£25,000 FUND.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XXXV, Issue 8271, 16 October 1915, Page 4

£25,000 FUND.

PUBLIC MEETING IN ASHBURTON. A U irtMWSKNTATJVE GATHERING. TOTAL OF >£4302 SUBSCRIBED IN THE ROOM. A. public meeting was held in the: Asiiburton A. and P. .Association'srooms this afternoon, under the auspices ol' the Ashburton Patriotic Committee. The- object of. the gathering Avas to enlist the practical sympathy of the residents of the' County in the canvass Tor the sum.of £25,000, Avliich is the amount the committee hopes to rai.se foi' tho wounded soldiers and sailors of the Ashburton County . and their dependents. ' /The attendance, which numbered over 100, was a representative, one, and' iv the absence of the Mayor, 'who is Chairman of the Ashburton Patriotic Committee, Mr J. Grigg was appointed to preside. Ho road apologies for absence from -Messrs R. Galbraith (Mayor), C. J. Harper, J. Cow,. H. F. Nicoll, E. F. Nicoll, and A. A. Orr. In .opening the business, Mr Grigg - said that those present knew that the had been called for the , sole -. purpose:,, of; providing for the sick, and -^ wounded soldiers, and sailors now and y~afterwards.- South Canterbury lijuW gono in for a splendid system of raising * money, aim it remained for the people of the. County of .Ashburton to put their hands in their pockets and help the Committee out. The cause needed no eulogising on his part.

The lion, secretary of the Patriotic Committee (Mr C- W. Nicoll) explained the arrangement made by. the committee. Ho said that in .the first place the Ashburtou Patriotic Fund had been merged into the Ashburton County War. Relief Fund, and its object was that every man who was fightiifg for them and for his country should, not be allowed to spend any of his days in penury. There was no more worthy object. The main thing to be noted was that there would be uniform administrator! throughout the-Dominion, which meant that an Ashburton man who had lost a log would receive the same amount as the man in Wellington, Auckland, or Otago who had lost a leg. There would be no 'overlapping, and «if one branch becamo insolvent application would have to."bo made by that branch to the^--chief branch, and a levy would ' be imposed on the other branches-in the Dominion. The 'Ashburtou Patriotic Committee hoped to raiso the money by direct giving. The boundary of the Ashburton Committee's district would be the Ashburton County, as governed by the County Council. Timaru had raised £30,01)0* in'--six weeks, and surely Ashburton could raise £25,000 in a . similar time. According to the share 'system proposed a man who ■ donated £1000 would be credited with 1000 shares in the company, as it might be called. There would be an annual meeting, when the past year's doings could bo..criticised, and the shar© r holders would thus each have a voice in tho administration ' of the fund. If a. man could not give £1000 or £100, he could take, say, £5 worth of shares, to be paid over a period of three-years, but r iiot longer. ; : Mr T. Bullock said that, as, one of the oldest settlers in the district, he had been asked to address theni., Mr Nicoll had said that South Canterbury had raised £30,000 in six weeks, and he had read that Invercargill hoped to raise £70,000 by a Queen Carnival. If Invercargill could do that surely a district liko Ashburton could raise £30,000. The-farmers of the Dominion had just received' £5,100,000 for meat. , The bank returns showed that there was a sum of £17,800,000 in, free deposits in "tho country and £11,500,000 in fixed deposits. In addition to the money in the banks large sums were invested in savings banks in New Zealand, and those facts showed that there was plenty of wealth in the country. Surely then, went on Mr Bullock, the sum "of £25,000 aimed at would' be easy to realise. He hoped that 20 men in the Comity would each give £1000; they would not suffer, he was positive of it. The scheme outlined by the secretary was a splendid one. There was hardly one in Now Zealand, who could accurately size up the position: no one knew of the exact sacrifices that were being made by the brave New Zealand boys,who had gone to the war. The money raised should be interest-bear-ing, "and he thought the Ashburton' Committee could arrange that matter. Thero were many channels through which tho fund could be invested. It could be invested in the Dominion. at 3j per cent, interest, or in freehold security, or with the Public Trustee at a rate of i-i po.r cent. Some might draw attention, to the fact that the additional taxation was about to be, or was now beings imposed in tho Dominion .was., heavy. As a matter: of fact, it was very high ;is compared "'with, say,, the taxation of people in-England; ami, what country in the .world was hotter ■ ■ able to bear heavy taxation than New--Zealand ?. Not enough sacrifice"-was being made; at the present time. He '"favoured duty first and sport second.-*-* (Hear, hear.) . :

