PATRIOTIC FUNDS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 124, 2 July 1941, Page 5

PATRIOTIC FUNDS

WHERE THE MONEY GOES LOW OFFICE COSTS Financial statements showing that! every endeavour is being made by* the National Patriotic Fund Board to see that the money contributed by the public is being used .to promote the Avelfare of New Zealand's fighting forces were presented flt the annual conference of patriotic bodies held in Wellington. The accounts Avere for the board's current year and coveired a period of eight months, from October 1 last. Donations to the board's common fund in this period totalled £129,700 8s 6d, of which £19,614 8s Gd. was received by direct donations ancl £110,08(5 by contributions from tha provincial patriotic councils. Expen* diture in the same* period amounted to £200,184 lis 6'd, and of this', administration expenses amounted to* only £238 9s 4d. The salaries of tho board's staff are borne by the Gov* ernmeint and are not a charge on the patriotic funds, the £238 beingfor such items as postages and telegrams, printing and stationery, travelling and allowances, and office requisites. To Meet Contingencies*. A heavy item of expenditure was* the provision of £54,3016 for the establishment of contingency fund? for the benefit of the forces overseas, the amount being made up as follows: Egypt, £32,250; England, £8750; Suva, £13,256; and Australia.. £50. Apart from maintenance of the Y.M.C.A. service to the forces, it i"» from these funds that the board's overseas commissioner, LieutenantColonel Waite, is able to provide needed and well-deserved comfort* for the - troops after having beei* engaged in action with the enemy. A dispatch from him which arrived this week showed that not only wasr he in the position to make available comforts for the men after their evacuation from Greece, but that he did so to good purpose, and it can be safely assumed that h<* also had comfortsi ready for the New Zealanders on their return from Crete. m The accounts also show that in the past eight months £11,356 was spent in New Zealand in purchasing goods for sale at cost to the troops in the New Zealand Forces Club Cairo. Another amount of £8647 was also spent in the same period in this country in the purchase 1 of such items as radio sets, tobacco and cig-* arettes, newspapers and periodicals, sports gear, etc., for the forces overseas. Besides this cash expenditure by the board, a considerable sfum in the aggregate would also be represented by private purchasing of gift parcels by contributors to thi_» board's unaddressed. gift parcel"? scheme. Details of expenditure under the heading of "Comforts for troops" include thei following : Convoys for transports, £100 3s; troops on ports, £2945 6s 3d; troops overseas, £8647 4s 8d; troops in New Zealand £2956 Is lid; regimental funds, military bands' equipment, £222 IPs lid; overseas seamen, £857 8s lid. Sick and/ Wounded Fund. Contingency funds for sick and wounded purposes of £5742 13s fid for Egypt and £12,450 for England Were also provided from the Sick and Wounded Fund. At present there is a balance in this fund of £459,382 17s, but it is anticipated that as a result of the New Zealand casualties in sick and wounded and also prisoners of war in the Greek and Cretan campaigns, there will shortly be heavy calls on this fund and that these will absorb a considerable part of the present balance. 0«e other feature about the accounts is that they illustrate plainly that providing for all is a very different proposition from thinking of patriotic funds in terms of the cost of cigarettes; and other comforts for individuals. Although the accounts are for only eight months they show that it costs real money to' maintain a service of this kind and that subsitantial funds are necessary.