NORTH OTAGO BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 23 December 1880, Page 2

NORTH OTAGO BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

A meeting of the subscribers to the Benevolent Society was held last evening at Mr. Greenfield's auction mart for the purpose of considering a modification of the following rule " Tenders for supplies shall be invited for a period of not less than six months, the amount of such tenders to be duly recorded in the minutebook. No member of the Committee to supply any articles for the use of the Society for which he may receive pecuniary or other compensation." There were present —Mr. G. Greenfield, President (in the chair), the Rev. A. B. Todd, the Rev. Father Coleman, Messrs. Fleming, Hislop, Montagu, Milligan, Mollison, Headland, Spence, J. T. Smith, Connell, Stevenson, Grant, Brown, Mjram3, Evans, Ronayne, Eery, Orr, and Hardy (Secretary). ' The Chairman haying stated the object of the meeting, said that at the last general meeting the question had oropped up, and the matter had been referred to the Committee. They had deemed it pecessary to bring the matter again before

the subscribers, and.had therefore called a special meeting. *% V '« The Secretary then.'r&ad tW several minutes upon the question. -fj'Mr. Fleming, in rising to ah Amendment of the said that at the last general. meeting the alteration of the rule had been approved and referred to the Committee. He was in favor ofrcalling for tendersforstippliesfortheHome, which was ati institution under the management of a master, who could check the supplies and aee that everything was correct, but he could not see how the principle could be .fairly applied to relief* The plan that evoked the greatest-amount of benevolence was the best to adopt. They should adopt the-pla.n that called forth the' greatest amount of sympathy and farbearance.towardss the recipients of relief. He maintained that thi'a end"couia "not be achieved by adhering to the present rule, arid therefore favored its amendment. He thought the principle of distributing" the patronage of the Society amongst those who. sut> scribed to the institution was the correct one, as it encouraged...people to subscribe to the institution. It would be a perfect hardship tp recipients of relief to compel the\n to, go to any one particular store for their goods, as many of them wouid'have to travel long distances. They should strive to show the greatest amount of sympathy towards recipieiftS of relief, and keep anything partaking of thg nature of a poor law as far as possible from the : door of the Society. ' When there wag an eiid tc> courtesy and consideration towards the recipients of relief there would also be an end to all sympathy, Etnd he for one would cease to have anything to do with the Society directly anything of the poor law element was introduced, If the rule was maintained in itsi then form many members of the Committee would have to retire, and there would be a falling oft 1 of support, They should also bear, in mind that the Society was not confined to Oamaru, that it was the North Otago Benevolent Society, and that its relief extended to Ngapara, Buatroon, Otepopo, Maheno, Kakanui,' Hampden, and o.thpr districts. If therefore they called for tenders for supplies the successful tenderer would haVe the' right to supply all the goods for these places, and recipients of relief woulcl bp required to come to Oarnaru for their supplies. Here wag one very great difficulty that could not be overcome. He thought the profit made out. of the Society was only legitimate profit, and he held that those who supported the institution were entitled to supply the goods, moved that rule 20 be appended by inserting the words l ' fpr the Home" after the word supplies, and "'omitting the last sentence, "no member of Committee," etc. The rule would then read as follows >—"■ Tenders for supplies for thp H°W e shall be invited for a period of not less than six mouths, the amounts of such tenders to be duly recorded in the minute-book."

My. JJislop seconded the motion pro forma. . •

Mr. 'Connell said he was greatly disappointed with the speech of the mover of the motion. He had expected to hear some good arguments in favor of the alteration of the rule, but l\ad heard ■none. • They had a gQ°<i deal about benevolence", but tins benevolence appeared to him to be benevolence towards certain tradesmen. He held that they should get the most they possibly could for their money, and this could best be done by calling for tenders. At present they were allowing certain mgtnbers to receive orders and charge what they liked, qnd his hearers would be perfectly astonished at the differences in the charges for various articles. He had heard of one member of Committee "who had had a resolution passed—perhaps not ; at the first meeting he attended, but shortly after his election—that orders for supplies should be divided amongst subscribers to the Society. The principle was entirely wrong, why should persons go pn the Oommittre for the purpose of putting money into their pockets. He would say that if members could not give their time to the Society without thinking of profit they should leave it. Mr. Fleming had. wisely, he (Mr. Connell) thought omitted to say anything with, reference to the''ask part of the rule, that part of it rfhich forbade members of Committee articles and receiving pecuniar/ ° r other compensation. He maintained that this was a wise provision, and that tfc® principle sought to be established w sS altogether wrong. Mr. Headland denie4 ihp correctness of Mr. Qonnell's statement with reference to a resolution being passed by the Committee. Mr. Connell asked Mr. Headland to state if a hud not been passed that order? for supplies should be divided amongst subscribers. Mr. Hislop said that Mr. Connell should have made himself acquainted with facts before making positive assertions. j

