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Opening of York
Maternity Ward
"Something attempted, some- .
thing done." This phrase was jus
tifiably applied at the function on
Wednesday afternoon in connec-
tion with the official opening of the
York Maternity Hospital The
achievement, in addition to beipg
something which is going to benefit
humanity, has provided an era 111
the advancement and progress M
the town and district of York-
That its value is recognised was
manifested in the large and enthus
iastic gathering which was present
on Wednesday afternoon at the
York Hospital. For this great-
achievement certain praise must be
meted out. Such an accomplish
ment is not brought about without
assiduous work in the preparatory
stages. The Red Cross Society,
headed by their esteemed presi
dent, must be given pride of placc-
This body, consisting of women, are
fully cognizant of the value of such
an Institution as a maternity ward
And this fact made their efforts for
its establishment (doubly sincere-
Then there was Dr. Ward, who of
fered and rendered untiring assis
tance in the cause which he consid
ered a vital necessity to the dis
trict-. Mr. Latham placed at the
disposal of the Red Cross his offi
cial capacity as member for York
to further their claim. And he did
much — which was testified to on
Wednesday. The Government rf
the day, was sympathetic, too:
and the different interests worked
so harmoniously together that- the
ward became an established fact
long even- before it was anticipated
. Chut by no means before it was re
quired).
The proceedings on Wednesday
afternoon were presided over by
Mrs. J. C. Maclachlan, President of
the York Red Cross Society. The
President said that she was pleased
to see so many people present at
the opening function. Everybody
was in favor of the establishment
o5 a; Maternity Hospital, and she
could say with the perfect concur
rence of all that that day was .the
happiest day in connection with the
local Red Cross Movement. It was
"something attempted- something
dme." In her appropriate remarks
Mrs. Maclachlan paid a tribute' to
the sympathy extended by the
Government, and also referred to
the great personal help' rendered by
Mr. Latham and the Secretary of
the Health Department (Mr. Heu-
hn). The speaker regretted deeply
the absence of Dr. Ward, more es
pecially in' view of the sad circum
stance that made his - attendance
impossible, Mrs. Maclachlan then
called upon His Worship the Mayor
t) deliver a short address.
Mr. Dovey first of all read apolo
gies from Messrs. Yelland, Baxter,
and Hamersley, M's-L-C., and Dv.
Atkinson. That day,' the mjiyor.
continued, everybody would agree
was a most important one for York,
marking, as it did, a distinct pro
gress in social activities. For some
time past it- had been very evident
that a maternity ward was a great
necessity; and the matter conse
quently had received the earnest
consideration of Dr Ward. With
the -great assistance of the Red
Cross ladies and a sympathetic-
Government, this ward had at. last
been established. The (Institution
would be fitted up by the Govern
ment supplemented by the Red
Cross funds. As Mayor of York he
would like to express his great ad- J
miration for the work done by the
Red Cross- They were always j
ready to help a just cause and he
wished to publicly thank them. Re-
membering to the "Saturday and Sun- !
day Movement" the- speaker said j
that the sum of £140 had been rai- i
sed. There was an aspect of this
movement other than a monetary
one, howeyer, and that was the fact |
that a permanent hospital welfare
committee had been formed- The s
committee existed for the better- '
ment of conditions at the local hos
pital—a worthy objective. In con
clusion the mayor thanked the Rod
Cross Society for giving him an op- j
portunity of being present that dav
and to address the gathering.
Mrs Cowan, 0-B.E-, was very
loudly applauded upon rising to
speak. She said that it gave her
much gratification to think .what
the Red Cross were doing in York,
and at the- same time she would like
t< congratulate the Government for
the way they had risen to the oc
casion in connection with the es
tablishment of the York Maternity
Hospital- The Red Cross Society
was the most important in Western
Australia, and York's effort was a
most commendable one. Since th e
war Red Cross Societies had been
formed into Peace Societies to
ameliorate the suffering of humanity
in peace just as they had done in
war. Mrs Cowan, continuing,
made a passionate appeal to all
women to assist the Red Cross as
much as they possibly could. The
speaker drew a. comparison with
similar --societies, in America- They
were wonderful organisations in.
that country because they had been
formed in times of peace. The Aus
tralian Red Cross had done admir
able work during the war- America
could not have done more" for her
men than what Australia did. Mrs-
Ccwan again appealed to the wom-
en folk to take a keen interest in
the affairs of the Red Cross. The-
speaker congratulated Mrs- Mac
lachlan as the President of (ho
York Red Cross and extended to
that body, on behalf of the Red
Cross of Perth, their heartiest con
gratulations on York's achievement.
