UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS

Evening Star, Issue 24281, 24 August 1942, Page 5

UNQUALIFIED SUCCESS

QUEEN CARNIVAL CAMPAIGN CViR £16,000 RAISED Kxceeding its original aim by £6,OUU, tho All People's Queen Carnival, conducted during the past nine weeks by the Labour organisations of Otago in aid of the All Purpose's patriotic appeal, concluded its successful enterprise on Saturday night. Altogether over £115,(M0 was raised. In the lirst instance the sum aimed at was £lO.llOO.

Miss Jeanne Blackie, representing the Manufacturers’ section, was the princess who succeeded in polling the most votes. By the efforts of the group £O,-127 was raised. The voting i esulted : Miss Jeanne Blackie, 128.5-12 votes I Miss Beverly Brown. 73.133 - Miss Mary Grant, 09,091 ■’< Miss Frances Holmes, 30,(102 I

The All Purposes Patriotic Knud will be augmented by the amounts credited to the respective sections:--

Manufacturing Industries', .CC.-127 o s Transport. £3,636 13s Local Bodies and Building Trades,

£3,484 ILs ; i Wholesale and Retail, £2,500 2s ... 4 The final polling took place in conjunction with the poster ball, arranged by the Wembley Dance Club, and when tiie final result was announced there were 1.000 persons on the floor. A poster display was held, 12 girls taking part. The Tramways section, as represented by Mr and Mrs D. Coutts, were the winners. Special mention is made of tbe work done by the women of the Labour Party. Besides attending to the arduous work necessitated by the Queen Carnival they raised directly amongst themselves a very substantial sum ot money. QUEEN CONGRATULATED. Mr A. C. Cameron and the majority of the members of the Duncdm-St. Kilda Patriotic Committee were present at the Pioneer Hall on Saturday night when the Queen Carnival results were announced, and Mr Cameron was one of the first to congratulate Miss Blackie and the three other princesses, all of whom, with their committees, had, he said, worked hard to achieve the splendid result. The members of the committee also expressed keen appreciation of the action of the Wembley dance promoters in giving the use of the Pioneer Hall for the patriotic carnival that had been conducted there, and for organising the poster ball widen was tbo final effort of the campaign. , JUSTIFIABLE PRIDE.

In Ills capacity as president of tlio Otago Trades Council of the New Zealand Federation of Labour, and also as honorary organising secretary of the Queen Carnival, Mr Roy Herbert made the following statement: — . “As members of the organised Labour movement in this city, we may be well proud of the success of our effort during the past nine weeks in aid of the All Burposes Appeal. The sum of over £16,000 which we obtained exceeded by far our greatest expectation, and 1 would like to emphasise at this stage that this amount, when handed over to the Patriotic Council, will be free of any expense to that body. The patriotic race meeting held on Saturday last, however, was not part, of our appeal, and any amounts received from that function will be over and above what we obtained from the Queen Carnival. “ Naturally we are pleased, in a small wav. to have assisted the Dunedin-St Kilda Sub-zone Committee to have reached and exceeded its quota. The various Queen Committees worked with a zest that was remarkable, their one aim being to benefit the patriotic funds to their utmost ability. It would be palpably unfair, however, if we did not pay a tribute to those men and women who, although not members of our organisation, worked like Trojans with us during a strenuous niife weeks. The Dunedin public rallied magnificently to a magnificent cause, and to our fellow-members of the community we say 1 Thank You.’ Wo congratulate Miss Jeanne Blackie, the manufacturers’ princess, on her excellent win, and to Miss Beverly Brown, Aliss Mary Grant, and Aliss Frances Holmes we extend our best thanks for the wonderful incentive they provided for their respective committees.

LEVY SUGGESTED. “ I would like,” Mr Herbert continued, “ to take this opportunity of saying that wc are not enamoured with the present method of raising funds for patriotic purposes, although wo are willing enough to do anything in our power to assist in raising funds while the present method continues. We do feel, however, that the time has come when the Government should, for a period iu each year, make a levy on the people for patriotic purposes, according to their individual means. It lias been our experience, that, while many firms and workers contribute generously to the funds—some, indeed, ovev-gencrously—others again avoid their just obligations. I want to say that there are wealthy firms and highsalaried persons in the city who have made/ little or no contribution to the patriotic funds, and in our opinion it is time that the Dunedin-St. Kilda Sub-zone Committee took somo action in the matter.

“ Might I bo permitted to state that there is intense dissatisfaction among the workers at our totally inadequate representation on the Patriotic Council. Will the mayor and the business execntiVes who wield considerable power on the. Patriotic Council voluntarily offer to ask for representatives to sit on that council, or will they attempt to soothe us with honeyed words and ask us to go on the streets again with collection boxes? I. make a sincere and earnest appeal for more employee representation. If this request is granted, it will remove a good deal of the dissatisfaction that exists among the workers. I ask that wo should not be forced into commencing a campaign for just representation, thereby undoing all that has been achieved in the last feu- weeks.” GOVERNMENT’S APPRECIATION.

The following telegram was received by Air Herbert from the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon. D. G. Sullivan, last night:—■“ I have been informed of the outstanding success which has attended the efforts of past two months of your Carnival Committee, representing the trades union movement and Labour Party, in raising £16.000 for patriotic funds, thereby assisting Dunedin-St. Kilda Sub-zone exceed quota. Please convey my heartiest congratulations to the Trades Council, L.R.C., Air W. B. (Richards, chairman of the joint committee, and to all those who cooperated with you to enable you achieve such fine results. Kind regards.—D. G. Sullivan, Deputy Prime Minister.”