HIBERNIANISM.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 779, 31 March 1910, Page 6

HIBERNIANISM.

TRIENNIAL CONFERENCE. The triennial mweable conference oi - the Hibernian Australasian Catholic 1- Benefit Society',,.(New' Zealand district)' , 1 commenced its session at. St. Patrick's £ Hall yesterday morning, the district pres eddent (Brp, P. J. ;Nerheny, of. Auck- ) land), presiding. There were about 60 delegates present. 3 The president, in his, opening address, > said that it was his' pride and pleasure to '■ welcome such a large number of represen- ; tatives, and ; to preside at 'such a distinguished gathering. The society had 1 numerically and financially. improved by 3 leaps .and..bounds. , He hoped that, the advance would,be.even more rapid in the • next than : in the last six months. ;It J was always pleasing to Hibernians to. see , the interest the :clergy were . taking' •in ' ; their work. (Applause.) When he wae •■ in Tasmania,'the" clergy had thrown in ;their .lot .with .them, in. order that th< j Catholic,young, men might be drawn;together, not only for the material, but foi 3 the spiritual, benefit of one another. Hβ ; hoped that,they .would all. bind themj selves together for the mutual strength- '. ening of their hands. At the last halt, yearly meeting the membership was re- |, ported to be. 2275.- To-dayj or rather on January 31, the number had increased to _• 2632. 'Uhe funeral fund in July last had ! stood at On January 31 that amount,had■ increased to £7795 2s.'2di, an .increaso of £356 lls. id. During th« •' half-year they had, paid away j£26o from. "' the funeral fund, but the accumulated in- ; terest'on the fund during that time had • amounted to 145. , , which practically ■ ' represented the amount paid away with" . the'exception j of- ,£2O ,6s. Theguaiantea . fund had stood at 10s. in' July last , On January 31 the amount had increased : to £386 ss. "The sick fund stood at 1 £12,558 ss. The'president concluded hia - remarks by abjunag delegates to bebrief. , in discussion, as they had a; lot of busi-. i , ness to get through. He called on. tho treasurer to move , the usual, motion oi fidelity and loyalty to hi 6 Holiness the \ Pope.' ■■■■■ ■■■'■■'■ . '>::'■' ' ■■".■"■'. : ' ! : Message to the Pop*. : : > . Mr: M; J. • Sheahan (treasurer), of > Auckland, moved that the following mes-' " sage.be sent/to his Eminence, the Panal , ■ Secretary of State;. Cai-dinal , Merry del ■ Val, Borne:—"Hibernian, Catholic Benefit • Society, NX; District Board assembled triennial , Wellington,, respect- > fully begs to tender to your Holiness tho ; deepest sentiments of love, loyalty, and I devotion, , and at the same time earnestly t and .humbiy.'invoking your apostolic bene- : ; diction.—Nerheny, President.' , . It was; - also ' moved; that, the .text .of .the motion • , be cabled at once : to Cardinal-Merry, del, ; VaL This, was carried unanimously.:■"'-. *' District Officers' Report. ;•. Tie district officers,'in'their report,, stated that during "the ' half-year .'the ' funeral claims' had amounted to £268.' The' funeral fund. had £7795 25.,;2d.' to : its credit; andsnowed an increase-over .last balance of £356 Us. <4d.\ The-bal-.; • ahce<heet showed'that the 'whole of th« ' i funenil find had been'invested, aid a. ' further-sum of £141 17s. 10d. borrowed, i from the general-fund to , make up the amount for a : loan. , .The general fund.. .' maintained: a strong position, and it was needless'to say' that it was-a. great iad-" • vantage that , it should "remain so. . The V. ; guarantee fund showed a' further in-.' , 1 crease' 1 of £21 ;15s. ' They. desired to exi press their sincere thanks'and apprecia- . non of the great assistance given by. . the' Eedemptorist and . Mirist, Orders '.'toV'' i wards increasing the membership of,the. society, and ■ otherwise recommending it. . The business to be' transacted was of a lengthy and important nature, and;, they ' could : only- commend it-to the careful ' consideration of the conference and trust ' the. unity and .prosperity'of the society would : long, continue., (Applause.) ': ..." 'The proceeaings at this stage were ' interrupted "■by"the': luncheon adjouniment.'; ,;,-;;,. ,■' ''. -,'.," ,/ ..'• .;,■■,' '■■■.. . ■ "''■ ■■ ■'■'■ Home Riile'for Ireland. ";-..'