FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 100, 26 April 1912, Page 7

FOR HUMANITY'S SAKE.

TIES PSOTECTION OF THE DESERTED. AXD OF THE ILlr-TKZAIED. Ibje. aniuia] meeting of the Society for the Protection or Women and Children and the Prevention of Cruelty to Amniak was held Yesterday afternoon in the Y.M.CJL lecture hail, when the president (Mr. T. W. Leys) controlled a, meeting Of about twenty-five members.

TUIJ YEARS WORK.

'I'll' , .annual report, detailing the work which shows ample justification for the Society's existence, has already been published in the '"Star," and it was plai-ed before the meeting by Mr. H. M. Wildinp. uhairman of the Executive Committee. He also read the balancesheet, which bespoke ii. careful handling of the Society's finances. The receipts showed a Government jrrant of £75, subscriptions amounting to £164 14/6, a donation from the Ladies' Committee, of the proceeds of a "name quilt agprre{Sdinfr £HS 7/. and interest totalling £56 1(1/1. Disbursements in salaries, tees .and expenses amounted to £U29 n/S. Th« "maintenance acconnf showed that to* , Sotiety bad administered £570 10/9 received" through the Court and from ether sources for the direct .benefit af destitute proteges, .tend a general statement of the finances disclosed that the Society ha* £1,085 S/10 of cash assets, almost all of which is op mortgage, and m the bank, earning interest. RETIRING PRESIDENTS REMARKS. In seconding the adoption of the repoTt and balance-sheet, (moved by Mr. Wilding), Mr. Leys stated that, while the reduction in the number of cases dealt with by the protection branch of the Society was in great part due, to the. •work of other agencies working in parallel lines, it, encouraged the hope also that it was, in part at least, due to the. existence of a better spirit in the community. The presence and pro tion of the Society must be a pre3t boon to women .and children left destitute by their lejal protector?, while th". knowledge of its existence must aiso have a salutary effect on the latter. A great deal of the work in that department was actively assisted by the 1 nliP:i' ( nmroitli'p. whose generous effort ■> in tha.t reaper I were none: the less clTeriivp, in thai they wore *ilent and unn.stPnta.nous- The first aim of the committer was to seenre private reconcili*tifir.r-; it v. as only in the last resort that. rij-our.-r was. had tr> the court. The. fart, that when they had In jn In th* , court :in order I]2.d been nradp in every μ-p. be.ipn'h-e thf in n> fv.l n^ and divrrtion of r.hp 'itii'-ers who Tindertook tiic work. Kr.-3-iiing I he branch for the preveatmii oi cruelty to ai-irosl.-. >Ir. Ley.: rem.irked that much of 1 he crneltv ■R-α.' indmihtfd'y the r"<;uH of Ihoughtle3snp.w. hut tip tact that ftfiS cautions had b.-'i'p u' , f , ->.i.n d:.l not redound to th" P'fili! ol the community. He stressed the feature that the, Society aclivity and 'Lie consequent knowledsr of its. punitive presence, had n -c-holesomc preTf.ntnc and r'stra-inrng influence "which madp for tip decrea&r of ill treatment of dumb animals, and iwunt.ed ETPa.t!y in the pood ■work done by the Soriety. The competitive essays amongst. «-hooJ children promoted by the Society to inculcate a love of anima.U and foster :i feeljnpr of responsibility in their protaction, -were rapntjoned with a. remark .incminp the gratifying iiUPX«st takr-n h-- the children. llr. enlogise.d the work d.>nf !.y Mr. Wild-'nc in the years past, and foreshadowed the time wlien llf burden must be undertaken by the younger members, from whom was expected thp t.).-k of carryms? on the mission :n adeciuately pioneered. Discussmp th"- po>s.ihiiity of an e.yt.ens:on of the Society"? sphere, of influence, Mr. Ley pointed out that, to ca.rry on a system of country inspection entailed a. g-reat increase of ■working expenses. Much now was done outride the city, but th-p.y had to comber report;I tha.;. were trivial, and others thru \vrc i prompted by malice, with the result Lhat invent icrations made at ion.-idera.hle j expense n<^re rpsriltless. What was ■wanted vii tome means of larcely increasJTiK tiir. rueinbTshir. which would ■ rive, fund:- to a.--.-,i?+ af£]iatpj"l country ■ branrhes. and he f«H that ,f they could I get large meetm/?, so that the people j could actually know the good -work done by the. Society, fhry weald pet the neenssa.Ty increase of membership. It might be possible, however, to at. least, get- ani other centre established between AackI land and WeDingtoa. I The motion of a4optaon was carried I without discussion. THE OFFICE-BEAEJE&S. The, following office-bearers were elected for thfi ensuing year: President, the Hon. Geo. Fowlds: vioe-presidfents. Bishop Cxossley, Bishop Clea.ry, Rev. S. A. Goldstein, Rev. A. H. Knowles Kempton, Rev. Geo. Bond, Rev. L Jolly, M. A., [Hon. A- M- Myers, MJ, Messrs. David 1 Goldie. T. W. Leys, ajnd Henry Wilding; j committee, Mr. Hy. Wilding (chairman), ' Mrs. L Alexander. Mrs,. C. X. }Jelson, j Mrs. L- X. Benjamin, Mrs. A. E. Devore, Mrs IXHiis Myers, Mrs. K. A. Nathan, I Mrs. Durmett, Mrs. Fry, Miss Oatirwaite, jSev. Father Holbrook,*Ecv. A. C Lawry, .Messrs. \V. Thome, E- B. Lnsk, R. 1 Wright (represe.nti ng ilastc.r Carriers' 'Association), and 11. 0- Nolan (lepie- ; senting A. and P. AssociationJ ; hon. i treasurer, Mr. F. Bodle: hon. auditor, , Mr. K. Jonas; hon. medrcaJ officer, I>r. ! McDowell; hon. chief intipector, Mr. H. 1 Wilding; hon. soikritors, Messrs. F. W. I Brookfield. (":. E. Ma-tthews. "Edinand I Maboiry, J. W. &te!waxt. ,T. W. G-ittos, 'T. St. Clair, A. G. Pilkington, Wm. i Thorn J. E- Reed fall of town)-, W. A. I Oarnell CCoromandel'). W. A. Cairnth J VTbajigarei i. Pfiter Gilchrisfc (Te j Aroha,l, CA. de Lantour (S"apier), H. :Y. Collins (Te. Awamutu), E. Northcroft,

