The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1892.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume XIII, Issue 4036, 12 February 1892, Page 2

The Wairarapa Daily. FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1892.

Mr Booth, in criticising the present method of charitable aid disiri butiori. haa unnecessarily cast a slur upon the Masterton Benevolent Society by suggesting that its policy might bo to get back as much money from Wellington as possible, We do not lor one moment believe that the Society has ever been actuated by such a motive, ( but npart from this allegation the r view taken by Mr Booth is a sound j one. When one body distributes , money raised by another body there is a tendency towards a liberal distribut tion of funds, and some years ago this * tendency was observable in the Masterton Society. It may not be so now for by this time the managers of , the Society ought to have acquired sufficient experience to avoid indiscriminate relief. The managers of the Masterton Sooiety cballengo Air Booth to give instances of laxity on their part, but it would be very difficult for him to respond to such an invitation aa no one outsidethemanage ment is likely to be familiar with the details of its administration. All that Mr Booth could do would probably be to show that the total annual expenditure for charitable aid in the . North County has for a number of years been proportionately higher than the expenditure in tbe South County, It is quite right for Mr Booth to give the credit of tbe exceptionally low cost in thfl South County to Mr Woltere, who appears to have exercised the greatest care in acting ds j} relief officer, Mr Wolters is an exceptionally able ma n and the authorities in his district appear tohave wisely left him altogether unfettered in the distribution of charitable aid, It is unfortunately the case that self-help always diminishes asohuritableaid increases, aud probably the recipients of assistance in the South County are better oft tjian they would have been if more had been done for them. In the North County there has been in our opinion an error in judgment, Certain poor persons for a series of years have been pensioned on the Society, and perhaps one of them after receivings hundred or a hundred and fifty pounds is not a bit better off than when lie or she first became a charge on the institution, An immediate expendjfure of twenty-five or fifty .pounds in such (i direction as would enable a destitute person to earn a livelihood would be far Jjet'er than a weekly dol.e which in tiuae suallpp up four times as much money and leaves the recipient worse off tlip ever, Of course there are grave difficulties in dealing with applications for relief, and it is far easier to write about self help than to induce | person to practice it, The administration pf pharitable aid in the South County has on the jyjiple been more successful than 'in the North, and it might be desirable for our local Society to ascertain the lines on whioh Mr Wolters has worked, but we are quite certain that the administrators iof relief in this town have endeavoured to exercjse §copppiy and that the fnuendo which |).as cepn expressed by Mr JBooth is an unfair one. The jvprit of distributing charitable aid js difficult and thankless fj.nd those who give time and trouble to tlip tjisk ought at least to be credited with the: best motives.