REGENT PENNY BANK

Northern Advocate, 12 October 1934, Page 6

REGENT PENNY BANK

DISPOSITION OF FUNDS THE TRUSTEES ATTACKED. THE FACTS STATED. When Mr Lester Sinclair was manager of the Regent Theatre in Whangarei, he instituted a Penny Bank for children. The scheme was that the theatre company would pay into a trust account, one penny for every sixpenny ticket sold at the Regent Theatre. This obligation on the part of the' picture company has been faithfully carried out. Children who were members of the Regent Talkie Club had the right to withdraw from the trust fund, on theii birthdays and at Christmas, the amount standing to their credit. A great many children have taken advantage of this right. The money that accumulated as the result of sixpenny tickets being bought by children Who were not members of the Regent Talkie Club was to be dispersed by the trustees of the fund for the benefit of the children of Whangarei in general, and in the written objects of the trust, the trustees were given a lead as to the nature of the objects more particularly intended, such as schools, dental clinics, Plunket Society, and Christmas gifts for children.

The objects mentioned were obviously deserving ones and when'Messrs William Jones, C. F. Collins, D. McCarroll, H. W. Crawford, and R. K. Trimmer were asked by the founder, Mr Lester Sinclair, to act as trustees of the fund they, agreed to do so.

The trustees, whose function was to safeguard and administer the fund, allowed it to accumulate to a sum of £ 104. It was plainly the trustees’ duty to see that the money was not spent for any; purpose outside the trust. .When called upon by Mr Hay, the present manager of the Regent Theatre, last Friday, to agree that some of the trust money should be spent on purposes quite outside their trust, namely the giving of a bicycle and a number of minor presents to children, to be selected by Mr Hay—the trustees refused their consent. The result of their refusal was an attack by Mr Hay upon the integrity and business methods of the trustees, which he had Widely circulated through the district. The trustees were definitely not prepared to pay money out of the trust fund for Mr Hay to purchase a bicycle at £5 10/- and-another £4 10/- worth of toys to be distributed among some of the children at his'matinee. They were of the opinion that they could properly spend £lO upon presents to be given to the children at the matinee, provided every child got a present. But they were n6t prepared to be parties to a scheme whereby one child got a £5 10/- cycle and another got a 1/- bat and others got nothing. . The trustees agreed to expend £lO on presents for all children,. who attended the Regent Theatre, on a date just prior to Christmas, the principle being that EACH child must receive a present and that no child must be left out. They further agreed that the Mayor Mr Wm Jones, should attend the Regent Theatre during last Saturday’s matinee and invite the children present to agree that the trustees should give £5 to a child at Hikurangi who had lost both legs in a recent accident.

Upon being informed that His Worship the Mayor would be pleased to attend last Saturday’s matinee to invite the children to agree to the gift of £5 towards the child at Hikurangi, Mr Hay said he would not allow the Mayor to enter his theatre for this purpose, as a result of which the Mayor, of course, did not attend.

The trustees further decided to give £5 towards the Hospital Children’s Comforts Club to assist in the installation of wireless in the children’s ward.

Practically the whole of Mr Hay’s statement is incorrect, and his account of conversations which he alleges took place with the trustees is absolutely incorrect.

The trustees are not prepared to be forced, by Mr Hay or anyone else, into any scheme for spending the trust money which they do not consider comes within the objects of the trust. The trust funds are kept in the names of the five trustees in the local '• Post Office Savings Bank and can be operated upon by way of withdrawal only under, the signatures of three trustees. The trustees are .satisfied that the fund is intact and that everything is in order. . The manager of the Regent Theatre is not the servant of the trustees of the Regent Penny Bank who have no control over his actions apart from either agreeing with or. refusing his requests for the spending of trust money. C. F. Collins, H. W. Crawford, W. Jones, D. McCarroll, R, K. Trimmer, W. T. Surman.

In regard to Mr Hay’s account of a conversation alleged to have been held with me I state definitely that it is not correct. At no time did I agree to the scheme. I warned him that I did not think the trustees would approve of it and I suggested that he should wait until after the meeting of trustees before launching the scheme. At the meeting of trustees when Mr Hay was present, I reminded him ‘of this and he did not demur. In addition,, on the same day as Mr Hay saw me, he also saw Mr W. T. Surman, secretary of the trust fund, and Mr Surman also warned Mr Hay that he would be foolish to go ahead without first getting the consent of the trustees as he* Mr Surman, did not think the scheme came within the objects of the trust. He further said he did not think the trustees would approve of it. In spite Of these warnings Mr Hay carried on and took the chance of obtaining the consent of the trustees afterwards. The fact that the trustees would not agree to Mr Hay’s scheme Seems to have annoyed him, and he has taken the course of printing and publishing a circular derogatory to the trustees. Mr Surman’s agreement of this Statement is signified by his signature hereto — R. K. Trimmer, W. T. Surman. As my action has come in for condemnation I make the following statement:— Mr Lester Sinclair asked me to act as a trustee to the above fund. I said that I did not wish to do so as I had not the time to devote*to it. He replied that ! would not be expected to devote any time to it except to attend a meeting about once a year to approve the disbursement of trust moneys. On that condition and also on condition that promises made to the children

would be honestly and straightforwardly carried out I consented to act as a trustee. I was absent when the first meeting was held to initiate the scheme. I attended the second meeting last Friday and refused to agree to Mr Hay’s method of disbursing some of the funds. Hugh W. Crawford, Statement on Behalf of Company. The statement made by Mr Lester Sinclair (Dominion Exhibition Manager, Amalgamated Theatres, N.Z., Ltd.), last evening was:— “I am quite satisfied that the allegations contained in the circular are entirely false. The public need have no misgivings about it. The trustees have carried out their duties entirely as they were expected to do. The circular is ridiculous, and was entirely uncalled for, and was issued contrary to express instructions from Amalgamated Theatres, Ltd. That the trustees should have been so slandered is regrettable and they may rest assured that everything will be done by myself and my company to right matters.”