FOR BELGIAN RELIEF

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2394, 25 February 1915, Page 6

FOR BELGIAN RELIEF

V WAREHOUSE FUND .'SAR^(X)3a J EWEN'S The staff of the firm of Sargood, Son, and Ewen 1 held a meeting last eyemng to decide what steps should be taken towards' raising money for: the relief of the.starving Belgians: > Mr. D. A. Ewen. the resident partner'and general manager,'occupied the chair, and in a brief address, pointed out the desperate plight- ofthe stricken, nation, and impressed ■: upon . the . staff. the absolute •need there woi for everyone to do his part to afford ■ at; least some measure of relief, -. On- tho motion of Mr. L. Partridge : it was decided that a honse fund should be started, and that appeal should be made to every member to voluntarily donate; what he could afford monthly towards it: The motion was ■unanimously carried, and it is. hoped that a substantial.amount will .be subscribed teach month until the pressure ; js' relieved. . j

NO REPLY ; STATEMENT BY PRIME MINISTER, The Prime Minister stated yesterday afternoon that no reply had been re- ( ■ 'ceived up. till then, irom the. Imperial 1 Government regarding the.new Belgian : • Commission-fl-appoftl. .-■ Something -rei •• quired-explanation;he said, - and i when .aVreply.' was received it would bo iriado public. , MESSAGE TO BELGIAN CONSUL. iv The Consul for Belgium (Hon. C. I'Johnston) . has received a cablegram : from 1 the Count de Lalaing, the Belgian !-.. (Mimster-in'London thankfully endorsing the Belgian- Commissioner's appeal for I ' continued, assistance to -the - starving !■ - -Belgians. . 1 .: ~ .. • . A STREET PARADE ! ■ commendable zeal, tho "Mag- < pies," who have been performing at i . His Majesty's Theatre for the past : three weeks, and who collected quite a \ substantial amount last 'week. during I .their performances, ..'paraded .the''city '. . streets in' a decorated,-lorry yesterday botw.eeu 11 a.mi and' 2 p.m., making ;■ an appeal to the public on behalf of i . , the sorely distressed Belgians. As tho result of this effort, the sum of £61 v 12s. 3d. was realised. Of that amount ! • the sale of a "Magpie" : doll (the gift ■ lof Miss Iris Edgar) realised £4 Is'., and r 'the "Belgian" doll (donated, and dress- • ied by -Mjsb Pearl Livingstone) brought ■£3 155.: A further effort was made to "raise the wind" at His, Majesty's last evening, and by the sale , of flow.'Bra arid money thrown on the stage another £10 14si 10Jd. was,; raised. . . These amounts, added to the money s ■ , 'collected by the "Magpies" last week, f .bring their fund up to £90 2s. ljd* •

'•THE GLAD EYE COMPANY'S WORK , The theatrical people are doing wonderfully good work in raising money for : the relief of the Belgians. It was announced by Mr. Claude Vernon last ■ ovening, on behalf of Mr. Beaumont Smith,-that ithe sum of £102 had already been raised, and: that furthersubscriptions would be heartily welcomed. As tbo result a shower of coin fell upon the stage, and further donar itions were 'solicited 'at the, doors by members of .the company as the audience left the' theatre. The amount Eo collected amounted to £22 ss'., which •brings the total up to £124 ss. /" • The members .of No. 5 Company, Garrison Artillery,; who have been on duty at Fort Ballance for the past six months, have decided to contribute one day's pay towards the Belgian Relief Stand. This'gift will total between .£3O and £40. . . VIEWS IN OTHER CENTRES 'AN IMPERIAL MATTER, tßy Telegraph.—Press Association.) . Napier, February 24. The Napier Committee of the'Patri--otio Fund considers that the Belgian rfti'', lief question is. an Imperial matter of, .. such great importance that the Gov- . eminent of Wow Zealand'/ 'after/.consul-.- 1 tation--with the Home Government,should offer on behalf of the , Dominion to forward i monthly a proportionate ! share of the amount urgently required. (The committee. points out that the con- , Bent of each member of Parliament , could be got by letter, in order that -the matter may be -promptly -dealt .with ;.without calling Parliament together. 1 'APPEAL TO THE GOVERNMENT. I 1 .A'shburtqn,,February 24. 1 This morning; ;the'- Borough Council I fold a special meeting and resolved to | telegraph the -Premier supporting the 1 Mayor of. Dunedin's appeal to the Government to vote £25,000 per month' towards ■ the relief of the Belgians. •- The .chairmaii',and secretary of. the local organisation in connection with : the Bolgian Relief Fund also ,telegraphrui to Mr. Massey on similar lines. -.WXIRARAPA CONTRIBUTIONS. Mastertsn, February 24.

'At a. meeting to-day. of the Belgian Relief Fund Committee it was announced- that the Wairarapa had subscribed £15,595 " towards-equipping the first Expeditionary Force. -A sum of*.-£1250 graa also' subscribed "to 'the Lady Liverpool Fnnd; v :an'd7tlie Committee has since' •Been..canvassing .'for the Belgian' Relief Fund, and lias sont away £5000, in cash,-food,' and clothing". At the, meetin'g; to^day.;it. was. decided to'.make? systematic appeal for .monthly, contri-butions,-and Mr.-A. P.-Whatman-hand-ed in a cheque for £500. Mr. W. Kebbell offered £20 per month during the whole period of the war; and many .ether contributions , have also been promised. > • .:;A..resolution .was alsq passed that a felegram -be forwarded- to' the .Premier stating that the time had arrived when the-Government should'take action.

