GETTING DOMINION BOYS ON THE LAND

Horowhenua Chronicle, 23 February 1932, Page 8

GETTING DOMINION BOYS ON THE LAND

Conference at Flock House

Patrfiotic Associations and Returned Soldiers 7 Associations from as far north as Auckland and as far South as Ofago will be represented at the conference to be held at Flock House to-morrow to discuss the desirability of using the institution for the training of New Zealand boys, sons of ex-servicemen, in the same manner as was done with sons of British seamen. The delegates will number approximately fifty and the fact that so many have responded to the invitation of Flock House trustees bears testimony to a Dominion-wide opinion of the value of the work of the institution. The conference to-morrow will review all aspects of the trustees’ proposals. Consideration will be given to the cost of maintenance of' New Zealand youth at Flock House, with special reference to (a) minimum economical number to be in training; (b) period of training; (c) modification, if any, of the allowances and privileges at present granted to overseas boys. The delegates will also consider methods of providing the necessary finance for the maintenance of New Zealand boys, with special reference to the following suggestions: — That the maintenance of a certain fixed number of trainees shall be guaranteed by each of the following bodies: (a) Each Patriotic Association and each branch of the E.S.A., or by the two bodies in the same district in conjunction; (b) War Funds Council; (c) Canteen Fund through Trcntham Scholarship Fund; (d) Trustees of Seamen ’s Fund, in regard to any trainees who come within the provisions of the Flock House Trust. There is a suggestion that the • Government be requested to subsidise the cost of maintenance of soldiers 7 sons on a fifty-fifty basis, and that guaranteeing associations shall be at liberty to accept as part of their quota sons of exservice men whose maintenance is provided by parents or private sources. The formation of a permanent combined committee of the War Funds Council, Patriotic Associations and E.S.A., under the name of the Soldiers’ Flock House Committee, to work in conjunction with the Trustees of the Flock House Fund in regard to details of the training, employment and aftercare of soldiers’ sons, will be considered along with methods of selection of candidates for training. Finally, cosideration will be given to methods of finding employment and aftercare, with special reference to the following: That the local branch of the E.S.A. in conjunction with the local Patriotic Association, and assisted by the Women’s Division of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union and by the Y.M.C.A., shall given supervision and aftercare to | the trainees in the district in which they are employed. The list of delegates is as follows: — Auckland, T. B. Ivay (secretary Patriotic Association); Gisborne; G. C. Jones (H.B. Patriotic and R.B.>A.); Hawke’s Bay, John Harding (H.B. Patriotic Association), H. B. Smart and W. J. Stcere (Waipukurau E.5.A..); Wairarapa, D. McGregor and A, E. Prentice (Wairarapa Patriotic Association), T A. Yeoman (Akitio Patriotic Association); Wellington, C. M. Luke and Colonel Mitchell (War Funds Council and Wellington Patriotic Association), Sir Andrew Eussell, Colonel Avery, J. Duncan, S. A. Harrison (Headquarters, E.S.A.); Palmerston North, J. K. Stevens, J. Permain (Manawatu Patriotic Association), W. G. Eutherfurd (R.S ); Apiti, G. Soiiness and W. A. Churchill (E.S.A.); Bulls, H. D. McManaway ' and J. D. Perrett (Bulls Patriotic Association); Marton, H. Benbow (E.S.A.); Wanganui, Hope Gibbons, A. G. Bignell, E. M. Finlayson (Wanganui-Waitotara Patriotic Association.) Waverley, W. James and F. Johnston (Waverley Patriotic Association and E.S.A.); Taihape, E. J. Quinn (E.S.A.); Taumarunui, F J. Redfern (E.S.A.); Te Awarautu, A S. Wylie (E.S.A.); Christchurch, H. Holland, M.P. and F. T. Eeid, G. A. Hayden (Canterbury Patriotic Association and E.S.A.), Nelson, Hon. W. Snodgrass (Nelson Patriotic Association); Blenheim, A. Duncan (Marlborough Patriotic Society)- Temuka, E. F. Wilcox (E.S.A.); Timaru. Col. Mitchell (Timaru Patriotic Association) ; Dunedin and Southland, E. E. Grace and W. F. Forrester (Otago and Southland Patriotic Associations and E.S.A.) Trustees of Flock House to Pr^f e x T t Will iDClude the chairman w e Sir James Allen > w. G. Eudd, G. Marshal], A. Suthertrustee) 11 T * L ® eS (managing