The Hastings Standard Published Daily FRIDAY, DEC. 17, 1897. HOW TO DO IT.

Hastings Standard, Issue 504, 17 December 1897, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily

FRIDAY, DEC. 17, 1897. HOW TO DO IT.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

On Thursday the necessity for establishing a Hospital in Hastings was urged through these columns. The article was brief, and did not embrace many arguments which might have been raised in favour of the project. At the same time it is gratifying to find that the mention of the subject has excited considerable comment in the town. As to the necessity for a local Hospital, all agree. The only question is how to procure it. It is well known that a large proportion of the money required for the maintenance of the Napier Hospital comes out of the pockets of the settlers in the country behind Hastings. These settlers, we imagine, would prefer to have a Hospital at Hastings, which is so much nearer their homes. What is wanted is a public meeting in Hastings. The whole thing could then be thrashed out. A committee could be appointed to secure signatures to a petition praying that this district should be a separate hospital district or that the rates accruing from it should be devoted to the erection and maintenance of a Hospital in Hastings. This would be the preliminary step. Onc-e separation were granted the way would be clear. Tne rates for a year or two could go towards the erection of the necessary buildings, and in the meantime a cottage hospital might be used, or patients might continue to go to Nanier. So soon as the Hospital is erected an appeal could be made for voluntary subscriptions towards the maintenance of the institution. Offer every person who contributes, say, 5s per year, free treatment in the Hospital should the necessity for treatment arise, and the contributions would be sufficient, together with the Government subsidy of 24s in 'the pound and the fees of non-subscribing patients, to maintain the institution in a state of efficiency. At present employers of labour axe the chief contributors, but under the system proposed, employees (who derive the greatest advantage from a hospital) would find it to their interests to subscribe, if only to secure the benefits of free treatment. There seems to be no insurmountable obstacle in the way of our securing a Hospital. Let some of our prominent residents take the matter up. The suggestion of a correspondent that the Mayor should take the initiative is a good one. At anyrate the question should not be allowed to rest. It will not, so far as we are concerned. Hastings is suffering from an injustice. The lives of its people are jeopardised, its trade impoverished and its independence destroyed, simply because those who are charged with the guardianship of the community remain inactive.