LET THEM DROWN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 205, 31 August 1933, Page 10

LET THEM DROWN.

J BATHERS IN THE SURF. BEACH PATROL PROBLEM. SHORTAGE OF FUNDS. "Oh! Blow beach patrols —let them drown!" That was the comment of a member | of the executive of the Canterbury Surf | Life Saving Association when the quesj tion of how the beach patrols were to [be supported by moneyless clubs this year was raised at a meeting of the association on Monday evening, states the "Christchurch .Times." I "The public expects ..." began the chairman (Mr. W. H. Benson). "Yes, 'the public expects,' but when you ask them to put their hands in their pockets it's a different question," said the member. Other members expressed their disappointment at the lack of support they had received in trying to carry on the work of protecting the beaches. It was decided after discussion to appoint a subcommittee to go into the matter of raising the necessary funds before the new bathing season opened. "Absolute Necessity." "If we don't have the beaches protected this year, God knows what will happen," said Mr. Benson. "Lasv year proved the absolute necessity of having patrols on each of the three beaches during the holidays. People will go in bathing, whether they are broke or not, and they will get into trouble, and then we have to pull them out." "We have a pretty good record to date, and we will have to carry on somehow," said Mr. A. I. Cottrell. The clubs got a general grant of £50 from the City Council, said Mr. Benson, but the rest of the money had to be got from some other source. He had been told by an official of the Sydney surf life saving body recently that the Sydney City Council had made a grant of £3000 to one of the clubs for the purpose of building a new pavilion. The official had been astounded when he was told that the only regular income the Canterbury Association had totalled seven guineas. Members pointed out that the association's endeavours the previous year to raise rr.oncy for beach patrols had not met with great success. "My experience is that street-day collections are a wash-out," said the chairman. "The public arc sick to death of them. As it is at present we cannot get a permit to have one on our own, and these half-and-half businesses have never been a success." A suggestion was made that permission should be obtained to hold a beach day at Taylor's Mistake early in September, and to take a collection on the top of the hill. In that way some money might be raised. Eventually it was decided to refer the whole matter to the sub-committee. For Olympic Council. Mr. Benson reported that the question of the professional status of beach patrols could not be decided at present. They would have to go on in the same way as in the previous year. The control of the matter rested with the Olympic Council, which met only every four years. "The matter is a constant source of work and worry to us," he said. "The only thing we can do is to point out to the public that we have a big responsibility in the protection of bathers at the beaches, and we cannot carry on unless we get support. At the present time we cannot guarantee to keep the beaches protected. We have no money and unless we get some outside support we cannot carry on."