NURSES CRITICISED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 28, 3 February 1939, Page 10

NURSES CRITICISED.

SERVICE IN SPAIN. PLENTY TO DO IN N.Z. OUTSPOKEN MAYOR. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) * WESTPORT,. Thursday. The Mayor. Mr. J. Kilkenny, in an interview, said lie wished to clear a | statement "in the Press that he would be unavoidably . absent and therefore unable to* t&ke the cluiir at a meeting to be held at. Westport to-morrow evening, at which* addresses on their experiences in Spain would be given by Sister M. Shadbolt and Xurse I- Dodds, who would also solicit support for stricken people in Spain. Mr. Kilkenny said lie had definitely refused to take the Chair at the meeting, and lie had 110 excuses to make for his action in upholding the principle that "charity begins at home." "I am surprised," he said, that qualified Xew Zealand nurses can find so little to do in their own country where there is a general shortage of trained nurses, and which, to my mind, offers greater avenues for the indulgence in humanitarian work than many other countries in the world. The shortage of nurses causes this state of affairs. "Might Look to Australia." "If people cannot find enough scope for humanitarian work in Xew Zealand they might ilook across the Tasman Sea to Australia, where the terrible tragedy caused by the disastrous bush fires has caused so much death and desolation. "What finer gesture could any New Zcalander make," he added, "than to | offer their services and extend the hand of help'to the country whose people lare of the same flesh and blood-as I themselves. This would be bptter than I visiting countries thousands of miles jaway, such as Spain and China, where | the cituse of hardships is 110 fault of the people -of Xew Zealand. 011 lop of that, we have never experienced any great measure of generosity from these foreign nations to our our own people during times of stress 'and trouble. "111 making this statement/' the Mayor concluded, "I lia\;e in mind the fact that as a member of the Crippled Children's Society I found that much work was necessary to relieve and alleviate the pain and suffering of the affected children of the Dominion, and the anxieties of their parents. That in itself is a man-sized, job for capable nurses without interfering with other people's business." .