Mr- Latham said that it gave him
great pleasure to associate with the
people there that, dajy. There was
1 1 c. greater movement than that to
relieve suffering. During the war
and peace men had learned to love
women for the noble work they had
done. The establishment of a- Mat
ernity Home in York shows that
the women of our town are taking
a great interest in the district's
welfare. Big families were a dis
tinct advantage to the welfare of
the State and any assistance which
could be given to mothers should,
not be denied them. Women were
able to do more in this direction
than men— women were nearer to
the hearts of earh other, and so
were able to appreciate, each oth
er's difficulties. Whatever little he
had done in bis public "capacity in
connection with the establishment
oi the Ward had been done will
ingly,' and he would always help to
any extent he possibly could.
The Honorary Minister (Mr. S.
W Munsie) said that he thanked
the previous speakers for the kind
words spoken of himself, and the
Government- So Tar as- he was
concernjedj vhaif the Government
had " done had all been ' in good
faith and with pleasure- What
hurts him in his capacity as Minis-
ter for Public Health is that mauy
urgent and necessary requests cau-
not be acceded to because- of a
shortage of money. It was always
a pleasure to him to be able to
say "yes." Since he had boon suc
cessful in getting the Entertain
ments Tax utilised for hospitals he
had /raaetyecl innumerable requests
from all over the. State. He be
lieved he could make himself the
most popular man in. Western Aus
tralia if all these requests could be
granted.
Mr. Munsie said that it was. about
15 or 16 months ago since he was
in York, and at that time the Red
Cross waited upon him in connec
tion with the establishment of a
Maternity Hospital. The upstairs
portion of the general hospital was
suggested but- was objected to by
the chief medical officer in Western
Australia (Dr. Atkinson). Perhaps
the objection was justified, for his
(Mr. Munsie's) opinion was that
the maternity ward should be kept
apart from the general hospital
The suggestion then came from the
Red Cross lathes that new nurse's
quarters should' be erected and the
present building .utilised for a Mat
ernity Hos|fital. The cost of this
was £400, ' half the amount being
found h the Red Cross. For this
the "/fadies deserve the greatest
thanks. He had been informed
thaifc day that the official opening
ceremony was taking place too,
early and too late— too early be
cause the building had not yet
been burnished : and too late because
a baby had been born just 24 hours
previoueljy. Regarding thje furni
ture, however, that was on order
and would arrive in the course of
a few weeks The building itself
badly needs renovating and he
would like do tell the Red Cross
ladies that this work-would be car-
ried out "at the expense of the
Government and would be done as
soon as possible. (Applause)-
Continuing, the Minister eulogised
the formation in York, of a Hospital
Welfare Committee. That was a
distinct benefit that accrued from
the Saturday and Sunday Appeal-
Reverting again to the new ward,
the Minister said he would like -to
see something done in the way of
beauitifyihg the hospital grounds-
On this year's estimates he had
placed £1000 for this work, and the
expenditure had .been approved-
He thought that gardens and lawns
were an„ assistance to convalescence
If they would endeavour inYork to
d"> something in this direction the
Government were ' prepared to sub
sidise them £ for £. (Loud Ap
plause). In declaring the Mater
nity Ward open, Mr. Munsie said
that the only concern the Govern
ment had in the matter was that
the people of York would endea
vour to keep the Home full. (Laugh
ter and applause).
The announcement was then made
by Mrs. Maclachlan that in a de
sire to .pay a tribute to Mrs. Edith
Cowan, O.B.E., the Red Cross Soc
iety had decided to, call the Insti
tution the "Edith Cowan Maternity
Hospital." (Loud applause). Mrs
Cowan very feelingly thanked the
Red Cross for the great honor the
had done her.
A hearty vote -of thanks to Mr.
Munsie was moved by Mrs. " A H
Mercer , and seconded by Mrs. Cam-
eion and carried by acclamation.
a tribute had been paid
Mrs. Maclachlan" for the way she
had conducted the proceedings, a
aPPreciative afternoon tea
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