WESTLAND C.A. AND HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION.

Grey River Argus, 19 May 1921, Page 2

WESTLAND C.A. AND HOSPITAL ADMINISTRATION.

The Commission of Enquiry, now sitting in the Dominion taking evidence from Hospital Board members, doctors and others competent to make statements for and against the present system of administration in vogue, will, no doubt, have a full and comprehensive report to submit in due course. From exchanges to hand, we cannot shut our eyes to the fact that details • disclosed conclusively prove there is room for tremendous economy and more business-like methods in the management of most hospitals in the Dominion. In this connection it seems that we need not go beyond our own West Coast for an example of extravagant and earless business conduit At the present time there is a conflict between the Westland County Council and the West la nd Hospital and Charitable Aid Board over the question of the levy proposed, which, on the face of it. seems unreasonable and unwarranted. It may still be fresh in the minds of our readers that a controversy on the conduct of the Kama ra Old People’s Home (which is under the control of the Westland Hospital and Charitable Aid Board) and Mr. Jas. O’Brien, took place in these columns some time ago; and the attitude of the latter, it will be remembered. was not to belittle the institution, but to endeavour to rectify administrative shortcomings that were noticeable. In a self-satisfied manner, the Chairman of the, Westland Board gave the matter short shrift, it would not appear, however. that Mr. O’Brien’s attitude has been completely vindicated. At the last meeting or the Westland County Council, some interesting disclosures were made, the i occasion being the discussion of the levy for the current year. It was stated that the original amount was £3113, but, on revision, it had been reduced to £2781. When it is noted that over a period of 37 years the yearly average of the. levy from the County Council is only £1164, it -will be agreed, we are sure, that Councillors had some cause for alarm when asked for a second year in succession to find an increase of over 100 per cent. The discussion that ensued was very much to the point, members of the Council strongly advocating a further application oF the pruning knife by the Board members. Councillor AV. Jeffries, who, it will be admitted, is a reasonably careful business man, made some very pointed remarks on the subject, and, after protesting against the Council agreeing to the demand, concluded by “ emphasising the absurdity of placing persons in positions to carry on public affairs who had not sufficient -ability to carry on their own businesses successfully.” Therein lies the crux' of the whole question. Over and over again, in various parts of the Dominion, local bodies’ administration has been challenged, and it cannot be denied that, waste of public moneys has taken place. It is deplorable that men—thoroughly honest and efficient in their places in the every-day walks of life—are urged to come forward ami are elected to local bodies, who fail to justify such a practice by the utterly inefficient way in which they go about discharging important public functions. They prove that their elevation to such positions has not been on account of any outstanding ability as financiers, nor of any economic study and training, nor any commercial expercnco such as to fit, them fr managing the institutions to whose care thousands of pounds are entrust ed. As tradesmen, as business men. am! even as lawyers, they may be efficient, prudent and economical in conserving their own interests; but that is not suffici 9- Public men need to have not only an impartial outlook, but a capacity and determination to give the people the very .best service that funds available will pehmit instead running into debt without regard for the burden on citizens that may be thus created. In short, a public man must conserve the public interests as assiduously as he would conserve his own. The result of men being elected to public bodies who lack these qualifications is the retrograde and inefficient state of things which is quite clearly only too prevalent in many institutions to-day in the Dominion, as borne out by the evidence before the Commission now sitting. In reply to a question from the Chairman at the Westland County Council’s last meeting. Councillor Ritchie (who is also a member of the Board) ' admitted that the Board had purehas- ; ed a laundry plant for £l6OO, that it was still lying in Greymouth, and that the Board were paying storage of 30s per week on same. This one instance alone conclusively proves the incompetency of some, if not all, members of this Board, and raises the question as to whether they are capable or fitted to occupy the positions which they