THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1891.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 10430, 30 April 1897, Page 4

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. FRIDAY, APRIL 30, 1891.

Td6 calamity which has bvertakeh a large number of small settlers In the recent floods in Hawke's Bay, should appeal with no ordinary force to the humane and charitable feelings of the people of Auckland. It is true that genuine benevolence where it exists, is world-wide in tlie scope of its sentiments, and suffering however distant is suffering still, and when understood in its nature and extent, it should move the heart witli pity and compassion. All the same when suffering is near at hand, it has a claim on duty as well as on philanthropy, a claim that in its exceptional character has the sanctions of religion as well as of nature. The people who have met with this great misfortune are our nearest neighbours, and while from every part of the colony help is coming to the sufferers, the citizens of Auckland should be among the foremost in the rescue. The call for assistance has in some respects come at not the most favourable time, for the benevolently disposed have just responded with liberality to the appeal for the sufferers by the famine in India, and, of course, the resources of benevolence, as of everything else, have their limitations. But the speciality of this appeal is the nearness to its of the dbjec'ts of compassion, and there is a natural and defensible principle in the old saying, that charity begins at home. With some people it is possible that there is an idea that the case of the sufferers in Hawke'a fiay is not as clamant as some others that have appealed before to popular symprtthy. Wβ are accustomed to think of flawke's Bay as a district of lar'ge pastoral properties and rolling ddwils, with wealthy It is true that a large portion of the provincial district is of that character, but the low-lying lands that have been swept by this Unprecedented flood are occupied by a great number of the very humblest clitSs of settlers, small farmers and market gardeners, who have been struggling with their circumstances to make a living for themselves and their families. It is these that have seen their liomes and all their belongings swept away, with nothing left but a wide waste of desolation. With these it is a case, it appears, of absolute destitution, and the testimony of the Mayor of Napier, and others who are leading in the effort for relief, and who are close by the scene of mih, and in the presence of tho-eufferersj Js that the situation is one that urgently appeals for help.

But apart from the common sufferers bjr the floods, the position of the wives and children of the noble fellows that sacrificed their lives in the attempt to savß the lives of others establishes an additional claim, not only, to the generosity but to the gratitude of their fellow-colonists. Disasters like this almost always bring to light instances of noble daring, and though the actors in such heroic scenes are impelled by higher motives than mere popular approval, they should at least have the consolation of knowing that services like theirs are recognised, and that even if they fall in the attempt they will not be forgotten. Not only on grounds of humanity, but as an incentive to others in the hour of peril the wives and the children of those breve men of the rescue party who died to save, should be lifted above the possibility of want. Nothing may fill the void created in the sacrifice of those who were near and dear to them, but to the extent of the misfortune that has come to them in the loss of their breadwinners, the public of New Zealand should see to it that at least that loss should be repaired by tliegenewsity not to say the justice of the Public. At least thirty widows and orphans have been left destitute by the catastrophe to the rescue party alone, while other widows and orphans in many cases equally unprovided for have been left to mown the loss of husbands and fathers, swept away in various parts of the district. While heavy losses have also fallen on settlers who are able to bear it, and who neither require nor would take any assistance, it is to bo understood that relief funds raised are only to be applied to cases of actual destitution, and contributors , may rely upon it that not one farthing of the funds will be diverted to cases that are not genuinely impoverished and de- ; serving of relief.

As will be seen from the intimations made from time to time in our columns the oalamity has touched the hearts of the people in every quarter of the colony, and in every centre of population, large or small, relief funds are in process of being raised. It is an interesting incident that in Queensland the people are not forgetful of thespirited response which this colony made to their appeal on the occasion of the disastrous floods some years ago in that colony, and that they have already resolved to remit to Napier a handsome sum, the balance remaining over from their relief funds, and at the same time have opened subscription lists to supplement the amount. Such reciprocal expressions ot sympathy between the colonies have an excellent effect in confirming the ties of unity and brotherhood, and in augmenting the twofold beneficence of charity which blesses him that Rives as well as him that receives. But it is only reasonable to expect that we must look to our own COlonutgniMnlyformeetingthedisaster at Hawkes Bay.and as a very considerable sum in y e t required to meet the urgent cases of destitution, it is to be hoped that the most strenuous efiorts will still be put forth, so that a really generous gift will testify to the genuine sympathy of the people of Auckland for the suffering of our friends and neighbours fo liawke's Bay,