ANZAC ART UNION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17283, 26 September 1916, Page 6

ANZAC ART UNION.

THE MINISTER'S COMMENTS,

[Per Peess Association-.]

WELLINGTON, September 25

"With regard to the Anzac ar& union," said the Bon G. W. Russell to a reporter to-day, " I want to referto a statement made by~ Mr Sutherland to the effect that a suggestion, was made to me in connection with tho art union that expenses should be limited to 10 per cent of tho total amount received, and that I refused to so limit tho expenditure when the suggestion was made to me. My reply was ' I do not wish to place a limit upon your expenditure. I will treat you as honourable men and leave you to administer the art union in a just and fair way.' That was what Mr Sutherland regards as a refusal. Ho says that I refused to grant it, but as a matter of fact the position is that including compensation paid to agents for sale of tickets tho expenses have run up to nearly £3500, m order to attain a net result of £15,000. When I compared the Dannevirke art union, which realised over £7OOO at' an expense of £45 only, with the Ansae art union I was well aware of the truo position in the case of Dannevirke. They wero confined for sales and advertising to the small province of Hawke's Bay." but tho Anzao art! union was given tho entire provincial district of Wellington in which to operate, consequently the comparison is very much, against the Anzac people. "In view, however, of the excellent object of the art union I dp' not wish to indidge in further criticism of the methods adopted, but at the some timo I may observe that while the art union was in progress I drew the attention of the* managers to the fact that they were entitled to sell 200,000 tickets, whereas as a matter of fact tbey sold 337,000, an excess approaching double the number they wero authorised to sell, and thus reducing by nearly one half the chance of everybody who took a ticket in the art union."