Mr J. Farro'l: "The sports in New. Zealand arc paying a big duty at the present time. Mi Bullock. proceeding, said 'he would like to see the amount aimed at by the committee set at £30,000, ,instead, of .C&j,QOO, and also that the poriod of payment for shares be made 18 months instead of three .years. : (Hear,, hear.) He was not the wealthy man people imagined he was —.. (laughter, applause," and "cries of 111 On !")-'),it he was prepared to do his share, lie was preparedJ himself' to give .1' 1000—-(applause)—.to.V-; set ■•things-•'going: and he trusted there! were 20^ others \i n the;. County;. who. would. give va similar, suni. „ :. ; '■'■'.■ '/ .■'.-■'•'■'-''■ '•■'■ Mr F. Z. D. Ferriman agreed with Mr Bullock in respect to" the £30,000 and also that the period of payment for' share* should bo 18 months. In, reply' to Mr W. H. Lunn, the' secretary said the funds would be administered by the Ashburton Committee. The money would be collected: by ihe latter and dispensed by the latter, subject to certain little regulations in regard to uniform payment. Thc>local committee would bo able to give up to .CIOO (o any one man. The comuuttoomon knew the conditions and probably knew the men. Tho Chairman said that every man would be treated alike and ho hoped that men in the County would give very liberally. There was no other fund" thai had such a strong call as the one under review. Mr Uullock said the County should be*

J canvassed systematically, but whatever F approached all the Road Boards in the County, asking for their co-operation. was done should be done quickly. ■ • • "The secretary said that every part of the County, however remote, would be well looked after. The committee had At the request of the chairman, the Methven and Rakaia delegates made statements. . Mr W. Goodwin (Methven) said that he could only say that Methven was waiting for a lead from Ashburton. Methven wanted the fund to bo administered from Wellington. It tiio money was to bo administered from Aslilnirton—if Ashburton had charge of the money—then lie was air aid Methven would go on its own. Ihe Alo.tnvenites worked on the principle thao every man who went to the war. whether from Ashburton or Auckland, was a New Zealander, and therefore any money should be operated as Dominion funds. ■Mr A. Drummond said that as rains Rakaia was concerned .he had nothing to say :it present. Something definite would be heard on Thursday next. ! The Chairman said he hoped Uie Rakaia people would join Ashburton. He could sco no reason why there should he division in the County. Mr "W. Harding agreed with the elininnan. He said they had been told that the pnyment in Ashburton would ba uniform 'with the payment in the rest of New Zealand. The Ashburton County "should be one; there was no other district in New Zealand in which community of interest was better represented.' There was no separation in the Ashburton County between the Rangitata and the Rakaia rivers. The (residents of the County could safely """trust the Ashburton Patriotic Committee. In reply, to Mr W. 11. Limn, th ■ Chairman said the old Ashburton - Patriotic Committee had been conductjE*ag;all negotiations up to the present, but representatives o.f all districts in th^r County would be appointed on the executive. Preparations were then made in the room for subscriptions to be collected. The following sums were contributed: — £ T. Bullock ... ... 1000 John Grigg ... ... 500 Nicoll Bros .500 D. G. Wright 500 Robert Bell 500 Hunter Morris 100 F. A. Smith , 100 W. T. Lill 100. J. Farreli ii<o T. Taylor 100 P. Drummond ... ... 100 D. Wood 100 IT. Stringfoilow ... 50 J. Bruce 50 J. Stringfellow ... 50 T. Mawson 50 F. Frampton 50 J. McQuijkin ... ... 50 W. Jamieson ...... 50 J. Cairns ... ... 50 R. D. Johnston 50 H. A. Lloyd 50 — Moore (Seaview) ... 30 J. R. Brown ... ... 25 G. D. H.-Hefford ... ' '25 M.-'Rooney ... ... 25 C. Reid 25 W. Buchan 25 R. B. Coward 25 W. H. Mulligan ... 25 R. W. Morrow 25 V. P. Boot 25 T. Mulligan 25 Rev. Father J. J. O'Donnell 25 G. McKenzie (Hinds) ... 25 Copland 25 V J. Orr and Co 25 m Gill Bros. 21 V W. Harding 20 J. Glassey 20 A. Davidson 20 J. Cameron ... •• • 20 W. Doak 20 J. Paterson 20 W. Anderson (Fairton) 20 D. McKenzie (Hinds) ... 20 W. Bruce 15 H. C. Barton 10 T. Hayes 10 W. H. Limn 10 L. R. Stoddart 10 T. Evans 10 T. Stewart 10 v H. E. Jesscp 10 A. Moore ... ■•• 10 J. Fleming ..: ... 10 W. R. Anderson ... 10 J. Jaine 10 H. Mncklo 5 5 W. Cob'n ~ ... ... 5 W. J. Moses 5 T. E. Upton 5 W. Moses o G. Bright . 1 F. Stuart 5s a month Total ... ... £4832 5