The Chronicle LEVIN. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1916. THE COUNTY FUND.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 5 September 1916, Page 2

The Chronicle LEVIN. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1916. THE COUNTY FUND.

The County Fund which it is hoped t) establish for the relief in the future tf cases of need; soTdiers or tbe.r dependants arising through the iiadcquacy of the ordinary pension or grant from the ■State to meet necessitous eases, is making little progress of late. •Some accretions to the fund there have been, but not nearly the a iiount t'hi-.it so desirable a scheme deserves. It is said that there is an innresvion in ether centres than Levin that tlic separate district funds will be e;i: l to meeting all local demands, an.l that that being so, there is ho need for the more comprehensive scheme; To our mine], sutTi an argument is fallacious as well as parochial; and in a matter of such vital iniportnce to tlio empire as the war undeniably is, the parochial viewpoint is deplorable. Als > it bears in it the seed of possibly dis strous consequences. Any one district may prove unfortunate enough to have a very great proportion of its men permanently disabled or k'l'ed; and in such ,event the district would b.» u:-"'iii::l to meet properly tlie moral liability resting upon it to adequately supplement iho Government grant in nid of the soldiers or their dependents.

Ft is true that' the war "may" end in a Few months' time from now, —in wliicli event the funds already raised, and as now held, might suffice to meet all ii;:eclfi ; but it must be realised, also, tint tile war may continue for some years loli;j,er, and in that case the ■eventual demands on the funds will be exceptionally heavy, and 110 narrow district call rely upon Jiqn idating all the moral claims that will ari.se :igai:.sl it. 'J'he ideal fund to meet such cases would be a fluid common to the whole dominion, for the mail from Cliau or Kaipara, Napier or Grcpuki lights for New Zealand,—not for his district ( lily. Hut, unfortunately, there in ail .apparently unconquerable s.t being made against such proposals by two or tin ee of the provincial or sub-provincial districts. Already the County of Horowhemu has contributed some".£s,ooo to the Wellington Provincial iMind, an'd our duty to that part of the relief scheme may he regarded <11 fairly met. Tt seems to us. then, that there is a pressing and enduring need to build up a County Fund thai will suffice for future needs, so that the present war may prove the one exception in the world's history to the experience that the old soldier is neglected when his duty is over. And if

any amongst our readers winccs at the bluntix'.ss of our writing in the «enteiiLO preceding, we would -ask him to ponder it carefully in the light of lii.s rcurng or observation, and -then say if the stricture is deserved. We are >mxiou3 to see Horowhenua {Jaunty in the Aggregate open it's eyes to it.s moral duty in this regard, and free itself f rem the mental strab'umus thnt afflicts its southern outlook.