WAR RELIEF GRANTS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2931, 17 November 1916, Page 6

WAR RELIEF GRANTS

HON. JAMES ALLEN AND THE PATRIOTIC SOCIETIES

A GRIEVANCE. AIRED «

EXPENDITURE OF THE FUNDS

Somo moil ths ago the Advisory Board of the Federation of New Zealand Patriotic War Relief Societies decided to allocate £3000 per month for comforts for soldiers abroad, £1500 to go to the IJigh Commissioner, and £1500 to the War Contingent Association. The Advisory Hoard has contributed the amounts as agreed, and some doubts have been expressed as to the manner in which, the' money has been .'disbursed. The Advisory Board met yesterday, and in the afternoon the Acting-Prime Minister (Hon. J. Allen; attended the meeting. Mr L. O. H. Tripp (chairman of the board) said that what the board wanted to know was exactly what the High Commissioner had in band, and what he had done with their money. They had understood that the High Commissioner would pay money to chaplains, in Egypt and France; he might have donfe' so, but they wanted to know. Hjbw much money was wanted by tho War Contingents' Association for actual comforts? The board understood that it was likely that as much as £1500 per month would not be needed. Was Their Misrepresentation? Mr. J. J. Dougall (Christchurch) said he regretted that in Christchurch the Minister had said there had been misrepresentation. _ In his opinion, if there had been misrepresentation, it Jiffd bben entirely on the part of the Government. The Minister had asked where certain information given the Christchurch society had come from." Well, lie (Mr. Dougall) had given tho information, and it was to the effect that the £1500 a month had not gono to_ the War Contingent Association, as stipulated. II was well-known that some of the societies suspected the Government of trying to get hold of the Patriotic Societies' money, and it would bo regrettable that there should be a hint of justification for that. Some of the societies were not too keen about making this grant, and, so far as Canterbury was concerned, they first mado a grant for three months, and afterwards month by month. ' Canterbury had demanded information as to the disposal of the money, and the board had been unable to give it. The board had written to the Minister, and he could only conclude that the Minister had not received the communication, because no acknowledgment of it had been received. What the board wanted to know was: — The amount distributed in England, France, and in Egypt. Statement, of dates and amounts sent to the High Commissioner. The ,ainount paid to the War Contingent Association. Assurance that the money will be regularly remitted. .Regular statement as to remittance. There was a considerable sum in hand at present, continued Mr. Dougall. .In the first instance the appeal was made to. the sodfctics as a matter of urgency, but it seemed from the statement of accounts that therehad been no need to make, an urgent appeal. They desired this information, a_nd_ he spoke the mind of many societies when lie said it was regrettable that it had not bsen forthcoming. J. T. Paul suggested that the difficulty the Minister must clear up was that concerning the £3000 per month. The grant was made at tho Ministers' suggestion, and it was suggested now that the money was not required. Tho board was labouring under tho difficulty of being unable to tell the societies how the-funds, stood. The figures the Minister had sent tho board were useless to them. They did not suggest that the Government had allowed any soldier to suffer in this matter; but their responsibility was to the societies they represented. Tho prestige of tho board was at stake, and they must get the matter cleared up. The Minister's Reply. _ "I want to remove any misconception or misrepresentation,'" said Mr. Allen, in opening his reply. "I think there has been some.iand I don't withdraw my statement in Christchurch one little bit. I have nothing whatever to do with the Patriotic Fnnd. It is in the hands of Mr. Russell. I want to tell you how this fund originated. I should have been glad to leave it to the Red Cross. But what happened? I had most pathetic \ telegrams from Egypt saying that oiir men were not receiving all the attention they needed Without any hesitation I cabled £1000 of Government money." Mr. Allen added other provisions, let the public Ocnow the position, and asked the public for subscriptions. The public responded with fairly lar<T6 amounts. Then came a day when thele public subscriptions began to fall off and he /was afraid that they were going to be left stranded without any money ior sick and wounded, and he did not know that at that time the ttcd Otoss were m a position to take up the work so far as our New Zealand men were concerned. He spoke n«5, Rl,sscll alj wt the matter, and £5000 was asked for, but when it was round that that sum would not all be needed £3000 was named, and the Patriotic Societies were approached. Hie, account rendered to' the board S i>i°-X)r tllat a fiao(l c,eal more tnan ilijOO a mouth had been paid to tho War Contingent Association. He was not in a position to say that it bad all come out of the board's money, heca/iise it had been taken from a common fund, hut he took it that all that was necessary was to show that the association had got £1500 a month'.- If liiore information was wanted l , he would /Supply it, if he could However, the soiwe of public subscription, which he thought might dry up, did not do so, and money had still .been coming in, so that they had almost more than they needed, and lie had intended to suggest that the board's contributions should he cut down. He was forestalled by the board's intimation that it did not intend to collect its October quota, and in that he acquiesced. The hoard then asked if a November quota would be needed, and he had' said it would not. "If you want more information, pleaso bo specific, and let mo know." An average of about £2500 a month had gone to _tho War Contingent Association, which was £1000 more than was considered necessary. The position had materially changed since ho had first approached! the board for £3000. The New Zealand Red Cross was now in existence, >. He could not allow to arise again the state of affairs that arose in Egypt. Something would havo to be done; he did not want to see any overlapping. At present they were able to use the chaplains and others for the distribution of the fund. It was a matter for very serious consideration as to what tho future was to be in regard to these various funds. He had seen the constitution of the Australian Red Cross, aiid was not satisfied that it wont far enough to ensure that tho work would he well done. Nevertheless, ho believed the was being exceedingly well carried 1 out. i • The Red, cross. Tho High, Commissioner hail been asked to supply Egypt. Then, a couple

