Hospital and Charitable Aid

Southland Times, Issue 11439, 25 April 1890, Page 2

Hospital and Charitable Aid

TO THB EDITOR. Sir,—" Late Member H. and C. A. Board has put the case very, well, VandVlr endorse his writing on the injustice lof the present Act and the facility which it, give* for unprincipled expenditure.- 'He either, was not on the Board in April, i 1886, or. he has forgotten the particulars of the assessment then made. Remembering what took place then, and mentioning ii, wouW nave been of more value V&han all -his arguments, which I admit are forqibl.e. t At this meeting, the Lake district. members muatered ,very strong and charged L 53 18a 4d for their expenses, there being. three iinembjere. To. pay this took yearly half .the contribution of-' their district to the B^o^,itl>einjjonly LH7 10s 4d, and they demanded Qn&wjpital account alone L 649 10^ thw beingas fivopence to one peimy' compJß^;^ tion and demand oicHeotherVporhopJsof the Board's district. ,Th© 'Board vpted the sum demanded, hut v? made;;, A; separate levy on the Lake dißtricfc a ' to; cover, it, as provided 'by the Actj^ but before the rate could be collected^ if ia Bappos&l that the member for Wakatipu, moved by the residents, caused, at the close of the Parliamentary, session, an amendment to be passed through tlie House prohibiting ; separate or special ratings. ...It-is needjess to Bay that since that time, the dtimanidiuof the dia*] trict on the Board have gone on increasing^ being for the present year (say) LI2DO againßt a contribution of (B&y)VLI6% or nearly eight times the amount ; : cpnjbrxbnted. The working of the Act may belforQier Ulas* trated by reference to.c&wt^iaid d«r bwsements on the I^e dlstHci acwunt. Six children ; de^a^^«^|jat'whosi'V parent hid dfcd, Iwnuj * wwWrtbU pw* ■•" ' VV: -VV.-y. 'VV-fV^V XiXo^'.y : :; . .-..V.;- V'V " '"'" ' V .'■' jy'J'^Mri-^,

perty, and. whose relatives were able to maintain them, were committed to an industrial school, there to be maintained at the coit of Southland. They have remained to this day a charge on the Board to the amount of some hundreds of pounds. Had they been charged to their own (the Lake) district the people would have risen en masse •gainst such a perversion of public funds. As it is the district impression may be, that a rather clever stroke of business has been done. There are now 29 inmates of the Home of whom 11 come from the Lake dis- ' trict. If the. facts as above do not arouse Southland ratepayers no argument will avail;-—! am, etc., •; <■ 2-.V-.;- -;^. . Ex-Member of 1886. 23rdApriL