OTAGO PATRIOTIC ASSOCIATION

Otago Witness, Issue 3337, 27 February 1918, Page 43

OTAGO PATRIOTIC ASSOCIATION

The monthly meeting of the executive of the Otago Patriotic and General Welfare Association was held on Monday morning. The Mayor (Mr J. J. Clark) presided. Mr J. A. Johnstone, in a letter addressed to the chairman of the Patriotic and General Welfare Association, wrote as follows: "I write to tell you that I desire to resign from office as a member of the executive of the association, and as chairman of tha Public Appeal Committee. I much regret talcing this step, but I think you will agree with me that the need for the committee no longer exists; at all events that would appear to be the general view of the people of Otago, for the most recent appeal we made has remained practically unheeded. I beg to thank you and the , members of the association for the sympathetic and careful consideration you have given to any sug-, gestions and reports I ,have submitted to you. It has been a very" real plea-sure to be associated with so many men and women, all working magnificently for the eufferers of the war. My only regret is that our efforts on behalf Otago Soldiers and Dependents' Fund have not met • with the success we had hoped for judging by the cordial andl support given ro all our other appeals." «The Chairman said he was sure, (veiy member of the executive would regret the step taken by Mr Johnstone. One could not but recognise the very excellent work done by Mr Johnstone,- especially during the early stages of the war, and more particularly the part taken by him in connection with the Belgian Fund, his efforts having resulted in the raising of large sum? of money for this purpose. He thought it would be a courteous act on the part of the executive to ask Mr Johnstone to continue a member of the executive. Mr G. Fenwick said it * was with great surprise and shock that he noticed on the order paper Mr Johnstone's intention to resign. Mr Johnstone had done an immense amount of hard. work. He had some right to be disappointed with the result of the appeal referred to. The . committee had done excellent work, was still doing it, and there was good work ahead of it yet. He moved that Mr Johnstone be asked to reconsider his decision. He was sure it was the unanimous desire of the executive that Mr Johnstono should remain a member of the executive. Mr G. L. Denniston, in seconding the motion, said he realised the immense amount of work done by Mr Johnstone, especially in connection s with . tho Belgian Fund in which he (the speaker) was specially interested. The Hon. J. T. Paul concurred with the motion, but regretted the action by Mr Johnstone. He thought it was a mistake that the appeal should have been made without the matter having been considered by the executive. It was well known that the association had £IOO,OOO to its credit. He did not think Mr Johnstone had any real grievance. He never could understand a man not sticking to a job. In reply to Mr Fenwick, the Chairman said the appeal was made by the Public Appeal Committee without reference to the execfitive. The motion was carried unanimously. The Mayor, in moving the adoption of the Soldiers and Dependents Welfare Committee's report, .mentioned the relief experiencd in providing for the wives and families of soldiers in consequence of the Government assistance. Orr the other hand, the association found it had to give a little more generous treatment to fathers and mothers of men who had gone to the front. Tho committee had dealt with 101 cases since last report, and qf these only four had been considered unworthy of assistance. The committee had been much concerned over the question of mufti, and had been trying to get a better sj'stem so that men returning could wea? more civilian clothes. The committee was also much concerned over the' unfortunate condition of the men between th'e time they were discharged and the time they received their pension. In tlie interval the providing for them practically devolved upon the committee. The committee was trying to arrange for these men being placed upon the same basis as dependents. . The report was adopted. It was resolved to vote £l5O from the Unconditional Fund 'to enable the Women's Patriotic Association to obtain the services of a man to do the heavy work of the association. The Mayor, in referring to the death of Dr H. D. Bedford, said that gentleman had done magnificent service for the city and for patriotic work. He had never been appealed for help in vain, and had done wonderful work for the association. His oratory had been priceless tn the city, and, in company with the Rev. R. S. Gray, he had 'travelled many hundreds of miles to rouse the country to a sense of its duty. He (the Mayor) thought they should express their deep sorrow at Dr Bedford being called away so suddenly, and "also express their sympathy with his wife in the .calamity that had befallen her. The Mayor moved accordingly, the motion being carried. The Hon." J. T. Paul made some fairly

lengthy reference to the position of the membership of the association. At present those who paid not lees than 5s in one sum to the Unconditional Fund were legally entitled to become members, and others, differently circumstanced, were debarred from joining. His suggestion was .that the rules be amended so that the 5s was reduced to Is. The Rev. R. S. Gray supported the idea of seeing the association more fully represented, but ho questioned whether Mr Paul's "proposal would bring about that end. _ It was notorious that the last annual meeting had been packed, and badly packed, for one or two purposes. The proposed reduction of monetary qualification for membership might merely 'allow a certain number of members to be nominated in the'last days before the annual meeting to effect certain purposes. The purposes designed in the " paclring " of the last meeting were, he might say, quite unworthy purposes. Mr M'Allen objected very strongly to" the remarks of Mr Gray, and, speaking to Mr Gray, said: "You -were not too keen to face an election. - " Thereafter followed a brief passage-a't-arms between Mr M'Allen and Mr Gray, which culminated in an interposition by another member of the executive. Finally Mr Paul gave notice of motion—''That the executive take into consideration 'the advisability of reducing the membership fee to the association."