ONEHUNGA LADIES BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume V, Issue 1305, 21 January 1868, Page 3

ONEHUNGA LADIES BENEVOLENT SOCIETY.

A meeting of the above socia'y was held in the Institute, last evening. The fallowing report of the proceedings for the year wa3 read :— REPOKr. " The committee of the Onehunsa Ladies' ftenevolent -Society ha< the honor to lay before the friends and supporters of thij very useful and charitable insritulion a report for the year juet ended. " The pnst year will be remembered by many as a ye;u- of trial, privation, and poverty, which the committee has to some extenr. been able to mit g%te, tay timely assistance from the funds of the society. " The difficulties experienced hy men of the labmi ing classes in fiuding local employment, compello thu more able and strong bodiud to seek for it elsewhere, the partial maintenance of their families during their absence dovolved upon the society. The committee wa3 compelled to assist many such, famiiiee, especially those whose Governinent rations had prored inadequate fo? their maintenance. Some cases of men's heartless desertion of their families forced themselves upon the notice of the committee. Thr; claims of common ch:irity corapslled the committee to render assistance in such cases. In every instur.ee where relief has lieen adm nisered by the committee, every possible precaution has been, adopted to eecurn a proptr application of the funds of thoEociery. Tkadecreoseon the usuolrnontlily subscriptions, induced thscoinmittea to make an appeal to the various Protestant Churchesin thetown.andrheclergy, deeply sympathizing with the committee, solicited their respective congregations on bshalf of the society. '.I he result was that a awn of £11 6s. <R was plnced at the committee's disposal. A further sum of £1 3s. was forwarded to the secretary from,the Onelmngii Young Men's Mutual Improvement Clase, and its receipt is gratefully acknowledged by the committee as an earnest of their sympathy in cause. Had it not been for the assist nje obtained from these sources, the committee would have been precluded from rendering help in many cases of heartrending distress. '■The coniuiittue has been mo3t sedulous not to encourage ii spirit of pauperism among the recipi-nte of the society's bounty. The necessity of exertion, and self-ieliance has been strongly urgtd in every case, and those receiving aEsUtance wero strictly cautioned to receive it as a more temporary help. " The cases aided during the year b.ave numbered 34, being seven l«ss than in the previom year, but this desrea-so does not prove a decrease in actual want. The committee was compelled ignore many claime from sheer inability to assiet, as -well as from a determination not to exceed the fuuds placed at its disposal, flome women during their confinement received from the committee the requisite care and. attention. : " Your committee regrets having to ieport a decrease of £17 18s. on the amount collected from all sources during the year. At the commencement of the year th?re was a balance from the preceding year £6 ss. l^d; the collections during the year amounted to £72 4s. 2"i. ; and out of the total £78 9 J . 3£d., the committee has disbursed the sum of £77 4s. 6d., thus leaving in the hands of the Treasurer the small balance of £1 sa. 9£d. to the credit of the Society. " Jt is the ptiinful duty of the committee to inform the inhabitants of Onehnnga that very deep dhtreea etill pievails, and to eolicit their charity on behalf of the sick and destitute. " The committee has again to acknowledge the kindness of Drs. Purchas and Kicholson for their gratuitous attention to all sick cases brought unde their nctie=. " The committee concludes its report by confiding the interests of the Society to the special rare Almighty liocl, and to the sympathies of the benevolent and tharitable."