The Star. THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1906.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 8585, 29 March 1906, Page 2

The Star. THURSDAY, MARCH 29, 1906.

THE CONSUMPTION CAMPS. There is something to be 6aid for and against the proposal that the Hospital Board should assume control of the Nurse Maude consumption canip3. In its favour it may be urged that the camps are fulfilling an. object which* comes within the scope of the Board's duties, and are therefor© saving the Board a. certain amount of expenditure. Another point in favour of the proposal is that, if the Board took over the camps, it would be in a position to claim a Government subsidy of twentyfour shillings for_ every pound which! it spent on theirlnaintenance. Against the project is the objection that the camps could not be carried on so cheaply by the Board as by private enterprise. This argument was used with some force at yesterday's meeting of the Board. It- was urged by more than one member that the public would expect more from a public body like, the Hospital Board than it received from a semi-private institution. There is, we admit, something in this contention. People who nov?» enter the sanatorium realise that they are going to a hospital maintained by voluntary subscriptions and conducted in ah informal manner, and for this reason they are satisfied with the treatment they receive. But if the institution passed under the control of the Hospital authorities and began to draw a State subsidy, the position would be different. It is quite likely that patients would become more exacting than they are under present conditions, and that the Board would find itself committed to considerable expenditure without proportionately increasing ithe efficiency of the camps. This project should not be lost eight of, although it should not be permitted to outweigh the other considerations we have mentioned. The mere fact that the camps are in need of fiends should bring the Hospital Board to the rescue. Other considerations should be either cast aside or left to standover until a more suitable occasion. The Board should take over the^camjw and see that they do not languish foa . Svant of funds. In doing so, it might .• make it clear that it did : not intend to depart from the methods of piaiiagement at present in force. It might, indeed, allow the present ' managers Jta remain in charge, merely making itself responsible for supplies. This plan would have a treble advantage. It . would not disturb the existing arrangements, which, though, "rough and tumble," are wonderfully effective; it vould ensure the Government's subsidy; and it would relieve the Medical Association of its present responsibility, . leaving it free to concentrate its energies, on' the establishment of a per*manent consumptive sanatorium.