A BENEFICENT ENTERPRISE.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19134, 31 March 1924, Page 4

A BENEFICENT ENTERPRISE.

Wk wrote on Thursday last about the work and necessities of the Royal Society for the Health of Women and Children but an additional reference to the subject will not be out of place in connection with the public meeting held on Friday evening last, at which a" campaign to raise funds for the'extension of the enterprise was successfully inaugurated. The speeches that were delivered in explanation and support of the project were of a telling and convincing character, and the general atmosphere of the gathering was charged with a current of enthusiastic purpose. The presence of Dr Truby King, the eminent founder and mainstay of the Society, gave special interest to the occasion; and full justice was done to the splendid obsession, as Mr Barr termed it, which for seventeen years has been the central inspiration of

Plunket Society activity in New Zealand, and not in New Zealand alone. Dr King observed that it was the sacred duty of the community to provide all possible safeguards for motherhood and childhood, and it is certain that he himself has illustrated the sacredness of the obligation with untiring assiduity. It is unnecessary to multiply testimony to the value of the work accomplished by the Plunket Society or to repeat our own recent expressions of appreciation. This aspect of the subject is generally understood. No one nowadays questions the worth and success of the Plunket activities. But general recognition of this kind is not always accompanied by definite

financial recognition, and the financial exigencies of the enterprise are the salient consideration at the present time. It may be that the inadequacy of the assistance forthcoming from the local community in the past has been chiefly due to the backwardness of the Society in soliciting contributions. At any rate the time has arrived when further substantial aid must be secured if the wont is to be maintained and extended to meet obvious needs. Some handsome special donations were announced on Friday, and others may con-

fidently be expected ; but it is also particularly desirable that the permanent resources of the Society should be increased by means of at least a 100 per cent, addition to the membership roil. To quote from one of the resolutions passed at the meeting: “ Several thousand pounds are necessary to meet the urgent requirements of the Karitane institution, and to increase the staff of Plunket Nurses working in and around the city. The meeting feels that the time has come when practically every family in Dunedin should he on the membership roll of the Plunket Society, as this would not only increase the

annual receipts but would also ensure a more widespread interest in the Society, and a clearer understanding of its aims and health mission. It is felt that this appeal for increased membership applies with double force to those who have received help iu the family from the Society’s nurses.” The Society has had no reason to complain of the measure of assistance received from the Government, and an appeal to the City Council to take part in the task of maintaining and furthering an enterprise of high civic import may fairly be justified.