MISSION TO SEAMEN

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 176, 20 April 1940, Page 8

MISSION TO SEAMEN

Need For Greater Support Emphasized MORE HELP SOUGHT FROM COUNTRY AREAS The need for greater community support of the mission’s work was emphasized by speakers at the annual meeting of the Missions to Seamen in Wellington this week. Reference was made to lack of interest in the country districts, whose people, it was pointed out, owed much to the men of the ships which took their produce to Britain. Mr. W. H. Price, who presided, welcomed the Bishop of Wellington, Rt. Rev. H. St. Barbe Holland, and the visitors, and paid a special tribute to the work of the women helpers during a busy year. He said he was sure their efforts meant much to the seamen who visited the mission. Tlie secretary, Mr. F. J. Jones, presented the committee’s report, which expressed thanks to all who had assisted the mission in the past year. To overcome the difficulty ot getting suitable living accommodation for the missioner and his family, it had been decided to convert part of the upper story of the institute building into a flat. The cost of the work, including the renovation of the building, was estimated at £llOO. For this work between £OOO and £7OO had been set aside and the parent body in London had agreed to lend the Wellington branch up to £5OO free of interest, the money to be repaid in five years. The year’s income was £llB3. and the expenditure £lO7B. Financial Position. The treasurer, Mr. E. C. Cachemaille, said subscriptions amounted to £233, compared with £258 for the previous year. 'They tended to fall, and that was hardly surprising in the face of the difficulties besetting business firms. Practically no support came from the country districts, though such a large part of the country’s export produce passed through Wellington and was carried in the ships whose seamen the mission was doing its best to make welcome and entertain. It seemed to him that something was wrong; it was not being brought home to the country people that they should subscribe more than they did. There wafe one wav that was being neglected, and that was through the churches. He was convinced that an occasional retiring collection for a special purpose such" as the mission, would not adversely affect parish finances. The report and balance-sheet were adopted. As each year passed he became more and more conscious of the great debt the British Empire owed to the men of the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy, said the missioner, the Rev. B. J. Williams, in his report. In times of war our dependence on the “men who go down to the sea in ships” became infinitely greater. He could not help feeling that the men of the sea, particularly those of the Merchant Navy, deserved much greater recognition" than they had received up to the present. Mr. Williams referred to the courageous way the merchant seamen faced these dangers, citing experiences that had befallen men who had visited the institute. The use of the convoy system, he said, had resulted in sonic irregularity in the amount of shipping visiting the port, and there had been times when it had been a great strain on those interested in the mission. But they must face up to the position, and do all they could to help and encourage the men who manned the ships. Visitors to Institute. Statistics presented by the missioner showed that 17,979 seamen used the institute during the year, and that 96G0 had attended entertainments which had been arranged for them. Meals given in the course of entertainments and relief totalled 11,<84, and 394 beds had been given to distressed British seamen. The missioner paid 434 visits to merchant ships and 10 to naval ships, and made 612 visits to seamen in hospital. Mrs. H. Brown presented the report of the Ladies’ Harbour Lights Guild, and Mrs. D. G. Williams, the secretary, read the guild’s financial statement, showing a balance of £64.