FORESTERS' CONFERENCE

Evening Star, Issue 15139, 22 March 1913, Page 5

FORESTERS' CONFERENCE

AT OAMARU. 49th ANNUAL MEETING. Delegates from all the Courts of Forestry in Otago an<7 Southland opened then- _ 49th annual District Meeting this morning at Oamaru. The extent of the ~widespread operations of the Order in the way of succoring man. woman, and child when sickness .and distress east deep shadows on the. sunshine of life, was very observable at the meeting, not onlv in the large number of delegates, but that, those delegates represented courts for men, courts for women, and courts for juveniles Forestry helps all. —Report of the Executive.— The Executive of the United Ota go District, A.O.F.—to give them their'official title—in presenting their annual report to the delegates of the various courts in District Meeting assembled, referred to the fact tluit 13 years had elapsed since they previously met in Oamaru. The executive felt certain that Court Pride of Oamaru heartily joined thorn in extending a cordial welcome to all those attending this their 49th annual meeting. The. Executive were pleased to reportlaying opened a court at Ralch.tha .on (ho July last. 17 members being initiated on the night of opening. The. D.C.R. (Rro. B n .gh). I.P.D.C.R. (P.ro. R C Wileon), and the D.K. (15,0. Maefie) attended A number of Court Little John's members and a contingent from Court Hmce were also present, lending their assistance a.nd adding to the success of the function. Our best thanks are due to Court Little. John who acted as the opening court, and especially to lira Still o f' that court. who worked up all the preliminaries. To the members of Court-Bruce, also we tender our tl.anks fo r their .attendance at the opening meeting. Court Molyneux was the name decided on, and the membership now stands at about ,50. There is a good prospect of estab ,sh,ng ; , strong and healthy court in the Cluth;. dishict. Bro. W. j. Roberts was app o , nl , (! SlHT( , ta „, The success or o henpse of a. court depends greatly on the secretary R effort*. Bro. Roberts has begun well. ;u , r] W6 tnist u . ju . ' the good work, and justify all the- .rood things wo have thought of him.. We wish Court Molyneux every sucims in the future. Respecting the proposed Subsidiary Hhdi fcUted that the last district meeting .„,. Mac-lie D.b., to attend a conference which was held in Wellington on Ma t vh 17 and IB of last year, and on their return thev Mibmnted a brief report. This report wai published along with the minutes of last, mcetuig, but we may very briefly mention here the transactions of the meetincSeven districts out of the eight in New Zealand were represented—viz., Auckland, laranaki, Hawko's Bav, Wellington, Nelson Canterbury, and Ota go—the South canterbury district being the onlv one not represented. A .resolution was carried unanimously approving the establishment ot a Subsidiary High Court, and the. delegate from Auckland, Taranaki. Hawke's Hay, and Nelson were, empowered to establish a Subsidiary High Court at the meeting. Wellington, Canterbury, and Otago were not empowered to bind their respecdistrict*. Several were earned, with the understanding that they were to be submitted to the respective district* represented for confirmation or otherwise. The Wellington district has come u> the conclusion that the time, is not yet ripe for the establishment of a Subsidiary High Court for New Zealand. We do not know w-bai Canterbury has done. Copies of the official minutes will be distributed amongst you, and it will be for this meeting to say what action we shall talc in the matter.

1 he executive officers had visited various country courts during tin; vcar. and lira Menzie, D.S.CI!., had aiso from time, to time visited different court,:; in (he Southland district. We (the executive) desire to place on reeoid the pleasure it afforded ■us visiting tho country court*. 'I here can be no doubt about the genuineness and cordiality of ihe welcome extended t-<> your district offioei-s by tho members of country courts, and tbsir kindness the executive heartily appreciate. The usefulness and need of these visite by the district, officers have been qiuto openly challenged. You will probably have an'opporlunj'tv of expressing your opinion later on. The, Visit to Court Pride ot .Alexandra on 20th November to judge, the initiation ceremony competition deserves more than a passing notice. The meeting was a most enthusiastic one. SO members being present, all the Otagc Central courts being well represented. Seven teams took part in the competition, including one from Pride, of the Leith, one from Little .John, two from Roxburgh, one from Star of the Dimslan, and two from the local court. The rendering of the ceremony by all was very creditable indeed, making the task of judging a very difficult matter. Three of the teams were recalled, and eventually the iirst prize was awarded to one of the teams from Court Roxburgh, the judges providing a second prize, which was gained by Court Little John. It is certainly refreshing to find such a lively interest"taken, by the members of these country courte. In respect to forwarding the annual.and quinquennial returns, the executive regretted to state that a few courts had not been prompt in doing so, and as a result the valuation for tin? quinquennial period ended December 31 last had been delayed. 'The quinqiienni A returns from Courts Bruce, Star of the South, Pride of Alexandra, and Court Southern were not yet to hand. Complaint was also made that a number of courts failed to promptly fill in and return the directory returns for the High Court. Distribution of Interest from Surpluses. —December 31 being (he end of the qTrmquennial period, we, distadbinW! the sum of r basing- our calcalaticna on ibe.

