A THANK-OFFERING.

Marlborough Express, Volume LIV, Issue 198, 21 August 1920, Page 3

A THANK-OFFERING.

SI (EEP-OWNEiIS' GENEROUS

GILT

' SURPLUS WOOL PROFITS.

* FOR SAILORS1 DEPENDENTS

FL'ND'

In 1913 the. British Government informed New Zealand that it had been decided to allow tho Dominion wool-grovvei-s half the profits made by tho Imperial authorities on the sale of their wool for civilian purposes. In July of that year, a,t a inoeting of tho Farmers' linion at Marton, a, motion by Mr E. Ncwmon, M.P., was carried—tliat this extra profit should be devoted to a. fund •for the' dependents of members of the Bi'itish Naw and mercantile ma,nnc who wero killed or disablca dunng the war. . On Wednesday a meeting of farmers who have been attending the Wool-growers' Conference in Wellington was held at the Parliament "Buildings to decide as to the disposal of the money. There wa« a large number present (reports the 1 ost), and the Minister for Lands (.the Hon. J>. Guthrie) attended. Mr EL Newman, M.P., presided. Apologies toiabsence were j-oceived from a number of wool-gvowers, and from the lion. W. I>. Mao Donald, une of the trustees of the fund. / M" Newm-ui prefaced his remarks bearing upon tho mutter in hand by statins that though, ho dialnsed. to take iipon himself the 3'ole ot a prophet, he entirely agreed with tlie Prime Minister that there was iw need for pessimism at tho present time in regard to the prospects ror wool and meat. The meeting was held for the purpose of taking steps to irivo effect to tiio scheme, tho foundutioti of which had been laid at j Marton. A very regrettable delay Jiad taken place in the payment of !the half-jjrofits, though the wool-o-rowers themselves must not take any blamo for it. It had been a matter of extraordinary- difficulty. The Impoi-ial Government had now intimated that the first instalment of the sxu-plus profits would amount to £' 1,200,000 odd. About one-iourtfi of the total E>heep-farmers of the Dominion had signed the agreement to devixte their share to tho fund, and this would give an amount of about £25i>,001). Some farmerf, had signed for definite periods. He expr&'-sod ■clio regret he felt, that so small a proportion of tho farmers had joined the fund, but it was unfortunate tluit tat about tho time the scheme AV4i.s started muiy farmers were suffering from severe aiowntorms in tho Ncii"th. It was now proposed to make another appeal, and it was hoped that others would join the scheme. He dit! net propor.e to tc;mucii regarding the objects or tdie fund. The public memory was short, but he did not believe anyone could forget what the navies of Britain and the Allies, and the mercantile marine, had done during the war. (Hear, hear). But for the men of those services not a bale of wool or a single carcase could have been sent away. Mr Newman referred further to the work of tho British Navy o-enorallv during the war, and emphasised' that there- had been no record of any difficulty in getting men for the dangerous work ot manning the overseas ships. "We, who hiave joined the fund, said Mr Newman, "desire'to express some gratitude to Almighty God, the British Navy, and the merchant Eer- \ ico for what was done in our interests, i\nd our gratittude is to take practical shape in seeing that the dependents of those whoi suffered death ca- disablement shall not go without the necessaries of life for 'the reifc of their days." He hoped that, when the permanent board of trustees was s^b up such investigation would be made that, .starting with the New Zealand ships, they would bo able to feel that, none of the people to who3n they were indebted had been forgotten. " INVESTMENT OF FUNDS. It was proposed, said Mr Newman, to hand the money to the PublkTiustee. It would pay interest at current rates. A permanent Board of Trustees would be appointed in New Zealand, who in turn would appoint another board in London. The latter would consist of the High Commissioner (Sir James Allen), who was keenly interested in the scheme, a representative of the Admiralty, another of the Merchant Service, and one or .two well-known .sheep-farmers resident in London. This board would Investigate what., had been dene by the various societies at Home for tho sailors and the Merchant Marine; and afterwards their recom-; inendafcions would come to New Zealand, and be dealt with by the local board, which would be the controlling body. It was proposed to limit the fund to the period terminated at 81st March, 1919. Mr Newman paid a tribute to the gratuitous services of the trustees, and those- of the hon. fooretaiy (Mr T. R. Lees), and Mr Watson.' Mr Lees had had a great deal of t>lie spade Avork to do. He also specially thanked the Misses Ellis, " Jlughes, Blakiston, StuartForbes, Lee-?, and others, of the Lower-Hutt, for their voluntary services. {Applause). INCOME-TAX DIFFICULTIES. It was proposed to ask tho Government to enable the income tax to be paid directly out of the fund, so that those making the gilt would not suffer. To enable this to: be done special legislation would be necessary, and it was proposed that an enabling clause should be inserted in tho Wasliing-Up Bill. A few of those" who had originally attached their signatures to the scheme had withdrawn. The original number, GSQO, had been reduced in this way by only f!-f. It was proposed that they should be allowed to withdraw; the promoters did not desire to have unwilling contributors. PERMANENT TRUSTEES. - It was decided on the motion of Mr J. B. Kolls that the following genii c-inc-n be risked to act as permanent trustees of the- New .Zealand Sheepowners' Acknowledgment of Debt to Pritish Seamen Fund:—Sir Walter Buchanan (Maaterton), and Messrs Ralph Becthnm (Masterton), H. M. Campbell, M.P. 'Hastings), J. C. N. Grigg (Loncbeach), T. R. Lees (Wellington), G. L. Marshall (Marton), Hon. W. D. S. Mac Donald, M.P. «.Wellington), James Murray (Kakrs

