OTAGO BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 2804, 1 February 1871, Page 2

OTAGO BENEVOLENT INSTITUTION.

The annual general meeting of the subscribers to the above institution was held in Farley's Hall yesterday, afternoon, at 4 o'clock. There .was a' very poor attendance. Mr A. O. Strode was voted to the chair. The Chairman, in opening the proceedings, said the Committee appeared before' the meeting to give an account of -their stewardship for the past year. "The calls on the institution during that period had been very numerous and very heavy During last winter the calls were excessive ; and never since his connection with the institution, or since he had been in this place, had he known such, an amount of real distress to exist.—(Hear, near.) Had it not been for this institution he really did not know what would have become of some poor people ; and he feared a great many deaths would have occurred from absolute starvation. On looking round the room he Baw very few present but h9 presumed this was not owing to lack of encouragement or interest in the institution, but to a feeling that every thing was going on right.—(Hear, hear.*) The fact of it being the day before the mail day might also be another reason for the small attendance. He would now call upon Mr Webb, the Secretary, to read the report. . . The report was aa follows :—, The Committee of Management beg bow to Bubmit the report of their proceedings during the year 1870. In consequence of the severity of the last winter, and the want of employment of a large number of the working-classes, there haß been an unusual demand on the resources of the Institution, as will be observed by a comparison with previous years. The sum' disbursed for out-door relief during the past year amounted to Lllß6, as against L 746 during the year 1869. Amongst the cases dealt with, the committee regret to state there appears to be a number which in all likelihood will become permanent burdens upon the Institution; and at the close of the year there were 253 persons on the relief list, entailing a weekly disbursement of L2l. In this amount 65 persons residing in the country participated to the extent of L5 7s 6d weekly. The number of inmates in the Institution at Caversham has also considerably increased. This circumstance is mainly owing to the admission from the Hospitals of a number of incurable patients. The introduction of this class of inmates—all infirm and many helpless, rendeed necessary some considerable altera'ion in the interior arrangements of the building in order to provide accommodation suited to their exigencies and requirements. The committee, however, have -found it desirable to keep these adult inmateß altogether apart from the children, and they applied to the Provincial Government and obtained a building capable of accommodating them, which has been removed to the Institution and will b«> shortly re-erected. - ,•'-■.■■■•'•'.. The committee take the opportunity of expressing their entire [satisfaction with the manner in which Mr and Mrs Turner have discharged, their duties in connection with the management of the Institution. The average cost of each inmate per head during the past 12 months has been slightly under seven shillings per' week,' as against eight shillings and]ninepencQ half-penny in 1869. The committee also have pleasure in testifying to the discipline of the children, and to their satisfactory progress ia the various branches of education, under the charge of Miss Coxhead. The religious training of the Protestant children is still attended to by Mr Macfie, and the committee have noticed with pleasure hie assiduous attention to his duties, and believe that moat beneficialresults will be derived from his ministrations. During the most severe portion of last' winter the committee employed three or four married mea, whose families, but for this temporary employment, would have been thrown upon the Institution for support. These men, together with the stronger of the adult inmates, were employed under the direction, of the master, in necessary works on the grounds. . Eight children have been placed out at service during the year, and, with one exception, they have given satisfaction to their employers. . The committee draw attention, with regret, to the fact that the subscription list for the past year shows a considerable falling off. They trust, however, that the public will continue to support liberally an Institution the usefulness of which must be so manifest to all. They further desire to remind the public that the revenue from the Provincial Government depends upon, the -amount subscribed in each year—the subsidy of two pounds for every one pound being still paid to the funds of the Inatitu. tion. • :„ ■■ ■.'■■•■ ' . The balance sheet and usual tabular records will be found attached hereto, to which the Committee would direct attention. Their term of office having expired, the Committee resign their trust. They are, however, eligible for re-election. A. Chetham Strode, President. Danedin,January 31st, 1871. To this document was appended a report from the honorary medical officers of the Institution (Drs Richardson and Hocken), a balance sheet, and various statistical tables. The balance sheet showed the income of the year, including a sum of L 1484 4s 4d brought over from 1869, to have been L4BIB 23 lOd; and the expenditure L 3944 3s Id ; leaving a balance of L 873 19s 9d in hand on the 31st December laßt. Prom the statistical tables, it appears that 65 adult males and 235 females, with 603 children, making a total of 903 persons, received out-door relief during the year; the recipients being of all religious denominations, Protestant and Roman Catholic. Of these 903 persons, 650 were discharged during the course of the year, leaving 253 on the books on the 31st December. The number of persons relieved in 1869 was 610; in 1868, 402; and in 1867, 325. On the 31st December, 1869, the Institution at Caversham contained 69 inmates ; on the 31st December, 1870, 84. The Rev. Mr Stdakt had listened to the report with very great pleasure, and could testify, from personal observation, to the truth of the opening remarks, that last year was exceptional in the matter of want; and also to the fact that,gbut for this Institution, many ministers of religion and benevolent citizens would have been at their wits' end how to deal with some cases of distress. As a minister of religion he became every year more satisfied of the usefulness of the Institution to meet the cases of widows and others, which, but for its care, would be altogether neglected. He was sorry to hear that the funds were falling off, butthonght it should rather be attributed to the depressed state of business than to any decline of public iaterest in the Institution. In fact, ne was astonished to find that it had received such liberal support under the circumstances. This support had no doubt been accorded from the universal belief that the Institution was economically managed, and was doing a work which every Christian community must do in some way or other. As far as his own observation went, the Committee during the past year had done their work most admirably. They had closely attended to their duties; and real want met with rational relief. He had much pleasure in moving the reception and adoption of the report. The motion was duly seconded, and carried unanimously.

