THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1907. HOSPITAL SATURDAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14087, 16 December 1907, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1907. HOSPITAL SATURDAY.

Hospitaij Saturday for 1907 provpd a hardly lass noteworthy event in Dunedin than its predecessors, and the community may fairly take some pride in the success which attended tho work of collecting that was carried out so systematically in city and suburbs. It is true that the expectation that tho amount gathered this year would show an advance upon the figures of 190G was not fulfilled, but a handsome return of over £700 rewarded the efforts of the> collectors, and this, with tho Government subsidy, will-admit of the achievement during the next twelve months of much useful work by the organisations affected. Tho fact that the sum raided falls short of last year's collection, which yielded over £800, cannot be deemed to have any untoward significance or to indicate that the generosity of the public is a diminishing quantity. An aggregate collection of over' £2200 on three Hospital Saturdays is a splendid record for a town of the size of Dunedin. Tho liberality of the community has, moreover, been severely teste*! during the past year, and the magnificent response that was made to the appeal on behalf of the Y.M.C.A. building fund is still fresh in mind. Indeed, public subscription lias done much for this city, and the total amount which has been raised in such a manner in the course of the few years past speaks well aliko for the prosperity and the liberality of the people. The money collected on Saturday will assuredly lead to tho accomplishment during the year on behalf of hospital patients of much which would needs be lacking were tho rates the sole source of income upon which tho institution had to depend. In fact, but for public generosity, the Dunedin Hospital would not be the well-equipped establishment it is, and I "the moeb striking aviclence of this is

.'■' pen ill tho valuable and extensive* addition to the building which has just been completed. The funds that were raised on Saturday will, in addition, assist tho St. John ,Ambulance Association—as deserving ail organisation as can bo named,—h? well as, to a lesser extent, tlio Patients and Prisoners' Aid Society and the Victoria Convalescent Fund, institutions indispensable in a community where the duty of the strong towards tlio weak ik recognised. Too much acknowledgment cannot be made of the splendid work that was done by the many willing collectors who braved street-corner publicity for long bom's on Saturday, and used'all'their powers of persuasion to extract «. donation from the wayfarer. They kept indefatigably to their task throughout the day, and the result does them credit, while it emphasises also the completeness of the arrangements for collecting made by tlio Hospital .Saturday Association. It is scarcely probable that: the slight decrease in 'this year's receipts is materially duo to any idea, on the part of tho public that the money collected may not, as far as the Hospital is concerned, ho spent in a manner most advantageous to patients. Discussion on that point was inevitable, • and perhaps unfortunately so,, but it sprypd to make tho position clear. The decrease may, lvo think, be attributed to tlio cause we have already indicated, and besides to a slight reaction setting in after the splendid liberality of the past two years, and to the fact that the novelty of Hospital Saturday has worn off. However this may be, the members of the Hospital Saturday Association are to be cordially congratulated on the success of their iiekkla-y for 1907. They liavo reminded the community to some purpose rtt this seasonable period of the year of the needs of those to whom Christmas is likely to be a time of pain or of weakness. The public may be reminded also that at tho last meeting of the Hospital Trustees it was decided that the important quostion of the disposal of funds accruing to the Hospital through Saturday's effort should be settled at n conference of the trustees and tho council of tlio Hospital Saturday Association.