Point), Edward "Newman,. M.I. (MartoiO, A. E. Pearco Wellington), A. Boyle (Christehuroh), \V A. Swife (Waimate), M. Bethell (Canterbury), and W. D. Hunt. Mr T. R. Lees was appointed honorary treasurer. * RESOLUTIONS PASSED.

On the motion of Mr W. b. Strang, it Mas resolved :—"That the interim dividend from .surplus wool profits now in process ot distribution, coverm»- profits made by the Imperial Government on wool sold up. to ,-Jlst March, 1919, shall be'tho tiiial dividend so far as authorities to pay to the Seamen's Fund are concerned.'' Mr A. Simpsrn moved, Mr Clifton seconded, and it was. carried: "That the trustees be authorised to pay tho whole or any part of the moneys belonging to the fund to tho PublicTrustee to be invested by him as agent for the fund, and to hold such moneys Jinrl all interest thereon in manner from time to time directed by the trustees." "Another resolution, moved by Mr W. Perry, seconded by Sir W. Buchanan j was passed: "That the trustees he authorised to pay out of moneys received income tax and gilt duty "if payable, as assessed by_ tho Commissioner of Taxes on the individual amounts contributed, the intention being that it shall be unnecessary for " contributors to" show amounts subscribed- to this fund in their separate' income tax returns." Regret was expressed that the Government woidd not remit the taxation on the amount of tho gift. BIG WCOL-GROWERS ALOOF. Mr Fisher (Culverden) regretted that anyone should be allowed to withdraw from the scheme. He also said that some of the big sheepfarmers in. his district had stood aloof from the scheme. Mr Newman believed that no doubt somo men had been carried away at the time by enthusiasm, and now wished to retract their promises. Many eases where there were' withdrawals from, the fund seemed to be •justified by circumstances. He, personally, had received letters from men who had lost t-ons at the war and now found themselves financially' unable to make the gift they had promised. Certain names had also been struck off the list •at the advice of the trustees' solicitor, but no further

names could be struck off after tho passim; of. the resolutions. Mr ."" Fisher suggested that the names of the subscribers, and the amounts they had subscribed, should Le. published*, so that the people might see who had been generous and who had not.

- '1 he Minister for Lands thought that the publication of a. list of the subscribers- could bo arranged. He believed that the preparation of s-ii'.-h a list would be fair to everybody.

A farmer present said that he believed many people hsul signed under a misapprehension. lie was a small farmer with a big mortgage and a young family. ?rio had signed because he believed that everybody Mas signing, but he found now that the bio; men in his district had not signed, and that he was making a sacrifice' while his neighbors wore keeping aloof.

Mr Grigg agreed that some of 1 lie big men had not signed. That was the position in Canterbury. He suggested that a. further effort should be mad© to enlr..r<«e the numbers of subscribers, and ho moved vhnt the permanent trustees should be instructed to make siv. effort in that direction. ' People who would not hand over all their profits might be asked what proportion of them they would give.

Sir Walter Buchnnnn pointed out that in voluntary effort it w,is always the willing givers who made the sacrifices. If the willing men waited until the unwilling, men moved, nothing would ever be done.

Several other slieen-fiinwrs stated that the big farmers in their 'i-strlcts had not signed the agreement. Eventually Mr Grigg's motion was tarried.

Tho meeting closed, with tf thanks to the trustees and to othtrs who had worked to mako the scheme a success.