THE IRISH FAMINE RELIEF FUND.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 422, 13 March 1880, Page 21

THE IRISH FAMINE RELIEF FUND.

A. meeting of the general committee in connection with this fund was held at 8 o'clock on March 5, in the City Council Chambers. Present : His Worship the Mayor (in the chair), the Revs. Kirk and West, and Messrs. O'Neill, Worth, Trainore, Evendon, Hunter, Fisher, Brown, Gaby, and Macdonald. The hon. Secretary (Mr. Page) read a list of the correspondence he had received since the last meeting. The only letter that required consideration by the meeting was one from Mr. Arthur Beauchamp, at present in Picton, who offered to come over to Wellington if authorised by the Committee to do so, and give his celebrated lecture on the " Waswas," for the benefit of the fund. A good deal of discussion ensued on this proposal, and ultimately the offer was declined with thanks, on the ground that the expenses threatened to be too large. The Secretary then reported the receipts as follows, since the last meeting :—Cook Ward, £29 12s. 4Jd.; Te Aro Ward, £l2 15s. 9d. (it was stated that the receipts from three streets had yet to come in) ; Lambton Ward, £95 17s. 6d.'; and from Thorndon Ward, £72 lis. 3d. From other sources the amount sent in to the fund had been £432, making the total amount received £642 17s. 2Jd. £SOO had been l emitted Home by cable, at a cost of £6, while the expenses of distributing envelopes and the services of a canvasser in Te Aro Ward amounted to £B. The printing account had not yet come in. There was a sum of about £lB which he (the secretary) knew of as having been collected, and which woul i probably be paid in to the fund on Monday next.

One of the members of committee remarked that in that case the list could not be closed that evening.

In answer to a question, Mr. Page said there was no doubt that the town had been thoroughly well canvassed. The Rev. Mr. Kirk said at some places where he had called, he had been told by the clerks that their employers were out, but that they knew in many instances money had been enclosed in envelopes, upon which they could not just then lay their hands. These amounts would in all probability yet come in.

The Rev. Mr. West said that in the Lambton Ward the wealthy appeared to have no sympathy with the object ; many of them saying that they had so much to do just now to assist the poor of Wellington, that they could not contribute to the fund.

Mr. Brown remarked that usually in such cases the wealthy did not feel the same sympathy as the poorer classes. In the course of a conversation which followed, it was stated that one gentleman, who was known to have £BOO a year, would not give a single sixpence for the fund. Mr. Worth said he had found a great amount of sympathy in his ward, but very little money. He had also found a very strong feeling to exist that something ought to be done for the poor and distressed of Wellington. He could assure the committee that he was in a position to say that a very great amount of such distress existed. He should like to ask the committee if there was no chance of getting the amount of £6 remitted for the cable message. It was a public matter, and the people had a right to expect that the Government would contribute their mite.

It was pointed out that the company which conveyed the message was a private one, and that it could not be expected to remit its charges, and that there was not the least probability of its doing so.

The Rev. Mr. West said the bulk of the people he had visited responded to his appeal, and the bulk of those who declined did so on the ground that there was so much misery in our midst in Wellington. That was one reason given. The other was that if the English Government could afford to have expensive foreign wars, they could afford to keep their own subjects from starvation. The_ Rev. Mr. Kirk said he found it the same in the case of several heads of departments.

Mr. O'Neill said he hoped these people who had spoken so feelingly of the poor of Welling-

ton, would have an opportunity of substantially showing that feeling. The Rev. Mr. Kirk might state that a good many liberal men had refused to subscribe to the fund from conscientious motives.

The Mayor asked the meeting what it would be best to do with regard to the fund. Mr. Hunter thought it would be a pity to close it up at once.

The Mayor said it was not a question of closing the list, but more a question whether the committee should now adjourn sine die, and Mr. Page to close up the list.

Considerable discussion took place on the subject of the advisableness or otherwise of advertising the lists, and it was suggested that all names should be advertised over a certain amount.

