SHEEPOWNERS’ FUND FOR SEAMEN

Southland Times, Issue 24236, 20 September 1940, Page 2

SHEEPOWNERS’ FUND FOR SEAMEN

EXTENSION TO PRESENT WAR “The trustees are of the opinion that it is their duty to extend the fund’s operations to the sufferers among British seamen and their dependents due to the present war,” states the report to be submitted to the annual meeting, of subscribers to the. New Zealand Sheepowners’ Acknowledgement of Debt to British Seamen. Fund to be held on September 26. The report adds that after making full provision for ■■ all present beneficiaries, or for those who may be added .to the pension list, it was conservatively estimated that there would’be a surplus available from the present fund, of at least £20,000, and it might be considerably more. However, this money was originally subscribed to help people who had suffered during the war of 1914-18, and could not be expended otherwise unless the. contributors themselves consented. Accordingly, the board of trustees at a meeting in July resolved to obtain the sanction of the original contributors (and later the Supreme Court, if necessary) for the utilization of a minimum of £20,000, and such t other sums as might be determined, for assistance to British seamen (and their dependents) serving during the present war. It was also decided that a proposal for a campaign to raise further funds should be submitted to a later meeting, after consultation with the National Patriotic Fund Board.

The report states that since the establishment of the fund in 1921 the following cash disbursements have been made:—Grants to beneficiaries in New Zealand and overseas, £74,304/2/6; immigration, training, after care and settlement of boy and girl dependents, £94,658/18/-; total £168,963/0/6; total of subscriptions received by trustees, £201,835/11/9; balance of original subscriptions, £32,872 11/3. However, the actual amount held by. the trustees at June 30, 1930, was £141,115/1/10, and, therefore, the accretion to the fund by way of interest earned on investments and profits made on Flock House station was £108,242 10/7.