THE COLONIST PUBLISHED TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS, AND SATURDAYS. NELSON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1879. HOSPITALS.

Colonist, Volume XXII, Issue 2514, 22 February 1879, Page 3

THE COLONIST PUBLISHED TUESDAYS, THURSDAYS, AND SATURDAYS. NELSON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 22, 1879. HOSPITALS.

The political economists are few who would dare to carry but to the full extent the favorite theory, that for-the State or individuals to grant relief to the destitute, whether suffering from poverty only or with the additional misery of sickness, is a social crime, It may perhaps be true, as icyhearted philosophers delight in proclaiming; that the greatest good to the greatest num* ber would be best secured by driving the imperative duty of thrift into the minds of all at the cost of the improvident being left to perish of starvation or of incurable disease. This worse than heathen indifference to suffering outrages every feeling of humanity, and the very teachers of the odious doctrine are often the first to violate it when some wretched fellow creature appeals to them for relief. It is eisy to write about the immorality of alms-giving, easy even to deliver a learned harangue against it in Parliament. Neither is it difficult by elaborate tables to confound, if not to convince, the advocates of a general system of relief, whether the funds are, as some contend, to be derived entirely from, the Customs revenue, because the whole of the people contribute to them ; or, as others argue, they should be raised by special rates, so that real property should be made to bear the burden. JNarnes go for much, and when a debater finds himself hard pressed on this question, he has only to exclaim against a '■ Poor JL/aw" to be certain of a chorus of applause. Voluntary aid is neither to be despised nor discouraged, and yet it is clearly unfair that the kiad and liberal should pay all, while the selfish and miserly escape ; nor that the relief of poverty should entirely depend qn the exertions of committees, whose efforts are likely to fail in times of depression, which are exactly those when the claims are most numerous. Unfair motives are frequently imputed, when in fact there is nothing more than a difference of opinion as to the method to be adopted to attain a purpose upon which all are agreed. Thus the proposals of the Government, pressed with some appearance of a deaire to dictate by Colonel Whitmore, have been by some persons represented as an attempt to induce the local governing bodies or voluntary associations to assume the responsibility of maintaining hospitals and charitable institutions with the intention of afterwards withdrawing all assistance from colonial funds. The fear of such a fraudulent scheme has been the chief obstacle to an arrangement, that would at once release both the Ciließ and the Counties from a large deduction from their subsidies, and leave more means at their command for the repair and formation of roads and bridges. The Financial Arrangements Act of last session is acknowledged to be no final settlement of an intricate question; but whatever may, with or without foundation, be alleged against the Government, it is too much to believe that the members of the House of Representatives connived at a disgraceful trick being piayed on their constituents; or that they were all so destitute of sense as not to detect it, or of spirit as not to denounce it. As to the provisions, that where the hospitals or charitable institutions are in the hands of the Government the whole cost shall be deducted from the subsidies, and that where they are iooally maintained ad> such deduction Bhall be made, a grant of pdund for pound being given to '-fleet volunca!ry subscriptions or money voted by a borough or county council, ihe reasonable explanatiou Beems to .be, it hat it Was believed' that waete and extravagance can be beat

guarded by the inhabitants of each1 district having a direct interest in the amount expended, and that those refusing to give the benefit of their special information to i protect the public funds caniiot expect to have the cost Blsypdtft^e^ijf&bif|n% I [those parts of tl^^or^Jl^VreVtrrlejinql thought are devoted to the cares of management. . * much to " local option" as at present. If the permissive element is abolished, and a definite scheme of management prescribed, •the places, that meanwhile have refused to iadopt the course requisite to entitle them to jbe relieved of half the charges, will discover that they will be dealt with in precisely the same way as those that-have availed 'themselves of the pound for pound grant. It iwould require no little ingenuity? to prqyethat tHe;City of Nelson, bylabstaihing from recovering £423 out. of the^cHarge for thfe Hospital or the County of Waimea £452, has gained any 'corresponding advantage, while it is beyond dispute, that these sums' would be a welcoma addition to their funds. Let the worst be true that is hinted.agaiu.st the Government, they are dependent on the'^ will of' Parliament, and unless members are content to be mere tools, no actual wrong can be perpetrated. It is quite open to question whether the existing hospital organisation is either the best for affording medical aid to the sick, or the most economical to the taxpayers; and to settle that satisfactorily, something more than a parliamentary, debate is called for. The wisdom of our colonial"'^politicians does not so far exceed that of the Imperial legislature as to make it any humiliation if they condescend to take a lesson. Hospitals in England are either maintained by endowments or voluntary subscriptions, but when from this it is con- f tended that the example should be followed here, it is forgotten that they do not profess to deal with the sickness of the destitute poor. This is provided for by a system of relief paid for out of the rates, the medical officers attending the patients at their houses, they having first obtained an order, which is only granted in case of inability to pay. What is done in New Zealand by the Friendly Societies for their members in case of sickness or accident might well be imitated by the State. The expense would be much less than that of maintaining hospitals, and generally the comfort of the sufferers would be better cared for by their own relatives. Sometimes cases might occur that could not be treated in this way, and then the benevolence of private persons would come into play as at Home. Whatever may be the intentions of the Government, the question of medical relief should be considered, and disposed of, as well as that of the hospitals. In Nelson it is universally admitted that the hospital is much beyond the requirements of the district, and the means of its inhabitants to maintain. It was built under mistaken expectations, and it is now a grevious burden, its very excellence tempting patients from places that cannot be made to contribute Whatever may be done next session, there need be no fear that taking over the management will put the district in a worse position when a final arrangement is made, and the sum that can be saved is too considerable to sacrifice, because it has been whispered that a Minister may perchance cherish dark designs.