amount of deficiency ehown in each court, and giving them.credit in the central investment fund for the amount allocated. The following participated in the division •' —Courts Robin Hood, Bruoe. St. Andrews, Royal Oak, Southern Star, Pride of Wal- ■ taki, Woodlands' Pride, Victoria, Queen of the South, and Marion. R« Court Pride of Dunedin's objection to • coDEidcration, the report stated that thoso • delegates who attended the previous dk- r' tn<t meeting, or read tho reiwrt thereof *■ woiild remember the position then. What had taken place since was that on Mav 9 a special meeting of the executive conferred with a deputation from Court Pride of JJuredm. The, deputation produced -t legal opinion on the subject of consolidation, an opinion tmlcrstood to have boon Riven l,y Mr HoskiiiK, K.C. Your ex-ecu-tivc. under the circumstances, thought it advisable to obtain an opinion from the district solicitors. This was done, mid a special meeting of tho executive was held w Avgu.st 26, Pros. Taverncr, Geddcs, and Miller being present when , Mr Adams s opinion was submitted. These ' opinions are very lengthy documents. To be brief, Mr Hosking, K.C.. holds that to consolidate is contrary to the High Court lules and the New Zealand Friendly Societies' Act. On the other hand, Mr Adams holds that the High Court rales do not prohibit tie from consolidating our funds as section 16 of <?eneral Ijxvt 17 of the Order ;"eonfers on subtadiarv high courts and districts in the colonies complete power to make their own general laws." Mr Adams goes on to say : ,: I am inclined to agree with Mr Hosking that co.nsolida,. tion does amount to a transfer of tho moneys of one benefit fund to another and ' is thereioro contrarv to section 40 ' subsection 2, of the Now Zealand Friendly Societies' Act." Mr Hosking, K.C., says'As the■n:los of tho United Otago District do not provide, for an appeal to tho Hicii Court, I suggest tliat the mat.tcr be broinrnt before tho Supreme- Court by wav of i, innndly suit," With this *Mr 'Adams agreed and suggested as an alternative thai the two opinions be cont to the Registrar of Friendly Societies with tho view of having th-> question submitted to the. revising barrister and tho Crown Law Officers for their opinion. The two opinions, together with two copies of consolidation mles. were consequently submitted to the Registrar of Friendly So-e-ieties. who replied, stating that he had the opinion of the revising barrister before him, and that he upheld the executive's view of the effect of section 40 (2) of the Friendly Societies Act. Tho position, therefore, was that if those rules drafted for tho institution and working of consolidation were adopted by the district tbey would bo registered, as they were in conformity with the Act mentioned.

As tho delegates from Court Pride of DiLedin wore .still dissatisfied, the whole matter, cm their suggestion, was referred to tho High Court in England, asking if consolidation was: contrary to High Court Tides. Tho main, question asked vraa whether the United Otago District bad the jwwor to make its own financial arrangements, and whether the consolidating of sick and funeral funds was a breach of High Court rules. No reply to that letter bad been received, but a few days ago a fi-rther cabled request for on answer brought as response: "No; see la.w S." This, tho executive held, was not a renlv to tho letter, arid they quoted the High Court ride (section 16. law 17), which sets forth that districts in the colonies a.nd. foreign countries, -unconnected with any subsidiary high court, may make their own. general laws to suit their local conditions, and for final settlement of any dispute that ma.v arise among members or courts. The position, therefore, at present may be summarised thus : Mr Hosking, K.C., says to consolidate is contrary to High Court Rules and the N.Z.F'.S. Act. Mr Adams says consolidation is not contrary to the High Court Rules, and bases his contention on the section, quoted above, but is inclined to agree '■ with Mr Hosking. K.C.. that we cannot consolidate under the F.S. Act. The Registrar of Friendly Societies, after consulting the revising barrister, says that wo arc right fo far as the Act- is concerned, and ho is prepared to register tho Tides as- passed. Then we have, the fact before up, that the Sydney district has. l>een working under consolidation for nearly three \ years. • Court Pride of Duncdin. at. a sum- . moiied meetiiiig held last Tuesday, ; March 18, carried a resolution which will come before you amongst i.luvcorrespondence. The district hand-book was again issued last year, but- there was a lack of interest displayed in connection with same that made it doubtful whether publishing tho Iwok was worth the la.bor and expellee en- : tailed. The Central Investment Fund stands £6.482 15s lOd, an increase for the year of £1.154 7s 6d. _ The sum of £273 8s 3d was distributed in interest to the Courts and they evidently appreciated that mode of investment. Tho year's progress showed that tho net increase in membership, which now stands at 3.821. was 62. The District fluids, exclusive of the Central Invest' merit Fund, stands at £20.886 15« 3d, which added to the Court f ui'.-k of £61.265 5s 6d make a, total of £82.152 Or, 9£d. The. total increase for the vea.r was £4.124 15s 3d. The tota.l interest received by Courts and District amounted to £3.840 15ci lOd. showing an increase of £277 13s, 3d over {hat of previous year. The expenditure amounted to £650 for funeral claims, and £3.577 15s Id had been distributed in Ki'ek pay. This was flightly in excess of the previous year. The average for the District was one week-, four days, and three hours sickness per memlMT. The Juvenile Council met, last night and their report would come before the meeting later on. In conclusion hearty thanks were expressed for many kindnesses received and for the loyal support accorded tho Exeoulive during their term of office.