CHARITABLE AID.

Evening Star, Issue 7154, 7 March 1887, Page 4

CHARITABLE AID.

TO THB BDITOB. g IB) _y 0 u are quite right in assuming that the majority who voted at the meeting held on the Ist inst. voted not so much be-, lieving the Act cannot be amended, but as a p#teßt against the manner in which tfaa proposer of the resolution has opposed the: J&t jiace it was brought into force, and the boiwtarit continuous' endeavor he has made

to bow the seeds of sedition among the people, as well as the very objectionable speech he made in proposing the resolution. Why, sir, he never spoke to the resolution at all, except when he spoke of the desirability of legislating for the suppression of "sundowners." His Bpeech was mainly directed against the management of the Benevolent Institution and the necessities of some of those who get aid from that Institution, and he said that there were some receiving aid who were as little in need of it as His Worship the Mayor or the speaker himself. Allow me to inform Mr Begg that there is no public money so well guarded as the money available for charitable aid, and that the statement is without foundation. The Trustees themselves investigate all cases that come before them, make all necessary inquiries into the necessities of the cases, and when the applicant resides in the country the application must be supported by the testimony of some well-known individual or the member of the Charitable Aid Board residing in the district, and often the police are asked to report on any case the Trustees may think requires special investigation. The checks that are put op r.o3sible imposition are numerous and varied. His Worship of Dunedin erred in asking the gentleman above referred to to propose the first or any resolution on the question. Does the Act really require immediate alteration? As first introduced to the public it did, and the Government recognised this fact. From time to time they issued regulations for the better working of the new law, and last session it was so much altered and amended that I venture to suggest it might well be allowed to rest for another session until its practical working is more fully developed. There is nothing very glaringly wrong in any of its provisions, and the moneys saved by the voluntary contributors and the ratepayers fully justifies, in the meantime, the continuation of separate institutions, for, as pointed out at the meeting, the LI, 130 raised by them (an eighth of the whole expenditure) would be entirely lost, or nearly so; and surely the lact of the ratepayers being represented by seven out of nine at the Board of Trustees, and they being men who are responsible in each district to the ratepayers, is, in my humble opinion, the best safeguard the funds can have. If there is one thing more than another which should be guarded against it is hasty legislation. In this respect New Zealand stands, I should say, in the foremost rank; and I would suggest that the Act ought to be allowed to remain as it is for another year. I might say that the only thing that requires immediate attention in my estimation is the Industrial Schools Act, the districts being required to contribute half the money required for the support of indigent children in the schools, and having no voice in the management. But I understand that the Government will shortly issue regulations to meet this defect.—l am, etc., Citizen. Dunedin, March 5.