PATRIOTIC FUNDS.

Auckland Star, Volume XLVIII, Issue 141, 14 June 1917, Page 4

PATRIOTIC FUNDS.

QUESTION OF ADMINISTRATION GOVERNMENT CONTROL. The question of the administration of the patriotic funds was mentioned by the Mayor (Mr. J. H. Gunson) in the course of his address at the annual meetin" of the Auckland Provincial Patriotic anj War Relief Association yesterday afternoon. "The first and chief consideration," he said, "in connection with the administration of patriotic funds should be the interest of the soldier or the dependents of soldiers. The improvement of Government organisation has rendered unnecessary the same assistance from patriotic societies to soldiers before they leave New Zealand as was given at the outset. The work of the societies now is more generally connected with the needs and requirements of the returned soldier. It is suggested in some quarters that this obligation altogether belongs to the Government, and that patriotic efforts and patriotic funds have been ill-advised. This attitude, I think, will not bear criticism. War creates unprecedented conditions in every way, and the Government require, have had. and must continue to receive all possible assistance in various forms from the community. Organised opinion and organised patriotic effort are most valuable commodities both for the Government and the soldier. Without the efficacy of the patriotic association in every branch of activity, and particularly in the matter of the administration of patriotic funds, the lot of the returned soldier or the dependent, difficult as it is in many circumstances, would have been marked by a period of great hardship. It 6eems quite clear that the patriotic societies, as civilian organisations, do a work and render a service for which, under existing circumstances, it would be impossible for the Government to provide a substitute. I think the public generally have appreciated this fact by virtue of the very substantial patriotic funds which throughout the Dominion have been subscribed, and which are now administered by citizens' committees in tbe various centres.

"In respect of Government control, the Auckland Association has always opposed such a course, and I trust that its attitude on the question will not change. The Government has a clear duty imposed upon it to the returning soldier, which will not be lessened in any way by vesting in the State existing patriotic funds, nor is it conceivable that the Government's treatment, either in the matter of pension votes or provision for settlement of the returned soldier, would in any way change or further benefit the soldier by virtue of having vested in them the patriotic funds of this Dominion. In my opinion, the returned soldiers, speaking of them as a body, have everything to lose and nothing to gain by Government control of the patriotic funds. Speaking as far as Auckland is concerned, experience has proved that in the administration of the Provincial Patriotic Fund there is an elasticity of administration and promptness in rendering assistance to soldiers or dependents which is unavoidably lacking in Government administration. The value of the patriotic funds, as far as Auckland is concerned, has largely been found in the fact that there is available, without delay and upon immediate application, a fund from which soldiers personally applying may obtain assistance, which in a large number of cases has assisted applicants over a period which otherwise would have been one of difficulty. In other words, Government pension votes have been delayed, and difficulties in regard to soldiers' pay have arisen, which have reduced the soldier, by no fault of his own, to a condition of necessity. In such circumstances he has been substantially assisted by a prompt and generous vote from the patriotic fund.

"The administration at the hands of the patriotic societies of the various funds is, obviously, not in the interest of those administering the fund, who are appreciative of an opportunity of being able to render some small service by their labours to the returned soldier, but, on the other hand, the benefits of patriotic administration solely and entirely belong to the returned soldier or the dependents of soldiers. It is on behalf of the soldier that this Association in the past has so strongly opposed the suggested nationalisation of the patriotic funds of the Dominion, of which the Auckland fund forms no inconsiderable part."

The question -was referred to the executive to consider and report.