Hospitals Worried With Charitable Aid

Northern Advocate, 17 December 1938, Page 14

Hospitals Worried With Charitable Aid

| “Wo should, absolutely refuse to give j any further assistance,” said Mr W. J. j Steed when an application for charit- ; able aid carnc before the, Mangonul I Hospital- Board on Thursday. ”ff we refuse we will have a letter from the department telling us we I must do it,” declared the secretary, j Mr Steed: Well, tell them we won’t, j The secretary: They will stop our subsidy. Mr Steed: Better to go out of existence and bring it to a head than continue as we are doing. Mr Michio: We had better act constitutionally. They could not say that they would allow a woman and child to remain unclothed and unfed. They could send an outline of the case, as typical of many, to the Minister, urging that an amendment be made to the j Act providing that such men shall be rigorously dealt with. Increased Burden Mr Steed: Unless we do something these cases are going to become an impossible burden. From information he put before the i board a young able-bodied man had i married a Maori woman and they had one child. The man' had, until quite recently, been employed by the Public Works Department for about three years. He is now apparently in good health and is staying at a boarding house, reportedly to be spending most of his time in a billiards saloon. -

He had recently been involved in a c:se concerning the illegal sale of liquor to Maoris and had been fined. The board had been asked to assist in supporting his wife and child. Farmers on Strike The chairman, Mr T, S. Houston; We have protested time and time again. Mr C. W. B. Michie: The only way to bring this country to its senses is for the farmers to go on strike. That would lead to a let of reforms. The action of the chairman and secretary in granting a certain amount of relief was confirmed, but a resolution was-passed that no further relief be granted without the consent of the full board.