THE WAR MEMORIAL

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 272, 11 August 1920, Page 8

THE WAR MEMORIAL

i _ "WHAT SITE? ['■■' The site of the National War Memorial 1 has still to be settled 'by the Government.' ■. t All that has been decided to date is that | ' • the monument shall be in Wellington. A : - question was asked in the House yester- ; driy about the location of the memorial. Mr. Atmore asked whether the commit- ; tee which had been appointed to recom- \ mend sites for the memorial had considI ered the suitability of Mount Victoria. Ttoe 'Minister of Dcfence (Sir Heaton Rhodes)' said that the special committee that Jiad been set up to inspect sites in |- Wellington had inspected three sites. | These sites, with the reports upon them, : would be submitted to tho general comi"~ raitteo at a meeting which he hoped would be called for Friday morning. ; Probably the report of the general com- ; mittee would be submitted to Cabinet on i' Saturday, Mount Victoria had been mentioned to him as one of the possible nites, but he wished to inform the honourablo member tlwt it was not one of the sites recommended by the sites committee. ; THE CENSORSHIP I STILL IN OPERATION. ; _ The Prime Minister, in reply to a i" . question yesterday, said that tho military i censorship was to be brought to an ' end by statute. The - necessary Bill been introduced in tho House, and ! now before a eommittoo. The censorship would ceaso as soon ai the Bill passed into law. ■ HOSPITALCONTROL ; ..THE NATIONALISATION IDEA. : A'statement on tho proposal that tho I ' Government should introduce legislation to provide for i tho nationalisation of | hospitals waa made by the Minister of " Public Health "(Mr, Parr) in tho House " 'yesterday. The occasion was the int.ro'auction of an amending Bill, and Mr. M'Combs asked whether it was the in'tention of the Government this session to place hospital expenditure, on a national basisi said that- hospital expenditure ought to be a national business, and at presen| it happened often .that in some districts the burden was . much lighter than in others. , V''.Mr. Parr (Minister of Public Health), said' he would admit at once that there was considerable force in the argument , for a nationalised hospital system, but to carry the fichemo into effect the Government would -have to provide half-a----i million pounds per year more than wns '■ at present voted for hospital expendi- ! ' ture. At present tho local bodies, raised nearly half-a-milliou a year, and the Government subsidised this'.pound fof pound. The Government did not feel ' disposed, this session at any rate, .to bring down legislation which would in' ■voire the provision of another half-mil-lion for hospitals. With the increased demands ma<le on ■ the treasury for wlnca'tion, increased salaries, and a hunurert nnd one other things, he did not frel ' justified in asking the Minister of TV ; nance to take up this other burden. He admitted freely that there was a great deal to he said for tho nationa isation I of control of-hospitals, but lie did Tint i > think it ccaild be done this year. It i had not been done in any other country. I He would like to bo the Minister to ! ' I introduco it in this country, but it was • not reasonable to press for the change i +o tho subsidies he ! r enid that it was admitted that the pi p " i sent ■ schedule subsidies to hospital j boards had worked out rather lneqnitj. ablv. He proposed this session to mireI rluce a new schedule which' would, ho i thoucht, provide a more equitable, basin I for the help of the lecal authorities. The principle of the new schedule would be i C"ive help where it was most M.- ! Ho assured the House that the Hospital i ■ Conference had approved of the new schedule, and welcomed the new -calo •' Tf sSies.'rather than anv attempt I which for the present mustJx 1 prem.tture, to nationalise the hospitals.

: COOK ISLAND TRADERS ' ' THEIR GRIEVANCES. . ' A miMtion regarding tho grievances of ' ; w hite population <>f the Cook laKantls i, s asked in the House yesterday by ! Afr Wilford./ Ho asked whether, in view • o the Petition of the white trader, in ■'the group, the Government P r .°P os^.j[® .Vmalco an inquiry into tho affair, of tho Islr.nds generally. , , , ~ • Dr. Ponmre. in reply. said that the ; Islands had'been visited by tho larlia rnentary party in tho reccss, and he ' thought that most of the grievances of '{ho trader, had loen brought before . members of the paitv. In , ' he. did not, think there was need for any further inquiry lii.o the trivial cha g mails hv tho traders. There was an amendment of tho Cook Islands Bill now on tho stocks, which would bo considoii'd •by the House this cession, and tins amending Bill.would give to the traders the right to be represented on tho 1 Councils. This he thought was their !• chief Some other amendments were in tho Bill, whicli would tend to make things more harmonious on the Islands. An lion, member: "What is tho proportion of whiles to natives? T)r. Pomarc: About 140 to 12,000. ; Mv. AVilford Insisted thai the grievi anccs were not trivial, and thiit tlicro : was real need for inquiry. FLOUR~FOit FIJI 1 Fiii has been complaining recently bocaVo New Zealand, as has been alleged, ' hao cut off its supplies of (lour. In a ! letter which ho road to tho House yesterday Mr. Mitchell told of a compla,nt nf a correspondent in the group that this ,lid not seem to be u good Islands having supplied Nej Zealand '••witli- , 6u<n»ri , j -As ft matter, ot tact, ju. Mdl.o# thought that'tho letter came • =i fmn Niue, but this may have been due 1 had writimr of tho correspondent •' well as to Mr. Mitchell's lack of knowI —sed"o of commercial geography. 1 [«y said that he had ft few | hours before ? nnt a to Jho I ..Governor of Fiji lla U.-Vfh« uur ! being (sent to Fiji by the next pteamor from Auckland.