PATRIOTIC APPEAL

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 257, 27 September 1940, Page 2

PATRIOTIC APPEAL

THE £1,000,000 FUND

ORGANISATION FORMS!.).

Preliminary arrangements were made at a meeting in Palmerston North, last evening, for conducting in the. city and the Kairanga County the appeal for this district’s quota of t'he £I,OOO 000 patriotic funds appeal to be launched on October 1. It was explained by the Mayor (Mr A. E. Mansford), who presided, that it ivas hoped to complete the appeal by November 25 (the King’s Birthday). The amount required from the city and. the county, on a pro rata basis with the rest of New Zealand was | just below £20,000. I When opening the meeting, the Mayor said that this was t'he third big appeal to be made. The first two had been national appeals and this, although conducted through the Provincial Patriotic Councils, would collect money to be merged in a national fund. 'The appeal had three purposes: 1 o provide funds for the relief of distress in London consequent on the bombing raids, to provide comforts for New | Zealand soldiers and to establish a fund for the rehabilitation of New Zealand soldiers. An allocation o. £&5,000 had been made for advertising j t'he appeal throughout the Dominion. I It was hoped to conclude the appea- : by November 25 (the King’s Birthday), but with the advent of the compulsory loan he did not think ' the required sum would be raised by that date. If it were not, the appeal would continue until the £1 000 000 was reached. The London Fund had already been opened in the Press in Palmerston j North. At a meeting of the Wellington Provincial Patriotic Council in Meli- | ington, this week, it had been mentioned that there was, a possibility ol further remittances being made for the relief of distress in London. For this particular appeal a limit of £IOO,OOO had already been set, and consequently, when any money was donated for that specific purpose (as with a donation of £250 by the Wellington Harbour Board) 'the sum would be kept in a , snecial trust fund as against any iurj tlier such appeal being made. I To raise £I,OOO 000 was to find a large sum. proceeded the Mayor. Jhe Sick and Wounded Fund Appeal had aimed at £250.000 and had closed at more than £500,000. In the Palmerston North and Kairanga.,area the committee had been particularly successful in that appeal and the contributions per head of population here had been greater than anywhere else in New Zealand. He thought the same committee should he elected again.

DESTINATION OF FUNDS

Mr E. Whitcombe asked whethci there was any guarantee that funds subscribed for a particular purpose would be used for that purpose, and whether a donoi could get a guarantee that, if money donated tor a particular purpose was not used therefor, he would be consulted as to what other purpose it was to be applied. The Mayor emphasised that if money was given for a particular purpose, such as the London Distress 1' und, it would be kept in what might be termed a “trust fund” for that end. Mr J. A. Grant sought information as to whether funds donated in one province would be used solely for the soldiers from that particular province or as part of a Dominion-wide fund. 'The Mayor said that the eleven Provincial Councils were the collecting agents for the Dominion-wide fundTlie soldiers would he treated on their return as New Zealand soldiers, and not as men who had enlisted from particular provinces. Personally sam the Mayor, he thought the word rehabilitation” was really a misnomer. The monev to be collected was to be used in bridging the gap from demobilisation until the soldiers were re-established in civilian life. In tue last • war some were even demobilised in London: sonic were sick and liau a waiting period between appearing before a medical board and coming under the Government’s rehabilitation motion of the MaW; seconded by Mr D. F. Sniilhe, the following were appointed, with power to add by co-opting representatives of various organisations, to promote the appeal in the citv and the Kairanga County : Messrs J. C. Young. G. Tremaine, J. A. Grant, K. A. Henderson .C V. Dav W. G. Black, A. R. McKegg, P. Aekins and W. R- Hopcroft. Ihe Mavor is a member ex-officio. Mr Day undertook the secretarial work until this position had been discussed by the committee. Mr J. R. Hardie was appointed the treasurer. In reply to another question, the Mayor emphasised that the London appeal was merged with the main appeal, hut if anyone insisted that liis donation must be for the London fund, and for no other, it would be put into a particular fund and kept so that if a further amount was sent for the relief of distress in London the money kept in the special fund Mould be applied to that.

SUM FROM FORMER FUND.Sneaking at a meeting-of the Wellington Provincial Patriotic Cmnal, on Wednesday, the Mayor of Wellin 0 - ton (Mr T. C. A. Hislop) said that the actual quota for the whole of the ellington province for the relief ot distress in London was only about £oO(jU, and already more than £9OOO had been subscribed. Of the £IOO,OOO which had been remitted to London by the National Patriotic Council for the relict of Londoners, £75,000 had come out of the Fund for the Sick. Wounded and Distressed, while £25,000 had been divided among the various districts, each being allotted a quota to raise. All money raised above that quota would "o'to the general patriotic appeal launched by Lord Galway. The £25,000 would be a first charge against the money raised by the appeal, which was for a total of £1,000,000.