PATRIOTIC APPEAL

Wairarapa Times-Age, 9 October 1940, Page 5

PATRIOTIC APPEAL

SUM OF ONE MILLION WANTED BEFORE END OF YEAR. DECISIONS OF WELLINGTON CONFERENCE. (By Telegraph—Press Association.) WELLINGTON, This Day. Representatives of patriotic zone committees throughout Hie Wellington province met in Palmerston North last Saturday to discuss matters in connection with the.£l,ooo,ooo patriotic fund which it is hoped to raise before the end of the year. It was stated that the sum to be raised within the Wellington province, which includes Wanganui, Manawatu, Wairarapa, and as far north as Taihape, is 20 per cent of the whole, or £200,000. The conference was presided over by the Mayor of Palmerston North, Mr A. E. Mansford, and was addressed by the honorary secretary of the Wellington Provincial Patriotic Council. Mr Ward, M.L.C., who complimented zone representatives on what had been accomplished in the. past, making special reference to the parcels for overseas soldiers. He said that in eight zones 300 parcels over and above the number allocated to them had been forwarded to Wellington for dispatch abroad. It had been suggested that the coming effort might be assisted by holding several art unions or raffles, big and small, toward which project people had already promised substantial gifts. Mr J. Abel, honorary secretary of the appeal, said that the sum of £1,000,000 had been decided on following a conference of secretaries of provincial patriotic councils throughout New Zealand. Auckland had arranged to open its campaign immediately for £250,000; Otago aimed at raising £100,000; and so on a percentage basis the £1,000,000 was made up. If the war continued for another year at the same tempo as at present much money would be required. By the end of next year 50,000 men would be away from New Zealand in the three services—the Army, Navy, and Air Force; and by March next there would be an additional 44,000 men under arms in New Zealand. Therefore, in a year’s time there was not likely to be a great deal left out of the £1,000,000 now proposed to be raised. The campaign was to open next week. According to the Government Statistician, £111,000,000 would be paid in salaries and wages this year, said Mr Abel so he did not think it would be very difficult to raise this £1,000,000 in six weeks. If the appeal were handled in a businesslike way and the public were told frankly how long the money would last under present conditions, they would be able to gather how long it would be before another similar appeal was likely to be m.'de. In answer to a question, be said the Minister of Finance had undertaken that the money subscribed for objects in Great Britain would certainly go there. There was agreement on the part of the conference that the appeal would be brought to a close at the end of November, so that it should not interfere with the Christmas trade.