IS THERE FRICTION?

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1058, 22 February 1911, Page 6

IS THERE FRICTION?

! .-fWO..STAFFS.... , DISCUSSION BY HOSPITAL BOARD, COMMITTEE TO INVESTIGATE. When the ordinary business of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board was concluded yesterday, Mr. J. E. Fitzgerald drew attention to a statement published in The Dominion', which referred to tho relationship between the administrative staffs of the board. Mr. Fitzgerald said that most members of the board must have seen tho statement. He thought it deserved somo consideration, if what was alleged was truo—and he had every rcaeon to believo it was true. 1 About two weeks ago, members would recall, it was suggested to tho Policy Committee the advisability of looking into the question, and ascertaining if tho officers of the board were working in harmony with one another'. Tho chairman (Mr. J. G. W. Aitkcn) said he did not think it was in order to bring up matter published in a newspaper, and throw it down on tho tablo of tho board for discussion. Mr. Fitzgerald enid ho wns merely quoting from tho article. Tho chairman continued that if thcro wns any friction, such as alleged, ho, as chairman, should know of it, and he was unaware of any. Mr. H. Baldwin complained of having bton put to considerable trouble by having had two notices sent him of ono mooting, each emanating from a different Bource. It seemed to suggest thcro wero two He;'personally,' was not, responsible for what was in The Dominion, but when ho had read the'articlo he had naturally recalled his own experience. Thcro seoincd to bo conflict somewhere. His letters had been sent to quito different addresses. . Mr. Fitzgerald said he was surprised to hear tho chairman say-ho had noticed nothing, because ovcryono knew that it was not well with tho board's administration. Mr. Willis was supposed to bo the executive officer, and ho (Mr. Fitzgerald) wonted to know was ho?" He b6lieved thero was .not harmony between tho superintendent of' the Charitable Aid Board and tho general secretary, and ho certainly thought it wns timo tho Policy Committee overhauled the whole staff—B3 far ns concerned tho head officer and tho Charitable Aid Board. The chairman called for a motion. Mr. Nash said-that if there, was anvthing in tho report the members should know about it. He had heard there ,was friction between the secretary of the Charitable Aid Board and Mr. Willis. Ho would-like Mr. Willis to tako thte board into his confidence, and hear from him if it were 60. . Miss M. Richmond contonded tho board must surely have the matter brought befqre them officially beforo they could deal with it. 'It was not dignified for tho board in such n matter to go entirely upon what a newspaper snid. They nil knew thnt newspnpers wero fond of putting in anything of interest to. the general ' public, and surely it ■ was entirely unsuitable for tho board to take notice of anything thnt did not como beforo them officially.. . . . The Kev. H. Van Staveren 6aid they had tho. assurance of the chairman, and they should be satisfied. They." should not take any notice of what tho "man in tho street" eaid. Mr. Fitzgerald replied that that was all very, well, but they must not forget they were trustees for the public.' Ho would ..venture to tay that tho superintendent of tho Charitable Aid Department was, not as responsible as he should be to tho general secretary. In fact, he took no notice of tho general secretary. Tho choirman: "Aro you going to propose a motion f" ' Mr. Fitzgerald , . "Yes." He moved that a committee, consisting of the chairman (Mr. Aitkcn), the Rov. W. A. Evans, Bind Messrs. Kirk, G. T. London, and tho mover, bo a,committee to investigate the matter. . ' ■ , ■ ■ ■ • Tho motion was seconded by Mr. Nash. ' Mr. D. Kobcrlson disagreed with what ,was being ,dono;,■„.lt wopld mako .matters worse. ' ' ' " •' ■ ; ' .- : Mr. Fitzgerald: "It is getting worse." ■ Mr. Eobertson: "I have been hero longer than you have, and I have never heard anything of< it." If the officers had not complained to the chairman, there could not be very much wrong. If they were going to get someone in tho newspapers to write an article to bring a matter up before the board they should toko no notice of it. € t ~ '. Mr. Baldwin again contended'that his experience proved something wns .wrong. Mr. J. Smith • described the troublo as 'a .storm in a teacup. Regarding Mr. Baldwin's complaint, he said that certain local bodies had decided 'to hold a conference on charitnblo' aid, 'and he os'fcumed it was in connection; iwith this that the -two communications bad been tent to Mr. Baldwin. So far as ho know there was no complaint at all with tho administrative etalf. Tho secretary of tho Charitable Aid Board, in the caso above mentioned, had been instructed to summons" a meeting of the board. Tho particular matter , dealt'wjth at that meeting would have nothing to do with the Hospital Board until a report came to them for ' • Mr. J. M'Ewen said thero was a fcrcw itoso somewhere, and advised investigation. Mr. Gardiner said that all secretarial communications should come . from' the executive head • The two departments— Charitable Aid and "Hospital—should not be separate in that respect.. He was sorry tho mover had hot gone further than he had, and suggested , that tho whole riaff should bo reorganised from top. to. bottom. He, had. been '. told that the Auckland' Hospital wasri!2o a bed cheaper than tho Wellington Hospital. He»intended giving "notice of motion for a committee, to : suggest a reorganisation of the whole stntf. Mr. H. C. Kirk agreed that as so much had been said it would bo a nitv not to inquiro into tho matter, lie believed, however, the report had been entirely exaggerated. The Hcv W.-D.'Evans: thought'somo misconoeption was held in refereneo to the functions of the secretary of tho Charitable Aid Board. This was not tho tiino to discuss it. But he showed thit if they w«ro going to entirely combine tho duties of tho two secretaries there would bo a, good dtal of superfluous work. He lviis very sorry tho matter kid come up in this way. Ho had heard of no friction Ho considered thnt ns Mr. Fitzgerald wna a member of the Charitablo Aid Committee he might well have brought it up at a committee meeting. However, it would be better now to go into the wholo matter. Ho wns also sorry there was not more inttrchange,between the two sections of tho board. A certain proportion of tho numbers of tho Hospital Board know next to nothing nbout tho administration of charitable nid. , ' Mr. Fitzgerald said ho had so ' fur merely touched the fringe of the mittor. No member, however, could very vtil havo failed io notice that something vns wrong. .The timo.had-arrived when .tho two departments should be ovorhauM, The motion was carried.