.-!\'' • • On..resuming, consideration was given ' ■ to the following motion by Bro. Dennehy . (HUtoh)— "- ■;,:.;, ■ ;,»' --.<■ ■- ■■ <:~li : - : .-"(l): The New", Zealand, District Board . of the :Hibernian Australasian :Cathqlio Benefit Society, at its triennial meetiDg at Wellington,,.heartily, congratulates the. ■ Irish', party; upon its : -. successful efforts towards the. attainment of Home Eula for Ireland,'the consummation of which, can oily be obtained by unity and the abandonment of .dissension;. "(2) that a copy' of ': the foregoing resolution be at ■ once cabled to Mr. John Eedmond, M.P., , chairman of the.". Irish Party." .. }-■ . Speaking, to the motion, the mover said that the', subject -was.-'.'one that . should appeal to'every Irishman in the: room. It was not his intention, he said, to make a patriotic speech.- The Parliament of Ireland (when it existed) had -voted "away, its''-own rights.-, The men. at thi head of : the, Irish Party bad- Ae subject of , Home Eule nearest to their ■ hearta, and wore not going to aLow- difference! of l opinion to defeat their ambition. The motion, if passed,. wquld assist the cause. -Bro. Corrigan (Waimate). seconded toe. • motion. It would appear, froip 7 recent cablegrams, he said, that>the Prime Minister of England had; gone back on hisl promise on the Home fiule question, and/ it was-their duty, he' contended, to let-,-. the people at Home understand how the! matter was regarded'by Irishmen, in New Zealand. ■■ All the ' world' over Irishmen, wereiSi positions of'trust, yet they. were. . not allowed to govern themselves. Ire-' ;■ land had - not' been conceded self-govern- . nient because she had not demanded & ; at: the point of the ■ sword.' The "Boers, after- they were defeated,.;wereVgranted'■ self-government. . ' ~ ..... ' . The motion was carried; unanimously. ■. ■ Investment of Funds. ': An interesting , discussion arose.over the question , of centralising,, for investment, purposes, the. Sick Fund, the .proposition being , expressed as follows:—; . .. -;■''■ "That this meeting affirms .the principle of centralising the Sick Fund lor the purpose of making moneys lying idl<> interest bearing,_ and instructs, the BJK to formulate rules' in regard' to same, and snbmit them for approval, to-a-eubse-.-quent meeting of the district." ' Bro. Kane* who tabled the motion, saW that the success of their organisation de> pended upon the proper investment of their funds. : Every penny available for • investment should be interest bearing. Bro. Beeiian (Auckland) said that ao> cording -to the registrar of . friendly societies, no less a sum than £48,000, ineluded in; the assets of all the societies, was non-interest bearing.'' Once, during the course of a. conversation" with tht late Mr. Seddon, it had been suggested, to him , (the speaker) that the. societies need not look very far for' investments.They could purchase Government debentures at the Post Office. ':'"■;. Bro. Pound (Invercargill) contended that pooling of funds for investment would be impracticable, especially with the smaller societies. .■'■■■' Bro. Flynn (Auckland) suggested that a committee be set up to report upon the matter. . ' Bro. Hooker (Hawera) said that he had made some investigations with regard', to the question of such investments, and : -had ascertained thaK2i per cent...of the funds of the Oddfellows was non-interest bearing; of the TTorcsters, 3-per cent.,- of the Ecchabites, 3i per cent.; of the Druids, 7 per cent; Of the funds of their own society, no less than. 10 per'.cent. ' :was non-interest bearing. .This was bad enough, but tho fact that their existing investments earned a lower rate of in-. ■ terest than, the invested funds.,oi thy other societies was worse. . J '"■"'■'. ,'.'■■ Wellington Secedes. ■ Certain remits providing for the con- ■ stitution of, the executive in the event of tho .changing of the locality: of tho s headquarters of the district were .with--drawn, Wellington having intimated its intention of forming a separate district. At presant the whole of the Dominion constitutes one district. , Wellington hav- . ing seceded, the : assuiuption is that the . other centres will follow suit. '•■■ ■ Other matters were also dealt with. ,