PATRIOTIC FUNDS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2585, 6 October 1915, Page 6

PATRIOTIC FUNDS

AN AMALGAMATION SCHEME

TO AVOID EMBARRASSMENT .I'. '

DEPUTATION TO THE MAYOR

At noon yesterday a deputation, consisting of Messrs.-L. Tripp, C. M.' Luke, Sidney lurkcaldie, W. E. Fuller, E. J. Colley, and James Mlntosh,. representing the New Zealand Patriotic Society, waited on his Worship the Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) with a view to arriving at a complete understanding and -unity of purpose in connection, with .the raising and. disbursement of patriotic funds, including the moneys raised- by. the Patriotic Society and that which has'passed through tin hands of the; : .Mayor\for ..the benefit' of wounded soldiers.'The difficulty'wliiqh has 'existed : in handling the funds for the benefit of those for whom they were raised has been the delay occasioned by tho postpoiiuient of . the J appointment of .. . trustees-' and. setting up, a board of 7; administration, until it was ;kuo\vji what, form the scheme would take -provincial, or local. It was gathered from, the. speakers at yesterday's meetin-j.that the scheme now proposed was a -local one, with tho door ,' ;left wide eniugh open to permit of co-operation or amalgamation with a provincial , or, a national scheme.'if the same were 1 ever broiight about.-' It was pointed out that some of the donations were rjceived with ;.the proviso, that the scheme adopted was .to.'be'a national one, and it was decided' that, a; meeting; ,'of donors—really a meeting of the public—would be necessary before the,funds could be allocated for local relief merely, ' Time to Act. ; : L Mr.'L«)nard : Tripp stated that the committee of the Patriotic Society had decid-ed-to wait on the'; Mayor. with the idea of formulating a proper basis for the administration- of.-the • funds.. The' society; 'could., not.: very': well act as a controlling' authority, .but . with the assistance and cooperation of the. Mayor the/ could organ-ise-ithe' funds properly, and do the necessary , work ■ required. He; suggested that they should form, a society which ..would be incorporated. under : the provisions of the War Funds Act, appoint trustees, and get to work... He had drafted a scheme.as I tlie-basis, of,a. working arrangement, but [the first step would be to call the donors, together and appoint an executive'conmiittee and, trustees.' -He: wo'old like hib Wor-ship's-permission to consult with Mr! O'Shea to arrange what waa necessary to do from a legal point of view.' He had. a list'of' names /of gentlemen before ■ him as members of'.the proposed executive,; but so ;far he. had not: consulted .them,- and really did not know if they were prepared to act.' They were only suggested'names so far, but it-, was-necessary to;get : representative;men.: The names were:—Messrs. A. iMlntosh,- A. H. -.Miles, - William Ferguson, C. M. Luke/ Siduey lurkcaldie, H. G. Hill, C.'A. Ewen, and Leonard Tripp. I The members: of .the Patriotic Society would also be on the committee. 1 • It was proposed, that the new. society would be open to the public, 53. to be the entrance'to the'society ) y and' J!5/entitling a person to life membership, by which action it was hoped to raise an extra sum of money. ' Mr. C. M. Luke. thought -it was. desir-, able that an early, meeting should be called to'give effect to the. proposals, yv Mayor Agrees with the Proposal. 7 The Mayor, said, he - .was very, pleased that,: the Patriotic Committee had called upon :him:; in connection with the funds, as it, was-becoming absolutely necessary, that , the generosity of tho people should .be .reflected; ,in' the proper quarter. .He agreed with (Mr,; Tripp that a -meeting should bo called, as some of tho' money had been subscribed to a.National Fund, and they could only vary tho order., by calling a public meeting to which aIL donors. would: be • invited, and pass' a resolu-' tioh. : Then,: it,should be competent for them 'to ask tho. Court to set up trustees under, the Trustees Act. Mr. Tripp: "I don't think that would be necessary. It would only be necessary :to pass' a resolution.". ,'Mr. -Luke, continuing, 'said that he was glad it was„' proposed . that the society should be incorporated That would ;give it a better standing. In regard to the" money collected by himself, he thought it should : be .incorporated with the otheT funds to be used, for general, purposes. There was no reason why that money should not be incorporated under the. same trust, and lie. would go as'far as to. suggest that, the two committees should meet together with a view to' co-operation. I Was it 'proposed .'.to give the. executive committee: full; powers to inquire into cases and, allocate the money? :. Mr. Tripp: They would have the fullest powers, and "powers also to join in, or amalgamate., with any provinoial or national fund.' , . 1; ~' ':v The Mayor .announced that he was quite prepared to call a public meeing, and Monday week was fixed on as the date, in order to" give !all donors plenty of notice of the meeting. Mr. Kirkcaldie montioned the incorpora,tion;of the two committees (Patriotic Society and .Mayor's Patriotic): as one. An Embarrassing- Position. • ■ ; In reply Mr.'Luke admitted quite frankly; that; the existence of the-two 'societies :had 'been embarrassing to him' at times, particularly'as in each of the other.centres there was only one. He had been asked to raise JS3OOO for the equipment of tlie' liospital ship, and had to confess that th'eihioriey was coming in sldwly, whereas Auckland had at once.' sent down 'its cheque for tho amount. , Owing to .the moneys being tied wp here he had to make La'special appeal-for,everything new. that '.-cameValong, - andiin- most cases .his.appeal :had to be made- to the Same people, who had- been very'good'indeed. Still it lad made 'it' rather embarrassing at times.. <. ; ; -Mr; Kirkoaldie said: he, as one of four in.his family,7 was willing-to be made a life member of the society. (Hear, hear.) iiHe'.-also 'thought'.the society should be j operi, to juveniles, as well'as adults. < '