,' " OPINION" IS TIMART7. : Tlmaru, February 24. .. The South Canterbury, Patriotic Committee endorse the Dunedin recommendation that Belgian rdief should be put 'on a national basis. . . NORTH OTAGO'S ASSISTANCE. ' ' '■ Oarnaru, February 24. a laigo .meeting of the NortH Otago Patriotic Fond executive to-day, it was unanimously decided to remit another £1300 to tie Belgian Consul in Dunedin■: for Belgian relief, making over £5000 from here for this purpose .alone. ' The executive also decided on the following resolution, which is to be Bent to the .Premicr: "That the Government be urged to at once make provision to remit tyew Zealand's fair proportion of any sum that 'is required from Australasia for the relief of distress in Belgium, the minimum of such • quota to bo £15,000. STATE AID FAVOURED. Westport, February 24. 'At a. meeting of tho Westport Borough Council to-night a telegram ; was received from the Mayor _of Dunedin asking the council s support of the resolution in favour of the Government imposing a super tax on land aad mci me tax so as to xa.so £25,000 per month for the relief of the Belgians. The council decided that the Prime Minister be telegraphed to: that in the opinion of this council the Government would have whole-heaTted support, if it undertook to send £25,000 per month to relieve the distress of the Belgiaaa; this council being.of opinion that the (service the Belgians rendered to the , cause of humanity by their- gallant standjxrald raven be adeq^aj^lXJ®)^4<l'

PRESS SYMPATHY, IN AUSTRALIA. By Teleemnh—Press Association—OoDjrriiht . Sydney. February 24. : In a leader on the Belgian appeal, the 'Herald" says:—"Our immediate duty is to contribute contributions as long as the war lasts or Belgium needs food." The "Telegraph" declares: '"For such a cause the peoples of the. Commonwealth and the Dominion can surely provide conjointly £75.000 monthly, or its equivalent in food. ,! Papers in other States similarly slipport the..appeal. '. ; 'AUSTRALIAN MEAT FOR THE' !,' • ■>■'■■■: ry.fBELGIANS.' ; .vIS' London, February 23. As a first,/instalment to the new Belgian appeal, . the New South Wales Pastoralists' Union is sending 2000 carcasses of mntton. The association has already, forwarded 30,000 carcasses for British aid Belgian relief. ; THE ''DOMINK) N" LIST. v ■ TOTAL STILL RISING. Contributions to_ the fund tor "the relief of the/Belgians in distress will subsequently.'/be forwarded to * the authorities ui-Belgium for distribution:—

GOVERNMENT URGED TO ACT. [To the Editor.] • .' Sir,— Perhaps you will agree with me that * national concentrated effort. is necessary to assist the Belgian nation in the hour of her distress, and that small spasmodic "attempts to raise the large sum of money necessarily required monthly should be condemned as useless. Would not the' matter be better lin the hands of the Governments of Australia and New Zealand, and that each community should be specially taxed for the purpose? Joint action in this direction • would ensure success, while the amount payable byeach inhabitant would', be small and yet in.' the aggregate quite sufficient to give the' required relief. T trust the Government will endeavour to pursue some such a course. —I.am, etc., • ' • HERBERT HANKINS. PalmorstoniNorth, February 23, 1915. VALUE OF SMALL SUMS WEEKLY. [To the Editor.] Sir,—The urgent and pitiful appeal of gallant little Belgium to the citizens of our great Empire will doubtless, call forth a general and generous'response. But .while our wealthier citizens are able to give freely of their comparative abundance, there are thousands of ■ others, who, while they oannot give in a lump sum all they would like to give, would gladly give a weekly or monthly contribution for a year or more of smaller -amounts. Many whose means will not permit of their sending a guinea donation would be glad to give a shilling or even, half-a-crown a week, if the collection of it could.be arranged. May I offer this suggestion to; those who have'ithe appeal under consideration, feeling assured that it would meet with a prompt and general response. By this means;; many who shrink from sending in what-they feel to be a paltry sum would be afforded an opportunity of giving expression to the sympathy they feel, and the amount raised would be yery much larger than .otherwise possible.—l am, etc., SYMPATHY.

' £ s. d. Previously acknowledged... 16,282 5 0 Wellington Law Society ... 250 0 0 List per. "Manawatu Evening Standard" 132 3 6 Eric Riddiford (3rd dona- ' tionV. 100 0 .0 .'.Taranaki Herald" and ■ "Budget" Belgian Relief . Fund 100 0 0 Mr. and Mrs. W. A. Wad-. ' dell (Kelburu) 25 , 0 0 W. Bray Young, Wellington 10 0 0 R, Launcelot-Bacchas ...... 5 0 6 Mrs. Spencer Medley ......... 5 0 0 H. J. Von Haast 5 0 0 H.W.F.v . ...1.5 . 0 0 "A Stranger" .........i........ 5 0 0 Miss : Ellen S. Greenwood ... 4 0 0 Miss Ann Greenwood ....... 2 2 0 Gunner GuIIerausen, Howitzer Battery, Trentkam 2 0 0 James Mackie, Bulls ■ 2 0 0 Sale of Flowers, por Miss M'Kegg 1 17 10, Sale'of bags (per Mrs.; J., M. Richardson) ............ 1 5 0 Mrs.'J: Styles (sale of roses) 1 , 2 3 Joyce and Thyra Gill ....1— 1' 0 0 Jessie G. Hall 1 0 0 Edna and Donald Hunter ... ■ 10 0 J.T.H.. . 10 0 M.B. 0 10 0 Total 16,938 6 1'