THE HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID BOARD ELECTIONS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 14777, 9 March 1910, Page 4

THE HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID BOARD ELECTIONS.

Thk announcement that there will bo at least two women candidates for election as members of the Hospital and Charitablo Aid Board for the Otago district will, we believe, be regarded with .a considerable amount of satisfaction by those who have bestowed careful thought on the question of 'the administration of charitable aid and. hospital relief. There is hardly any sphere of public activity into which women are better qualified to enter than that connected with the administration of charities. The voluntary agencies that exist in our midst foi the relief of distress, for the alleviation of suffering, and for the protection of the weak were, as a matter of fact, mainly organised and are largely controlled by women, and the record of their management is worthy of warm commendation. In this city, as in other cities, there are a number of publicspirited, noble-hearted women engaged in philanthropic and charitable work, any of whom, if they could only be persuaded to submit to the ordeal of a public election for membership of the local authority that controls the administration of hospital and charitable relief on behalf of tho community as a whole, would prove valuable members of the Board. Tho experience they have acquired in the voluntary service they have performed in the past and the insight they have gained into the complexities of the problem that is involved in the efficient and discrimi nating administration of relief furnish them with an equipment which might witli distinct advantage be placed, at the service of the ratepayers. In any case the nature of the duties that have to be undertaken by an authority which will be charged with the management of the general hospital, the infectious dk-

cases hospital, a, consumptive sanatorium, and ft maternity hospital, witli tho dispensation of indoor relief tc- the aged and infirm, and with the distribution of outdoor relief to applicants of both & deserving and an undeserving class is such as to render the presence of sensible women on the Board certainly desirable. In this country already the appointment of women of experience in the administration of private charity as members of local bodies entrusted with the management of public charitable institutions has been attended with beneficial results. In tho United Kingdom itself, a much more conservative country than this, the value of the influence of women on important local bodies is widely recognised. Our cablegrams have shown this week that two women were elected as members of the London County Council, and women have rendered service of the highest value as members -of School Boards and Boards of Guardians. The monumental report last year of the Poor Law Commission, which itself included three women—Mr6 Bosanquet, Mrs Sidney Webb, and Miss Octavia Hill—in its personnel, makes frequent reference 'to the importance of the 6ervico that may be rendered by women, in the capacity both of members of the controlling authorities and of officials, in tho administration of charity, and one of tho recommendations of the Commission is that in future the members of the local authority should be nominated from amongst men and women of experience, wisdom, and unselfish devotion to the public good. This is a recommendation which does not .merit adoption in New Zealand less than it does ■in Great Britain. In all the circumstances the candidature of Mrs Blair and I Mrs Gibson Turfon for seats on tho Otago Board as representatives of Dunedin City and West Harbour is to bo welcomed. It is to be hoped that it may, among other things, have the effect of stimulating interest in the election and of inducing a large number of electors, 'who might otherwise be indifferent as to the result, to record their votes on the polling day. '"