DISTRIBUTION OF CHARITABLE AID.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13946, 4 July 1907, Page 2

DISTRIBUTION OF CHARITABLE AID.

THE LEGAL POSITION.

Tho question of the distribution of oharitablo aid again came up at the meeting of the Benevolent Institution Trustees yesterday. Tho Chairman -(Mr Talboys) said Mr Gallaway had. rung him up, and ho had gone to see him, and thoy had thought it advisable to consult. the solicitors with a view of getting their opinion on tho trustees' position. Tlio opinion was as follows

It appears from the trust deed prepared in 1860 in connection with the present site of the Otago Benevolent Institution that in the year 18(12 Alfred Chetham Strode, St. John Branigan, and Richard Bowden Hartin, with the aid and voluntary contributions of themselves and others, founded a charitablo institution in Dunedin, which was called or known as " The Otago Benevolent Institution," for the purpose of relieving the aged, infirm, disabled, and destitute of all crecda and nations, and for_ affording them medical relief and ministering to them-the comforts of religion; and that out of tho funds collected from timo to time for the purposes of the said charity the Committee of Management of the said institution for the year lf"S acquired the ■piesent site of the institution at Caversham and erected one wing of tho then proposed' asylum, There is nothing in the trust deed to show how the funds far the maintenance of the institution were provided, but most probably they wero derived from voluntary contributions, as the trust deed deolares that tho property is to be held upon sych trusts for fulfilling the objeots and purposes of the institution as the Committee of Management for tho time being of the -said institution shall by resolution of a quorum consisting of not less than five members direct and appoint. 1 Evidently iup to this time the institution was a purely voluntary association. In 1,867 the Municipal Corporations Act was passed, and by section 366 of that- act a council was empowered to appropriate such portion as they might Bee fit of tho borough fund to erecting, maintaining, or otherwise aiding any hospital, asylum, or other institution within, or if the superintendent consented, without, the borough for the relief of such poor persons as through age, sickness, infirmity, or accident should be unable to help themselves, and also to the relief at thoir own homes or elsewhere within the horongh of such persons as 'aforesaid. A similar provision was incorporated in " The Municipal Corporations Act, 1876" (section 330), and in "The Counties Act, 1876" (seotion ISO). In '"'The Financial Arrangements Act, 1878" (section 0, ot seq), provision was inado for payment by the general Govern•ment to hospitals or othor charitable institutions maintained by voluntary contributions and managed by local committees elected by subscribers of a subsidy of pound for pound, and by "The Hospital and Charitable Institutions Act, 1885," the provisions of sections 5 to' 8 of " The Financial Ararngements Act, 1878," were repealed. It appears, therefore, that the Otago Benovoelnt Institution was originally an association founded and maintained by private contributors, managed and controlled by a committee elected by the subscribers, and that it continued in that stato until the act of 18S5.was passed. There are no papers in our possession to show whether the institution received subsidies either from tho borough council or tho general Government, but that is a matter of no consequence; it continued an unincorporated, voluntary institution until after the act of was passed. ■It will be noticed that the provisions of the earliest Municipal Corporations Acts and Counties Acts empowered these bodiisj to apply the funds of tlio local authority to the relief of the poor, ctc., at their _ own homes; and this probably was the origin of the present system of outdoor relief, "We are not able to say whether ill Dunedin charitable relief was administered entirely by the committee of the institution, but thU fact , could probablv be ascertained from some old officer of the institution or from some old resident who was connected with the. management the institution before "Tho Hospital and Charitablo Institutions Act, 1885," came into force. By that act (section 42) any institution supported in whole or in part by tho voluntary contributions of not less than 100 pcreona could be incorporated as a separate institution undor that act, and the Otago Benevolent Institution, which is desoribed as the Otago Benovolen-t Society, Duncdin, in the seoond schedule to the act, was shortly afterwards incorporated as a separate institution under the act by tho title of " Tho Otago Bonevolent Institution Contributors." Tho act provides that every separate institution incorporated thereundier- shall be governed by trustees to bo elected as theroin prescribed, and that all powers and authorities of-the District Board in respect of the management of any institution shall on the incorporation thereof as a sepaiato institution be transferred to and vested in the trustees of such institution. Tho provisions of the act iu regard to raising funds for separate institutions only speak of the oo«t of the maintenance of the institution, but subsection 10 'of . clause 62 empowers the trustees to moke by-laws for affording relief by uicdicino and attendance to outdoor patients or the administration of outdoor relief. The sohemo of the act therefore appears to us to be that primarily the District Board has me control of charitablo aid in the district under its direction, bat that when a separate institution which, beforo the act came into force, administered charitable aid (including oithet indoor or outdoor relief or bath) has been incorporated under the act as a separate institution the provisions and functions of tho Distriot Board for the district in wliieh feuch institution administers relief are transferred to and become vested in tho trustees of 'the separate institution, and thereafter the soparate institution is the proper authority to administer relief , iu the district in which it had acted prior to the incorporation. If it were not so the provision of subsection 10 of section 62 would bo meaningless. The provisions of clause 23 of The -Hospital and Chwiiablo Institutions Act, 1835, Amendment Act, 1886,'' do not, in our opinion, aficcv separate institutions. If our reading of the Hosnital anii Charitable Institutions Act is correct the trustees are not justified in declining to distribute outdoor relief. If they take the office of trustees they must carry out the whole of the duvics assigned to '.he trustees by the act, which, ill our opinion, includes both the management of the institiition and tho administration of the outdoor relief. Thero is no cccasiun, we think, for trustees elected by subscribers to consult their constituents on any matters which may conie before the trustees in the way of business, but thero is na objection to sucli trustees calling a meeting of the subscribers if they think it necessary whenever a-i.v matter of importance affecting the subscribers may como up for consideration. Tho only provision of the act doaling with relief to persone coming from outside a district is section 74, and it only app".ic3 to contributing distriots. We do not think that asopa-rato institution having tho charge of tlio administration 'of rolief in a portion of a charitablo aid district can discriminate between porsons coming from within tho district in which such institution administers relief and parsons coming' from some other part of the charitable nid distriot. It is' expressly provided by section 26 of " The Hospitals and. Charitable Institutions Act, 1885, Amendment Act, IS36,that the board of each district shall appoint the proportion of the contribution to be made by each local authority on a uniform or equivalent scale throughout tho entire distriot, and that no differential proportions of contributions shall be made in any district. One of. the reasons for such a provision would probably be to prevent any friction arising between tho bodies administering relietf in sub-districts ao to whether a person applying for aid shou'd bo relieved by ono sub-district or the other. So far si tho funds to be provided by the governing body (tho District Board) 'are concerned, it would not matter in which part of a district ail indigent person was relievo:!. Cases of course may and will occur in which tho local body in one portion of a district may find it necessary to remit applications to other bodies ill the same district for consideration, but relief can bo given, we think, by any-' body administeriug charitable aid within a district.

