OUR "PATRIOTIC" COUNCIL.

Northern Advocate, 3 July 1917, Page 2

OUR "PATRIOTIC" COUNCIL.

(To the Editor)

Sir, —In tho published report of the proceedings of the Borough Council held on June 25, I noted with extreme disappointment that the present City Fathers copied closely the example of their predecessors in turning down the request of the Auckland Commercial Travellers' Association for a rebate of Municipal Theatre hire on the occasion of the next annual concert and ball on behalf of our Northern hospitals. Only one councillor (and he but tentatively) had one word to say against the Mayor's dictum, that the concert was not "patriotic, ,, and that no concessions of theatre hire had been made in the past; therefore the Council should abide by well-estab-lished custom of refusing consideration to any non-patriotic cauee. The public is thereby supposed to understand (if the Mayor's words mean anything) that the Council has religiously insisted on full rates for every kind of entertainment not wholly connected with war funds.. Such an attitude might be regarded with respect if the Mayor's contention were borne out by fact; but the public does not forget i number of occasions, professedly patriotic, but offering only a tithe of the takings. to some patriotic fund, when lavish rebates have been made. I do not blame the Council for making variations in special circumstances; in faot, it is rather a pleasure to realise that deserving requests are met in a reasonable spirit. But for goodness sake let us have some show of consistency; and if appeals- are to be treated on their merits (as they Bhould be), where shall we find anything more deserving, more popular, or more meritorious than the support of our hospitals? I don't hold any brief for the commercial travellers as regards their calling, but I do consider as worthy the splendid efforts which they as a body of men, quite apart from their commercial lines, have put forth so successfully that our Northern hospitals have benefited by thousands of pounds in the past eight years. The Whangarei Hospital has been by far the greatest gainer from these efforts, without which it would not be nearly so

up-to-date as it is now> nor such an object of pride to all of us—except to the Borough Council. And the funny part of the matter is that the hospital does come largely under the "patriotic" heading at present, and will be more so as the war goes on and our returned men need" hospital treatment. The Council missed that point, or didn't want to see it, for there was a very singular silence when the subject came forward, which might lead anyone to infer that the position was

cut and dried beforehand

As I under-

stand things, the Council is there to represent the people, and to give effect to popular opinion. If that is the case, let the Council test the feeling of Hie people (to whom the Town Hall belongs) and it will result in an overwhelming vote in favour of free use of the Municipal Theatre for the very

worthy purpose now in view. The Council once more lays itself open to

the shame of private individuals making up the cost of hire as they have done for three or four years past, and once more calls down on itself the Indignation of the burgesses. True charity seems to be foreign to the Corporation of Whangarei.—l am etc., CHABLES CHAPMAN.

Whangarei