THE LATE FLOOD.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1109, 16 February 1872, Page 2

THE LATE FLOOD.

PUBLIC MEETING AT HOKITIKA. A public meeting, convened by the Mayor, was held at the Town Hall, Hokitika, on Wednesday evening, to consider the course to be adopted to alleviate the distress occasioned, by the late flood at Greymouth: iThe following is i the report which appeared in the West Coast Times, slightly abridged :— - .-.,:;-,;:. The Mayor, having been ;Toted to the chair, Btated the object of the meeting. He then read a letter from the Ffn* Archdeacon Harper, deeply sympathising with the sufferers, and a expressing his readiness to co-operate in. any measure which might be devised for their relief j also, a letter from the Hon. J. A. Bonar, - regretting his inability to attend; the * meeting, and enclosing a cheque for five i ' guineas. The telegrams which had Been ' sent by the Mayor of Greymouth were also read by the Chairman. MrHoos said he deeply sympathised with the calamity which had befallen Greymouth, but he was disposed to carry his sympathy further, and to go even beyond the County to help those who" had, \ suffered, irrespective of any arbitrary line of demarcation as to County or Province. He considered the best means of attaining . : the object of the meeting would be to ap- : s point a committee to canvass for subscript tions for the relief of the sufferers by the - late floods on the West Coast of New » Zealand. He moved— "That a Committee, be formed for the purpose of assisting in relieving the, sufferers by the late flood at Greyraouth. Said Committee to consist of the Mayor and Borough of Hokitika, Rev. J. T. Shaw, Rev. Father Martin, Rev. Archdeacon Harper, . Messrs S. M. South, J. Chesney, J. Hall, J. Churches, .., W. Evans, J. Linton, J. White, H. Mace, Dixon, Cook, Spence, Hoos, and the hon; J. A. Bonar, with power to add to their number." Mr South had very great pleasure in seconding the resolution. It was unnecessary to say that he shared in the regret which everyone must feel at the great calamity which had occurred, and he felt/ that it was particularly the duty of Hokitika to lend a helping hand. Some time ago there had been some little rivalry between the two towns, but on an occasiori of this kind such feeling could have no existence, and the inhabitants of Grey? mouth would be looked upon as if they ji resided in ReveUrstreet. .He would be - well pleased to do his utmoßt in gathering in subscriptions, arid he had no doubt that a respectable amount would soon be collected. . '■■"•■ MrJoHN White supported the reaolu* ** lution. The occasion, he said, was not „ one for much talking, but for ; active action. He wa3 quite sure that every citizen of Hokitika deeply sympathised with the losses and sufferings of the people of Greymouth, and would assist to miti- .-• gate to the utmost of their power. He could hardly agree with Mr Hods that the amount collected should be distributed amongst the whole of the sufferers by the floods, wherever they may "be located. [MrHoos— "On the West Coast."] It must be borne in mind that the meeting had been called for a special purpose, and that purpose should be kept strictly in " view. Doubtless there had been losses ' elsewhere, but the calamity ; at Greymouth immeasurably exceeded that of any other locality. If thp ; -jn.oney- ; to ' i be collected, were to.be distributed aq : c indicated by lib Hoos, there would - be claimants even in Hokitika, for some loss had also been wstttined ihere, He did not think it would be at all judicious to depart from the single, purpose, for which the meeting had been called, and he trusted that that purpose, would be adhered to. There was in most" f. "* cases some consolation to be derived from f a misfortupe, and in this, instance, the calamity at Greymouth afforded an oppor- . tunity of showing that there was no hog- „ tile spirit whatever, between the towua i of Greymouth and Hokitika; that such a feeling had no existence now, and never had existence at any time. Another benefit which would probably arise, and which might almost be taken as consolation for the disaster, was that the General Government would be made to under- }. stand the heavy burden which the Cor-' '" porations of Hokitika and Greymouth had to bear in protective works. He had always been of opinion that the peculiar... nature of the harbors on the West Coast '-* necessitated assistance from the General Government, and he had no doubt that such assistance would now be rendered. He regretted to see that the Greymouth ; . , Borough Council contemplated thro^mg '. up the custody of the wharf , because he believed they could retain it and yet be . relieved of much of its cost. ' : •■ * ; r Mr Barpp supported the motion and trusted that every citizen would evince - his sympathy practically by contributing his mite. Mr Hawkins quite agreed with previous speakers that action' was required and not talk. He should, therefore, merely say that he had proposed at the Borough Council meeting, on the previous evening, ; - that the sum of LSO be contributed towards the relief of the sufferers by the W flood at Greymouth. That proposition . had been put aside for a time in conse- v quence of the public meeting which. )t wsi decided should be convened, as it was ' thought better to wait and suppietneqt such amount as woAild be gathered by private subscriptions. . ' ..'.."" Mr Hods, in . replying, ; said; that he ; ; still adhered to the opinion that he had ; expressed at the outset, that the assist- "

