QUESTION OF SUBSIDY

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 145, 20 June 1924, Page 8

QUESTION OF SUBSIDY

GOVERNMENT DEFINES THE , ,\. . .POSITION. ' . ■ ■ After, considerable delay, a reply has been' received by the chairman of the Wellington Hospital Board (Mr. F. Castle)i,from the Government,' defining the fcgal'position in regard to the application for a subsidy on the public funds for the-, purpose of securing a radium installation for hospital pui° poses. The letter received :from the Government is as follows:— ,' ... . ... . \ ■._ . 19th June, 1924, Re "The Wellington Radium Fund." Further to the letter addressed to you on 9th June, with regard to the minimum requirements of the Wellington Hospital Board in connection with the installation and emanation of.radium, I. have to refer your board to section 38 of the Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act, 1909, which, as.amended by'subsequent ,Acts, provides that:— ■

During each .financial year, unless the Minister' of Finance is satisfied that -the board has sufficient funds to carry out the administration of this Act during the year, there shall be paid to; every hospital--and charitable aid! board by the Minister of Finance such sums as the said Minister decides by [way of, subsidy in respect of the moneys or.other, property, received by the board'(whether for the general purposes of the board,'or ir^ trust ,for any^ special purpose other than the benefit of individual persons) during' the same financial year.

It is clear, therefore, that no subsidy can be paid by -the Minister of Finance upon funds subscribed for .any special purpose unless the Minister is satisfied that that fund is insufficient for that special purpose. ■ ■ - This was pointed out to the promoters of the f,und by Sir Francis Bell, when Acting-Prime Minister, t at the time when subscriptions for the fund were first invited. Sir Francis Bell warned the promoters .that their statement that a Go^ vernment subsidy of £1 'for £1 would necessarily be payable.was incorrect, and that it would be necessary for them to satisfy the Government that further provision by way of Government subsidy was required in addition'to the sum subscribed. '■-...■ .--.,.

The Wellington Hospital Board will readily see that it is manifestly impossible to admit the proposition that' a number of subscribers may create a fund qf any amount they-choose, for a specific, purpose, and then"f6'r'*a'\respo'nsible body, disregarding, the conditions imposed by the. statute,'to demand from the State the provision of an equivalent sum. Moreover,' the Act does riot define the subsidy as £1 for £1, but "such amount as the Minister decides by' \yay of subsidy not exceeding £1 for £I.'"' * : Unless it can be proved to the complete satisfaction of the Government that the'sum of £10,000 raised by- public subscription is insufficient for the purpose for which it was raised, it will be seen that'no subsidy can be paid under the authority: of -the. statute.'-■/.•■■ ! If the Government is satisfied that an amount of £10,000 is insufficient, it is then necessary' for the Minister of Finance _to be satisfied, as to what extent the insufficiency exists, arid unless the insufficiency amounts to £10,000, the full subsidy-of £1 for £1 cannot be paid.— Yours faithfully, .' M. Pomarei" Minister of Health. .. ■ ' \.. • ■