SHOULD REMAIN HERE

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20209, 30 March 1940, Page 4

SHOULD REMAIN HERE

GISBORNE COLLECTIONS MONEY FOR WAR WORK CONFUSION OF APPEALS “Any money collected in the Gisborne district should remain with the council, and we should have the control of the money here,” said Mr. M. J. White at a meeting of the East Coast Provincial Patriotic Council yesterday afternoon. The meeting agreed with Mr. White in his remarks, and it was decided to suggest that course to the national council. He remarked upon the progress report recently appearing in the press relating to the amounts collected in the Fighting Forces Fund. Gisborne was then third in the list for New Zealand. The majority of South Island towns had refused to participate in a similar way, because they wished to have the money in their own provincial councils.

Mr. F. R. Ball: We are sending more men away, and if we do not establish a fund here we will be worse off than any other district, because we will have more men returning than other towns and less money. Mrs. R. U. Burke said she had often heard that the limits of the Patriotic Council were to care for the troops while in camp before leaving New Zealand and again on their return to the Dominiof, but she knew from experience that the work of the council extended much further than that. However, the public did not know that a great deal of help was given the troops overseas through the services of the patriotic council. She had learned that Ihe misunderstanding of the public was having its effect on the people when they were asked to give. Mr. W. M. Jenkins: There are too many collecting bodies, and it confuses the public. There should be one collecting body to each district. “We must take joint action to remove the grudge," said a speaker. The secretary was instructed to write to the national council suggesting that all appeals should be made through the provincial councils.