THE PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT

Evening Star, Issue 11152, 30 January 1900, Page 1

THE PATRIOTIC MOVEMENT

HOW BEST TO HELP THE EMPIRE. DUNEDIN SAYS BY SENDING HORSES. The public meeting called by the Mayor to consider various questions connected with the patriotic movement was attended last night by about 150 ladies and gentlemen, who comfortably filled the Council Chambers. His Worship the Mayor (Mr R. Chisholm) presided, and the gathering was a representative one. Miss Robin, sister of the Commander of the New Zealand Contingent at the front, was present, her entrance being greeted with applause and the audience rising to their feet.

In openiug the proceedings the Chairman said that the meeting was called to consider 1. The advisability of Otago joining in the movement for sending a Third Contingent to South Africa. ?.. The best means of augmenting the fund for providing remounts for the New Zealand Contingents. 3. The best means of augmenting the " More Horses" Fund for Imperial and Other purposes. He did not think it was desira.ble or advisable that he should at that juncture express any opinion on the subjects to be discussed. " So far, however, as a Third Contingent was concerned, he would say that if the Government were of opinion that a Third Contingent was necessary then he agreed thn.t it was the duty of the Government to send that Third Contingent, in the same wav as they had sent the first and second.—(Applause.) After a few further general observations, Mr Chisholm called on someone present to move a motion regarding the first question. Mr Wathen moved—"That, the question of sending a Third Contingent from this colony to South Africa be left for the decision of the Government; a.nd if sent to be at the expense of the colony." Mr J. A. Park said that he had drafted a resolution which he thought would letter meet the case than Mr Wathen's. It was: •• That this meeting consider that it is the duty of the Government to send a Third Contingent to South Africa at the expense of the colony." Mr Wathen seconded this, and withdrew the one he had originally moved. Mr J. White preferred the original motion, and moved it as an amendment to Mr Park's. Dr Alexander said that to adopt either proposition was, to some extent, to burk the whole subject. The Government having said tha.t thev would not provide funds for a Third Contingent, the best thing they could do was to follow the action of Canterbury, Wanganui. and other places and try and send a creditable detachment of men from Otago. Mr Park pointed out tha.t Canterbury had onlv raised about £1,200 towards the Patriotic Fund, and therefore could very easily offer-money towards a Contingent. Mr G. L. Denniston seconded Mr White's amendment. He thought th at the best course was to devote what money they could to sending additional horses for remounts. Mr Hacking suggested that .they should resolve simply that the expense of any Third Contingent be borne by the colony, leaving open the question of whether the Government have decided one way or another. Mr Denniston then moved —" That in the opinion of this meeting it is undesirable that the" sending of a Third Contingent should be a matter for private subscription."

This was seconded by Mr Wathen, and Messrs Park and White withdrew their motions in favor of it.

Mr M. Cohen had grave doubts of the wisdom of'this motion, for the reason that the Third Contingent had already been decided upon, and the Government had intimated that as a Government they had decided not to bear the expense of it. The "more men" fund was established in Canterbury, and to that province belonged the credit of initiating the movement. It was also for the meeting to say whether or not they considered that a moiety of the Patriotic Fund should be retained within the colony. The Third Contingent would go whatever resolution the meeting carried.—(Applause.)

Mr J. F. „vl. Fraser asked if it was necesto carry a resolution on the position at all.—(A Voice: "Yes.") Continuing, Mr Fraser said that it might seem somewhat ungracious to be under the suspicion of throwing cold water on the movement to despatch a Third Contingent, but he emphasised the necessity for keeping their men supplied with remounts. It was, he said, no use sending men if we did not send horses, and horses were more frequently shot then men. He suggested that the meeting should deal with this question first.—(Applause.) The Chairman then put the motion to the meeting, and it was decided, on the voices, to discuss the question of augmenting the fund for purchasing remounts for the Contingents.

Mr G. Fenwick suggested that the first matter would be best disposed of by passing a resolution to the effect—" That, "the meeting haying had the question of sending the Third Contingent placed before it, resolves —' That the province of Otago, having responded with extreme liberality to the appeal that has been made to it for a patriotic kind, and being also of opinion that the subject of paramount importance now is the sending of remounts for the Contingent, regret their inability to join in the movement for sending a third contingent'" The Chairman again put it to the meeting whether or not the second proposal should be dealt with first, and received an affirmative response. Mr Fenwick's suggestion accordingly dropped for the time being. Dr Colquhoun made a suggestion that the wisest course would be to communicate with Sir Alfred Milner or Mr Chamberlain, to make sure whether it was horses or men that were most urgently required, and, whatever the reply was, let all work for that unitedlv.

