CHARITABLE AID.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXIII, Issue 5375, 19 June 1878, Page 3

CHARITABLE AID.

TO THE .EDITOR OF THE NEW ZEALAND TIMES. Sir, —A question has arisen in the midst of us which to a very great ’ extent affects our social as well as moral reputation as a leading community in this colony. I allude to the provision we are calledupon to find for the destitute poor, the homeless and crippled aged. The Government, whether' wisely or otherwise I will not here attempt to argue, has given notice that from and after the Ist of July they will no longer undertake tbe distribution of charitable: aid, and that-the relief- of the maimed and destitute poor must in future be provided and dispensed by local bodies; That it is a most serious question devolving upon the inhabitants of this city, as it is upon those in other centres of population in this country, no observing person can deny. Here, not as in the Australian colonies, where in almost every town and city ample provision has been made from their earliest history to provide home and shelter for the houseless poor, I have always regretted, from the time I settled in New Zealand, to find, with the exception of an hospital; of a kind, the total absence of institutions for the, aged .infirm. Do the people: of :New Zealand think; differently of their; aged poor fellow beings to what the inhabitants of Auatrialia do, where no poor and friendless being, is sent-to 'a common gaol under the Vagrant Act, and- made to herd among. criminals, as -is the case’ here; aye, even in this Empire City ? I do not intend to find fault with the committing magistrate,. because he, it seems, has no alternative but to commit the destitute to gaol, in the absence of. : a;more suitable shelter, or else the victim of, life’s, uncertainty must perish inWr public streets! ‘ This is the state of things .existing in this favored land. Museums, colleges, athemeums, hospitals, and various other public institutions have been abundantly founded, and some of these hot niggardly endowed with a portion of the public estate, besides annual grants of hard cash, but I maintain that the aged poor of tin's Tend have been most shamefully and ctlmniaffy neglected; and notwithstanding ’ Aew Zealand's . present apparent prosperity,-and'her:coming greatness, let it not be denied that her “ poor will.neyer cease out of the! laud,” ami to longer neglect' the necessity.of;-providing homes and asylums for those among’ us who; from unforeseen calamities and destitute age, are wanting, and left to want, —not- :tb: : give them a shelter in which to dispose of their remaining and dreary days, is - a 'monument of -shatae. to those responsible for such careless indifference towards our fellow-beings.: . : v 7" r ■ The action of tho Government will no doubt create fresh difficulties for the committees of the, . existing benevolent societies, exercising their functions in various places in the colony; and to those committees who up to the - present time have worked nobly and well, and with so much self-denial, the community at large, and the Government, not omitted, owe' everlasting gratitude for having alleviated so much poverty and misery with the Scanty and limited means placed at: their disposal. The question then arises how to effect a cure for our inadequate and indifferent system-of providing for our poor. I answer,, sir, without underrating;the charitable disposition of the people of New Zealand, and those of this city in particular, imitate and copy the example set us by our sister colony, Victoria., Sir, lam not writing at random on a subject; foreign to me. My experience and intimate connection with the ■Ballarat’Benevolent Asylum and noble Hospital has’ gone to prove that-where there is a will a way will be found.

The former institution was started and founded upon a weekly contribution of a sixpence, the latter by voluntary and Government aid, but both conducted, and managed by committees chosen annually from among subscribers to both institutions ; and more besides, 1 being founded since 1866, they have flourished and [prospered since, and proved not only; a boon to those heeding their bounty, but they are acknowledged to be an everlasting honor and credit to their supporters. Why could Wellington and other places in New Zealand hot erect and found similar institutions on similar principles 1 I answer, because her inhabitants' not being less charitable' than their neighbors, and not because New Zealand is poorer, but because the residents in most towns and places in this country have been satisfied heretofore to allow things" to proceed as they 'are, or, in other words, what’s everybody's business has been nobody’s business. Sir, I fear that I have already trespassed too lengthily upon your space, but if I could secure your kindly indulgence again I would be glad to give my opinion of the manner in which a crisis, or a social want, could be met, without very heavy burdens being brought home to an already heavily taxed community. Nevertheless, under the newly instituted state of things proposed by the Government, there is no doubt that the responsibility must be faced by every charitably disposed citizen. In concluding these remarks for the present, I have thought it might be as well to baud herewith the last or twentieth annual report of one of the institutions above referred to, showing the importance of a charity grown from a simple sixpenny subscription,— I am, &c., CIIAIUTT.