After a little further irregular discussion on the point, the Secretary read the resolution passed by the Committee and referred to by Mr. Oonnell. This was to the effect that orders for supplies should be divided amongst subscribers, Mr, Headland said thq,t if the rule was not altered he would at once resign, The rule would simply prevent any tradesman sitting on the Committee. As the rule stood they asked tradesmen first to subscribe to the funds of the Society ; second, to give their time to the Society's management; and, third, to abstain from doing business. Mr. Milligan supported the maintenance of the rule intact. The effect of the system followed last year was to concentrate the orders of the Society for supplies to soßie e|ght tradesmen. The total amount of money thus expended amounted to L 484, and thus these eight- tradesmen, by payipg LI to the funds of the Society, were placed in. a much better position than the contractor for supplies to the Home—they actually made more money. He opposed the motion on the ground of economy, and in order that they might be able to" look the community in the face and show they were expending their funds to itheebesfc advantage. They had heard no complaints as to the quality of the articles supplied by tender to the Home, and he saw no reason why, if they called for tenders for out-door relief, the articles should be of inferior quality.

Mr. Hislop said there were maijiy articles required besides groceries, suoh for iiu stance as boots, articles of clothing, &c., and asked if it was intended to oall for tenders for the • supply of these. If it was so intended how were they going to regulate the quality and sizes ; and if not, were they going to adopt one line of action in regard to one set of tradesmen and a different course with respect to another set. Was the system of calling for tenders to begin and end with grocers, and wer? people to go -where they liked for clothing. 3EJe referred to the fact that the old Committee, of which Mr.. Milligan was President, had, in the face of the rule, followed, the course which it was now proposed to legalise, and which Mr- Milligan was now opposing, Jle would not say a word against Mr. Milligan or the Committee, because he thought they had acted wisely, and had disbursed the funds of the Society to the greatest advantage. Persons receiving relief had the right to expend their little pittance where they liked, and they might rest assured that those persons knew how to get the best value for their money. . He could not see any particular wrong in a member of the. Committee accepting so muoh of the trade ag came to his door. Though he was benevolent enough to subscribe, and though his fellow subscribers had sufficient.confidence in him to place him on the Committee, was he not to be trusted with a portion of the trade flowing from the Society ? He had no sympathy with

sp.ch extrenie &cHi'pulosity. It had not been sho\Vh that a single benefit would ariste rtotn adhering to the rule. The ohiy argument against the motion was that of economy, but even this had not been fully proved.

~ Mr. Stevenson was under the impression that the previous general meeting had determined that the rule should be amended, and he did not see the necessity for wasting so much time in discussing the question. The Rev. Mr. Todd said he had been one of the originators of the Society, and* had no hesitation in saying that when the present rule was passed it was intended to apply it to the Home, and all the Committees had acted in accordance with this .understanding. Relief was distributed in all parts of the district, and it would be. manifestly unjust and unworkable to limit the obtaining of supplies fjrom one store. It was most unjust to declare in the rules that no member of the Committee should tender for supplies. It was; 'simply offering a premium to persons not to be benevolent. If: they "called for tender's the lowest tender would be accepted, and how was the relief to be distributed throughout the district. A tradesman at Hampden and elsewhere would have an equal right to tender for supplies. Unless they wished to stultify themselves they were, bound to oarry the motion, and taking all, the circumstances into consideration he' thought it desirable that the. rule should be altered; .*

Mr. Mirams said that the. rule, although overlooked by former committees, was a good one, and should be carried out. He held that no one who jgas receiving a direct pecuniary benefit from the Society should sit on the Committee. They found this principle carried into other public bodies; and" it was the correct one. At the same time, as there were objections to the rule, he thought the. course he had proposed in Committer would meet both sides of the question. This was to' give recipients of relief the privilege of selecting their own grocers, &c. At present this was not the case.

