DAIRY COMPANY GRANTS £50

Chronicle (Levin), 26 July 1946, Page 4

DAIRY COMPANY GRANTS £50

R.S.A. MEMORIAL HAU FHND At the annual meeting of the Levin Co-operative Dairy Company on Wednesday, it was decided to ' make a donation of £50 to the Levin R.S.A. Memorial Hall. The proposal to make the grant " was brought to the meeting in the lorm of a notice of motion "that the question of making a grant to the Levin R.S.A. Memorial ' Hall Fund be submitted.to the annual general meeting. of shareholders." Upon the motion being made open for discussion, the chairman of directors, Mr. T. G. Vincent, who was the mover, said that the idea originated from a deputation from the Levin R.S.A., to the directors, who considered that it was a matter for the annual meetihg to decide. It was also for the meeting to decide the amount to be given. It should be understood, he said, that the Linton and Opiki areas deserved similar grants if it ,was decided to start funds there. As a basis for discussion, Mr. Vincent suggested a sum of £50. Mr. P. B. Bartholomew said that if the grant was made, other

organisations had just as much right to expect donations. He argued that "charity began at home," and therefore organisations such as the Young Farmers' Clubs were just as deserving. Mr. Vincent explained that the hall would be used by many organisations. The matter was not a parochial one. The company already made regular donations to the Plunket Society, the Horowhenua Boys' and Girls' Agricultural Club, the Horowhenua A. and P. Association, the Blind Institute, the Seamen's Institute and others. Mr. A. Bagrie said that the principle of the donation was all right, but the company could not afford to adopt a "Father Christmas" attitude. The matter should be one for the individual to decide. Mr. G. Armstrong proposed an amendment, that the amount should be £100. The hall would have a club attached that would be for the use of ex-servicemen and women, he said. The men who went away were responsible for many having their farms to-day. On the amendment being put to the meeting it was lost on the voices. Mr. H. J. Lancaster said that he spoke as one of the promoters of the scheme. The hall and club were intended as a memorial to the men who went- away to save the company and did not return. Their number included . one company employee, who was' killed in England. "It should be remembered that we are all sale now," he said, "but what would it have been like if these men had not paid the supreme sacrifice." The canvass for funds had been almost completed, and the -public had subscribed liberally to the extent of £7000. The least that could be done would be to ereet a memorial of a useful nature. "We don't want a cold slab of concrete." he said. The motion was carried on a show of hands.