WORTHY CAUSE

Dominion, Volume 31, Issue 207, 30 May 1938, Page 10

WORTHY CAUSE

The Missions To Seamen

WORK IN WELLINGTON

Increased Membership

Needed

A campaign is being launched to increase the membership of the Wellington branch of file Missions to Seamen, and in this way to place its llnances on a sounder footing. In recent years the work of the mission, which, with the sole exception of that of the chaplain in charge, is entirely voluntary, has increased! greatly in scope and its limrnces, dependent largely on donations, give constant concern to tlie committee.

In the annual report of the committee for the year ended February 28, the president, the Bishop of Wellington, points out that the expenditure amounted to £777, and as the actual receipts were £741, tlie loss ou the year’s working was £36. An analysis of tlie income shows tiiat the mission is dependent too much on sources -that may not always be avilable. It is clear that in the very near future considerable sums must be spent on repairs to the mission building, and for this purpose, as well as for the carrying on of the normal activities, increased revenue is essential. Work of the Mission. The Mission® to Seamen as a society was founded in England 83 years ago to look after the welfare of seamen in ships in port. That there lias always been a great need for such an institution is well known to those interested in ships and tlie sea and the welfare of -tlie men of the Merchant Navy. The Wellington branch of the mission, which started work some 40 years ago, is provided with a good building which embodies a chapel, a hall for entertainment, small billiards tables, a writingroom, a lending library and other facilities which are appreciated greatly by visiting seamen. Apart from the work of the chaplain, a large number of Wellington women, banded together as the Barbour Lights Guild, assisted by a junior -branch,, known as the Lightkeepers’ Guild, give ungrudging and selfdenying service in organising social gatherings for the entertainment of seamen.

Last year, for example, 195 indoor and 62 outdoor entertainments were provided, and these ami the suppers wore attended by nearly 13,000 seamen. The chaplain paid 817 visits to ships iu port and 527 visits to seamen in hospitals. One hundred church services wore held and attended by 1523 seamen, of whom 131 attended the communion service. Tlie number of library books exchanged during the year was 1390, some 436 bundles of magazines were distributed to seamen and more than 2000 letters passed through the institute. Unemployed seamen were helped in various ways, beds and meals being found for many.

The work of the Seamen’s Mission is for all races and creeds. That its work and that of the women’s guilds are appreciated is shown in many ways. Some months ago a Norwegian shipping firm, Brunn and Von dor Lipp, one of whose ships had visited Wellington, forwarded a donation, which, with exchange, amounted to £3O/17/4. Our Debt to Seamen. “An institution such as the Missions to Seamen is worthy of the fullest support of the community,” writes one interested in the mission. "Wellington, which is tlie premier port of the Dominion. is visited annually by some 3047 ships aggregating 4,090,000 tons. Its well-being and the prosperity of tlie Dominion as a whole are almost wholly dependent upon the ships and seamen handling the vast stream of sea-borne trade. The lives of the men who go down to the sea in ships are not trs those of landsmen. Seamen, by the nature of their calling, are cut off largely from the joys of home life and the many social activities that are tlie daily part of shore-dwellers. For this reason the Missions to Seamen aud its women workers merit the utmost support. “It was Lord Jellicoe who said that ‘the sea is our life,’ and this is literally true of New Zealand, as of the Empire as a whole. The Merchant Navy—which was the parent of the Royal Navy—is just trs essential to the safety and wellbeing of the nation as the fighting forces. It. was so iu the Great War and it will be even more so in any future war. The Merchant Navy carries every British soldier ou its back in time of war, even as it. carries every ton of food to feed the people and all the supplies needed by the fighting services at. seir, on land, or in the air.

"The debt of the nation to the seaman is immeasurably great. Apart altogether from purely naval losses, 7.759,000 tons of British merchant was lost through enemy action during the Great War, in which 15,313 non-combatant British merchant seamen gave their lives. That debt was acknowledged in part by the New Zealand Sheepfarmers’ Acknowledgment of Debt to British Seamen Fund, which established Flock House for the training of sons and daughters of deceased British seamen. Further acknowledgment of the debt can be made toy monetary aid for tlie •support of the Missions to Seamen, which ministers to the welfare of the British seamen to-day.”