Page 1 Advertisements Column 6

Colonist, Volume LVIII, Issue 14395, 24 April 1917, Page 1

>? ■ ''BIRTHDAY■. &WEBDIMG ■ '"■ SlFTS.—Pleasing Things at Pleasing Prices. : -V r :>4 _ "NOVELTIES';' Enow you're not a Millionaire;

HOSPITAL AND CHARITABLE AID BOAHD tLhUTiON. ["o the Electors of l\eison and llichmond —I am again placing ..my services as i member of thu Board at your disposal, and having been a member tor some 20 yeara Duck and my views and ictions being, cnererore/" fairly welt known, it was noc my intention to publish any formal address. . • , As there iias, however, been a considerable amount; of misunderstanding and misrepresentation with reference to the doings of the Board during tho past term, jl i'uel that it is necessary to place some oi the facts before you. With reference to the proposed newHospital and the subsidy on Mr Cawthron's magnihceut 'gift, I would like to very briefly mention various items relating,thereto^ very briefly, as I am well aware that the matter -has - been under discussion lor some consiclerxible \ ■ time; jili"eauyr -is, now ever, two candidates have evidently oeen misinformed with regard* to certain circumstances i beg permission i>> again refer to-the matter. A First let me quote extract from Jilr Ca'wthron's letter to Board when handing over his . jche'cfiue. He wrote:—"l now have pleasure in handing you here* with my cnequs tor the i'irteen Thousand Pounds (£15,000), and shall be glad to know thac you have received the promised subsidy of £18,000 from the Government, failing which from any cause 1 expect, the within-named £15,000 to be ivumcied to mo." Compare this-, with the Minister's letter to the iioarU, dated 24th January; 1916, in which he states:—"Ab gards subsidy—i trust .that" with the large benefaction received by your Board from the late Mr Cawthron yoxt may be able to finance the undertaking; without coming, to the Government for its share of the cost, until, at any rate, tho year after the close of the war." I would like to ask tho two new candidates who hajiO already published addresses, how they consider it was possible for the Board to accept the Minister's suggestion in the lace of Mr Cawthron's terms? Then >; 4gam, soon after the Government's first refusal to pay over the subsidy,- Mr Cawtinon attended the Board's meeting and personally requested the Board to apply again for tbo subsidy to he paid immediately. Did tho Board do wrong in again making application? I wish ta emphasise that it was at Mr Cawthron's special request that "the Board, applied for the subsidy to ho paid immediately, he having been, led to believe that it would be forthcoming immediately he handed over his cheque, and that the individual membera of the Board did not originate the request. As negotiations progressed, it became increasingly evident that the Government was determined to force the Board to do one of two things, viz.: Either defer the building altogether until after the war or build with Mr Cawthron's money only, and as the latter course was obviously impossible under the terms of the gift, it was necessary to defer the building until after the war. In my opinion, notwith- | standing who is elected to the Board, it will be imposisble to call for tenders until tho war has ended. The Government is determined to defer any public building, not immediately and vitally "urgent,:, until after the -war has ended > ; ; atn.d .vhad.-.tlie war not commenced^ soosQafter Mr^ Cawlhrpn maderii* fif t.\the.,new. Hospital .would; probably e.'iiearing completion by now and the ,old members now, doubtless, considered quije competent. '. i • . - If elected it will be my-aim to endeavour to have tenders called for new Hospital as soon as conditions hare sufficiently settled down after the war has ended, the Board either spending the £15,000 gift pro rata with Government progress payments, or if these terms are not obtainable, spending the £15,000 first and the £18,000 subsktv afterwards, but 1 most certainly would not. be a party to the Bpending of the £15,000 unless the payment ot: the subsidy was absolutely assured. Regarding the proposed Maternity Ward, the Board has never suggested -"'""lion, but as it was estimated -*' jr olans prepared B"*t^ — '"'* set i that. % fctuJStng a- r &? B&y6SS the £30,00u ■**. by. the stfclrtteftfc suggested "nine*■orm&hqhs to reduce' . t'ho' eop.t, the sevens being the omisstofr of the Maternity Ward, and I wi&x fo' state that lam stftaigly opposed to this' bettif omitted. ~ r ° Permit, ne fv draw attention to the' Health Department's Official StJa'tistiesm the most recent yearly return published, wherein it is shown- that the' weekly maintenance charges per patibnt; at the Nelson . Hospital are amongst; the lowest in the Dominion, beinf £] los. against nine other Public Hospi-" tals-at two guineas and six others at sums ranging u P to three guineas, which official statistics emnha.sise the Fact that the affairs of the Board have' been most economically managed. The above items from official records are certainly most worthy of consideration. Yours, etc., H. BAIGENT. — " ' ' 1 gEND YOUE NAMB ung H»if-»- ---*? Grown to «n» ColoniS? Jobbi^ «»n»P and Lsaea-msrking Cui§t Cba-