THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT AND THE OLD WOMEN'S HOME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4167, 23 March 1875, Page 5 (Supplement)

THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT AND THE OLD WOMEN'S HOME.

The following is the whole of the correspondence which has passed upon the matter we made reference to in our yesterday's issue on *he above subject :— THE DrPrTT-srPERLVTE-VDENT TO MBS- PHILSOX. Superintendent's Office, Auckland, 15th March, 1575. Madam.—X have the honor to inform you that it has been found necessary to dispense with the services of Mr. and Mrs. Mack, the Manager and Matron of the Old Men's refuge. Mrs. Staunton has been appointed matron, and has been directed to place her services at the disposal of your Committee for the management of the Old "Women's Home, in tf-rma of ! the arrangement come to between the Society and the I Provincial Government in September. 1&71.—I have, ! &c- f G. Maurice O'Rorke, 1 Deputy-Superintendent. 1 MRS. paiLSON TO TQB DEPUrY-SCPERI>"TEN*DEKT. Auckland, 10th March, 1875, • Sir,—"With reference to the action taken by me i yesterday in connection with the •' Home," I wouldstat* that IheCommiUtecf the Auckland La dies' Benevolent Society have always considered that they held possession of the building as any tenant does of a house, j using it entirely at their own discretion, though ; Laving no proprietory right to the property. When, } therefore, th*s Relieving Oficer said that hia orders ; were that Mrs. Mack should leave the building, I ; considered that this order referred to the premises ; over which the Government had control, viz., the Old Men's Hefuge. One part of the build- j ir>g was given by the late superintendent to J Mrs. Whitaker, perfectly free from all Govern- i ment control. Her health failing, she made j an application to ns to take over the manage- : ment and working of the institution, which we ac- ' coTdingly did. At that time we spent about £50 (I ! think) in the purchase of mattrtssea, pillows, ' blankets, sheets, crockery. <fce., indeed, everything ■ that was required. In addition to this we provide all j dothme, and supply monthly everything requisite , beyondthedestituterations, vi*.,butter, rice,oatmeal, : cornflour, soap, &c. Now, as to our position with : regard to th«; matron, we always believed that she was 1 as much our servant as though the Government did | not employ her otherwise. I will explain how we \ wei e led to secure her services. When we took over ; thr place, the matron then in office, who was old and 1 infirm was dismissed, being quite incompetent for j tie situation, which requires a Large amount of energy J aid activity. The Kelieving Officer urge.l upon j etmalof the ladie3 the desirability of securing the i services of Mrs. Mack, she being a very 1 mittble person — provided she could undertake t"ie extra duties, and the Government would fciictioii tha arrangement. Their permission was obtained. and she was rngaged by the committee at i salary of £30 per annum. Wo considered iperfcaerroneously) that she was our servant, whatever he: other re'jonsibiliues were. I think, when you t*»:«lnto consideration the fact that the Ho»i»e was ur'erour solo control no interference having ever attempted before), and that Mrs. Mack is our paid servant, you will not think that my conduct is improper in desiring her to remain in charge of the Hoiue, pending the myelins of tho committee, which I intended to convene as early as possible. I drove immediately to Mm. Gillies', who wa* not at home. I have to-day been at the North »*hc>re to see some lidiescf the committee who are residing there, that we may have a meeting and decide upon our future course; what this may be will depend upon the action cf the Government. I think I speak on behalf of exeiy member of the committee, when I say that they will not be interfered wi h in the disposal of funds which they collect with great difficulty from door to door.—l have, &c , (Signed) M. A. PiiiLaox. THE I>ErCTV-*Oi'EajNTKNI>ENT TO MRS. riULsON. Superintendent's Office, Auckland, March 19,1875. Madam, — I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt yesterday of your letter, dated tho ICth inst., in reference to retaining the S' rviccs of Mrs. Mack as matron of the OJd Women's Home. The Provincial Government view with great surprise the attitude assumed by you, on behalf of tho society, in endeavouring to tLwirt the Government in tbe dismissal of a person pail by the Government, and by thera deemed unworthy of being retained in their service. 1 have forborne any action during to-day in the expectation of receiv.ng a communication from you as to the result of the meetl::g of your committee, which wai to have held yesterday afternoon; but as cone such lias beco received, and as it is imperative that immediate steps bhculd be taken to restore discipline, I am compelled to intimate, on behalf of the Government, that they aTe determined to insist upon Mrs. Mack s removal, notwithstanding any protection which the tociety inay en<l«-avour to extend over her, acd that un.ess 3lrt. M.tck shall have left the premises by noon to-morrow. th«.- police will be instructed to euforcs her removal.—l am, 4*c., G. Machice O'Rorke, Deputy-Superintendent. •iti. POILSU.V TO TIIE DCi'CTV-fcL'PciIINTESDENT. , . Auckland, March 20, 1875. *- lr » —I be? to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this da>, received at S o'clock this evenlng—l intiiiiate rather an inconvenient hour for interviewing tli*j members of the subcommittee appointed yef«eruay. However, I have done so, except io the pne member, who lives at too great a distancd i*. # a * >o you that what you call my action in refeswjccto this matter was yesterday, by a nearly ■uucookfeiitee, made their own. A resolution was of and ratifying my conduct, w6 jqqj /or tho same. I would 2WW TJjyo

