SHIPWRECK RELIEF SOCIETY

Otago Witness, Issue 3337, 27 February 1918, Page 37

SHIPWRECK RELIEF SOCIETY

The fifteenth annual meeting of the Shipwreok Relief Society of New Zealand' was held in the Town Hall on Friday afternoon. His Honor Mr Justice Sim presided.

His Honor moved the adoption of the report and balanoe sheet, and in doing so said it appeared that during the year the society had disbursed £415 12s 6d in according relief, and of that sum £2BO, which was a large item, had been spent in connection with relieving the officers and men of the Port Kembla, which had been destroyed by an explosion at sea, fortunately without loss of fife. However that explosion might have occurred, we might be pretty safe in concluding that it was due to our ramies, the Germans.' That must be fairly *w nous. It was fortunate that the society h«f been able to afford relief so promptly in connec r . tion with that loss. It ( was certainly a very strong argument for the extension of __the society, as the success of relief in sucrT a case depended very greatly upon its being rendered promptly. It seemed desirable once more to emphasise that although the society had its headquarters in Dunedin it was in no sense a local institution, but existed for the whole dominion. As a matter of fact, most of the money disbursed had been spent in affording relief in other parts of the dominion. That was a strong ground for continued support from other centres. Unfortunately, the society got very little support from other centres. He had been looking at the list of subscribers, and he found that there were only five in Wellington, three in Auckland, and two in Christchurch. In view of the circumstances the society ought to have as many members in Christchurch, Wellington,, and Auckland as in Dunedin. He did not know whether it was possible to bring the claims of the socioty 'before merchants, but he thought if they wore properly approached they would become members. In connection with supporting the society he noticed that most of the harbour boards recognised tho strong claims the society had upon them by contributing to the funds. That was very gratifying. Mr G. L. Denniston seconded the motion, and said it was a most lamentable fact that almost the whole of the subscribers should be in Otago. Tho total for Otago was 87 altogether ,and there were only 14 belonging to the socioty outside Otago. One reason for this might be that they had been told that they were too well off, but those who said that ought to realise that it was possible for the whole of tho funos to be called for almost, with no warning. In regard to the disbursements, they had expended £445 of their receipts, which was about 58 per cent, of the total receipts. The expenses were reasonable, and amounted to about 9i per cent., and they had been able to put away about one-th.rd of their income.

The motion was carried. The following appointments were made: —Patron, his Excellency the Governor (Lord Liverpool); vice-patrons, the Right Hon. W.

F. Massey and the Hon. W. H. Herrieej president, his Honor Mr Justice Sim; opn. solicitor, Mr J. A. Cook; hon. auditor, Mr C. R. Smith; executive—Messrs F. 0. Bridgeman, J. H. 0. Bond, C. W. 01mmberlain, T. M. Cullen, W. Clarke, G. L. Denniston, G. Fenwick, E. C. Hazlett, J. A. Park, D. E. Theomin, T. W. Whitson, and Captain Beaumont. Mr C. W. Chamberlain moved that Mr T. W. Whitson be anointed a life member of the executive. Jle said Mr Whitson had been connected with the society from tho very beginning. He had been one of Its founders, and one of the most regular attendants at meetings and a most useful member They regretted that Mr Whitson had been laid aside through illness, and had had to resign his position as treasurer. The motion was carried, and the appointment was suitably acknowledged by Mr Whitson.