WAR RELIEF FUNDS

Northern Advocate, 8 October 1920, Page 4

WAR RELIEF FUNDS

CO-ORDINATION DESIRABLE.

SOME RADICAL REMITS.

A conference of the Advisory Board of war relief associations is to be held on October 15 next in Wellington. At last week's meeting of iho Wellington War Relief Association several remits were submitted for consideration by the chairman (Mr. L. O. 11. Tripp).

The first remit submitted was as follows: —"That after providing for present claims of the totally and partially disabled men and their dependantej the conference urges every society to conserve its funds for .the benefit of future claims, particularly those of men who break-down from' time to time as the result of their war service, and their dependants, this conference being of opinion that just claims will be made on war relief and patriotic funds for many years.'' This was passed without dis- ! cussion. 1 The second remit, as slightly amended, reads as follows: —" That if at any time any society has more funds than are sufficient to provide for all claims in its particular district, it is the duty of that society to help other societies which have not suftieient funds for soldiers and their dependants. ,. The third remit read as follows: — " That the personnel of .the War Funds Council should be altered, and that the council should, consist of representatives of the war relief and patriotic societies who have been activly engaged in the of war relief funds, and also a representative of the Returned Soldiers' Association and other<,bodies who have been adiniinisjtering the war funds, and wihose war funds 'may be transferred to the council. ,, ; COMPARISON OF COSTS. The. chairman explained tha£ at present War Funds Council consisted of the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Mayors of the principal cities. The personnel of the council was such that it was composed of men who had little practical experience in the administration of such funds, and wihat he had in his mind was that it might be altered to include representatives of some of the principal war relief societies who had been doing this work for years. The War Funds Council had some £37,000 in hand, contributed by the Bank of New Zealand (£10,000) and firms and individuals. Mr. Davis was watching the administration of the various war funds very carefully, and was diverting money to the council from funds the objects of wihieli had ceased to exist. Other bodies who had funds which could be brought into the War Council's Fund were the V.M.C.A. and the Salvation Army. Tiho view we took was that such bodies had no right to spend any of these moneys on peace objects until all claims of disabled and needy soldiers were satisfied, and the balance should be carefully conservd against contingencies. If that were done, and the personnel of the War Funds Council changed, t3ie fund would be a popular one with all patriotic war relief associations, wihioh at present had the idea that in handing over funds to the War Funds Council they'were giving them, to 'the Government. Recently the Minister of Internal Aifairs had convened a conference with the objtct of ascertaining whether there was any overlapping in the ©amps as between the various bodies. The Red CrbsiS,,Salvation Army, anu V.M.C.A.- were preBon.t, and he had been invited to be present. The difference in the cost per head spent on comforts and re i creation for the men in 'medical camps was very marked. At Narrow Neck (Auckland) the cost was £1 4/1 per head per week; at Auckland, £1 13/6; at Waikato, £18/2; at Rotorua, 17/2; an dat Gisfoorne £2 2/4. The average in the Auckland district was £1 3/2. At New Plymouth the cost was £1 8/7, and at. Trentham only 12/8. The percentages worked out as follows:—Red Cross, 54 per cent.; Salvation Army, '14 per cent.; V.M.C.A., 13 per cent.; other patriotic bodies, 11 per cent.; St. Jcthn Ambulance, 2 per cent.; Church funds, etc., 4 per cent. Mr. C. M. Luke said that an arrangement had been arrived at, and there was no overlapping at Trentham. The chairman said that he put the position before them, as it was a question whether all that was necessary could not be done just as well by one organisation. T.hat was in his mind when he suggested the alteration in the personnel of the War Funds Council. The remit was unanimously approved. The final remit approved was: " That it should be the duty of 'th& War JTunds Council to conserve its funds so as to be in a position to help :my soldier or his dependents in any part of New Zealand at any time it should so happen that the local War Relief or Patriotic Society's funds have become depleted."