Hamilton 'i, Ernest MiJlfir i Thames), T. H. Mueller (Paeroa), W. H. Barnicoat fTVanganui'), H. A. Sharp (Ta-aranga), Geo. Lrquhart (tiotonia.), T. W. Shortland I'Ta-umanunu). COKPLIMESTAET. The retiring president. (Mr, LeyV), the hon. chief inspector : ilr. Wilding), and the ladies 5 committee were accorded votes of thanks for their work and assistance during the past year. The Hon. G. Fowlds declared that the work of the Society was a real practical work and no fad, and those who knew Mr. L?ys and the thoroughness with which he entered into any work with which he associated himself knew that hp was not a man given to fads. Mr. Leys lai-d the chief credit or' th? work achieved by tie Society on the shoulders of Mr. Wilding, who gave his time unstintingly to the immense <tetail required to carry through with judgment, tact, and fairness the great number of cases that "were brought beforehim. Mr. Wilding, in tarn, avowed that the ladies associated with, the Society had beea of the greatest assistance throughout By monteta33raSdstanoe=iiißy

had done nmebu but of yet greater avail had heen the moral effect of the existence lof the ladies' committee, composed of ; members with a quick anrl genuine interest and sympathy in the -work. This ' reference to the ladies' share of assistajicn vns testified to, also, by other members. THE WORK AXD ITS APPEALAt various intervals during the election of officers laudatory reference was made to the Society's work and tie tact and discretion of its officers, amis suggestions were offered regarding its extension. The Hon. G. Fowids said that to publish fully only one or two of the cases in which the Society had relieved destitution and cemented reconciliation would put the public into such ready sympathy with them that they could easily pet a very greatly enlarged sympathy. But to do that would) be to destroy the very •essence and nobility of the work they were doing, for it v.as one of its obligations that it should be done, not secretly, but behind the. glare of publicity. Archdeacon Brodie (representing Bishfip Clca-ry), in the coo of a. eulogy of what hail been done, stated a desire to see country affißatpd branches initiated, and addL"<i"that if Mr. Fcuvlds (as president) made an organising Imir he would find ><:> many r«ady >.yinn.-v thisers in the country that th<- wlieine. would be found feasible. Ho ofTeredi to himself undertalcr the work of or»r?.7iising a branch in Wai hi. }le corrmir.TKicd the introduction nf competitive, 'assays on humanitarian t,uhjcets as tendinfr in the direction desired, and thoupht that the movement mi.eht h" extended by endeavouring through the off>c°* of the editor of the "School Journal" to have the -winninj; essays publicly read in the school. The Ker. I. Jolly. Rev. Know 1 -Kemp tor.. Father Hol'brook. Mr. C. K. Matthews, and other speaker.- rowed approbation of the beneficent work of the Society, and of it* wide appeal far support in that it- embraoed all rar«=. and creeds and shades of thought on flip cue common base of the good of huin.-ijiiH-.