ance rendered should be allocated to every place on tho Coast where the floods had occasioned disaster, whether such place were in the exact limits of -the County or in the Province of Nelson. He had good reaion to believe that there was much distress in the Grey Valley, in consequence of the floods, and he could not conseut to disregard the wants of sufferers just because they were not within tho town of Greymonth. Ho objected to draw a lino at the Gorge. Mr White said that he feared if too much were attempted there would be but little done It would, therefore, be far better to keep strictly to the object for which the meeting had been called. Mr Maofarlane thought it would be well if, before the Committee were appointed, it were agreed upon what basis they were to proceed. There had been great losses down South as well as beyond tho Grey. Some persons might be inclined to subscribe for a general relief fund, whilb others might desire to confine their contributions to the . assistance of Greymouth. It would be better, therefore, to settle for which object "the subscriptions should be [raised ; whether for tho purpose of general relief, or only for the assistance of Greymouth." Mr Lazar would point out that the meeting had been called by advertisement for one particular object, and he thought that object should be adhered to. He had the pleasure of handing in a cheque for LlO 10s from the Pacific Lod;e of Freemasons, which had been placed in his hands as head of the Craft in Westland, towards the relief of the sufferers by the flood at Greymonth. The contribution would serve to show that in Freemasonry there was no distinction whatever. Country, religion, or station were all alike whon the question was one of charity. Nor was assistance confined to the Craft, for whether the needy were Freemasons, Oddfellows, or belonged to no distinctive class, still tho necessitous were relieved to the extent that was possible. He need not say that hero tho Lodge had not funds at their disposal to do as much as they desired, and therefore tho amount of subscription which he now handed in was not as largo as it would otherwise have been. The resolution was then put, and carried by acclamation. Mr Hoos [moved — "That tho operations of the Committee be not confined to Greymouth, but bo extonded to such other places as have suffered by tho late floods." Ho said that what ho desired was that tho Committee should ascertain where suffering and loss had occurred, and allocate portions of the fund rai&ed according to tho circumstances of each case. Mr Macfarlake would second tho motion, if the mover would add the words "in tho County." Mr Hoos consented to do so. Mr South opposed the motion, as it would completely stultify the former action of the meeting. Mr White "also opposed the motion. The meeting had been called because the Mayor of Gremouth had telegraphed that the distress was of greater magnitude than could be coped with without assistance. The Chairman was also of opinion that the meeting should not depart from tho object for which it had been called. Mr Fox said that there were large numbers loft utterly destitute. Mr Hoos felt that he must adhere to the view he had taken at first. The destitution and the misfortune were not confined to Greymouth. No one could deny that other places in the County had not suffered also, and why should they not also receive assistance,} Another such opportunity would not in all probability recur, as it was not an easy matter to get up a public meeting. He felt convinced that it was the proper course to take advantage of the present meeting, and to get up a fund to relieve the. distress arising from the flood ivall parts of the County. The resolution was then put to the meeting, and negatived. A vote of thanks to the Chairman terminated the proceedings.