A NATIONAL FUND.

Press, Volume LXIX, Issue 20827, 10 April 1933, Page 8

A NATIONAL FUND.

RELIEF OF DISTRESS DURING WINTER. GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S APPEAL. [THE PRESS Special Service] WELLINGTON, April 9. The Governor-General, Lord Bledisloe, and Lady Bledisloe have issued an appeal to the people of New Zealand to make contributions of food, goods, or money for the relief of distress during the winter. The fund, which has been started by a gift from Lord and Lady Bledisloe, will be known as "The Governor-General's Winter Relief Fund." ~ ■ -n . In making the appeal his Excellency said: — "On the eve of our departure for an official visit to the inhabitants of Western Samoa and Rarotonga, Lady Bledisloe and I wish to make an appeal to the generous sympathies of the people of New Zealand. None of us can feel indifferent to the probability that, through economic causes "beyond their control, many persons in various parts of the Dominion will be faced during the coming winter with severe privation, and, in some cases, actual want, in spite of Government, municipal, and other publicly administered measures for relief, and the patriotic and self-sacrificing efforts on.the part of many philanthropic and charitable organisations, whose members have laboured voluntarily without cessation year after year (and with special strenuousness during the last 12 months), in the task of alleviating distress, and whose untiring activities will, we hope, continue to attract the measure of sympathetic encouragement and practical support which the public has extended to them in the past. Days of Adversity. "These are days of adversity for all of us, but to those whose impoverishment is the direct result of loss of regular occupation and the means of support which such occupation assured to them and to their families in times of normal prosperity, it is only natural that the I outlook for the winter months should seem dreary and depressing. The recipients of public relief no doubt include some persons unworthy of benevolent consideration. But these are relatively few and should not be allowed to blind us to the crying need for generous help during the coming winter to the deserving destitute, or affect our inclination to play our part in satisfying it. The consciousness that it may be difficult effectively to increase to any material extent the already heavy compulsory burdens imposed on taxpayers and ratepayers, impels us to appeal—with the concurrence of my Ministers—to any of tnose throughout the .Dominion, whose means (although necessarily curtailed by the present serious economic stress) will permit, to make any suitable contributions that they may feel able and disposed to make—in the form of food commodities (such, for example, as j;heep and beef cattle, butchers' meat, eggs, fish, potatoes, and oth°r vegetables, butter, and cheese), clothing (including especially material for making new clothes), boots, coal and firewood, free transport, or money—to a fund to be designated 'The GovernorGeneral';? Winter Relief Fund.'

Moans of Subsistence. "Those to whom we now earnestly appeal do not exclude all members of the farming community, who, however serious their present economic plight, have at least on their farms the means of subsistence which are not so easily accessible to many impoverished townspeople. If those who feel willing and able to respond to this appeal would kindly indicate as early as possible the nature and amount of their proposed gifts (and, if specially desired, the district to which they are to be allocated) in a letter addressed to 'the secretary, Governor-General's Winter Relief Fund, Government House, Wellington,' grateful acknowledgment will be sent by Lady Bledisloe and myself. In the case of gifts in kind, suggestions will subsequently be made by the distributing authorities as to the date of their delivery, and the addresses to which they should be sent. Monetary donations or promises of money may be sent to the secretary on any date convenient to the donors—the earlier the better. It would be appreciated if contributors of produce or other goods who can spread their gifts over a period of three or four months would indicate the weekly ■or monthly quantities which can be supplied. Unless they make at the same time a request to the contrary, it will be assumed that they have no objection to their names and the nature of their contributions being published in the press. In order to avoid duplication of effort and overlapping which the creation of a separate distributing organisation would involve, it has been decided to utilise the adequate machinery already in existence for distribution in the various urban centres.

Gift From Their Excellencies. "In the hope that others will follow suit so far as their means permit, her Excellency and I propose by revising our scale of expenditure, to make an initial contribution of £IOO to the fund, as well as 12 fat sheep now grazing on the Government House paddock at Wellington. "This is admittedly an unusual appeal, but the circumstances are unprecedented and call for an unprecedented effort on the part of every section of the community. It is for this reason that Lady Bledisloe and 1 feel that we should be failing in our duty if we did not use such effort as may lie in our power to assist that large and growing number of deserving persons who, after two years of hope deferred and the lack of means to enjoy, on any but the most meagre scale, the ordinary amenities of life, are faced with acute mental suffering and severe material discomfort in the struggle to maintain health and physical efficiency."