HOSPITAL SUBSIDIES.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 664, 2 August 1871, Page 2

HOSPITAL SUBSIDIES.

The action of the Provincial Council in reducing the subsidy to £1 for every pound sterling raised will necessitate immediate action of somo kind. Hospitals, like many other institutions must bow to the changed financial condiiionof the Province. The subsidy may be received this year, but it i 3 likely to disappear altogether afterwards. The position is a grate one, aud therefore has to be seriously considered. These institutions have basked in the sunshiny days of individual prosperity and Government generosity, but both are rapidly becoming things of the past. The load of taxation that presses so heavily upon a goldfields population prevents, in many instances, a ready response to the calls of charity. "Charity commences at home ;" and the recognised saying, " the first law of nature is to take care of yourself," begins to be recognised now as a general opinion. Chapels and churches will feel this also. The remark that money is scarce and hard to get shows the drain that has been made upon the people. Where now are the results of our golden harvest, and of our golden crops ? We cannot draw upon them, for what is not permanently invested has passed away or been lost to us. Other soils than ours are enriched thereby. The C'hinoeo seem averse to supporting so excellent an institution as the hospital; and are inclined to make it a kind of house of necessity—of refuge. Have not also the Europeans done this, and continue doing the same thing. The Tuapeka Times has some excellent remarks upon the subject, which are equally applicable, or will be so, to us hereafter. That journal says :—" What is to become of the up-country hospitals the Tuapeka one more especially, as it more immediately concerns our district. The question is one which is on everyone's lips. The subsidy has been reduced to £l. The Hospital is an institution which is valued in Tuapeka'above ail others. All look to it with feelings of sympathy. No one knows how soon he may require its shelter and hospitality. But the question is, What is to be done in the present dilemma? With a revenue curtailed by onethird—with her wings clipped to such an alarming extent, how is the sweet spirit of Charity to sustain herself. Some people say, hand over the institution to ihe Government: but if that were done it would be a great mistake. The Tuapeka Hospital would be looked upon as the Dunedin one now is, viz., a place of little sympathy, and to be religiously avoided. No, the Hospital must not be handed over to the Government. Reduce salaries, economise in every possible manner, but don't hand it over to the Government. Some people complain of its management that it is governed by a clique —aud that things go on anyhow. That may be true, but if it is, the fault lies with the subscribers themselves for allowing such a committee to be elected. The expenditure last year, we find, was close upon £lßoo—£Boo of which was for salaries, £540 for rations, £lll for medical comforts, £9B fuel and lights, and so on. The heaviest item, it will be observed, is salaries. On the other hand, the revenue to meet that expenditure was made up by subscriptions, £516; paying patien's, "£l3B ; ard Government subsidy for the balance. With the reduced subsidy, there will be a deficiency of £SOO or £6oo—taking the expenditure and subscriptions at the same sum as last year. How, then, is this amount to be met? If the subscriptions in these degenerating times keep up to the usual £SOO or £6OO, that is all they will do. Nothing, then, can be expected in that direction. We believe too many patients take advantage of the benevolence of the institution who are far from being paupers. Retrenchment is the only plan that can meet the case, and we feel certain it is possible to meet it by that means. Retrenchment in the present day is no more the watchword of the Government than it is of every business man. The days of affluence have departed, and nothing will suit these times but a strict scrutiny into accounts and a wise pruning. It is anything but pleasant to hear strangers talking of our local Hospital as the " Mansion of Tuapeka ;" and when apparently strong-looking patients manage to patrol the Lawrence streets in all weathers, the idea must strike the public that it is possible to have more patients in the Hospital than there is any necessity for, and that retrenchment is advisable.

The Tuapeka Committee have passed the following resolution, induced by the financ'al position of affairs. It was resolved—" That owing to the action of the Provincial Counci in reducing the subsidy to the Hospital, the Committee are unable to maintain so many patients as hitherto, and that therefore the Surgeon be instructed to give notice to patients suffering from long standing disease that they would be required to leave the institution, and that the Committee furnish them with the means to reach Duncdin." These matters are only quoted as beacons to guide us in the future. Our own hospital, though out of debt, and yet not feeling the heavy pressure, must sooner or later do battle with altered circumstances. Would it not be well for the Committee to convene —after the subject has been duly considered—a public meeting of subscribers to consult with them as to the action to be taken in the future ? Nothing here written is intended as a reflection on the management, but may be accepted as a warning that breakers are ahead.