IDEAL OF CHARITY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20762, 3 January 1931, Page 7

IDEAL OF CHARITY.

CHURCH PUT TO TEST, HALF MILLION FOR'" HOSPITALS, [FROM OUR OWN. 'CORRESPONDENT..] SYDNEY. Dec. 18. Quite voluntarily, .the Church .in New Sontji. Wales is to he put to.the. most severe test in its history. To preserve an ideal -of charity free from- the spirit of gambling, and to give substantial help to. hospitals that are feeling the pinch, is the two-iold challenge offered to the Council of Churches by. the Premier's acceptance of its proposals for a State-wide appeal .for direct giving to the hospitals instead of a lottery. . .. . The churches were alarmed at Mr. Lang's decision to inaugurate a lottery, and as they were assured that. the. Government must have the money which, it was hoped, the lottery would raise, they set to work to find an alternative,scheme, and the direct giving appeal was the result. The Premier agreed to postpone the lottery plan until the result of the plan was known. As at least £500.000 is needed this year in order, to keep all the hospitals open, the magnitude of the task which the Church has imposed upon itself will be well understood. In these.hard times it is not easy to raise money, but such is faith that the council expresses confidence that it will reach its objective. It is not. going about the thing haphazardly. It is laying its plans with the utmost care, and in some quarters it is reported that the appeal will involve an outlay of £50,000 for advertising and other organising expenses. An influential committee has been formed to assist the churches, and this includes many laymen and the heads of several Government departments, whose services have been made available by the Premier. At the head of the now move is the Rev. A. E. West, who says he believes the result of the direct giving campaign will be greater than the result of a lottery. He says that the expenses of the appeal would be small compared with the result. A man would willingly give £5 to such an appeal if he knew that at least £4 18s would reach the hospitals. With a lottery, he might invest £5, but not more than £1 would go to the institutions he desired to benefit. "Never, perhaps, in the history of our charities and hospitals," said Mr. West, "has the need for financial help been so clamant and deserving. We are indeed beset by general financial difficulties, but the crisis that faces many hospitals is a great humanitarian call to help the needy and the suffering. It is a call to all rightthinking people to give to the limit of their power to maintain a lofty ethical ideal as against the subtle and harmful associations inseparable from a lottery. I havo faith in the people of New South Wales, and I feel that they will respond nobly and promptly to such an appeal." It should not be imagined that the Church is unanimous in endorsing the direct giving appeal. Far from- it. The Rev. R. B. S. Hammond, for instance, says that the Council of Churches has entered a trap. If it is unsuccessful in raising' the £500,000 required by the Government it will not be able to protest against the establishment of the lottery. Other clergymen contend that it. is not the duty of the Church to raise money for hospitals, but the duty of the State, and the State should face it without resorting to a gambling scheme. A representative of the Church of England said that the people should bo taxed to provide for ths upkeep of hospitals, Perhaps he had in mind the New Zealand system, but he did not take into account tiie heavy taxes which Australians already have to bear. The Rev. D. P. McDonald said that the financing of the hospitals should, bo a matter for the Government and nobody else. Why should the Church assume the responsibility? he asked. The Roman Catholic attitude, though not officially stated, appears to bo this:— People waste their money on amusements. Why not invest the amount in a lottery with the chance of winning a p- izo, and at the same time give substantial help to the hospitals ? A divided Church, may mean failure to raise £500,000. The Government then will not hesitate to organise a lottery. In order that there shall bo no delay the legislation will be passed almost immediately. The Church has been given, until June to fulfil its task.