PARCELS FOR SOLDIERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24774, 26 November 1941, Page 4

PARCELS FOR SOLDIERS

SCOPE OF REGULATIONS ILLEGAL ORGANISATIONS STATEMENT BY MAYOR A lengthy discussion took place at a meeting of the executive of the Otago Provincial Patriotic Council yesterday afternoon on the sending of parcels tc soldiers overseas. The matter was introduced when a report was read of Ihe proceedings at the recent conference of representatives of Patriotic Councils held in Wellington. During the discussion the Mayor (Mr A. H Alien) summed up the position wnen he said that, although parents and others could send private parcels to soldiers overseas, any organisation apart from Patriotic Councils could not legally raise funds to provide parcels for soldiers. The report of the proceedings at the confererco was as follows: —

"Considerable discussion took place on the exrmnting regulations under which authority is provided for making presentations to members of the forces and under which it was stated that funds were being raised from the public and held for the purpose of sending privately addressed parcels. It was agreed that the raising of funds for this purpose, either by private subscription or public collection, was a breach of the regulations and was unfair in that it resulted in some men getting a lot of parcels while others received very few. The Under-secre-tary for Internal Affairs, Mr J. W. Heenan, undertook to have the exempting clauses amended and a statement published in the press setting out their intention and clarifying the position in regard to the sending of parcels and the holding of moneys. It was aLso stressed that the sending of parcels by Red Cross, Navy League and Air Force Relations organisations was contrary to the regulations, this being solely the function of the Provincial Patriotic Councils. In regard to gifts to men departing, it was agreed that these should not be of money, but in the form of a token of regard." Monetary Gifts

Mr A. C. Cameron said that the regulation was a .farce. They knew that such presentations were being made, but how the practice was to be stopped was another matter. The Mayor said that when the regulations were drawn up they provided for certain expenditure, the means of raising money, and certain methods of spending it. These regulations had to be amended to admit of certain alterations. It was known that different organisations were holding moneys for men on their return to New Zealand, and that in some instances it had been banked for that purpose. That was definitely wrong, and would not be permitted. It was quite legal to raise money to make a presentation to men going away, but a statement should be made within seven days showing how the money had been raised, how it was expended, and the balance, if any. Any balance should be remitted in due course to the Patriotic Councils. Nobody could reasonably object to members of a firm sending parcels overseas, but a group of people could not get together and collect money to send parcels, because they were competing with the Patriotic Councils who were raising money in their respective districts. Then, again, the soldiers from one district might get two or three parcels from collections in that district, while soldiers from a city might get one only. One of the intentions of the regulations was to see that every soldier received equal treatment from the patriotic funds, whether in the matter of parcels or anything else. Regimenting Generosity

Mr Arthur Barnett said that the regulations were asking them to regiment generosity, v .-r- -• ;Mr J. C. Parcell, Mayor 'of Cromwell, who was present at the council by invitation, said that he would like to make it clear that the organisations referred to by the Mayor were definitely illegal. He was pleased to support Mr Allien in this contention. Mr J. Rodman (North Otago zone) said that they did not know how small organisations in the country districts could be prevented from collecting money and sending parcels. The Mayor said that such a practice was wrong. The Patriotic Council's purpose was to send parcels from the people of Otago, not from the people of Dunedin. They should all try to observe the spirit of the regulations, said the Mayor, who added that the council had to raise a considerable amount of money this * year. Mr James Ritchie (Vincent zone) illustrated the case of a guild of women who baked goods, knitted goods, etc., and sent them as parcels. The Mayor: It is wrong. Mr Barnett said that the regulations were stupid and utterly wrong. Discouraging Women Workers

Mr J. B. McGill said he thought the regulations in respect to parcels would discourage the women from patriotic work. Mr J. Sutherland Ross said that he thought a little more latitude might be introduced. They did not wish to discourage the women workers. The Mayor said that during the last war there were 600 collecting agencies in the Dominion. There had been much wasteful expenditure and overlapping. A repetition of this state of affairs was not going to be permitted. It had therefore been decided to have one patriotic organisation—the National Patriotic Fund Board. The discussion then ended.