The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1887. SPLENDID MUNIFICENCE.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1588, 18 June 1887, Page 2

The Ashburton Guardian. Magna est Veritas et Prævalebit. SATURDAY, JUNE 18, 1887. SPLENDID MUNIFICENCE.

Many and various are the modes m which the Jubilee of Her Most Gracious Majesty is to be commemorated by her subjaccs m different parts of her wide dominions, ranging from the establishment of a great Imperial Institute down to the erection, mtrabile &ktu % of a public pump. There are hospitals, and benevolent institutions of all sorts to be founded, .statues erected, fountains opened, public clocks set up, Queen's drives and recreation grounds to be laid out, while one Scottish community has seized the occasion for the establishment of a public graveyard, and another community (not m the land of cakes) is to commemorate the auspicious occasion by the purchase of — a hearse ! Incongruous as are some of these notions, such, bizarre not lo say grim, celebrations as the last two proposals are happily the exception, the rule being that the public will be the gainers by the national commemoration m the shape of many useful works and many beneficent institutions. The Queen's funds established m Victoria and New Zealand by Lady Loch and Lady Jervois respectively for the relief of indigent women will take a high place among the latter, and it is pleasing to find that movements such as these are meeting with a generous response. The noblest example set m any of the Australian colonies m this direction is that of Mr and Mrs Davies, of Toorak, who, though not by any means the wealthiest of the many wealthy Victorians, propose to celebrate the Jubilee of the reign of the Queen by the distribution of the munificent sum of ;£io,ooo. The money is to be devoted to charitable purposes, without regard to 'distinction of sector party. One-half of the amount (^5000) is to be placed m the hands of trustees for the erection of cottages for the deserving and aged poor. It is estimated that the amount is sufficient to provide about twelve small cottages, m which the persons selected fcr participation m the benefit of this fund will be allowed to live rent free. The Hospital for Consumptives and the Imperial Institute are each allotted .£IOOO, and a similar sum, which will be increased if the charity is found to be of benefit, is set down for the assistance of poor people of loan or gift so as to enable them to purchase a cow or mangle or tools, etc. Lady Loch's Queen's fund is to receive -£500, and the remaining is to be applied m sums varying from to ;£jo to different objects, chiefly of a philanthropic character. A munificence so splendid and so welldirected calls for the heartiest admiration, and is worthy of imitation by other colonists, m New Zealand and elsewhere, whose wealth is much greater than is that of Mr and Mrs Davies.