EARTHQUAKE FUNDS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5442, 1 July 1929, Page 2

EARTHQUAKE FUNDS.

Sir, —I am somewhat surprised at the apparent shelving of our obligations with regard to what is certainly a national calamity. We, the people of Paeroa, living in a prosperous town where poverty is not as serious as in other places of the same size, do not appear* to appreciate the urgent need for all the assistance that can be given the sufferers of the recent earthquake. In order that some effort should Ije made in this direction I would suggest that a meeting be called of all the executive committees representing the commercial travellers and the various queens in the current carnival, with a view to ascertaining to what extent they are prepared to augment the earthquake funds. Surely there are sufficient funds held by the various committees to meet the local emergency. Is there any necessity to spend some £2OO on laying out the hospital grounds ? ‘There are many ways in which we could help our southern brothers in their distress. For instance, why not place the war memorial somewhere in the town and allot the cost of the bitumen path to the top of. Primrose Hill to the earthquake fund ? My suggestions may not be acceptable, but I trust that something will be done —and done at once—for the relief of our stricken comrades in the south. It might be said “That charity begins at home.” The practice, is very much overdone in some quarters. For example, there is the citizen who will say “I must look to my own family’s comfort first,” and who later proceeds to the city to purchase a limousine. COMMISERATION.