Mr. Ronayne supported the motion, and said if they debarred tradesmen from accepting orders from the Society, they would drive all the tradesmen off the Committee. It was unjust, when a man subscribed to the Society and gave his time, to shut him out from doing ligitimate business,.

Mr, J,. T. Evans was of opinion that the rule was a good one, and that it should be allowed to stand in its present.form. One reason why he would vote for-retaip-ing the rule was that the Soaiety was a corporate body, and that its funds should therefore be expanded with, the greatest care. The Government contributed equally with the subscribers to the funds of the Society, and they were therefore spending the.money of the general public. He had made inquiries with regard to the quality of the goods supplied to the Home under contract, and had not heard of a single complaint. He had gone pretty carefully through accounts for the past year, and had found that the average price of bread supplied under contract was a trifle over 6sd per 41b loaf, while the average cost of Dread supplied to the Society on order in the case of one firm reached a trifle oyer 7|-d, and in another instance it was tfd. So on throughout the whole of the items, there was a d : ." parity between- th,o cost of the sury ae ? obtained by tender and thus He had little tenders been called for all the J PPl ies Society would have, effected * _ savl "§ 1° per cent. He found that* urls S the year something like L 450 V „ been funded in the purchase of > r ' d f for which tenders had not bee D ; Had tenders for : the supply ' of , goods been called the Socir/ would have saved something like L<Uin other words it would have 1 rece' one'tenth more for its money. Reference had been made to the difficult would attach to obtaining s U ppVes by recipients of relief in the cov ntry were the rule l strictly enforced, lie thought that provision might easily be made to meet the case, which was not a very important one. He had looked through the but. had failed to find a single account from any country storekeeper for goods supplied. Mr. Mirams, the former Treasurer, said there had been accounts last year from country storekeepersMr. Spenc-e" thought it was well that ti'adesifney should not sit on the Committee, as if they did they were placed in a position to see others' tenders. Cries of " Oh," greeted this remark, and several members denied that any member of the Committee had ever used their knowledge for the purpose of altering, tenders. Mr. Spence said that one'of his tenders had been altered by striking out potatoes. As his tender was accepted he would like to know where the potato.es were obtained. Mr. Headland said that if the rule were not altered most of the Committee would be forced to retire. He was on§ of those who had supplied goods, and had had his share of the orders of the Society. He did not care particularly whether or not he received a single order from the Society. He merely stood out for the principle and not for the sake of any profit ho obtained. The Rev. Father Coleman said that they had heard the promotion of benevolence urged as an argument in favor of amending the rule. If benevolence was right they should prooide goods at the lowest possible price. They should call for tenders for the supply of the Home, and then if any tradesman wished- to supply goods for out-door relief and was willing to do so at the contract price let him have a share of the orders, This would .be the best course, and would secure the obtainment of supplies at the lowest price. He did not wish to see any member of the Committee debarred from tendering, and would therefore move, an amendment that the rule be amended by omitting the words, " no member of the Committee to supply any articles for the use of the Society for which he maj' receive pecuniary or other compensation." Mr. Mirams said, while he was in favor of retaining the ( rul r e as it stood, he would rather see the amendment carried than the original proposition. He watUd therefore second the amendment, , Mr. Molliso.n was in favor of retaining the rule as it stood on the books, but if it came to a question of deciding between the motion and the amendment/he would vote for the amendment. He could not see any particular hardship in sending the whole of the .recipients of outdoor relief to one store. At present all the orders^Sf 1 the Society were confined to a few stores within a short distance of each other, and were tenders called for, the extra distance any recipient of relief would have to travel would be . very small. Special arrangements might be made for the supply of articles in the country districts. t After Mr. Fleming,had replied at some length, the amendment was put and lost, only four voting for it. The original motion was then put and carried by 11 to 8,

The Chairman said before the meeting terminated he would' like to explain the matter of the potatoes referred to by Mr. Spence.' At the time that tenders were called for he had a quantity of potatoes in his store" and he had offered half a ton of them to the Committee for a few shillings, eight shillings and sixpence, he believed, and that offer had been acoepted. Hei-had sent the • second lot to the Home free of charge, .