THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1900.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11795, 26 July 1900, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES THURSDAY, JULY 26, 1900.

The feeling of the local subscribers to tho patriotic funds, as evinced at the meeting on Tuesday night which considered the Government's proposal to " pool'; all the balances of these funds in the colony and to vest them in the Public Trustee with advisory committees in various districts, is unmistakable. .Not a whisper was heard; in support of the Premier's scheme. There was perfect unanimity in the condemnation of ib and in the resolution to resist it. And we have not the slightest doubt that the temper of the meeting faithfully reflected tho temper of the large mass of people in Otago and Southland by whom the patriotic funds were subscribed. The available funds will still be devoted to patriotic purposes, but the administration of them will be entrusted to the committee which has been honoured with the confidence of the community in the organisation of the patriotic movements in this part of the colony, and which may be trusted to wisely administer them. This is an entirely reasonable decision. Mr Seddon's taunt that it savours of provincialism and parochialism is most clearly undeserved, and Mr W. L. Simpson's retort that the Government's proposal to " corn-

mandeer" the funds is of a piece with Krugerism was, under the circumstances, not uncalled for. What, however, is Mr Seddon's object ? As Mr Denniston well pointed out, neither of the conditions

under which legislative action is commonly originated pbtains v in this case. There is no proved necessity for removing the administration of the patriotic funds in the colony from the hands

in which it at presents rests, nor has there been any expression of public opinion in favour of the course which Mr Seddon proposes. Public opinion, so far as it can be gauged, tends all in the other direction. What, then, does Mr Seddon want? The only inference that can be drawn from his proposal is that the Government is seeking to shirk its own responsibility in relation' to the care of the disabled New Zealand soldiers, and to the making of provision for the assistance of the dependents of those who have fallen, and who may hereafter fall. Mr Mills reminded

the subscribers on Tuesday night that the Premier has frequently at patriotic

meetings asserted that the care of the

wounded and of the dependents of the killed would be a sacred duty of the Government. And so it should be. But the proposal of the head of the Government at the present timo indicates plainly an intention, unless lie is

thwarted, to seize the voluntary contributions of the subscribers to the patriotic funds throughout the colony, and to apply them to purposes which should be a charge upon the consolidated fund of tho colony. The subscribers in Duneclin .say, in effect: "No; let the colony do it.s duty first, and render what assistance is proper to its soldiers who have fought in South Africa and to their dependents, and out of the funds which we have provided from our own pockets we aro prepared, where necessary, to supplement tho Government aid, giving a preference to the sons of our own district." This i s a f air alld legitimate posrtion for the subscribers here, and for the subscribers elsewhere, to take up J'th regard to their respective funds. ™c is no district in the colony which will not b 0 perfectly well able, if it only chooses, to provide all the assistance, in supplement to the aid from the Government, that will be required by the men whom at has sent forth to the war. If, however after the needs of the Otago and Southland h-ooper.s receive attrition there is still a balance remaining 111 the local fund, the subscribers aro wilhug, ami by resolution have expressed their ml'vposs, to see it applied to the relief or the necessities of troopers hailing from other parts of the colony.

But the colony as a whole should insist upon the Government recosnhing and discharging the duty which primarily rests upon it. It is to be hoped that, upon a careful review of all the circumstances, Mr Seddon will respect the wishes of the subscribers here and in the other centres which have endorsed the views that have been expressed in Dunedin, and that he will drop Ins proposal to " pool" the funds. One thing is certain, if he does not—as more than one speaker observed on Tuesday nio-ht, there will never again be such a magnificent response by the public to a movement of the kind. The meeting dealt not only with the question of the disposal'of the patriotic fund, but also with that of the disposal of the balance of between £1500 and £1600 in the hands of the Organising Committee of the Otago and Southland contingent. In regard to this it was resolved that it should be devoted to the same -purpose, and dealt with in the same manner, as was determined in respect to the patriotic fund. As was only natural, subscribers to the contingent fund seized the opportunity of expressing' their appreciation of the devoted zeal find of the earnestness with which the members of the Organising Committee discharged . their duties. Upon' that subject there can be but one opinion .in the community. The Organising Committee performed cheerfully and unselfishly an enormous amount of .work, and the vote of thanks which was tendered to its members by the subscribers was no empty compliment, but a genuine expression of the admiration with which their self-sacrificing labours were viewed. But appreciation and admiration of the public spirit with which the Organising Committee undertook and discharged its responsible duties does not imply absolute agreement with all that the committee did. We recognise, and have always recognised, to the full, the high value of the .services performed by the committee. Nevertheless we had occasion, prior to the departure of the fourth contingent, to criticise the arrangements which the committee had made for the farewell demonstrations, and particularly the expenditure which these arrangements involved. We suggested that the money would have been much better employed if it had been devoted to the purchase of additional remounts and to the provision of extra comforts for the contingent. We had no intention, however, of again referring to the matter. But Mr Hosking, after allowing four months to elapse, revived it on Tuesday night, and attacked us in .connection with it. Mr Kempthorne also had something to say about those persons who saw fit to criticise items of expenditure by the committee. They were, he said, unpatriotic, and their contributions to the patriotic funds were amazing by reason of their stinginess. It is a mystery "how Mr Kempthorne professes to tell what the sentiments and what the subscriptions were of the numerous correspondents who, through our columns expressed their disapproval of the com mittee's expenditure upon the farewe

demonstration. For ourselves we may be pardoned for claiming that the part which we took in assisting the patriotic movement gave us a clear right to express pur opinion upon the subject of the use to which the committee put the funds at its .disposal, even if in doing so •we had to" criticise the action of the committee. And our ■ position as an organ of public opinion imposed, upon us a duty to protest against what seemed to us a wasteful expenditure on the part of the committee. Mr Hosking alleges that no attempt was made by us, before offering our criticism, to obtain a true knowledge of the facts. On the contrary, however, we possessed a complete knowledge of the facts. 'With that knowledge our critioism at the time was absolutely justifiable, and it can ba no less completely justified to-day. We do not withdraw a single word of it. But had it not been for Mr Hosking's xm-

fortunate and injudicious remarks on Tuesday night we should not have al-

hided to the matter again, especially as no useful, purpose can now lie served by

reviving it