THE PATRIOTIC FUNDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11433, 25 July 1900, Page 5

THE PATRIOTIC FUNDS.

MEETING OF DUNEDIN '• SUBSCRIBER?!. \ ;

[BY TF.UGIUPIT.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.!] i"'. * Dunewn, Tuesday, j A MEETING was held to-night of the sufri scribers to the Otago and'- Southland Cony tingent fund, to receive the report of the; Organising Committee. About 60 were pre-; sent. The report and balance-sheet vera. 1 adopted. It was resolved, " That the baW ance of the contingent fund be placed in' the hands of the Organising Committee, and dealt with in the same manner as may bet determined in respect to the patriotic fund."! The balance of the nurses' fund was placed! in trust to carry out the intention of the; donors, any surplus to go to the patriotic? fund. The Patriotic Fund Committee then' met, and the following resolutions were carried unanimously, there ; being strong _ ex* pressions of opinion against thePremier^ '■ proposal to commandeer the funds: " This meeting is of opinion that the funds remain*; ing in the hands of the Patriotic Committee; - are held upon a sufficiently distinct and de-; fined trust, namely, to aid in the relief; of • members' of the .lW" Zealand contingents' tj and those dependent; on them, and that these . funds, and all future additions to, them, can be best administered by local' trustees, -whose duty' would be to see that* Otago and Southland men receive first com sideration. and then to assist other centres,; if the funds will allow of it, and this meeting do'sires to protest strongly; against any. attempt to place the funds collected in this district in any common fund ' for the whole colony, as . being" contrary- to the -wishes of-'. tie subscribers;" . "That in the opinion of, this meeting the administration of tho : patriotic funds should be . in 'the hands of art | Organising Committee, and that the funds should be invested in the name of the Mayo? and two other members as trustees, to bar held at. the disposal ; of' the": committee, for j| the purpose declared in the first resolution* and that the committee be \ authorised t« ;; appoint trustees accordingly, and,vest. the) funds in them; and that a copy s pf thisresw j; lution bo sent to the Premier and the Otagd and Southland members." It was resolved to convey.: to Mr. Pilcher the appreciation of the people of otag6 of the many,valuabl| services; rendored ; by him to New Zealand troopers and nurses in South. Africa, 5hd t thaijsp ; - _ -

Company be also thanked for affording Mr. . Pilchcr an opportunity of displaying bis un.elSsh, patriotism, TO THE EDITOR. Crt ■t ' •''-■ ■'■ - ■ 11," ', • *'•'' Sir,—ln your issue of yesterday's date there appears a telegram addressed by the Premier ?: .to the Mayors of Auckland and Dunedin, in M : which the Right Hon. Mr. Seddon, referring ■ to the patriotic funds, says "there is at preA sent no; defined,trust established." Permit :';;';- me to say that Mr. Seddon's statement is (i; not correct, so far as ihe Auckland patriotic funds aro concerned. -■■ „ .•:.; 'When the citizens of Auckland first decided ■-:: on the patriotic iund it was resolved: "That the moneys raised should be in aid of the ;/ widows and orphans 01 the slain, and" of the : ;; maimed and wounded British and colonial V. joldicrs fighting in South Africa."- It was ,: further resolved: . " That the local fund should . '- be part of the Lord Mayor of London's fund." -. : Later it was resolved, ''That the fund should -■;-.. extend t: the* benefit of mothers, fathers, or ■- other dependents deserving help of New Zea- \; landers engaged in the war." . . ■ -'. In due course some £3000' odd was sent to'tho Lord Mayor of London, and his consent (1) to the Auckland committee being re-, cognised as a sub-committee of the London ■i committee, amL(2) to the retention of moneys ''here by ; the";local committeo to meet local cases deserving help, has just been received. * From the foregoing it will be seen: (1) That the Auckland patriotic fund is a speciallydefined trust { (2) that the London and Auckland committees' are parties to tho trust; (3) that no alteration in the trust is possible by legislation or otherwise, other than with the consent of tho Lord Mayor of London and the local subscribers.

