The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every evening since 1914. Saturday Morning. Tuesday, January 14, 1890. THE HOSPITAL TROUBLE.

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume III, Issue 403, 14 January 1890, Page 2

The Gisborne Standard AND COOK COUNTY GAZETTE Published every evening since 1914. Saturday Morning.

Tuesday, January 14, 1890. THE HOSPITAL TROUBLE.

Be just and tear not; Let all the ends thou aim'at at be thy country's, Thy God's, and truth's.

For a long time past there have been murmurs at the treatment patients receive at the Hospital. How far the complaints made are justifiable we are not prepared to say, as the question is one upon which both sides should be heard before any judgment is arrived at. There has hitherto been much reluctance on the part of those who have been patients at the Hospital to make public any matter in regard to which they feel aggrieved, and until statements are made in a way in which they can be contradicted or substantiated it is useless to expect that further action will be taken.

However, we cannot agree with the Chairman of the Board of Trustees that the letter published in the columns of the Standard, and signed by Mrs Laverock, should remain unnoticed, simply because the usual official routine had not been gone through. As Mr Joyce said, it is not everyone that is acquainted with the proper order in which such matters should be brought before the notice of the Trustees, but if it were not so the case would be in no way altered. The days of officialism and red-tape are, or ought to be, numbered, and it would be an extra* ordinary thing if a body representing the public could pass unnoticed a letter like that signed by Mrs Laverock, the mother of a child who died at the Hospital. As Mr DeLautour rightly remarked, vague aspersions on the institution ought not to be encouraged; but it must not be forgotten that the most certain way of encouraging vague aspersions is by refusing to deal with charges brought by persons who at any rate ought to be listened to. We are glad to see that Dr Pollen did not think it necessary to shield himsel behind the routine of officialism, and from his letter to the Trustees the public are now in a better position to form an opinion on the matter, But the Doctor’s letter can hardly be considered conclusive on all the points raised, as it is obvious that he cannot always be at the Hospital. He may be thoroughly satisfied that every attention was given, but the Matron should also have an opportunity of speaking in her own defence. It may be here stated that Mrs Laverock’s letter was toned down by us before its insertion in the STANDARD was permitted, because we felt it would not be right to allow ex-parte statements of such a nature to be widely published until an opportunity had been given for a reply from the other side. But as it has not been the only communication we have received in regard to the treatment patients receive at the Hospital we think it time some action were taken to bring matters to a head. If the state* ments mado are without foundation it Is just as well that the wrong impression created should be removed. If they contain even a small amount of truth steps should be taken to ensure a state of things that will give satisfaction.

We are not aware at present in what manner the Trustee? Intend to set about the consideration of the complaints made, but~we hope that they will not commit the tfrror of excluding the Press representatives. In matters of the kind the public have a right to learn both sides of a question, and if the Press representatives are excluded what may on enquiry prove to be a very simple affair will possibly, .owing to the secrecy made, be aggravated into a scandal that will not only be hard on th» Individuals concerned, but will reflect dlscrMU the place,

ADVANCE, NEW ZEALAND. There was a time —and only of recent date—when many of the leading Australian journals appeared to take pleasure in decrying New Zealand, and not only representing it as being on the verge of bankruptcy, but also doing great injustice to its vast resources. Now a most gratifying change has taken place, and New Zealand is rapidly being given that high position which she should hold, though the turn of the tide is setting in but slowly. To Cook’s Tourist Agency a good deal of the credit is due for the change that has taken place, and by next summer it is expected there will be a very large number ot visitors seeking pleasure and health. The Melbourne Argus of a recent date has the following article on New Zealand :— “ If England wants something and wins something from Switzerland, how much more does- Australia want from New Zealand ? The heat which in all our great cities begins to scorch and wither, to relax and enervate now, is practically unknown in Northern Europe. It drives us out of our cities. Melbourne alone turns out her thousands every week, and New Zealand might, if she saw her advantage in it, receive hundreds of them, where now she hardly gets ten. She has everything to offer us which the uplands of Europe provide for England and for the South. She would give to our youth that early lesson of the delight of walking with Nature which never wholly passes away ; to our weary men and women a tonic and a rest such as they seek in vain throughout ■the broad Australian continent; letting, indeed, the strong spirit of her mountains breathe on the ardent genius, the passion and the fire of our youth. She might help to generate and mould and impress the Australasian race, which should ask no indulgence when placed in competition of any sort with the finest people of the world, afid not In A physical sense alone, There Is a very great mission before New Zealand, Here Is a broad Australian duty which it Is her privilegeto fulfil, and it may not perhaps be altogether out of place to point out how its fulfilment might bring a little present and practical and appreciable advantageofan early sort. The thousands who from the four great cities of our coast would, if .they could, quaff a draught of the New Zealand elixir, would not travel as beggars or as mean folks. They would give nothing equivalent of course for the great and permanent gifts received, but still a few hundreds of thousands of Australia’s sovereigns might not be unacceptable in the South Island, which is not too well supplied in that sort. But whether it be more blessed to give than to receive, it is certain that neither can be accomplished without some effort, and right efforts will only follow a fair understanding. New Zealand must understand what she really has to give, and what Australia will gladly receive; and though it may possibly seem unkind just now, it is necessary to say.that cities and villages, and fair fields and pastures new, and even the weird and wonderful treasure houses in the North, are not, and will not be, most sort after. But if New Zealand can in each year ice Australia's cup of life and bone, the benefit will be great indeed in the growth of commerce and industry. We must all rejoice that they strengthen and arm the hands which we trust will be for ever knit in brotherhood, but the gift and the pace of the snow land and the lake land have yet to be given and received, and it seems that New Zealand’s share in the giving, which has yet to be accomplished, is in the clearing of the way and perfecting the means of conveyance.”