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HOSPITAL FINANCE.

THE SUBSIDY QUESTION.

NEW SYSTEM DESIRED.

INQUIRY DURING RECESS. [Ei TELEGRAPH. —SPECIAL REPORTER.] WELLINGTON. Sunday. The Minister for Health, the Hon. C. J. Parr, speaking on the Hospital Amendment Bill yesterday, said that since 1909 the hospital boards had been working under a system of subsidy that 'had proved inequitable and unfair- The system provided in effect that the higher the rates paid by the people of a district the lower the subsidy paid by the Government. The district that did most for itself was penalised, while the district that did not collect much in rates got a large subsidy. The department had tried to devise a new and improved scale of .subsidies, but had found that the preparation of a suitable schedule was exceedingly difficult owing to varying local conditions and the need for giving some special consideration to poor and sparsely populated districts. He had considered four schemes, and had embodied the best one in the Bill, but this schedule, while an improvement of the present system, was not perfect, and he had welcomed a suggestion made by the Public Health Committee of the House that the question should be referred to a commission of inquiry during the recess. The schedule and its accompanying clauses accordingly had been cut out of the Bill. He would prepare legislation for next session after he had received the report of the commission. \

The Minister said he hoped that in the meantime some assistance might be given to the more necessitous boards to tide them over the intervening period. He realised that all the boards were facing serious difficulties, particularly in making up leeway due to the war, and that some of them found it difficult to carry on at all. The Auckland board'was asking for capital expenditure to the amount of about £100,000 and he was bound to admit that the works mentioned by the board were necessary, but the provision of so very large a sum of money was not an easy matter. The Bill was proposing to relieve the situation to some extent by granting tho boards power to borrow money under proper condition's.

TRADE WITH AMERICA. DOMINION'S INTERESTS. REPRESENTATION NEEDED. [BT TELEGRAFH.~SFECXAZ reporter.] WELLINGTON. Saturday. A return to the question of the representation of New Zealand in the United States was made in the House of .Representatives yesterday by the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. T. M. Wilford. He reminded the Prime Minister that he had referred to the same matter earlier in the session, when the Prime Minister had stated that an announcement would be made later. It was a matter of remark •when he was in California recently, said Mr. Wilford, that New Zealand had no offloial representative there. So long ago as 1912 he attended a banquet in New York, when a prominent financier from Wall' Street expressed surprise that New Zealand did not recognise the possibilities of business in America, and jiave proper representation. The difficulty that thePrime Minister would have to face would be to fix an . adequate salary. It would have to -be very much larger than for officials in Britain, for in the United States the cost of living was away up in the skies. For a man to be able to live properly and not look like a pauper he would have to receive about £5000 a year. ( Mr. Massey said the matter had not been forgotten, but no definite-decision had yet been reached. He knew that the salary was a difficulty. It would not be possible to get a man to represent the Dominion properly for less than £2000 a, year, and possibly more would be needed. Tiro question was ■ whether he would be getting value for what we would have to pay a man to represent us properly. There was another matter which he had thought it necessary to take info consideration. Everyone could see that important political changes were coming in America, It was hot known how that was to affect us. Anyway he had thought it wise to see what the changes were and how thev were likely to affect our markets. He himself was in sympathy with keeping the American market open." When the Panama-Pacific Exhibition was. held he recommended paying £25,000 to have the Dominion represented there. That was done. He thought 'we should keep the American market? open. DIVORCE UJW AMENDMENT. NEW GROUNDS FOR ACTION. fBT TELEGRAPH."—PRESS association.] WELLINGTON, Saturday. In moving the second reading of the Divorce and Matrimonial Causes Amendment Bill in the House of Representatives, the Hon. 33. P. Lee said the measure sought to make several necessary .amendments in the existing law. The principal | feature of the Bill was that giving the CouH discretionary powers where no discretion at present existed. Failure to comply with a decree for restitution of conjugal rights was being revived, as a ground' for divorce, and insanity "established for a period of seven years was made a new ground for divorce. Mr. T. M. Wilford, Leader of the Opposition, said that as the result of long experience in Divorce Courts he was satisfied that an order of separation was a premium on adultery and generally resulted in that, with the result that divorce followed. He would therefore support the right to divorce after separation for three years. He did not think that the grounds. •of divorce in New Zealand were too wide, and in spite of the outcry made by churches against the frequency of divorces, if he had hia way he would widen the grounds in several directions. The Bill was read a second time, put through Committee, read a third time, and passed.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/NZH19201108.2.79

Bibliographic details

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17622, 8 November 1920, Page 8

Word Count
943

HOSPITAL FINANCE. New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17622, 8 November 1920, Page 8

HOSPITAL FINANCE. New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17622, 8 November 1920, Page 8