Mr. Worth was entirely opposed to this. If one name was closed all ought to be. On his list he had as low as a half-penny, and the donor of that had as much right to be advertised as the man who gave his ten guineas. In the course of his canvassing he had come across two poor old infirm ladies, who were no doubt in very reduced circumstances. Yet, one had given him a shilling and the other six. Why should the giver of such contributions as these be ignored ? He would move that no names be published unless they all were, from the giver of a half-penny upwards. A very long discussion then took place on this question of advertising, and ultimately, on the motion of the Rev. Mr. West, it was resolved that the subscription lists should be hung up in the Council Chamber, open to public inspection at least, until the next meeting.

Mr. O'Neill said he might state to the meeting: that the amount collected at the two Catholic Churches had amounted to £240, and the amount telegraphed to the Mayor of Dublin was £s4'). The Rev. Father Macnamara had told him that he hoped to be able to send away another £IOOO from the whole of the diocese before the lists closed. The meeting then adjourned for a month. THE DISTRESS IN WELLINGTON. Mr. Evendon thought before they separated they ought to take some steps to try and alleviate the distress existing in their own midst, and which those who had been canvassing outside knew was very severe. Mr. O'Neill said he knew there were a number of persons in Wellington who had not given to the Irish Fund because they wished to assist a fund which might be raised for the poor of Wellington. Mr. Hunter said it was very unfortunate that the canvassers had not taken two subscription lists with them, so that those wh© had felt disposed to contribute to the Wellington distress could have done so. Mr. Trainore hoped the committee would take upon themselves to de something. At the same time he did not think that committee which had been appointed at a public meeting could resolve itself into a committee for the relief of the people of Wellington. The Mayor said they had ample power.

The Rev. Mr. Kirk said it appeared to him they were proposing to undertake functions which belonged to the Benevolent Institution. The Rev. Mr. West objected to this system f->f charity unless it was absolutely necessary. It tended to pauperise the people.

After some discussion of a conversational character, The Rev. Mr. West said it was little short of presumption that such a committee as that should attempt to deal with this questson. Here they had the Mayor and some of the City Councillors, and a member of the House of Representatives, and if they had not sufficient influence to work up the Government, it was not to be expected that that meeting should have.

The Mayor said it was simply a question of the committee collecting the money, which it seemed only wanted the asking for, for the Wellington poor. Mr. Worth again repeated that there were a great many very distressing cases in the city, and he thought; if the committee could do any good, it ought to do so. His own opinion was that there were a great many people who knew more about the prevailing distress than the clergy did. The Rev. Mr. Kikk believed a house to house canvass would yet have to be made. He had said the same in his place at the Benevolent Institution. Councillors Brown and Fisher stated that the City Council was going to the very full extent of its funds, in order to give work to the unemployed. The Rev. Mr. West said there were a large number of pretenders in this city, who were not worthy of assistance. A good deal of that kind of thing came up before the Benevolent Society. He believed there was a great abuse of public benevolence. His Worshi : There is a great deal of want in this place. Mr. West : I am quite aware of that. Mr. Hunter thought they would place themselves in a false position if they commenced getting subscriptions for the people of Wellington, while they were still a committee for the relief of the Irish. He would remind them that they had already adjourned for a month as such committee.

The Rev. Mr. West said it would do great harm to Wellington to have it telegraphed throughout New Zealand that a house to house canvass was being made for its poor. Mr. Worth did not care f. r that. It would be the truth, and the sooner they awoke to a sense of their position the better. Mr. O'Neill thought the Government might give some of the unemployed work by getting them to make a road to the top of Mount Victoria, the same as had been done at Auckland at Mount Eden. It was stated that the Government were sending men away as fast as they could, and general satisfaction was expressed that thay were being sent clear into the country. The Mayor then left the chair, and the meeting dispersed without anything further bjing done.