THE PATRIOTIC FUND

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2228, 14 August 1914, Page 6

THE PATRIOTIC FUND

ORDER OUT OP GHAOS

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE SET UP

MEETING IN WELLINGTON An important meeting of citizens was held in No. 1 Committee Room in the Town Hall yesterday afternoon, nt the invitation of tho Mayor (Mt. J. P. Luke) to consider matters in connection- with flip raising of men, money, and goods for'the prosecution of (ho,war, and placing thio administration in connection with money-raising objects on a solid working basis. ■ Mr., Luke said.that up to the present,, and' since the public meeting held in the Town Hall, he had received the sum of £bS9, which was very encouraging indeed. He. said that a very great effort had beenhitfde by the ladies of the Wellington district or.defence area, who were co-operating nobly .with the Countoss of Liverpool™ seeing- that the Expeditionary Forces wero being well provided with comforts for the campaign. Those on the two steamers in the , harbour had taett very thoroughly equipped, thanks to tho ladies of Wellington, and those in close proximity* to the City; Tlie efforts of other ladies, as far. as Poverty Bay on the one Sid* of the island, and Taranaki on the other, would considerably" aid in the equipment of the second Expeditionary. Forco now. ibeing got together. '-, " '<, t . Continuing, Mr. Luke said that thews. w.ere several money-making entertainments- under weigh—a big matinee at the Grand Opera' House on Saturday (tomorrow) afternoon, in which, the Niblo Company (represented at ith-e meeting by Messrs. Bert Royle and Robert Greig),'the Brennan-Fulloy Company, and the Smart Set" were taking part. He believed that, with' such an ■ assemblage of talent, the matinee would be a great success. TheI Wellington "Football. Association was giving- a special football carnival on the Basin Reserve on Saturday, the Natives' Association were, organising a sacred concert'to bo held in the Town Hall on Sunday evening; 'Miss, Estello Beere intended to give a special, pupils' , entertainment; and Mrs. Gaze, of Kilbirnie, wos organising -a- concert. Mutton, fop. the Poor>\ Mr. L. McKenzie-■ had suggested that all the small ■ farmers (in the district should be approached and asked to.give, one, two, or a number of ehoep to be • slaughtered, frozen and shipped to London for the relief of distressed people there. .He said he had'approached Mr.: Millward, of the Gear Meat Company, who had offered to kill and freeze the mutton free, of cost. Mr, Foster, of the Wellington Meat' Export Company, and the Minister of Railways (re carriage of the sheep) had also been eeori, and were to give an- aswer later on. The local manager of the .New -Zealand Shipping. Co., who had been consulted respecting the conveyance of the. mutton to London, was also to reply later. '..'■., ■ Mr. H. G. Hill said that at present, the suggestion was impracticable, as all the works were closed down as far as freezing was concerned. Perhaps it would -be better to ask the farmers to givo the value of the sheep and send. the money. Homo. He pointed out ' that Nelson. Bros. ■ had offered to give 500 sheep or ,£SOO. In the Wairarapa they had already subscribed JIOjOOO and 00', per. cent, of those who subscribed would be small farmers. " • ■ .-•-.- Mr. W. H. P. Barber said that 'Mr.' Hill's suggestion, to buy. the . meat ■ at. Home would riot help the' matter very .nuch—it might even help to put the prices up. v Mr. Martin Luckie said that distress might not occur, immediately, and he advocated, that they ; should await developments before they decided to do anything' of a definite character. . Mr. James Macintosh eaid that instead 1 of discussing details at that stage, it would be better to set up committees. T,t was finally resolved that the proposa' to get offers-of. sheep.for the relief of distress in England bo endorsed, and that it be brought about as, soon as\the conditions permitted (in November or December).- '..-'. , • Church Contributions; " :, Respecting contributions from church-ge-ing people tho' Rot. Dr. Gibb said that ;here were many generous • people who had given large amounts to the fund and whose names, very probably, had been : announced; but there weTe others who were unable to give such large amounts who were prepared to givo according' to their means. He hoped to have a box placed in the vestibule- of the church-to receive ,such contributions and he' was sure that a large sum would be lealiscd. The chairman mentioned that among, the ideas • wiis a collection • at ■ all the churohes. Tho supplementary idea of a box' in tho vestibule was a good one. Dr. Gibb said he thought .the churchfej should open a fund to assist. at the present juncture.! .' '.'-.■. The Roy. Mr. Chapman favoured a Sunday (all day) collection in aid of the fund. On the suggestion-of the chairman- the members of tho clergy, who Included Bishop Sprott and Archbishop O'Shea,. ■were- asked to act as a committee to consider the best means of raising' funds through the medium of the Churches, and>to communicate with tlie executive committee later on. One Fund or Two? Mr. B. Fletcher wished to know what fund the money was to be paid into. >In his opinion there ought to be two funds—a war fund and a distress fund. . ■■ I • Colonel- Powley (chief . secretary and acting-commissioner of the Salvation Army) said that the; money donated by the> Salvation Army would go towards relief work. ' . ' . In urging that the setting up of the funds be decided upon, Mr. . Fletcher said that tho Government could easily raise money, through the Customs and othor methods of taxation, but what they "wanted to do was to have a fund fov tliß relief of distress, not only in Wellington, but distress, that would surely follow in a few months. If they had the two funds, the donors could .nominate which one they desired to contribute to, , Mr. C. R. Smith disagreed with Mr. Fletcher. He thought that in tho'urgent need of the moment that they should give all to the Government. -For his part ho would like the conference to adhero to that in tho meantime. • Ho thought that if a demand were made , later to ■meet cases of distress tho response would be just as- generous. Mr. .L. M'Kenzie said that if relief did not come iu a fortnight's time there would be 2000 men requiring assistance. It was part of' their civic duty to try and keep the men in employment, nnd for that reason ho was of opinion that they : should .take Mr. Fletcher's suggestion into serious coesideration. The chairman said that the local authorities . wcro fully seized of the position as regards unemployment, and he know enough,, of the citizens to knowthat they would rise to the occasion if distress, occurred in our midst. He was not one. that thought that the distress would be very acutely felt in Wellington. He was optimistic enough to think that the war would . not bo a long ono, and that British arms, would see it to « successful conclusion. . Messrs.- J. Fuller and J. Fitzgerald favoured a distress fund. The Rev. W. A. Evans (chairman of the Wellington .Hospital and Charitable Aid Board) mentioned that there was in the process of formation a national movement to, deal with ' cases of distress through the war. The Hospital BoaTd had approved of it, and he believed every board in the country would approve of it. It was a Guild of Service, which would systematically and effectively deal with all cases of poverty as they arrive. Executive Committee. The names ol' Messrs. 11. Beauchamp, C. P. Skerrelt, A. H-. Miles, lan Duncan, Gu.v Jolinstou, and J. Muir \vßre\added to 'tho general committee. Xlio executive coinmitten of tho.Patriotic Fluid w.i.< elcctM ni follows t—His Worship the Mayor (chairman), Bishop Sprott, Archbishop. O'Shea, the Ebv. H.

