IMPECUNIOUS COLONISTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11540, 27 November 1900, Page 6

IMPECUNIOUS COLONISTS.

LORD MAYOR'S LOAN FUND. AN AGENT-GENERAL'S DISSATIS- ' ,•> FACTION. [from our own correspondent.] 1 , London, October 20. Lady Carrington's well-meaning effort to help impecunious colonists who, as members of contingents, have been invalided Home from South Africa, has not given unalloyed ! satisfaction. Last week I informed you J that the cases of several Australians who 1 found themselves in London without money j had been brought, by Lady Carrington, ! under the notice of the Lord Mayor of Lon- I don, and that the latter had undertaken to let such colonists as required it have £1 per week, as a loan, during their stay in Great Britain. Undoubtedly the fact that any of the men should find themselves in need of assistance came as a shock to many AngloColonists, some of whom, at any rate, appear to regard Lady Carrington's action as a-sort of slight upon the colonies. The view, of such has been voiced by the Hon. H. Copeland, the Agent-General for New South Wales, who, in the course of a long letter to the newspapers, says: — I should be very loth to write anything that by any possibility could be construed into undervaluing the proverbial kindness of heart of Lord and Lady Carrington, or the wellknown generosity of the Lord Mayor. I, however, cannot but think that it would be more dignified for our colonial military first to exhaust the official means at their command, whereby to satisfy reasonable requirements, rather than that they should be placed (no matter how generous the intention) on a weekly dole, like outdoor recipients from a benevolent asylum. Moreover, such method of affording the relief appears to me (though doubtless unintentionally) to reflect seriously on the willingness or the capacity of the several colonial Governments to provide for the necessities of their own men, and I am much afraid that the general public, after reading these paragraphs, will be apt- to come to the conclusion that our colonial troops are being neglected and harshly dealt with by the Governments of the respective colonies to which the men belong. My object, therefore, in addressing you is to endeavour to remove this impression, and at the same time to point out that complications may possibly arise by a dual system of making advances, to be afterward recouped from accumulated pay. lam aware that the other Australian Governments, acting through their Agents-General in London, have acted on somewhat similar lines to that of New South Wales, but will only refer to my own Agency in the matter." Mr. Copeland then goes on to state what action he and his Government have taken, remarking that not one applicant has been refused. He then goes on to say:—"Up to date I have received 26 applications, and have disbursed £427, or an average of about £16 10s per man, including two or three non-commissioned officers, and it is only fair to the War Office to say that I understand each of the men has received from £6 to £9 from that Department. I have deemed it advisable in the men's own interest not to be too easily ' tapped,' lest the blandishments of this wonderful London should tempt some of them to spend here what they may probably require on their return to a quiet colonial lifemany of them also having wives and little ones awaiting their return. I may mention also that matters are somewhat complicated by many of the men having assigned the half of their colonial pay before leaving, while, in one or two instances which have come under my notice, the whole of the pay has been assigned. I am afraid, therefore, that matters will become somewhat mixed at the Sydney pay office when so many different advances, including the Lord Mayor's, have to be adjusted. "In conclusion," remarks Mr. Copeland, " I would point out that the colonial Governments are neither too poor nor unwilling to pay the men they are justly proud of ; for services nobly and patriotically rendeied, and inasmuch as each of those Governments is duly represented in London, it would appear to me to be the proper course to exhaust the, official resources in the first instance. There are funds available at the office up to £10 or £15 for each private who requires it., and from £20 to £25 for each non-commissioned officer, and should exceptional circumstances be shown I should not hesitate to advance a little beyond that, believing I was thereby accurately interpreting the liberal wishes of the Government I represent. Moreover, there is no charity in this action—the money has been honestly earned by the men, and it is in their own personal interest that the advances are restricted." A copy of Mr. Copeland's letter having been sent to the Lord Mayor, the latter replies :—" I was informed by Lady Carrington last Tuesday, 9th inst., that a number of colonial volunteers from South Africa were in London awaiting the completion of arrangements enabling them to return to their homes, but that in the meanwhile some of them were temporarily embarrassed for want of means to pay for their board and lodging. Having regard to the handsome sums contributed by the colonies to the Lord Mayor's Transvaal war fund, I did not hesitate to applv immediately from the discretionary fund within my control such amount as Lady Carrington considered necessary to meet the urgent requirements of some 150 colonial volunteers. I made no conditions in respect of this grant, but Lady Carrington expressed the opinion that the men so assisted would prefer later on to refund the amounts advanced to them. I am not aware that the volunteers in question belong to New South Wales. Should they do so, however, I am at a loss, in the light of your communication, to understand their present embarrassment, and presume you will be glad to learn the facts. If the men for whom the relief is required do not belong to your colony (and I am not aware that this has anywhere been stated) your communication is not relevant. lam grateful to the Countess of Carrington for bringing to my notice the position of these colonial volunteers, and I am glad of this opportunity to publicly thank her Ladyship for undertaking the onerous duties in connection with the administration of the grant in question." Following this, a public announcement has been made, on behalf of the men themselves, by Sergeant W. R. McDonald, of Kitchener's Horse, hon. secretary subcommittee temporary loan fund for invalided soldiers in London. Sergeant McDonald states the men's position thus :—" We, the Committee of Management, wish to make a public acknowledgment of our sense of tne advantage of this fund. Our AgentsGeneral have done what they could, but- in some instances, as our pay-sheets are still at the front, we have only been able to expect a portion of the pay owing to us. The consequence has been that some of us have been in unavoidable pecuniary difficulties. But that is now at an end. Every invalided colonial soldier can obtain a loan of £1 per week, and substantial advances are made to soldiers returning to the colonies to en.ble them to buy warm clothing and necessaries. The fund works like clockwork. The system of repayment is so simple that we confidently believe the Lord Mayor's discretionary fund will not lose one per cent, of its generous advances." As I have informed you from time to time, several invalided New Zealanders have found themselves short of funds since their arrival in England, but I know that their wants have been attended to, so far as practicable, at the Agency-General. Still it 6 is quite conceivable that a loan of £1 per week will come as a great boon to the men. It appears that it has come to the knowledge of the temporary loan fund for wounded and invalided soldiers in England that convalescent members of the cohnial contingents are being sent back to their respective colonies as steerage passengers in passenger steamships. Eleven colonial wounded soldiers having sailed from England on October 12, in the s.s. Ormuz, as steerage passengers, the Orient Company, with the sanction of the Lord Mayor, telegraphed to the commander of the Ormuz at Gibraltar to put these colonial convalescents on the dietary of the second saloon, and allow them to use the second-class deck and comforts. Similar arrangements are being made with the Castle Union line to Capetown and with the Canadian Dominion line. It is felt that it would be within the province of the Imperial Government to arrange that these colonial volunteers, many of whom are enteric patients requiring special care, should be despatched to their respective colonies in a manner more fitting their needs and condition. I learn, through Lord Carrington, that two members of the New Zealand contingents have applied for, and been granted, losuis. • _ j|