POPPY DAY APPEAL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXV, Issue 19924, 18 April 1928, Page 12

POPPY DAY APPEAL.

DISPUTE WITH MOUNT EDEN.

DEMANDS BY I 'THE COUNCIL.

SPENDING MONEY IN BOROUGH.

In its gratuitous work of organising the annual Poppy Day collection for the relief of returned soldiers in distressed circumstances, the Returned Soldiers' Association was yesterday given an unexpected rebuff. The town clerk of Mount Eden telephoned an intimation that the sale of poppies within the borough would not bo permitted except on the conditions that the amount collected was left in the hands of the council for spending within the borough and that the sum of £5 5s was allowed from the proceeds of sale as payment for the .services and expenses of the organiser of the collection. It was stated that in administering the fund, the council would subsidise the amount realised from the sale of the poppies.

With Poppy Day only 48 hours away the belated advice of conditions precedent to the sale and collection has caused the association and those connected with it in organising the day some concern, and vesterday they were at a loss to know what to do.

" The association cannot possibly agree to any such conditions with regard to Poppy Day," said Mr. Sinclair Reid, president of the association. "As everyone knows, the Poppy Day fund is administered by trustees, independent of the Returned Soldiers' Association, and, as a body, our only connection with the annual appeal is the making of arrangements for it. We arrango for the poppie3 to be brought to Auckland and for their distribution among the various collectors, who are arranged for by our ladv helpers. Charge for Expenses.

"Briefly, the association controls the whole of the organisation of the collection, and once that is done the money is handed over to trustees, who administer the iund in what they consider to be the best interests of those who are to benefit. It .may be used for providing work or in payment for meals and lodging, etc., and the fact that contributors to the fund are quite satisfied with the way it is administered is made plain by the very handsome way in which they respond every year. It is not for the association to agree to any conditions and wo are advising the Mount Eden Borough Council accordingly. This is the first time any local body has sought to place any restriction on Poppy Day, and on every other occasion the city and suburban authorities have handed over to the trustees the full amount collected.

"There is a little history attached to Mount Eden's charge for making the collection," Mr. Reid continued. "Up to last year we were not aware that a charge was being made, but then we received for the first time a collection statement in which it was set out the gross amount received was £74 10s 9d. From this was deducted £5 5s as expenses, and a cheque for £69 5s 9d was forwarded. Inquiries revealed the charge had been made in previous years, but no mention had been made of the fact. When we asked for details of 'he expenses, the Mount Eden Borough Council was advised that similar work was undertaken by other boroughs around Auckland, and not one single penny was charged for the work. Their action in this respect was taken as a sign of the sympathy of the various local bodies for the Poppy Day movement." Only Body to Make Charge.

Mr. Reid said the association was subsequently informed by the Mayor of Mount Eden, Mr. E. H. Potter, that the expenses were those incurred by the ladies who conducted the collection and included the use of a motor-car for a couple of days in bringing in the boxes and for arranging stands. Mr. Potter had said the ladies could not be asked to undertake the work without some allowance for costs, and if tho association did not consider them justified he would pay them himself. Mr. Potter's letter had added the success of the collection had been due to the efforts of the ladies, and he could not permit them to be at a loss in consequence. Mr. 'Reid said the voucher for the payment showed it was signed by one lady "as expenses in connection with Poppy Day collection, including use of motor-car for two days." "Having seen the voucher the association did not pursue the matter further, and since wo had made a protest we did not consider wo would hear any more of it," Mr. Reid said. "It was therefore with very great surprise we learned that, in addition to tho other conditions, a similar charge was to be made again this year. I know that so far as Auckland is concerned, Eden stands alone in this respect, and I think I am right in saying it sta.il (Is solitary in the Dominion. The amount inay seem small, but under the subsidy scheme operating in connection with the fund the £5 5s would provide work for a returned man for about 15 days.

"Taking the Bull by the Herns." "All our other collectors aro voluntary workers. Tho association does not make any charge for its organising work, which is considerable; the carriers, many of them men in a very small way, do our Poppy Day carting free of charge, and havo refused payment for their services even when, knowing their circumstances, we have tried to force it on them, and tho tramway clerks come along and count the collection up to a late hour at night gratuitously. When everyone else is a voluntary worker we feel the Mount Eden charge is unfair, and we cannot agree to it,"

Mr. Re id said he did not know yet whether the collection would be made in Mount Eden this year. The association had been advised that city collectors would be ready to go into that district and do the work gratuitously and without making any condition concerning the use to be made of the funds. He said he felt sure the people of Mount Eden did not. wish to be isolated from the appeal, and that they were not behind the Borough Council in its action. He had been advised to take the bull by tTie horns and break the borough by-laws by making the collection without the council's consent, but he hesitated to counsel the association to take that step, even although it might have the - moral support of the people concerned. "The council whs asked in. the .middle of March whether the. collection could be made this year, and the least that might have been done is to have let us know earlier of the conditions it seeks to impose," Mr. Reid added.