WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18196, 15 September 1922, Page 6

WAR MEMORIAL MUSEUM

PUBLIC APPEAL FOR FUNDS.,

CAMPAIGN NEXT MONTH. SUM OF £78,000 REQUIRED. A publio appeal for £78,000, the balance of the fund of £200 000 required for the j erection of the Auckland War Memorial j Museum in the Domain, is to be made I next month. This decision was reached i at a meeting last evening of members of \ the Citizens' Committee and represen-! tatives of the City Council, Chamber of \ Commerce. Returned Soldiers' Association. • Commercial Travellers' Association, Vic- j j toria League, Navy League, Red Cross Society, and the Rotary Club. Mr. J H. Gunson, chairman of the Citizens Committee, presided. A review of the work of the Citizens" Committee since its appointment two yea.rs ago was given by Mr. Gunson, who said the sum required for the memorial was £200,000. Of this amount £122,000 was in hand or promised by leading institutions, firms, and a few individual citizens. The competitive designs for the building were now being judged, and it was expected the final choice would be made in a week or ten days, and in view of this it. was considered advisable that a definite course of action should be deciaed upon immediately. Deducting the i I contribution of £25 000 by the Government j and a similar amount by the Aucklai A j Savings Bank the sum collected by the | i committee from firms and institutions ai.d I I a few individual citizens was £72,003. j If that amount could be obtained by a | personal canvass extending intermittently I ! over a few weeks surely it was not too ■ ! much to hope that a concerted public | appeal would result in the balance of the : fund being subscribed. The memorial j ; was, he said, a matter that concerned all j the people. He moved that d general I ! public appeal be made during next month, j Mr. C. Rhodes, in seconding the motion, said that obviously the campaign had to be carried out and the only question on which there could be any doubt was whether October was a suitable time. It might, be sa d that conditions were not j suitable, but in his opinion there had been j a substantial improvement and he thought the appeal should proceed. Mr. V. J. Lamer, treasurer of the fund. I said that when the executive met there j was a feeling that October would *not bo \ a favourable time. It would greatly help the executive if it heard opinions from the j meeting as to the advisability of going on | with the campaign in that month. j The Hon. George Fowlds said that if J the appeal was to be held this year it i could not be delayed beyond October. The | response so far had been magnificent and j he thought a hopeful spirit was beginning to spread through the people. He con- j sidered nothing would be gained by delay, j i Mr. G. H. Wilson said thai: at the meeting of the executive he suggested delaying the appeal until next April, but he now w'shed to.withdraw that. He could see prosperity returning everywhere in New Zealand and he thought October was the best month for the appeal. v The motion was carried unanimously and it was decided that each of the organisations represented at the meeting, and others, be asked to call meetings of their executives to consider thejbest means of assistance they could render ii\ conjunction with the Citizens' Committee. The chairman mentioned that up to the present the collection of the subscriptions and adnrnistration of the fund had not cost a penny. He paid a tribute to She work of the treasurer, Mr. Larner, and expressed appreciation of the assistance given to the committee by Mr. A. R. ; Fed. of Wanganui, in connection with architectural mattersThe meet : ng adjourned unt : l next Thursday- when the final plan of campaign in connection with the projected appeal will be determined. i