The Secretary said the next business was to consider the propriety of altering rule 12 whichprohibitedtheippo£t3l of paid medical officers. About the middle of December, the Committee received a letter from the honorary medical officers stating that, in consequence o£ the increase in the number of patients and the distance from town of the asylum, they should be unable longer to give their services gratuitously. The Committee therefore wished the rule to be amended so as to empower them to pay for medical attendance. - Dr Richardson; explained that when he first undertook the duties of honorarymedical attendant, no asylum had been erected, and all the patients were in Dunedin; but the number of cases had so increased, and it occupied so much o£ his time to visit Caversham, that he could no longer afford to give his services without remuneration. The Secretary stated that Dr Hocken. was precluded, by a professional engagement, from being present at the meeting-, but he took the same view as Dr Richardson. The Rev. Mr Stuart moved that, the rule be amended so as to allow the Committee to pay for medical assistance, if they found it necessary to do so. Dr Richardson explained that he did not ask for a salary, but merely for & slight remuneration to cover the actual loss which he sustained. Mr Hardy supported the motion, Irafc thought the Committee should first advertise for the purpose of ascertaining whether any other medical men would act gratuitously. Mr Hawthorne thought the labourer was worthy of his hire, and that the remarks of Dr Richardson were reasonable, enough ; at the same time, as the Committee needed all the funds they could getfor other objects, they might properly ask those medical men who had not hitherto given professional assistance, to do so now without charge. In case o£ gratuitous assistance not being obtainable the Committee should be empowered t» employ paid medical attendance. The Chairman said it might be better if the rule were altered so as to.give the Committee the power asked for;' and if he were a member of the Committee during the ensuing year he could promise that before they exercised that power they would ascertain if other medical mea would not act gratuitously. - The motion to amend the rule was tliest put and carried unanimously. „ The meeting next proceeded to elect office-bearers for the ensuing year. The following gentlemen were chosen:—MrA. C. Strode, R.M., President; Mr R. B. Martin, Vice-President; Mr B. Baeley, Hon. Treasurer; Messrs J. Fulton* W. D. Murison, A. Rennie, Wilkie, R* Houghtori, J. Kilgour, GK Young, and O. Hendle. ■ . ; A vote of thanks to Drs Richardson and Hocken for their past services was carried by acclamation. A vote of thanks was also passed ta the ladies aad gentlemen who contributed the materials for the treat lately given to the children, and the meeting then broke **p. __