PATRIOTIC FUNDS.;"

Grey River Argus, 27 August 1917, Page 3

PATRIOTIC FUNDS .;"

A GOOD SUGGESTION. \- t "'■ IS IT WORKABLE LOCALLY? ' A contributor sends the following suggestion as a means of meeting. the dimcultics of raising patrioticfunds: — The British Empire was evera fair Empire, but like all other na^. tions it easily forgets, and it is to beregretted that there are not a. few* dirty pages in our book of fame. Oneof these is its treatment of those - brave men who in past generation^ . gave their all for the Jove of thclandthey were born in. In every campaign ' in which Britain has" been engaged. the cry has been : ' ' Never again wilt weT neglect our soldiers!" and just" asoften has that vow been swallowed up in the tumultuous waters of commercialism ere the guns had ceased to boom. AVc said it in this war.;, wo swore that the man who went out- to fight would not bo forgotten when he returned. We convinced ourselves that '. this time, at least we would never let forgetfulncss take root, but that/our soldiers, instead of being reminders of the horros of war would be men- for" ' whom the nation could never. : fully , compensate. And we have failed— failed miserably as in those pother , days ; forgotten our vows as completely as our forefathers did when, they sent the soldiers to the streets to hawk . bootlaces and in at least one instance • ' w ere responsible for the .pawning; of" medals for valour on the battlcfiield ! 7 1 And this forgetfulncss has reached '. Greymouth. „ „.'.' "At the last meeting of the "Patriot:;; ie Association it was proposed to or- ■- I ganise a huge scheme for augmenting : the fast dwindling funds. The main ' [ trouule seems to be how best to solve ■ this pressing need. As no special [ method was voted, I take the liberty [ of suggesting a scheme which if work- ; ed properly would fill the gap. Briefly [ it is this : Let the Patriotic Association ask all employers of labour in the , town to supply it with their names in ', the event of an agreement being come'" [ to between the master and his workers . to guarantee so much per week to- . wards the Soldiers' Fund! Keep the : 'suggestion open for a week, publish- [ ing day by day the names of those ! firms who are willing to take up this L responsibility. As this will be a" purfc : ly voluntary donation I shall not at--1 tomp to fix ai minute' scale of subscrip- ■ tion but think that the following > l'iites are about • right : All persons- • earning between £1 and £3 to give o'C a week, ajl earning between £3 and £5 Is a Aveek all earning over £5, 2s ' ; week. This applies to the .'employee I Only. In the case of tho employer,-! [ would suggest that his subscription ' should be double the amount of tile \ highest subsoritpion paid by his env . ployec. After a week's grace allowed ' for applications the Patriotic Association should supply all wishing to subi scribe with a money-book and guarantee that subseritpions will be collected j and checked each week. To do this* band of collectors would need to be , found, and, taking the list of nans to . be visited each collector should be ; given a certain number of firms ariS. : would be held responsible for the. • weekly subscriptions from them. To [ quell any doubt that might arise in : this scheme the condition should be ~: ! All money raised to be used purely fox > local purposes ; all collectors names ; published and acknowledged by the ■ Patriotic Association all subscribers 1 to be under no obligation other than their word to do their best to- make their effort a weekly one. Taking the workers and masters of the town; a# 1500, and crediting each with 6d per ; week roughly £37 a week would be obtained for patriotic purposes. - ."". "Without doubt this is what should have been made a national scheme at the beginning of thewar. We say oiii soldiers are not being treated properly; and if this be true let us take the op^ portunity of reversing matters. Whatever the soldier gets the country has to pay for it, so that, if we admit a laxity in our attitude then we must see the_ fairness in subscribing so much weekly. Concerts, collections; "much" weekly. Concerfs, collections, ■ flag days and bag days are all to be ; admired but they- are: just flashes in ( the pan- and never reach the right pej s ; .son. This- is not an appeal to patriotjism, rath.et is it an appeal to your I ; sense of duty, for every Vnan and wo,man of New Zealand should be morali ly bound to do their share. A Dom-' . inion scheme seems to have been too . much for our politicians, so let- us in ; Greymouth found a local scheme. If. the j Government doubled pensions, etc., tomorrow the- country would have to pay • those pensions so there is no reason : . why avc in this town can grumble at the way soldiers are treated yet. fail " to make an increase in- their remuneration possible. Other places are depending on charity, for this is what it amounts to, — let Greymouth depend o'na scheme that gives every man' and' 1 woman the chance to do their bit, a. scheme that instils into the heart of-~ the giver a sense of dutyianqV the ' knowledge that Greymouth has been the first- to make that step toward*.truly democratic taxation— the nation-* filisation. of wealth and the extraction 1 6f levies according to a person's means." \. .

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