Mr Cohen moved —"That it is desirable that the efforts of the people of Otago should be directed at this juncture to providing remounts for the service of the members of New Zealand's Contingents in the field." Mr Cohen emphasised the need for sending more horses, and pointed out that every commander had been asking for them, whilst the need for more horses had also been made plain in all the private letters from members of the colonial contingents.—(Applause.)

Mr Park wanted to know the number of horses that would be required and their probable cost. It was, he said, rather difficult to find this out. He seconded the motion.

Mr Hazlett estimated the cost- of sending suitable horses to Major Robin for the use of the whole Contingent at about £SO each. Dr Colquhoun moved—" That it is desirable that the question be put to the Home authorities : f ' Which do you want, men or horses?' and that the community agree to act in conformity with the answer." Mr D. Nicol seconded the motion.

Mr Mackerras spoke strongly as to the need for providing remounts for the New Zealand Contingent in South Africa. They knew that Sergeant Gourley had lost his horse, and had to ride a cripple, and it was possible that if he had had a suitable horse his valuable life would have been spared. He desired to move—" That a meeting of subscribers to the Patriotic Fund be convened to consider the amount of money that should be applied out of that fund for this purpose."—(Voices: "No, no.") • The Mayor ruled that such a motion was out of order.

Dr Gordon Macdonald said that Great Britain required both men and horses. A small community, however, could not do everything, but we should do what we could. " Our boys" were in Africa, and our first duty was to help them, and after that, if we

could help Great Britain, so much the better, and if the enemy would yield, help the enemy, tot). But he would say help our own sons first by sending them a good'number of horses.

Mr J. F. M. Fraser said the New Zealand Contingent were largely engaged in scouting, <md, he took it, were more under fire than the average cavalry man, a.nd were almost certain to lose a large number of horses. Surely the essential thing was that they should be well mounted. Having sent our men there, it was our duty to keep them mounted. On that point he joined issue with Dr Colquhoun. He did not want Milner or Chamberlain to tell him that when a man's horse was shot the man wanted another. It w;is certain they could not.get suitable horses in Africa, as the men were riding ponies, and our duty was clearly to send good remounts to them. He had received from Mr Shields, who was unable to be present, a memo, suggesting a scheme for obtaining horses. The proposal was to divide Otago into some forty districts, and to get each district to give one horse or more, the.fimds to be raised by entertainments and otherwise; while Dunedin and suburbs should provide the cost of transport. 'llic suggestion seemed to him (Mr Eraser) busi-ness-like and valuable, and ho would hand the memorandum to the Committee. He suggested that the horses should be named after the various districts. It would show that we were not forgetting them. We should now send forty or fifty horses, and if more were wanted send them too. Mr T. Mackenzie said there would, he was sure, be no great difficulty in raising money for the purchase of horses, and it appeared to him that this was really the question which should command their immediate attention. He was strongly in favor of funds being devoted to this end. Mr James Mills thought that Mr Cohen's motion expressed the sense of the meeting and of the community. It was largely a question of ways and means. He would not like it to go abroad that the community iiung back from supporting the Third Contingent or contributing towards its cost if, as seemed to be the case, the people of the colony were expected to provide it by subscriptions. But for his own part he had come to the conclusion that wc could not help the Third Contingent with money, however unwilling wc might be to admit it. However, we should help willingly in the matter of remounts, and if that was done we should not be open to the charge of want of patriotism or enthusiasm. If we sent thirty or fifty horses, that would be giving valuable aid to Major Robin and Major Cradock, and it seemed to him that .100 horses should be sent from Wellington. He supported Mr Cohen's resolution.

