Kaitangata Relief Fund. TO THE EDITOR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2200, 30 April 1896, Page 23

Kaitangata Relief Fund. TO THE EDITOR.

Sib,— What the publio desire to know Is this : (1) What wat tho income from the fund when it was taken over by a committee nominated by the Government p (2) What was the charge at that date on the inccxm* on account of the legitimate Kaifongata sufferers P (3) Have any parties outside the logtbiaiate K'sitangata sufferers been allowed to participate in the benefits of the income from tbe Kaitangata fund since the management paisod into the hands of the Government nominees, and if so, ander what circumstances and to what amount have such allowances been made. — I am, fee, Dunedin, April 24. Enquires. [(1) According to the balance sheet for the year ending February 1892 the intarest collected by the trustees amouuted to £707 18* 64, and there w&s a balance from the previous year of £622 13s lid. The amouot paid by the trustees to the Executive Committee was £600, and there were sundry payment* totalling £11 2s. The amount invested was £9975, and the balance in bank £709 10s sd. (2) Tbe alimony paid amounted to £811 0« sd, but the expenditure of the year proper was £703 10s 3d. (3) Yes. There are beneficiaries other than the relatives' of the miners killed at Eaitangata. Some of these live on the West Coast, some in Otago, and some in other parts of the colony. Within the last 18 months four widows and 16 children left by men killed in coal mines in different parts of the colony have been granted allowance* out of the Kaifcangita fur.d amounting hi all to £5 10s per week, or £290 per annum. In all cases the beneficiiriea are. the dependents of men who have lost their live* when working in coal mines. Under the' aot of 1893 the fund was made generally applicable throughout the colony to such casss, but the board cannot make an allowance ex«ept on certificate of thejnspeofcor of mines. The bulk of the money still goes to those connected with the mining disaster *t Kaitangate; but there are Several outside oases prior to those mentioned. The income from the fund is sufficient to paj little more than half the claims nude upon It, and the capital is being eaten into at the rate of from £300 to £400 per annum. Ths amaaa* of fund now invested is £9880.— BdJ