fho Charitable Aid Board wrote that what was desired was t.hat tho trustees should continue to distribute charitable and within Dunedin and suburbs, including Port Chalmers, West. Harbour, Bay Town, and Portobello, Peninsula, and Tomahawk Road Board districts. Also that the trustees give tho board lists of storekeepers and othore supplying goods to tlie various claimants for relief and the schedule iof their prices. Further; that the trustees would be good enough to let the board Imvo copies ot any forms required awl have access to the books used in outdoor relief matters, so that tho board might got a knowledge of iVhat had to he provided. • The Chairman said it was just, as well to oome to some decision as to what t.lio trustees were inclined to do. The question was, were the trustees prepared to continue the work so far as Dunedin and suburbs were concerned. ' •

Mr ICempthorne pointed out that thoy would have to distribute aid in 12 out of tho 23 districts.

Mr Arkle: Yes; and wo will have threefourths of the applicants. The Chairman: That is so; and close on three-fourths of tho money. Continuing, ho said probably tho trustees had como to somo conclusion. If they acceeded to the requests contained in the letter from tho boa.rd it would make little or no difference to the trustees. Replying to a question, ho 6aid they were simply trustees of t.he Benevolent Institution. Outsido charitable aid could be taken aw&y from them.

Mr Callaway said it was not a question of them doing this or that. It was a duty, according to tho legal opinion, im-

posod upon, the trustees to distribute this oharitable aid, and they .could not prevent them doing it. The Chairman said if.any of tlicso contributing bodies could take tho distribution away from thom, why could not iho Corporation of Duncdin take it away? ' Mr Gallaway contended that Mr Cook's opinion was clear, and said he thought thoy should. point out that, it was not a question of tho trustees boing willing to do tile work,—it was their duty to do it. They could not surrender it, and tho board had no business to ask t.lie trustees to do it. Tho trustees must do it. , It was finally'resolved that the Chairman and Messrs Kompthorno and Gallaway interview Mr Cook, the trustees' legal adviser, to discuss his opinion of the sohemo of tho act as set forth in tho last paragraph, on page 3, of his opinion dated July 3.