Van Stayoren, President of the Ministers' Association (Mr. Hinton), Hon. J. G. W. Aitken, Messrs. C. R. Smith, A. Fletcher, W. H. P. Barber, Wm. Ferguson, D. A. Ewen, .Tames Macintosh, W. A. Evans, C. M. Luke, Bert Roylc, A. Marryatt, C-' G. Wilsori. J. Fitzgerald, and P. J. Nathan. . . Mr. J. R. Palmer (town clerek) was appointed treasurer, and Mr. C. R. Smith secretary. i Before the meeting disbanded Mr. H. G. Hill, on behalf of tlie Bristol and Dominion Company, offered to slaughter, freeze and send.Home tho sheep secured for the relief of distress at Homo. . GERMAN PRISONERS OF WAR DEPENDENTS IN DISTRESS. One German reservist—a young steward, on the Tahiti—was taken in charge yesterday by the police, and will be interned a,t Somes Island with the other reservists.'"' The Defence authorities state- that it has beeuibrought under their notice that the wives and families of some of the German reservists, who havo been placed under arrest, havo'been left, in somewhat straitened circumstances, and it is their earnest desire that steps should be taken nt once to see that these people are not reduced to a state of absolute want through force of circumstances over which they have no control. The names of the Wellington families so affected—there are about half a. dozen local cases—aro being forwarded to the Mayor (Mr. , . J. P. Luke), ana any subscriptions for the specific purnose mentioned would be gladly received. It is understood that the Mayor of Auckland (Mr.; Parr) .is being similarly communicated with. '