The Taihape Daily Times MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1916. PATRIOTIC MUNIFICENCE.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 8, Issue 37, 14 February 1916, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1916. PATRIOTIC MUNIFICENCE.

AND WAIMAKINO ADVOC 4.TD (With which is incorporated The Tai bape Post and Waimarino News.)

The leaders of the people in Auckland are likely to become as notorious for their magnanimity to returned sol. diers and their dependents as they have already become for boasting about having beaten all other parts of the Dominion in their generosity in giving £385,000 to create the fund. It i s true there was a good deal of talk about the stretch of territory Auckland collected over, and when it is understood that this territory extended from the North Cape to well into the Wellington territory, down past Mananui, somewhere about half the Island, being taken, the other half being divided into several contributing districts. However, which centre raised the largest amount matters very little, the generosity of those responsible for the disbursement of the fund will interest the people who gave, and particularly the soldiers and dependents who are to receive. We cannot commend, let alone say a word of praise, for the sordid-minded individuals who framed the rule limiting the contributions, which, it is very improbable would never have been made public but for an application to be placed on a legal footing, by incorporation under the "War ■ Funds Act." All patriotic societies wishing to be so incorporated must first submit a copy of their rules for the approval of the Minister of Internal Affairs. These men of the city of gold, gum and timber, sent along their rules, and it is said that when the Minister read Rule 9, the little pale hirsute covering of his cranium that remains went bolt upright at the magnanimous proposals it contained. He may have thought the framers a spendthrift lot, a come-easy-go-easy sort of people, but whatever it was 'he straightway turned the proposal for incorporation down. He could not permit the law to be dragged in the mire by its concurrence in any such liberality. These are a few of the figures: The wife of a private who gives his life for his country is to receive 5/- a week, with 1/. for each child, but no matter how many children, she must never get more than. 12/-, it would encourage extravagance. The wife of a corporal gets twopence a week more than the private's wife, a sergeant fivepence, a SergeantMajor tenpence, a regimental-Ser-geant-major a shilling. The wife of a commissioned officer, up to the rank of Lieut-Colonel, is to get the munificent sum of 8/- a week, and higher ranks are limited to 9/-. In the case 'of those who have the good luck, or otherwise —we say it advisedly—to return to New Zealand, completely disabled', up to the rank of Sergeantmajor, are to receive 7/. a week, with an extra half-crown if the man happens to have a wife. "When the Auckland Patriotic Executive asked me to accept the responsibility of endorsing such a scale," said the Minister, "my mind was made up at once, land Cabinet promptly and unanimously directed me to request the Auckland Executive to remove this schedule from its rules." The Government, of course, recognises that patriotic societies as well as private individuals can give anything they like, "but," says the Minister, "the Govern, ment declines to accept the responsibility of endorsing such a scale as was submitted by the Auckland Society. Comment is needless, any further than to say, that already the picture is in our niind of Lieut.-Colonel i Somebody going up to the Mayor of Auckland, cap in hand, bowing and scraping to get his weekly eight shillings. It is said that the disburser will sit behind a screen, poking the money through a pay-hole, to avoid a stray coin damaging his face.