TARANAKI REFUGEES FUND.

PURCHASE OF TRAFALGAR PARK, PUBLIC MEETING. A public meet'ng convened by his Worship the Mayor for considering a proposal that a fund in the Union Bank, and known as the Taranaki Refugees Fund, should be utilised in purchasing Trafalgar Park as a recreation ground, and expressing an opinion thereon, was held in the Provincial Hall last evening, there being a large attendance. On the motion of Mr Sharp, the Mayor was voted to the chair. His Worship Yerj- fully explained the present proposal, and he also stated that other suggestions had also been made, such aa dividing the money lying in the Union Bank between the Library and the Nelson Aid Society. The Hon. the Premier had been approached on the matter, and had expressed a desire to know what was the opinion of the people of Nelson. He had called that meeting that they might express their opinion, and for himself he hoped they would favor the present proposal, and that they would be able to get the necessary Biil passed during the present session. He said he had been in Nelson thirty years, and during that time the City had only received one endowment— the Renwiok Almshouses. There was a Bum of £1600 in the Bank to credit of a fund on which no one oould mako a olaim, and for that money they oould purohase fifteen aores of land whioh cost the Oompaoy some £4000. If this were done he said tbat those who had subscribed to the Park Company would feel tbat their money had not all been wasted, aiid he asked any sensible man whether he oould ccc a better way of investing the money than that suggested? -(applause)— and he asked them to think what this land would probably be worth 25 or 50 years henoe. Mr Fell said the Mayor had explained the proposals so dearly that he had but little more to say concerning them. He said that a number of citizens had consulted, and drafted a B 11 called the Trafalgar Park Bill, which had for its objeot the vesting of the £1667 now in the Union Bank to credit of the Taranaki Refugee Fund in the Nelson Corporation on trust to purohase the 15 aores of land known as the Trafalgar Park, and to hold the same on trust for ever, to be used for athletic sports and other recreations. Power was given the Corporation to make by-laws, &c, for the management and control of the ground, and providing fees for admission ; also to let to any Company or Association for the purposes already mentioned, the Corporation to apply rents recsived in the first plaoe to the maintenance and upkeep of the ground and its improvement, and in the next place to apply the surplus to such charitable purposes as the Corporation might think proper. He explained how the Taranaki Refugees Fund was originated on the Maori war of 1860 by a sum of money being subscribed in Nelson for the relief of the refugees from Taranaki. Shortly afterwards, however, the support of the refugees was undertaken by the Provincial Government of Nelson, and subsequently the Colonial Government voted £25,000 to compeneate the Taranaki settlers for their losses through the war, at the end of whioh free passages were granted to those wishing to return. The money subscribed and placed in the hands of a Committee was spent so far as necessities existed, and the balance, some £500, was plaoed in the Union Bank, and the deposit was annually renewed by Mr Sharp, under whose oareful superintendence the fund had grown to £1667. All these years there had been no claim on the fund, and there oould be none. When recently tbe facts became notorious certain proposals were made for disposing of the money. It had been proposed to divide the amount between the Charitable Aid Beard, th. Nekon Aid Society, and the Institute, and he thought those making the suggestion must have found some difficulty in utilising the money when they sought bo many outlets as to make the fund practically useless for either purpose. He argued that the Charitable Aid Board attended to the wants of those in need of assistance, and therefore if the money were devoted to such a purpose it would Bimply relieve th 6 ratepayers who had to contribute to its funds, and the money would not go to relieve distress, but to lessen the general rates. In euoh case some £90 a year might be saved tbe ratepayers, but the relief would be scarcely appreciable, and the money would not actually be devoted to a charitable objeot. He then reviewed the history of Trafalgar Park, stating how the want of a sports ground that oould be maintained for purposes of sport, such as cricket, bioyoling, football, &c, had been felt, and how a company had been formed whioh purohased 15 aores on the mudflat, and reclaimed 8 acres expending altogether over £4000. As the capital of the Company was insufficient the laud was mortgaged to the Savings Bank for about £1700. and ultimately the Company wa_ forced to let the Bank take the property. The proposal in the Bill had been largely supported, and he believed that it practically embodied the wishes of all. He would move that this meeting cordially approves of the objeot of the Bill, and trusts that the members for the distriot will assist its passage through both Houses of Parliament during the present session.— (Applause). Mr Haddow, in seoondiog the motion, said ' an old Spanish proverb stated there were ' three things that oould never be recalled — a 'w, spent, arrow, a spoken word, and a lost 1 opportunity. Ho asked wen the Kelson

