Mr. Coyle: Something of the kiadi will, no doubt, be done. I believe a syefcem of assistants might work satisfactorily. A Voice: What about reinstating the late matron? Mr. Coyie:: I leave it to the people here to-night to judge by the behaviour of the late matron and her friends as to what I'd be likely to do on that point. COTTAGE-HOSPITALS. Proceeding, Mr, Coyle said that there was a wide difference between the opinion of the. Inspector-General and the chairman regarding the establishment of cottage hospitals. Whose opinions ehould they .take? That of the Inspec-tor-General, an expert, or the chairman, a. Iboot roamtfacturerT A Woman: You talk about a bootmaker! What about yon, a uoachibuilder? Mr.' Coyle: Yes, that's the very reaeon why I.bowed to the opinion of the expert. The Woman: No need to drag in the question of the chairman being a bootmaker. Mr. Coyie: I did not do so with a vie*' to personalities. But, if you were ill, who. would you send for, Dr. Valintine or Mr. Scho'fleld? The Womani I wouldn't send for yon! Mr. Coyle: I don't think I'd come if you did.' 1 (Laughter.) . . Continuing, Mr. Coyle said that the chairman had cast a doubt on the .veracity of a.gentlemanMies Griffithsi A what? Mr. Coyle i IA. gentleman like Che In-epeetoF-Geaepal. . ~ Bliss Griffiths: A gentleman? You mean a cad!

Mr. G. Higgms: Are •Wβ at a.coiwereazione, Mr. Chairman, or at a. political meeting ? The Chairman: I am getting tired of asking Miss Griffiths to observe order. Mr. Coylc concluded with a review of hospital matters .generally. NOT A B.M.A. NOMINEE. Mr. S. .7. IlarbuU. another candidate, said he was not in favour of party politics. If returned, he woultl go unfettered. It had been said that he was a B.M.A. nominee. That was untrue. He did not know anything about the B.'M.A., and did not even know who the members of that Association were. It seemed to hint that there was something radically wrong with the constitution «>£ the old Board, and if elected he would do his best, as he had done on nil other local bodies with which he had been associated. ANOTHER REFUTATION. ! Mr. W. Thomas, another candidate, said that as a unit of the ' Reform "ticket." ho wauted to say that he 'had nothing to do with the B.M.A. in fact, as an officer of the friendly societies he had had some fairly strenuous 'bouts with the B.M.A. In this campaign, so far as the B.M.A. was concerned, he could only say that lie knew them not. It was the public which had had to pay the piper in the past. He came before them with an open mind. He could not foe 'blamed for anything that had happened in tlic past, and he thought that he could promise, if ele-cted. to do his best for the maximum of suffering humanity at a minimum of cost. QUESTION TIME. The chairman then intimated that the candidates were ready to answer questions. Miss Griffiths was first on her feet, and commenced by asking Mr Coyle whether, when she first took up her position as matron, the nurses had not been accommodated in any old way —four in one bedroom, "a disgraceful state of affairs condoned by Miss McLean.' Mr Coyle: The nurses certainly were not satisfactorily housed. That is why I actively supported Mr Mnckay in pushing through his building scheme, as the result of which the nurses got a magnificent home, built at a cost of £17,000. Miss Griffiths: Is it not a fact that a doctor sent in a private patient, suffering from measles, who was not only operated on, but afterwards placed in the children's ward ? ' Mr Coyle: I know nothing of such a case. If, as the then matron, such a case came within your knowledge you should certainly have reported it at the time to the Board. Miss Griffiths: Permit mc to explain— The Chairman: Time is getting on. Miss Griffiths: Oh, yes; time is everything now. isn't it ? '■MY TTTKN NOW." Mr Valintine: Now it's my turn. (To Mr Coyle, shouting in loud tones, and ■waving liis arms) : How many incurables have you got up there? The Chairman: Order, order. Mr Coyle: I don't mind how wild he gets, so long as he does not hit mc. If he docs, that will be the last of Mm. (Loud laughter.) Mr Valintine: Answer nry question, Coyle. Mr Coyle: Anyway, it is true there are people there who cannot be cured, and are simply ""boarders." But unfortunately there is no other place to send them. Mr Valintine: Do you favour additions to the honorary staff? Mr Coyle: No, not at present, inasmuch as we have quite as many members of the honorary staff as we require. "WHO SAID 'LIAR'?" A further question concerning what is known as the "tetanus case" was put to Mr Maekay by Miss Griffiths. ' Mr Maekay: I have already dealt with that case. Miss Griffiths' friends: "Answer it, answer it." Others in the same party: "He did." Miss Griffiths: He did not. Mr Coyle: Now, ladies, don't quarrel among yourselves. Miss Griffiths: What happened the report book in Ward 11? Mr Maekay: I know nothing about it. Miss Griffiths: Were the records not burned because they related the truth of the tetanus case ? ■ Mr Maekay: No; but it was your duty to tell the Board or the Inquiry of your suspicions. Miss Griffiths: The inquiry was an utter farce. Now, Mr Maekay, tell mc why Dr English left for England at a few hours-" notice? Mr. Mackay: Dr. English was one of the finest stipendiaries ever on the hospital staff. He left to go home and complete his studies. Miss Griffiths: He left because Ms evidence would have been dangerous at the tetanus inquiry. Mr.■ Mackay: I do not believe it. Miss Griffiths: Was not there a case in the hospital in which a man was left for seven hours, with lime in hw«yes? Mr. Mackay: I give that gfcory an emphatic denial. Miss Griffiths: You arc a liar. Mr. Goyle: Mr. Chairman, did you hear Mr. Mackay called a 'liar? The Chairman: Miss Griffiths, did you , call Mr. Mackay a liar? Miss Griffiths: I want Mt. Mackay to answer my question, " Yes " or " No"." The Chairman: I will go no farther until you tell mc, did yon call Mr. Mackay a liar? Members of the audience: Of course she did. The Chairman: Yes -or no, Mies Griffiths? Miss Griffiths: Ask Mr. Mackay himself what I said. Mr. Thomas: Mass Griffiths should be compelled to apologise. The Chairman: The meeting will proceed no further until Moss Griffiths answers my question. Miss Griffiths: I've asked Mr. Mackay three questions " The Chairman, once again—yes or no? One of Miss Griffiths' own party: She's 'like Mr. Mackay. She cant say "Yes" or "No." The Chairman: Then there will ibe no more questions. Mr. HJ'ggins was caHed upon to more a vote <rf thanks and confidence in the candidates. In Coring co, he said he was ashamed of the ladies A female voice from the disturbing corner: Oh, no. you're not, G«orge. Another from the same corner (piqua-nt.lv) : How oonW a gentleman he ashamed of the ladies? What Mr. JEggins said, or meant to say, was lost in the la-nghter, in which he heartily joined, and the vote was pnt by the chairman and declared to he carried by a large majority.