THE DOMAIN SHELTERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19719, 19 August 1927, Page 10

THE DOMAIN SHELTERS.

It ought not to be taken for granted that the permission of the City Council for the removal of the consumptive ex-soldiers' huts to another Domain site adjacent to the hospital is the last word on the matter. Quite apart from the objections already made, in general public interest, to encroachment on the Domain, it is not for the good of the men themselves that their shelters should be moved merely to another part of it. Since the removal was mooted there has been given authoritative medical testimony that no part of the Domain offers a suitable location. If a change is deemed necessary for any reason, the occasion ought to be used to place the patients where they will be most benefited, and a really suitable site ought to he found without difficulty It may be that the question of expense will be raised, for the permission given by the council avoids the necessity for outlay on a site. In view of the obligation to provide these men —sufferers through service in war rendered for others—with adequate comfort, this argument should be scouted as utterly inapplicable and unworthy. If money is needed, it ought to be found. No doubt the funds at the disposal of the Patriotic Society could be drawn on for a considerable contribution to any necessary cost. There is money available, and it would probably be forthcoming at once if application were made. From these funds a great deal has been done for the wounded : it ought to be as readily given for the sick. Before anything further is done, due weight should be given to the authoritative testimony condemning the Domain location, and the whole question reviewed in the light of that testimony and the undoubted claims of the patients that the very best—not some makeshift arrangement—is the least that the authorities should contemplate for them.