PATRIOTIC ASSOCIATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17978, 3 July 1920, Page 7

PATRIOTIC ASSOCIATION

SPECIAL MEETING. A special general meeting of members of tho Otago Patriotic and General Welfare Association was held in the Town Hall yesterday afternoon, for the purpose of amending rule 4 by adding tho world "not more than" before the word "twenty-five," ther by reducing the number of the executive; and to amend rule 7 by deleting the word "ten" and! substituting therefor the word "seven," the intention being to reduce the quorum necessary to form, a meeting of the executive. A further amendment to the rules was that the words "not more than" be inserted before "twenty-five," so as to reduce the number required to call a special meeting. Tho chairman was the Mayor (Mr W. Begg). Mr J. J. Clark moved, and Mr G. L. Denniston seconded, the amending of the rules as indicated, the motion being agreed to. ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting followed, and was presided over by the Mayor, who referred to the honours conferred upon Sir George Fenwick and Sir John Roberts. Ho took that opportunity of moving that the association congratulate these two gentlemen upon the high honour conferred upon theim by his Majesty the King.—Sir George Fenwick very briefly acknowledged the congratulation. The Chairman moved the adoption of the report, which, he said, pointed out that the work of the association was gradually decreasing, as had been made manifest by the decreasing number of meetings it was necessary for tho executive to hold. Most of the work now devolved upon tho Soldiers, Dependents, and Welfare Committee. It had been mentioned that a special meeting should be tailed to consider the finances, more especially as to the administration of the funds during the next 12 months. He would refer to that when the balance sheet came up for consideration. They would notice that the Returned Soldiers' Association had requested that a .Royal Commission be set up to investigate as to the funds and expenditure of the association, but that had been rendered unneoeaKiry. The association had also askec! for a donation towards its building fund, and it had been pointed out that a donation could not be legally granted. A promife had, however, been held out that onoe the building was completed something in the nature of a donation towards furnishing would be done. The balance of the Belgian Fund had been forwardied to the High Commissioner, and the balance of the Ambulance Fund handed' over to the Dunedin branch of the SI John Ambulance Society. It was to b© regretted that Colonel Stoneham had resigned his position, and ho (the Mayor) was suto members of the a>3sociat ; an wished him every success in his future life in Gisborne. Mr J. J. Clark seconded the motion, and emphasised the fact that the greatest part of the work was now being done by the Soldiers, Dependents, and Welfare Committee,* which had held 107 meetings to deal with the, work before it. That committee had boen sub-divided in order to overtake the work. The whole idea, of the committee had been to deal expeditiously and promptly with applications, as it realised that that would b> in the best interests* of and do the greatest amount of good to applicants. The soldiers applying for assistance had numbered 4566, and! in practically every case the committee had boen able to say that most of the cases were quite genuine, and had met the demands as far as possible." There were now 41 dependents left, and those must be looked upon as a permanent burden. No one for a moment would have these women left in actual want, and the committee would have to carry them on until the pensions wero increased or their circumstances improved. One of the great troubles was the way tie cases kept recurring. After a man was discharged from hospital and had apparently settled down in life his health failed, owing to the strain of civil work, and he had to again claim upon the oommittee'. He referred to 'those cases where men bad made an honest attempt to surmount their difficulties on getting into . better health. If it had not been for what the committee had been able to do these men would have been in dire trouble. This year they had practically insisted that every man who had broken down and applied for assistance must bring a certificate from the military medical officer, and that had been done to guard against being imposed upon. One of the most difficult and most important works they had had to do was in connection with the Government having entrusted them with the distribution of a large sum represented by gratuities of a retTosoective nature which had to be disposed of. The committee had had a great deal of trouble in investigating in finding out the best way in , which the money could bo expended, and it was gratifying to know that' in every case referred to the committee tho Government hadl acoepted the recommendation made. The question of permanently disabled soldiers had been very difficult, and it had yet to be proved that their efforts Bhould be confined largely to these men. There were a number of men suffering from war experiences, and the money must be safeguarded for these men. They hoped at next mooting of the executive to bring forward a recommendation laying down that the fund should be used for men suffering from disabilities through the war. Mr Clark went on to pay a tribute to the lad'ies who had worked so hard, mentioning the names of Mrs Park and Miss Runcnwan. There was no conception of the work the ladies had done, and their advice had been freely given to the oommittee and had proved invaluable. Since they last met the ladies' branch had gone out of existence, but everybody knew the great and noble work it had done all through the dark days of the war. Their services would ever be remembered by thousands.

Mr S. Solomon, K.C., having referred to tho necessity of acting" with caution as to utilising all the funds for disabled soldiers, prooeeded to eulogise the work done by the ladies even up to quito recent times. The motion was carried.

The Chairman moved the adoption of tho balance sheet and statement of accounts, and said that it appeared to him that the work of the association was gradually decreasing, and he thought their expenses should materially cßecrea»s also. He moved that the incoming executive or tho Finance Committee look into the matter.

Mr C. Speight seconded the motion, and mentioned that the Soldiers and Dependents' Committee had already taken tho matter into consideration. There was a gTeat deal cf correspondence, and it was necessary to have a large staff to keep abreast of the work. Mr Wright thought that in a few months he would be able to reduce tho staff. Mr G. L. Denniston said that at lafit meeting of the Finance Committee the •members present had made a rough calculation as to the reserve that would remain to tho association and had como to tho conclusion that if the rate of expenditure went on at about the same rate as last year the fund would bo exhausted under five years. \ Mr Clark expressed his appreciation of the valuable services rendered by the surer, Mr G. A. Lewin, to whom they all owed a very deep debt of gratitude.—(Applause.)

Mr Lewin remarked that the little he had done he had done willingly. He had regarded it as a labour of love. The balance sheet and statement of accounts were adopted. Sir George Fonwick moved that a vote of thanks be accorded the Soldiers' Dependents and Welfare Committee, and the Finance Committee. Both had done splendid work during the year, the Soldiens'Committee especially, and he did not think the ordinary members of the association quito realised the ■ tremendous amount of work the committees had done. He thought it would not be Tight for them to part without expressing their thanks to the two committees, and moved that a cordial vote of thanks bo accorded them. Mr G. L. Denniston said that he regarded the work of the Finance Committee, as light compared with that of the Soldiers' Committee. Mr F. -G. Cumming seconded the motion, observing that the thanks of the association were deserved. The motion was carried. The following office-bearers were appointed: President, the Mayor of the City for tho time being; vice-president, Mr J. J. Clark; hon. treasurer, Mr G." A. Lewin; and executive—Sir George Fenwick, Messrs D. E. Theomin, J. Loudon, Charles Speight, S. Solomon, K.C., J. T. Paul, J. L. Salmond, R. W. Glendining, Robert Conn, E. A. Rosevear, J. J. Clark, C.8.E., A B. Armour, Jas. Bsgg, F. G. Cumming, G. L. Denniston, E. C. Hazlett, J. C. M'George, P. M'Skimming, jun., J. B. Shacklock, C. R. Smith, Jas. Horn, M.P., Father Coffey, Dean Fitchett, Drs Fulton and Harrison.

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