EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXII, Issue 6909, 7 June 1897, Page 1

EDITORIAL NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Tns citizens of Oamaru are invited to meet this evening for the purpose of receiving the report of the Committee appointed at last week's meeting to consider the question of erecting a Home for those suffering from, chronic diseases. We have no doubt that there will be a large attendance to he3r what the Committee have to say upon a matter that has already, in the abstract, been affirmed as a desirable method of commemorating her Majesty's long and glorious reign. The precise terms of the report to be suomitted have not been made public, but sufficient has been disclosed to show that the project is well within the means of the town and district to carry to a speedy and successful issue, if only it be taken up in earnest. That it will be so taken up we have no doubt, and we anticipate that r.o difficulty will be experienced in raising the comparatively modest amount necessary to erect a building that will meet all the requirements for a good many years to come. As to the future maintenance of the Home, that is a matter that need nob occasion any concern. The Benevolent Trustees are already disbursing as aid to individual sufferers, who would be better provided for and better cared for in the Home, such a sum as would go a long way towards covering the cost of keeping the Home going, and any additional outlay would be but trifling as compared with the great amount of good that would be done. The first great essential is to provide a suitable building and to equip it with all the accessories necessary to ensure the largest possible measure of comfort for those who, added to poverty, have the dire misfortune to be doomed to suffering and disease for the remainder of their lives. It has been suggested that the initial cost might be greatly curtailed by renovating the building at present used as a home for destitute persons by the Benevolent Trustees. Bat such a proposal has nothing but parsimony to commend it. The building is a very old one, and is in a somewhat dilapidated condition. No matter what trouble and expenditure might be lavished upon it, it could nob be made to meet the requirements of the case. If we as a community arc going to make provision for a class of unfortunate persons who have a good claim upon our sympathy, it is essential that we should do so in such a way as will redound to our own credit and give the largest measure of comfort to those whom we desire to befriend. To content ourselves with transforming the old Benevolent Home into a Heme for Incurables would be equivalent to saying that anything is good enough for those suffering mortals whom no medical skill can cure, and who are without the means to provide themselves with the ordinary necessaries of life, much less such nursing and little comforts as would tend to alleviate their pain and make their lives less burdensome. It would also be equivalent to saying that the old Home at present serves no good purpose in the wide field of charity, and so conveyiug a slur upon the Benevolent Trustees. Moreover, the citizens have decreed that a Home for Incurables shall be provided in commemoration of the completion of the sixtieth year of Queen "V ictoria's illustrious reign. Surelyno one will say that the refurbishing of an old building that has dona duty in many ways for a quarter of a century is a sufficient memorial of the occasion? It would say little for our patriotism and a great deal for our penuriousness were we to pursue such a course. What is wanted is a building specially designed for the specific purpose, that will for generations stand as a tangible evidence that wo actively shared in the sentiment of loyalty that is at present animating people throughout the greatest Empire the world has ever seen—an Empire that has been created within otii? own time —an Empire that has grown out of a small but important Kingdom since Queen Victoria came to the Throne and since New Zealand was first peopled by a white race little more than half a century ago. If we are not prepared to do the thing well, as all good things should be done, it were better to leave it alone, and let it go forth to the world that we are too poor or too niggardly to find the small sum needed to at once commemorate fittingly a greit event in the history of our nation and discharge a sacred duty we owe to suffering humanity.

The Timaru Harbor Board, by the reso- i lution passed at their Friday's meeting, have performed a neighborly act towards Oamaru, and we are sure that the people j of this district will appreciate the kindly tone of the resolution. It is some small consolation to the people of this town and district to know that they have the sympathy of their neighbors in regard to the treatment meted out to the port of Oamarn by the Railway Department and the shipping companies, and it should encourage the Oamaru Harbor Board to press forward a practical protest against the unjust treatment of the harbor to know that the Timaru Board " will at all times willingly assist in any movement tending to .secure a fair share of justiceto a neighboring port." Bub that which should afford the Oamaru Board the greatest stimulus to vigorous action is the statement made during the discussion that the Timaru Board "had threshed the matter out with the shipping companies, and were now well served." We have several times made reference to the combined action taken by the Timaru Harbor Board and the shippers of South Canterbury to enforce upon the shipping companies respect for their harbor, and we have suggested that action upon similar lines should be taken here. The producers of North Otago really hold the key to the situation, and all that is required is that they should apply it effectively. The shipping companies cannot do without the freight provided by this district, and what is necessary is to let them clearly understand that they will not get it unless they send their vessels here for ib, When once there is brought home to them the prospect of losing a large part of the carrying trade they now enjoy, we shall hear no more of the fatuous objections raised to sending large steamers to Oamaru to load. No amount of protest by resolution or otherwise will ever prove sufficient to cause a reversal of the present policy unrsued by the shipping companies, and secure justice for the harbor. The Harbor Board standing alone aro really powerless to produce the desired result; but were they backed up by a determined combination of the producers of the district early success would be assured, Are the "producers prepared to lend a cordial and effective assistance towards the attainment of an object that would confer great and lasting good upon the whole community ? To that question some means should be taken to obtain with the least possible delay a definite answer.