WAIPARA COUNTY HOSPITAL.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16221, 25 May 1918, Page 10

WAIPARA COUNTY HOSPITAL.

— meeting at waikarl A publio meeting of ratepayers was litjld in the County Council office, WaiIcari on Thursday evening, to discuss the hospital' question. Although the nfrlxt was a stormy one, the attendance was fair. In the absence of a counAr Mr Hi H. Holland was voted to ihe ciialr! An"apology forabsence was received from the couW chairman, Mr ; Flying ' CO T& chairman, in explaining the ohiect of the meeting, stated that as ' there had'been some opposition to the hospital scheme in the eastern ridings, the Council had' decided.* again call raeefegVso as to get the opinion of ,discussion took place, •th 6 substance of which was that when the Council had .received a definite expression of opinion fro ™, * lar^. 0 a u °a representative meeting they have proceeded with the. scheme. The opinion, was -expressed that the doctor would have to five near the hospital. " • The chairman explained that that matter had been gone into, and some of the local residents were prepared to "build a house if necessary. (Applause.) The advantages that .would accrue through a hospital t>«ing m ,v + 0 would apply to the whole district. It .•would curtail the travelling of the doctor, tLnd make it far easier for him to "be found when urgently needed. ' -.The following resolutions were car- , m . ""That this meeting is highly mdig- - naht at the inactivity .of the councillor'in not careyiiig "out, the resolution that was carried. at a propeily convened and representative meeting held on February 12th, and urge that they immediately carry out the request of, the ratepayers and erect the hospital without further delay. : "That the necessary legislation should be passed to enable Hospital Boards to raise loans for building purP °Mr H. H. Holland was requests to attend-the other meetings throughout the county in order to put the position before the ratepayers. j TO THJI KDITOR O* "TH* PRESS." | ' Sir, One is surprised at the way the Waipara County Council are proceeding . with regard to matters in connexion with the hospital scheme, gome time ago a general meeting was called by notice to each ratepayer in a

f properly constitutional way, and, on ! good authority I am told, was a fairly ! representative gathering representai tives being there from Virginia, Woodgrove, Hawarden, Waikap, ScargiU, Omihi, and Waipara. was. thoroughly discussed, I understand, and the meeting was practically unanimous tliat the institution was needed, and as a meeting of ratepayers it authorised the work to be done even if the county had to bear the half ol the cost of erection, and it was anticipated at that time the county would have to raise about £2000. As a result of that meeting the Hospital Board have arranged for their share of the financial responsibility, and since then the Government have assured a subsidy 6f 15s in the £, which will, according to the arrangement with tho Hospital Board, reduce the counties' contribution to one-third of the total cost, said to be approxi- . rnately £4000. But the astonishing, and I will say silly as well as unconstitutional, thing is, now, after the financial proposition has been considerably reduoed, and the Government and Hospital Board approral indicated, the Council has actually called a few meetings m some odd parts of the county to further consider the proposals, with the object, it is said, to cancel the arrangements already entered into. The Council must be very fickle or wanting in backbone. The objection to the scheme is said to come from the eastern end of the county, and from facts that are being revealed it looks as if that end of the county were dominating the situation in more ways than one. Rumour has it that they have managed to secure considerable contributions. towards the cost of erecting the Greta bridges from this the western end, and they are how endeavouring to get a considerable portion of the cost of maintenance for all time on the Cheviot road put in to this end also. And yet when this hospital proposal is submitted (which admittedly will benefit this end more than the eastern end, owing to their being in a better position to get medi-| cal and hospital attention elsewhere), they are objecting to it, as they say it j • will bo of no use to them. ! Would not this end be quite as justified (or more so, seeing that the expense of those bridges the maintenance of that road is a bigger financial proposition than the hospital) if tliey objected to contributing to them, 1 for the reason that those works are no benefit to them? If the Council now turns the hospital scheme down, and j for iril time commits this end to conI siderable contributions towards main- • teuance of roads and bridges at the . eastern end, in justice to this end the l sooner a severance of the county is brought about the better. In any case I a constitutional meeting of ratepayers ; should take place before any further

contributions are made from this end towards works at the other end.— Yours, etc., RATEPAYER. Woodgrove, May 22nd.

io the editor or "the pbsss." Sir, —In your issue of "The Press ' to-day is a report of a meeting held at Waipara' on Saturday evening regarding the. county hospital. The result oi the meeting was a very naked resolution showing that it was pre-arranged to kill the scheme withput giving it fair consideration. One side of the question was uppermost containing selt and its prejudices; €nd point or advantage for tho benefit of the small settler. The labourer, or the artisan was never dreamt of, except the tact of netting it at their own door, which is never likely to happen owing to Waipara being on the edge of the county. Railway convergement does cot count these days, as being quite unsuitable for the conveyance of oaitients. Viewing the whole matter from the standpoint of a small farmer, Ido think tho time is ripe to grasp this fine opportunity which the Hospital Board has placed in our way, and In the same spirit which the people or Oxford (as is snown in your issue ofitoday) have taken the matter up. Waikari being the proposed site by the Council, is centred by all the mam roads of the county, and only half an hour's car journey from here, bureiy a public hospital is preferable to tho straggling classes than private institutions, which are managed and conducted for the benefit to the proprietors. Though no doubt they are helpful and a convenience to many, they are beyond the reach of thef .poorer classes, and it is our duty to help these people and erect an institution that would be acceptable to all. The medical service is far from being sufficient to meet the demands of the county, and we should advance somewhat to meet in this way the shortage.—lours, etc., SMALL FARMER. Waipara, May. 21st.