His Worship like to say that Mr A. H. Burton, with his usual generosity, had offered to give an evening's entertainment on behalf of the fund for providing remoun! s. —(Applause.) He understood Mr Burton proposed to call it "A Night with Kipling and other Patriots." His Worship expressed regret, that Miss Robin would not speak at the meeting, but he could say that she liad admitted to him that the impression had been created in her mind from reading her brother's letters that the most pressing need in South Africa at the present time was remounts. That, coming from such a quarter, wa,s a substantial reason in favor of the motion.—(Applause.) Dr Colquhoun expressed himself as ontirely in favor of Mr Cohen's motion, and said that his amendment had been made simply to save a division. Mr W. L. Simpson said that, the war was (i national question. The Government of New Zealand sent forth men. and it was their duty to keep them in a state of efficiency. It seemed to him a pity that people should hi a«kcd to subscibe to discharge what was the duty of the State. If the Government had intimated that their funds were exhausted it would have been a different matter, but so far no such suggestion had been made, and surelv it was the duty of the Government who had taken the responsibility of sending forth two Contingents to see that, thev did not lack for anything.—(Applause.)

The Chairman said that the Government had been approached, by himself as to how far they would assist in sending remounts, and they had emphatically declined to send remounts, saying that the people must provide them. Not only had the people to provide horses, but the Government would not even provide fodder for them..—(Cries of "Shame!") Mr Simpson said that he was heartily sorry to hear that the Government did not know their duty.

The Hon. W. M. Bolt expressed the opinion that it would be a misfortune to allow the question of remounts to lie over until the Government came forward to deal with it. The question, he considered, was a national one, and he thought that the decision of the Government was an anomalous one. They said that a Third Contingent was necessary in the interests of the Empire, and yet they would not grant funds for its necessary equipment.

Mi' Cohen said that in justice to Dr Colquhoun it was right to state that the doctor was the first man in Otago to suggest that more horses should be sent.

After further discussion, Dr Colquhoun withdrew his amendment, and Mr Cohen's motion was carried unanimously. Mr Moloney then moved—" That the question of ways and means in connection with remounts for the Contingent bo left to the General Committee of the Patriotic Fund, with power to add to their number." Mr Hazlett seconded the motion, which was duly carried. The latter clause was added to meet the suggestions of Mr Fraser and Mr C. R. Smith that, in justice to the members of the Committee, it was desirable to have some fresh blood on it.

Mr T. Mackenzie moved—" That in the opinion of this meeting all moneys raised after this date not specially contributed to the Patriotic Fund be devoted to the-Re-mount Fund." Speaking to the motion, he said that he thought that those engaged at present in providing entertainments, etc., for the Patriotic Fund should be requested to consider the propriety of devoting the money thus raised to the Remount Fund. Speaking on behalf of Chitlia, he was quite sure that the proceeds of the entertainment that was being promoted there could be directed into this channel. Clutha had contributed nine, men to the Third Contingent. He (Mr Mackenzie) knew the value of remounts under the present, circumstances. He had formerly been a trooper in the Olago Hussars while Major Robin was an officer of that company, and the late Sergeant Gourley a. trooper. Mr James Mills said that it was estimated that the contributions from Otago to (he Patriotic Fund would amount to £II,OOO, and if this were sent Home in one sum their donation would have a very good effect. He thought it only right and proper that any further contributions should go to the " more horses " fund.

Mr D. Nieol suggested that those present should make contributions to the fund before they left, the room. He would gjve £5 3s himself.—(Applause.) Mr Denniston said that they had alreadv had a nucleus of a fund in £IOO received from Mr Sidey and the amounts raised by the papers. He moved- -" That, in the opinion of this meeting, it is undesirable that the sending of a Third Contingent should be a. matter of private subscription." Mr James thought there was no need to pass a resolution on the subject. To do so might, he thought, indicate jealousy on the part of Otago, and it seemed to him it ■would be better to leave the matter alone altogether. They had followed a wise course in deciding to send remounts, bu* it would be better to negative the motion now proposed. Mr 0. Fenwick said he did not think it necessary to move as an amendment the motion he had previously suggested, for lie

thought Mr Denniston might sec his way to alter his resolution in such a manner as to enable the meeting in a less crude manner to express its opinion as. to the.advisa.bleness of Otago joining in sending the Third Contingent.

Mr Denniston then adopted the resolution -which had been drafted by Mr Fenwick, and moved it, as follows ;—" That the province of Otago having contributed very largely to the Patriotic Fund, and this meeting having affirmed that ths provision of remounts for the New Zealand Contingent is now of primary importance, regret their inability to join in the expense of despatching a Third Contingent." The motion was carried without dissent. A vote of thanks to the mayor for presiding terminated the proceedings.