WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

Gisborne Standard and Cook County Gazette, Volume II, Issue 245, 10 January 1889, Page 2

WHO IS RESPONSIBLE?

It is evident that there will yet be some trouble over the case of the man Galbraith who is now lodged in the Napier Refuge. Some time back we pointed out the circumstances by which this unfortunate man came to be a permanent charge upon this district, and the outcome was that the Gisborne Charitable Aid Board took up the matter and repudiated any liability. Now the Napier Board naturally protest against this refusal, and propose to take the matter to the law courts. It will perhaps be time enough to see to the affair when the opinion of the Napier solicitor is made known, but nothing will be lost and some result may be gained by considering the question at its present stage. Is the Gisborne Board legally or morally responsible in the matter? We fear it must plead guilty on both counts. Whether the arrangement made by the Benovelent Society was good or bad is not necessary now to discuss, though we may add that we think it was a very shortsighted transaction. But the arrangement having beentuade and the Z 20 which Was offered on behalf of Gal-

braith having been accepted, the Benevolent Society would thereafter, we think, be morally and legally bound to fulfil their part of the agreement, and the Charitable Aid Board, it would reasonably appear, would be compelled to accept the Society’s obligations as well as its assets. There must still be a small asset on Galbraith’s behalf, because besides the £2O handed over to the Benevolent Society in terms of the arrangement made, the Government subsidy cannot be quite exhausted. The principle involved is a very important one, for if such an arrangement were allowable in the one case there was nothing to prevent its being made in any number of cases. However, we believe that the guarantee to the Napier Board must be fulfilled, without regard for the point as to whether it was wisely made. The fact that the Benevolent Society was supported by voluntary contributions at the time made the point one into which no one had any business to enquire but the contributors themselves, but the matter has now been placed on quite a different footing, which leaves the Board no alternative than to submit to it. It is well, though, that a jealous eye should be kept on all expenditure for charitable aid purposes, for there is before us the danger of a poor rate requiring to be struck. When the Napier solicitor’s opinion is made known the local Board will have an idea as to what action is best to be taken : though the arrangement might not hold good on technical grounds, on the face of it there appears to be an obligation which must be fulfilled.