FLOCK HOUSE FUNDS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20727, 21 November 1930, Page 12

FLOCK HOUSE FUNDS.

MONEY STILL UNSPENT. MERCHANT SAILORS' CLAIMS. SUGGESTION FOR ALLOCATION. [BY TELEGIUI'II. —OWN CORIIESI'ONDBNT.] WELLINGTON. Thursday. Fears that the original purpose.! of the Flock House scheme contributors may he lost sight of are expressed by Captain F A. Macindoe, secretary of the Merchant Service Guild. Captain Macindoe was formerly associated with the Sheepowners* Acknowledgment of Debt to British Seamen Fund. Ife said that lie had lieen much interested in the present discussion regarding the future of the fund. The money for this was given by the farmers of New Zealand and the trustees decided that it was to he used for the purpose of granting relief or assistance to those who suffered a loss or injury while serving under the British Ensign during (he war. "Personally, I wish to congratulate those responsible for starting the Flock llouso scheme," said Captain Macindoe, "and it has certainly proved beneficial to somo. Whether this station goes back into private hands or not is not very im portant, but it is important to see that the money goes to those for whom it was intended. In my opinion there are many debts which have not been acknowledged Had the board of trustues been composed of farmers and seafaring men I feel sure the fund would .have been handled in a more generous way. "It. would appear to me that it is only a matter of time when all those whom the fund was intended to reward will have died, and there will he a large sum left, which eventually will pass into another channel altogether. Here in New Zealand we have quite a number of sailormen who passed right through the war with good records and who could now do with a little assistance. "Is it not fair to say that somo of these men on board ship, who frequently passed through the danger zones carrying our produce and our men to the United Kingdom, suffered a loss in health duo to the strain on their nerves ? It would he better to spend this money on thoso for whom it was intended rather than to allow, it to remain unspent, with the pos sibility of it being eventually diverted into quite different channels."