people going to lose the opportunity of obtaining Trafalgar Park ? He believed that some misapprehension existed, and he wished to state clearly tbat if the purohase were t made not one penny of the money woold go I to those who formed the Trafalgar Park i Company, ono of whom he was. He said in i the past Nelson lost nearly £100,000, whioh I was offered it, because their then chief repre- i sentative thought they should have more, I That was a lost opportunity ; he hoped they ] would lose no more now. < Mr Gilbert said there wero two sides to a ] question, and he stood there to take up the : opposite view. (Hear, hear.) He considered i the proposed diversion of this fund was in < contravention of the inteut for whioh the i money was given, and that to give eff eot to it j would be an act of spoliation. The money | was raised for charitable purposes, and should i be devoted to suoh purposes. He was not I opposed to recreation, but he urged that ] provision should be made for the moral and ( intellectual culture of their young men. If i the money could not be used for its original i purpose, he said let it remain where it was, i for it was safe, when it would accumulate, | and if at any time they had an opportunity of < purchasing a park (the land on the mud fiat, < he said, was no park), they would have the ; accumulated capital to do so. He moved an ' amendment that this meeting does not i sanction the scheme proposed. Mr D. Grant, while agreeing with the principle of the Bill, complained that it was j proposed to buy the Park before they knew i what they were to give for it. He thought the Bill should go no further than to provide , that the money should be devoted to buying i a recreation ground. He seconded the amendment with a view to eliciting informa- : tion. Mr Pellew, as one of the refugees, wished to acknowledge the goodness of the Nelson people He suggested, however, that the : fund referred to should be devoted partially : to improving the Queen's Gardens, the Botanical Gardens, and Victory Square, to giving £100 to the Jubilee Committee to erect a monument to the old settlers who received the women and children from Taranaki, and to giving £suo to the Nelson Aid Society, that the interest might be devoted to cases of dis tress, and particularly to relieve any old refugees, some of whom required assistance. He urged that the money spent on improving the city reserves would give work to those n< eding it. He thought it would be throw- ; ing the money away to buy Trafalgar Park. In reply to what Mr Grant had said, Mr Fell said the Savings Bank was willing to hand over the ground and pay all expenses in connection with the transfer, &0., for the amount to credit of the fund, and he subsequently Baid the Savings Bank had previously only offered 8 acres for sale, but this offer included the whole. Mr Littlejohn spoke of the value of athletic training, and pointed out that the money spent on the cry reserves was practically thrown away. Till they had an athletio ground their young men could not excel. Mr J. Sharp wished to disabuse the mind ot Mr Gilbert as to any supposition that any of the money would go into tbe pockets of those who sank their money on the athletio ground. Most of them, at all events, who did so, never expeoted any return ; they had merely wished to provide an athletic ground for their young men. He said £500 bad been spent in preparing the Botanical Gardens and Victory Square for cricket, &c, but everyone had a right to those places, and there was nothing to show for the expenditure. There never had been a claim on the fund in the Union Bank, and he asked what Would they do with it if they did not carry out the present proposal. He had waited for some suggestion from Mr Gilbert, but he simply advised letting the money lie in the bank, and then to buy a park in the future. He urged that it Bhould be put to use now, and not locked up, so that it might be the means of giving reoreation to the youngster?, and tbe oldsters, too. (Applause ) Mr Akersten supported the motion, and suggested how the gound could be improved. He did not think it would be long before the Corporation would derive profit from the ground, whioh it would devote to oharitable purposes He urged that the opportunity should not be lost, and referred to lost chances in the past such as the opportunity to have acquired the Dun Mountain property. j Mr Flowerday opposed the suggestion. He contended that the wishes of those who gave i the money Bhould be carried out, and he saw j no better way of doing this than by providing employment for those needing it. < The Mayor said tbat with regard to a [ remark as to persons wanting employment, Mr Browning had informed him that out of i one hundred whose names were given in as ! wanting work, only six had applied for the work at Biwaka, supplied by the Government. The question was then put, when the Mayor first took a vote on the amendment, which was lost on the voices, He then put the original motion, the ayes being very numerous, and not a dissentient voice was then raised against it. On the motion of Mr E. Burn, it was resolved to send copies of the resolution to the Hon the Premier, the Hons Barnicoat and Shephard, and Messrs Harkness, Mills, and Reeves, with a request that they should support same. Thanks to Mr John Sharp for the attention he had given to the fund were then expressed, and a vote of thanks to the Mayor brought the meeting to an end ,