great what most have appeared discourteous on the pirt of the committee, bot we aro guiltless. Mr. Russell, who was with us to assist as. took with him every paper, minutes, resolutions, Ac., promising to see you and convey to you our opinion, ana obtain from you some information. I did not know, till your letter arrived, that he had not fulfilled his promise. I beg to inform you that the papers and statements sent by you were all read, but failed toshake the opinion of the committee in Mrs. Mack, is he Icr three years has, by al>out twenty-five ladies, been regarded as an upright, honest, and industrious ser* vact, and coming, as they do, from an individual whose conduct for the last two years has been such that his motives cannot be misunderstood, were valuel-ss Your letters assume the following position viz. -—That the committee of -he Ladies* Benevolent Society are Government servants and emplovees of the Relieving Officer; that he has the power to 'dismiss or appoint a matron for them quite irrespective of their opinion as to hor fitness or otherwise. I beg to state that, as a committee, wo I repudiate any such unjust interference, and, if these . I are iho only terms upon which we CAn remain In possession, we therefore restore to you the building granted to us some years since, with all the inmates, i acd requ.-st that you will make provision for their I accommodation, as our property and matron will bo 1 out of the building by the time specified in your letter. —I am, &c. f M . A. Tmuon. THE DtU'l-TY-SIM'ERIKTESaKNT TO MIIS. 1-UILSUN. Superintendents Oilice. AuckLin'l, -March 20. IS7S. Madam -1 have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, in -cply to mine of yesterday s lilt-- and I bee to thank you for the promptitude with' wliicli vnu have withdrawn your opposition to the removal of the ex-Matron from the Old Won™. Home. I felt assured that, on the case being full} represented to you, no further ..Istruction would bo offered to the determination oftl,^Gc,v^"' n ' f "' t " cet rid of an objectionable servant The papers which I submitted for your perusal ought to convince you tliat there was no other coursc open to the Gojernment hut to dismisi the master and matron \\ ht o I sincerely recret that the dismissal pf an emplojee of the Government, under such circumsuncea. should be entertained by your society as a reison for **tndrawing from the institution that support and assistance which the ladies have, for many years past, »o ablv and llbt-rally afforded, I may explain that it was never contemplated by the Government, in the arrangement made with the society for the superintendence of the Old Women a Home, that the i.ovemment should cease to hold, and, if necessary, to exercise, that power of control over its servants which is indispensable to the protection of tho public interests. 1 have, *c„ q JUvlllcl . n . KonKE , Deputy-Superintendent. MRS. ntILSOS TO TIIE DEPUTY SUPERINTKNORST. Auckland, March 22, IS«S. Sir —T beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, dated 20th March, 1&75, and would thank you for the : courteous language in which it is couched. I would remark, that had the samo spirit been manifested from the commencement of tho proceedings of tho past week much that has been s«j sad and painful, and I would add, disgraceful, might have been avoided. My first impuUe on reading your letter was, to allow it to rest; but upon more mature reflection, I . considered that there were two or three point* requiring comment. Iu tho first place, you thank me for withdrawing all " opposition to the Government," «tc. Again, I assert and maintain that wo have nothing to do with the Government, and i am clad to be able to put yon in possession of the opinion of a gentleman who was a member of the Government nt tho time we took over the " Home." He says, "It was given to u* upon the fame terms as Mrs. Mitchell had | It, viz.. assisted by the Government with rations as | other institutions'are in the town, but tho entire | management and sole control left to tho committee." j This has been the position we have occupied, and endeavoured to maintain; and the above statement will shew it was the right one. There can be n« better interpreter of the law than the framer. The next point that merits your approbation was our promptness of action, being unwilling to appropriate to ourselves undeserved commendation. I would say this was a matter of necessity, not choice. In the first place, from tho nature of the proceedings of the past week, we knew we had no right to expect justice if our matron left the building before we had secured the property belonging to the Society; and in the second place, we had no wish to expose her to the indignity threatened in your letter, thou-h in the opinion of some we should have allowed this as a climax to the late arbitrary proceedings. The last point calling for notice, is your conviction that perusal of the papers sent by you ought to convince us of the necessity of your action towards a Government servant. I would remind you that we hare studiously avoided interfering between the Government and its servants. "We havo no wish to question their right to deal with them as they may deem it just; but. as you refer to the papers sent to us, I would say that there is no deficiency shewn there that we. as a* committee, cannot account f 'r. In visiting twice a week, and seeing, as we have done, the cutting up and patching, the making of two Into one, &c., Ac., going on, it is not all wonderful that the numbers are somewhat reduced, and this circumstance is well-known to the Relieving Officer, who is the mover i In the matter. We would nowwish toclose thi< correspondence deeply regretting that the garbled statements and misrepresentations of a prejudiced individual should have been received and acted upon without the slightest reference to the committee, which for eighteen years has enjoyed the cordial co-operation of the i Government, and by the members of vl.ich, uiS.il A now, they have always been treated with respect >Ai<h u consideration.—lam, <&c., , " M. A. Phiivo.V, President L.3.J!.