£l00,000 DAMAGE

Hokitika Guardian, 28 September 1932, Page 5

£loo,ooo DAMAGE

DONE AT GISBORNE BY THE RECENT EARTHaUAKE. fPer Press Associafionri Ue'jyright.) GISBORNE, September 27. With a view to seeking, assistince from the people of New Zealand and from, the Government inji.dpnnection with the recent earthquakes, a meeting of leading business meif and citizens was held to-day, about one hundred being present. The Mayor, Mr Ifc W. H?ol@man, M.P., presided.

Mr Cotefnan said that many of the local residents have suffered serious losses as the result of the quakes, and never before had such a catastrophe overtaken the town. He was particularly struck, when in Wellington, to find that there'was a general impression that all of the earthquake damage appeared to be about W airoa, and there was little said about Gisborne. He did not wish to belittle the damage in Wairoa, but it seemed to him that people in other parts, especially in Wellington, hardly realised that the quake had been felt in Gisborne. People appeared to he of the opinion that if the quake was- felt here, it had not affected the town, io any considerable extent, : This attitude, of course, did* not affect the Government, einde an inspection of the affected area had been ordered, but if Gisborne .was to benefit from the National Fund, then it was necessary that the people in Wellington and in other places should be advised of the true position locally. All present realised the serious consequences of the earthquakes, and they would agree that Gisborne merited a just share of any relief offering, and it was up to the people of Gisborne to letythe rest of New Zealand know of their plight.

Continuing, Mr Coleman emphasised that lie particularly wished to impress oil the people the necessity of doing something for themselves. A committee had been set’ up. to; deal with the replacement of the chimneys and the tanks, a s far as possible;. No money however, was available from the Government, and the only funds at the disposal of the committee was the money provided by public subscription. With that limited finance, therefore, it was possible-.for the committee to assist only necessitous cases first. Until the committee knew what further funds would be available, they could not extend their activity. The Mayor’s remarks were endorsed by Mr Chas. Matthews, the Chairman of the Cook County Council; Mr H. E. Maude, the Deputy Mayor, and by leading citizens.

The following resolution was passed unanimously: “That this meeting of business men and townspeople request that immediate financial assistance be granted by the Government to those, who have suffered loss by the damage caused in the recent earthquakes, and that a corpmittee he set up to gather the fullest information in regard to the losses,” One reliable estimate was given that the amount of damage was well pver one hundred thousand. The Mayor said that the time appeared to be fitting for urging some form of national insurance against earthquake damage. He had mentioned the matter in the House, and tne Prime Minister bad promised to look into it. To-day, said Mr Coleman, quake insurance premiums were very heavy—so heavy that many people haJ been forced to allow their policies to lapse, and they were unprotected at the time of the present disaster. It was Gisborne’s turn to-day, added the Mayor, but n 0 one knew whose turn it might be to-morrow. Mr Maude endorsed Mr Coleman’s remarks. He said that the revenue from fire insurance was about two million pounds per annum, and two and a half per cent, of that sum was £50,000. If such a sum could be set aside • annually, and if no earthquake disasters occurred for a few years, a substantial capital could bo built up quickly. A motion was carried to the' effect that the time had. arrived when the Government should- initiate some scheme of earthquake insurance whereby relief could be granted in the case of damage occurring.,,. . ' .