of _ months ago, Mr. Allen was not quite satisfied, and. he informed the Commissioner that Egypt would be supplied from here. He was prepared to continue supplying the needs of the men there. He asked them as reasonable men if they thought it ..necessary to send the Commissioner more than was required. It was the Minister's duty not only to supply the immediate needs, but to see that there was money in hand for future needs. The war might go on for another year, or more. If the extracts from accounts which he had given them were not all they wanted', they could let him know. It was most important far the hoard to consider whether the Red Cross was to take the place of the Sick and Wounded Fund. ■ Mr. G. Elliott (Auckland) said he entirely endorsed the action of the Minister in not sending home money that was not needod. In that he was in a sense conserving the funds of the societies. To some extent the Minister had cleared up the misunderstanding that had existed. I . Tho Hon. J. T. Paul: We have given you £18,000 in six months. Can you tell us how much of that has been sent to the High Commissioner and transferred .by him to the War Contingent Association, and how much ba.s been spout by tho High Commissioner? In other words, how much of it have we in band at the present time? Mr. Allen: The difficulty is that tho money has been paid into a common I fund, but the total must have been I given to you iu the accounts I have rendered. Mr. Allen read the following figures grants sent forward:—' ' To Egypt. To England. & £ May 830 665 ' June 1411 3,707 July 211 , 5,102 August 100 2,57 D September .... 953 577 October 495 4,158 Up to that time £45,000 had been sent forward for sick and wounded, and £'6000 remained held in New Zealand. Air. Dougall: That is not our point. Mr. Allen: 1 really don't know what is your point. Mr. Dougall said tho nionev was voted for specific purposes, which had not beon carried out. Air. Alien said he had not understood that. Mr. Dougall: You say you were misrepresented in Christchurch. I should like you to say in what way. It is rather a reflection on Christchurch. Mr. Allen: I don't think wo had better continue this. I think I was misrepresented, but it is over and done with now. Tho board subsequently decided that its chairman (Mr. L. O. .H. Tripp) should interview Mr. Moorehouse, the head of the Red Cross, and find out what moneys the Hod Cross would be sending to their New Zealand High Commissioner. Pending a reply other action is suspeuded.