ST. HELEN’S HOME.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLVI, Issue 2076, 17 March 1922, Page 7

ST. HELEN’S HOME.

ANOTHER DEPUTATION TO MINISTER. s 0 Yesterday morning a further dopu;i tatiou waited on the Hon. C. J. Parr, j. Minister of Public Health, in connec--1 lion with the St. Helen’s Home funds. The deputation, representing the Friendly Societies of Palmerston i North, was introduced by Air R. S. i Watson. Mr Watson pointed out that the idea of a St. Helen’s Home for Palmerston North originated from the 5 Friendly Societies. He traced tlie hisi tory of the campaign a long time ago, i- when a petition was circulated, but no J finality was reached owing to a section of the public wanting the home on the Hospital Board’s grounds. To t this the Friendly Society members ■' were strongly opposed. However, the present deputation was strongly representative of, and appointed by the 1 Friendly Societies, and represented the ■ bulk of public opinion in the matter 1 of tlie Home. 5 Air J. B. Gerrand, who had boon treasurer to the committee, said lie had been appointed to that position at 5 a meeting at which 2U per cent, of the. ‘ attendance was representative of ' Friendly Societies. There was not tlie slightest doubt the word “establishment'’ in the original resolution, was the one inserted at tlie time it was ’ framed. He was sorry an aspersion (. had been cast on the secretary. Air Gerrand said lie had acted on legal advice in not handing over the money, because a subsequent resolution to the , one under which the money was col(I lected said that a portion of the sum j could be used for equipping a hospital, j He now looked to the. Minister to give him release. The point was that the .j deputation urged tlie, immediate estata--1 lishmeat of a St. Helen’s Home away . from the hospital, and out of the Hos- ; pita I Board’s control. The Alinister; Who is going to pay for it? , Air Gerrand: We have a certain , amount of money. 3 The Alinister; Who is going to pay i the difference? i Air Gerrand: We look to the Gov- ' eminent for assistance. 1 The Alinister said it was a matter for Cabinet. Times, financially, were bad. - Continuing, Air Gerrand said that ' first of all they wanted to buy Air ' I Park's house for £5600, A body of ! citizens opposed tlie scheme, and thus • the present position. The Alinister was shown some of the 1 campaign propaganda in which the \ object was shown to lie the “cstablish- ' inent” of a home. It was suggested that the home of Air Park would have „ suited admirably. Messrs F. Pycroft, F. Northey and Mrs Z. Gill also spoke strongly sup- ■ porting the establishment of a St. 2 Helen’s home away from the hospital. ? AN EXPLANATION. Air Watson then made an explanation regarding the minute, which the I deputation of the previous night sug- , gested had been interfered with. Ho g said lie was not secretary at the time the resolution was passed, and it did j not appear in his writing. Two other ‘ v gentlemen had held tlie position for a time before him. In any case, the ■ • minute had been confirmed by Air Nash. The Alinister said he was quite satisfied, and it was not worth discussing. The terms of the campaign were 5 easily seen from the propaganda, j Replying to a question by the Alinister, Mr Gerrand said that if the GovD eminent could not find the difference 1 of £7OOO, it might be possible to give ' a portion, so that the home could be ‘ started, even if only in a humble way. • The Alinister said a new building would cost £IO,OOO, and the Department’s experts were opposed to the utilisation of existing places. He agreed that it had been done in many places, but it was not satisfactory. Dr Valintine supported this, and added that they were emphatically opposed to wooden buildings. It was impossible to convert a private house into a satisfactory maternity home. 1 He cm>!d see no reason why the home 8 should not lie established on the lioss pital grounds,. .’ Tlie Alinister, replying, said the question would have to go before v I Cabinet, and recommendation would 8 be given to the representations made. . I With his officers, lie agreed with the ’{idea of maternity homes under the j I control of Hospital Boards, but, of I course, ho did not mean to. imply that I St. Helen's Homes should cease to ‘ exist. At the present time, it was j purely a question of finance and I policy.