THE SEAMEN'S INSTITUTE.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17207, 26 July 1921, Page 10

THE SEAMEN'S INSTITUTE.

SUPERINTENDENTS RESIGNATION. EXECUTIVE OBITIOISED. One of the largest public meetings held in Lyttelton for many years took place at the Excelsior Hall last evening, when affairs in connexion with the Seamen's Institute of the British and .Foreign Sailors' Society at Lyttelton were discussed, particularly the action of the executive and board with regard to the late superintendent, Mr G. Wood. There were quite 800 people present, many having to stand. The meeting was undoubtedly a representative one, those" present including seamen, officers, returned soldiers, shipping officials, and social workers. Mr F. Hobbs, Town Clerk, was voted to the'chair. The Mavor,(Mr W. T. Lester), who is a member of the Board of the Society, said'that he had called the meeting at the request of many people interested in the management of the Institute. The meeting was not called ior the purpose of vindicating those of the Board who had been defeated, but to enable the,general public to gain an insight into the working of the Institute. The executive of the Society had acted ,in a manner which the majority of' the Board disapproved. Unfortunately," the chairman of -' the Board,/ who was also chairman of the executive, had seen fit to use not only nia deliberative vote, but his casting vote to save the executive, and do an injustice to one whom he was sure they would all agree had done his best to carry out the work of the Institute. Any resolution which they passed that night might, net have the, effect of altering the position, but it would at least show what the general public thought of the matter. The president of, tne Society had refused to allow any -discussion on Mr Woods's resignation, and had quoted legal opinions to support his action. In other words, the legal aspect "had been brought to bear when" the moral aspect should have been considered. The man affected was a returned soldier, and if a Board comprised largely of men and women professing/ Christianity would treat a returned man in the manner which would be explained to them, what treatment could be expected from others? He was glad to see so many seafaring men present, and wished to. especially welcome -Mr W. E. Leadley, secretary of the Returned Soldiers' Association. As convenor of the meeting, he had written to the president of the Society, inviting- him to be .present, but had received a reply from that, gentleman regretting that he was unable to attend. I The Bev. J. R. Hewland, a member | of the Board, said thati the meeting was the largest he had seen in his eight years in Lyttelton. He wished them clearly to understand t"he history of what had occurred. The local branch of the British and Foreign Sailors' Society consisted of those persons who annually subscribed or collected the sum of one guinea for the Society. The subscribera met annually and elected a board and officers. The Board at pre- j sent consisted of 22 members. The ; Board appointed an executive, consist- j rag of the president, secretary, trea- | Burer, and one member to deal with minor, matters arising between the quarterly meetings of the Board. Nine months ago the position of superinten-1' dent of the Institute became' vacant. There were many applicants . for the ' \ position, and three or four were selected by the, Board and handed to the ' executive, with authority to make a final choice. Mr Wood was selected and appointed on six months' probation. At the end of that period, as he : had not received any word as to his suitability or otherwise, he handed in his resignation.. The Board met, and, ' after altering certain conditions under ] which Mr Wood worked, refused to ac- , < oept the resignation, and appointed Mr p

Wood permanently to the portion. From then until a fortnight »go»,; a period of three months, the Board did riot meet. In the meantime,Mr Stewart, a Baptistminister in,; Dune-, did, who had previously!been selected for the, position,;but had 'withdrawn nis_ application, -got, into' bpmmunicatiooi with ,-'.th© : secretary, enquiring- iff there was a vacancy at. any branch-.of the. Society for. a (seaman's missioner. The secretary and the correspondence devejpped'.into what wae.practically an offer of the position at. Lyitelton to the Dunedin nian. 'This waa done with the full knowledge of all the executive with the exception of Captain Hatchwell. Of these doings Mr Wood had no .knowledge, and. he had received no intimation whatever that, the executive were dissatisfied with his services. Finally, the executive reached a point at which they almost, though not quite, appointed Mr Stewart to the position. They invited Eim to Lyttelton, and paid his expensed. He had stayed at the house of a member of the executive,.and had been shown over the Institute: All this time the, Board and Mr Wood were kept in ignorance of whatwaa going on. He asked his hearers if that was an honourable way of doing thinffs. If the executive ..had found Mr Wood unsuitable, they-should have called the Board together,. presented a report, and called upon Mr Wood to resign. Instead of that'they set to work to get a man ready for the job. If'•Mr';. Wood were the' niost unsuitable man; that could be fourth for the position, he (the speaker) would still -stand oh the platform- arid protest nhout the wav he had been treated;

When the Board met a fortnight ago, the executive did not present, a report, only the correspondence ' -which passed between the secretary and the JDunedin map... When asked>forra.re-,| port the chairman said:./ "I am the ! chairman, and I title that this correspondence is a report," and'proceeded to move that the report be adp^te^d.'The sneaker moved as an amendment that' the Board had no confidence'..in the executive. The, voting was eleven for and eleven against ,- the amendment, and the chairman gave his' caitinor'vote r in' favour of the executive. , Mr. Wood was a returned soldier who ' still. ■ suffered from the effeots of gas. When he heard of the-.whole matter he. rather unwisely, handed in his resignation, 'i IBe strain upon his nerves resulted in Mr Wood becoming ill, and he left the Institute. When the matter; camo'up ;at the adjourned meeting of the Board the chairman informed them that the Pollination could no; be discussed, assegai opinions obtained from three solicitors, were that, because Mr Wood had left the building, the resignation had taken effect. A letter had also beenV seitt to Mr Wood,by Mr Badger, the secretary, informing him of this, but giving him permission to remove his personal belongings frori the building. This was the treatment accorded to a returned soldier wh 0 had done his duty and done it well. , ;--.":• Mr Hewlaad moved: "That this meeting of person interested in religious and social work amongst sailors entering, the Port of Lyttelton expresses strongly its belief that the- Vie <,ur*"4"t*'-' }; - ♦■,■.*'*•' the Seamen's Institute; Mr G. Wood, has been treated'unjustly by the Board of Directors of the Institute, and asks that the. Board shall reconsider tho i. whote matter, with a'view to'reinstating Mr Wood," The Rev. W. T. Todd, seconded the motion. He read a certificate, dated j June 38th, from-a local medical man, stating that' Mr Wood, was . suffering ! from shock to the nervoussystem, af- ! fecting the heart, a condition probably brought about by severe mental strain, j He also read letters from the head office of the Society in London, expressing approval of the gratifying results of Mr Wood's work, letters, , of appreciation from seamen and others, j Messrs W. E. Leadley, J. Preston,! the Rev. S. Bailey, and Mr. J. % Nor.' ton als 0 addressed the moating, and several seamen and shipping officials testified to Mi: Wood's activities on the waterfront. lYe motion was put and carried unanimously. A further motion, proposed by Mr I Watson, "That this meating uphold those members of the Board who. supported a vote of no-confidence in the executive of the Society," was also car- j ried unanimously. ,-...- 4.