ACTION QUESTIONED

Taranaki Daily News, 24 September 1940, Page 8

ACTION QUESTIONED

COMMITTEES' GRANTS AID TO SPITFIRE FUND . action of a South Taranaki patriotic committee in giving £300 to the Taranaki Spitfire Fund was questioned at a meeting of the Taranaki Provincial Patriotic Council at Stratford yesterday. It was decided that the action was permissible, providing that subscribers were aware that they were giving money to the Spitfire fund and not the patriotic funds. The fund was ruled to be entirely separat° from patriotic purposes collections. Mr. E. R. C. Gilmour, New Plymouth, council chairman, said he understood that a committee collecting under the weekly system had given £300 of its collections to the Spitfire fund without seeking any permission from the council. He considered that such an action was definitely out of order. Agreement with this view was expressed by Mr. P. Thomson, Mayor of Stratford, and vice-president of the council. He moved that no such funds be supported from patriotic funds without the I approval of the council. "Who started the fund?" asked a delegate. It was explained that so far as Taranaki was concerned, the fund had its origination at a meeting of Waitara citizens, but prior to that other New Zealand centres had made a move. Mr . Gilmour said that he was requested to form a committee for the fund at New Plymouth. The fund, he said, had been approved by the Government and arrangements had been completed to remit the money overseas. An interjector: We'll have to keep an eye on this business or somebody will be starting a fund for' a destroyer. From Willing Givers. Two delegates. one from a North Taranaki centre and one from South Taranaki, owned that they had made collections or were going to make. allocations from their weekly collections.^ They emphasised, however, that they included in them only collections from those subscribers who made an express wish to support the Spitfire fund. If they had refused to do this the contributions would not have been made. "We cannot limit the people's giving," said Mr. Bellringer, who said that to impose restrictions would kill the spirit which animated the giving. He, personally, wished to support a fund for the rehabilitation of London, and would do so even if he had to put his contribution through some centre outside Taranaki. "It seems that so far as these two centres are concerned. it is nobody 's business," commented the Hon. James McLeod, M.L.C. Upon his suggestion it was agreed that if the Spitfire fund were nominated by weekly subscribers to patriotic funds no objection could be made by the council.