SOLDIERS' PARCELS

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1940, Page 4

SOLDIERS' PARCELS

WGRK BY LOCAL EFFORT SHOULD KEEP A STANDARD After a discussion lasting over an hour, the Taranaki Provincial Patriotic Council decided at a meeting at Stratford yesterday, that if women s organisations desired to make up soldiers' parcels they could do so without interference from the council, providing that the parcels were made up to the standards laid down. The matter arose when the Eltham patriotic committee forwarded a remit suggesting that local effort principle of providing the parcels be affirmed by the council. The Eltham remit stated: —

"That the principle of local centres providing their quota of gift parcels by voluntary effort be affirmed, and the Taranaki Provincial Patriotic Council be advised accordingly." Speaking to the resolution, the Mayor of Eltham, Mr. R. L. Lewis, said although he personally, was against the sentiment of the resolution, some members of his committee, who were in the majority, thought that the parcels asked for from the Taranaki Provincial Patriotic Council should be provided voluntarily by the local committees and not by the council. The chairman, Mr. E. R. C. Gilmour, pointed out that it was desirable for all the parcels to be uniform and at a uniform cost. Though a district committee might want to prepare its own parcels there was no guarantee that its individual soldiers would receive them. Mr. F. L. Frost, M.P.. thought that those who subscribed funds for the parcels should, or probably felt that they should, have a say in its expenditure. Mr. H. G. Dockie, M.P., suggested that the national organisation should prepare and send all the parcels, the provincial councils could then contribute their respective shares to the National Patriotic Council's expenditure. In this way uniformity with a standardised parcel could be achieved. Messrs. N. H. Moss and J. C. Best pointed out that a blanket order for standardised parcels only would obviate the vountary effort of women's organisations, which would be continued to the detriment of the standardised system. As soldiers of the last war they advocated some varipty in the parcels. There was no desire to vetoe voluntary efforts, said Mr. Dickie, but co-ordina-tion was desired, Mr. Moss thought that those centres that wished to send parcels should be allowed to. Therefore, if 600 parcels were asked for, committees who wanted to could, bfetween them, provide say 300 parcels, and the balance could be purchased on the standardised system by the provincial council. In the spirit of Mr. Moss' remarks, Mr. L. H. Clapham moved and Mr. J. B. Murdoch seconded that district patriotic committees be allowed to continue making up parcels for quotas asked for, any balance to be provided by the provincial council under the standardised system. The chairman stated that the standardised parcels could be purchased at a price at Wellington/ which Taranaki concerns "could not look at."