RED CROSS SOCIETY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 134, 2 March 1920, Page 8

RED CROSS SOCIETY

; ANNUAL MEETING OF N.Z. BRANCH •' '": '" . AMPLE FUNDS ON HAND "•' The annual conference of the New Zealand Branoh of the British, Red Cross ; Society and tho Order of St. Jojm of :.■'" 'Jeriisdlem 'was held at Christcluirch last . w;eek r under the presidenoy of His Excel- ■: lency'-the'Governor-General. ['■ Th'e annual report and balance-sheet, f which was adopted, mentioned that since, ; .the armistice the nature of the work' ! of the society had undergone n considi 'eraole''change. Whilst the war was in ; progress' tho' committees at the sub-ecn-tres in .every part of the Dominif»i were devoting their energies to the production ' /of clothing and comforts for tho spldiers I- ' • abroad."-After tho urmistice was declared our. men,wero sent back to New Zeuland_ & 60on as possible, and tho hospitals in England where any of our wound- ; .'■ ed wero being treated, were gradually ; "evacuated until almost all our sick and .wounded Cwero now located in various military hospitals in New Zealand. There were 1504.patients in the main military !.■ • hospitals and sanatoria throughout the ; . Dominion on Deconiber 31, 1919. There, '. : was still, however, a great deal to bo

done for some of ,tho patients, and it a. would apparently be'necessary to keep { some of the military hospitajs open for a year or two, but tho number of patients was .decreasing, so that the responsibility of the society in connection with the military hospitals instead of daily increasing as it did during the war was now, happily, daily diminishing. Military hospitals had been established in various parts of Now Zealand for vocational and functional treatment of sol.diers'as well as for the ordinary curative treatment, and werything possible was being done to restore to health; those who had suffered by the war, and •.'. very encouraging results were being experienced. The expenditure during the past y>ar ..amounted to £H,%i lis. 7d., and on December Si, 1919, tjiere was a sum of .£196,722 Is. Id. on hand, distributed as' follows ir-Headquarters office, ,£20,963 25.; Auckland centre, ,£60,456 19s. id; ChVistchurch centre, .£33.754 18s. Bd. ; v Dunedin centre. £21,474 19a.' 2d.; Wellington cenr trtV jC60,072 Is. lid. "It will be seen," observes the report, that unless unforeseen circumstances arise, wo have •funds to provide for our activities un T til the hospitals are/evacuated, therefore it is not probable that the public will be called upon' for further subscript •tiohs. As'to whether the activities of the: society are to be continued in kin-' .dwd directions will have to be 'determined' at some future time, and it mny bo that this subject.will.be one for dis•cussion at the coming conference at Geneva;' so that it is premature for us to ;mVKe v any" i suggestions as to the. future . of the society and its financial requirements." .'.An. application for a contribution'towards the British Hospital lit. Port. RnM was declined, as the matter was held to be one which could best be dealt . . with by the parent society. '■ " ■ -rrrs