A TARDY RESPONSE

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2588, 9 October 1915, Page 13

A TARDY RESPONSE

TO SECOND HOSPITAL SHIP FUND AN URGENT APPEAL' Although tho Mayor (Mr. J. P. Luke) made his appeal for some £3000 for tho No. 2Hospital Ship equipment nearly a-fortnight ago, only £283 lis. has been received up-to-date, which is the poorest response regpived to any appeal yet made-in Wellington. A' curious r'oature of this appeal and the'' tardy response so far mado to it is that there was a large- surplus left ;oVer from the No. 1 Hospital • Ship Fund, the public giviilg with' the utmost freedom and spontaneity. ..The call for another Hospital Ship is every bit' as urgent as the first, and if Wellington cannot raise £3000 for such an object there is something amiss. ' Theusually looks 'oh ;the bright side of things, is intensely disappointed' at tho failure of.' his appeal, and.is altogether :at a, loss to Know; why at such a juncture, iii t/he Wellington.military area (which' extends as far '.north ad New Plymouth on the one coast and Gisborne on the other) - this particular claim has been- : almdsfc totally, ignored. Believing that some may - be : under the impression that;'-the-, sum ''required should ! .be - paid ; out'- of rthe.-Maheno's surplus, Mr. -Luke "state's that* His Excellency the Governor, acting in concert with the Hon. James Allen (Minister of :: Defence) and Brigadier-General Robin, has already; allocated, the surplus moneys in the following manner, viz., _ £10,000 for the extension of the hospital work at- Walton-on-Thames (extensive .reference to which was made in The Dominion yesterday in the course of an' interview with Mr; J. B. Reid, of EldersHe), which; is doing splendid work for our'wounded in England; £1500 for hospital work in Egypt; and £10,000 has been set aside for re-conditioning tlie Hospital Ship Maheno on her return to New. Zealand at tlio. end .of the year. As'all this money is for hospital purposes, it practically carries out the. wishes' of the donors.

As far as the No. 2 Hospital Ship is concerned, the call made on the public purse was a -modest one—only £3000 from half the Nortli Island. "Auckland sent down its: cheque immediately the demand was made, but owing to the mariner in which the funds have been tied up in Wellington there is no one fund. from which such a large amount could be taken: with propriety. In again asking the people of the whole of t'iie Wellington,- Hawke's Bay, Wanganui, Taranaki, and Poverty Bay districts to send their mite, Mr. Luke expresses the hope that the money. will he readily forthcoming. ■