I may further add that the Auckland committee are giving their careful attention to any cases deserving help arising in connection with men from the. Auckland provincial district.' Any assistance so far given has been bo arranged as to place the recipients in f.s good a position as they were before the war, it being the intention of the committee to wait until the war is over, when, with a full and final knowledge of all claims before them, comprehensive . steps will bo taken to deal with tho funds. • In addition to the patriotic fund proper, there if another fund in aid of Now Zealanders only. This fund is being kept separate and distinct from the first-named fund. It is equally a trust fund, and tho moneys are being utilised solely for the purpose for which they were wised.—l am, etc., J. Kirker, Hon. Treasurer. TO THE EDITOR. Sir, —We beg to hand you copy of our letter to tho Lord Mayor of London, dated April 30, and copy of his reply, dated June I*, received to-day. —We are, 'J. KIBKEK, hon. treasurer; S. A. Goldstein, hon. secretary. "Auckland, New Zealand, April 30, 1900. -The Right Honorable, The Lord Mayor of London. Dear Sir,—Auckland South African patriotic war fund. The Mayor of Auckland has already remitted to you tho sum of £1325, ;'n aid of tho fund for widows, orphans, and wounded of tho English and colonial soldiers engaged in the South African war, and has also remitted the sum of ; £2O to Sir .Alfred Milner in aid of the Uitlanders' refugee fund. Wo have now the pleasure to hand you a draft for £1677 13s 4d, in aid of the fund above referred to. At a meeting of the Patriotic Committee held on the 20th inst., a number of resolutions were unanimously adopted, copies of which are enclosed horein. Your attention is particularly directed to the fact that the original scope of the local fund has been altered to include provision foi others than widows; also, for the retention of a portion of the {latriotie fund for disbursement locally, the local committeo deciding to act as a subCommittee of the London Committee. Your consent to these proposals is kindly requested. remain, your obedient servants. (Signed) S. A. Goldstein, hon. secretary; J. Kirker, hon, treasurer." Copy of resolution referred to:—Resolved, " That the Lord Mayor of London be informed that-as the Auckland patriotic fund is intended for the relief of the widows. orphans and wounded and the widowed mothers oi other dependents who, in the opinion of the committee, deserve consideration, and, as a very large number of New Zealanders are now engaged in the South African war, tho Auckland Committee has decided that it would be more convenient if" part of the patriotic fund were retained hero for tho present, to meet any claims arising in connection with New Zealanders, and the committee requests the Lord Mayor of London's approval and confirmation of this proposal. That in dealing with part of the patriotic fund locally, the Lord Mayor be informed that the local committee regards itself as acting for and on behalf of the Patriotic Committeo in London." "Transvaal War Fund.—The Mansion House, London. .Tunc 14, 1900. Dear Sirs,— I gratefully acknowledge the receipt of your letter of April 30, enclosing a further re- . mittance of £1677 13s 4d 'from Auckland, and I beg that you will convey to tho donors my sincere thanks. ■ I note with approval that tho";original'scope of your fund' has been altered, and I will convey to the Royal Commission of the patriotic fund the resolutions at which your meeting arrived.— am, dear sirs, yours very b.Tilj, (signed) Alfred J. Newton, ,Lord Mayor.' S. A. Goldstein, Eiiq., J. Kirker, F^q." ■ • j, THE BADEN-POWELL TESTIMONIAL. A total of £147 19s 6d has now been received at the Herald Office for the BadenPowell testimonial. Following are tho names of. additional subscribers:—Amount acknow .ledged, £116 Os od. Greenup, Bathgate, C. H. Brown, E. Bontley, Miss Gibbs, E. Cadness, Mr. Moginie, Sisum, Waiuhouse, W. Francis, ' Mrs, MeAlistor, T. Brown, Brunt, 'J. , McAlisfccr, Charles Stewart, G. Wilson, E. Clay, G. Croeke. W. Crccko, A. Peebles, A. Black, McHawkin, C. Green, P. Puck, T. H. Spun, G. Simpkin., W. J. Cir,cr, W. P. Brown, P. Crene, C. A. Dawson, G. i Peebles,. 0. Hopkins, G. H. Somervillc, E. I Brodrick, W. Phillips, A. Murray, E. H. j Hayward, E. J.. Ewers, S. James.