DEFENCE COMMITTEE.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 14287, 2 May 1917, Page 8

DEFENCE COMMITTEE.

The Citizens' Defenoe Corinmitteeiniet as usual yesterday afternoon. -Present : Messrs <G. W. Humphreys (m the chair), C H, Bridge, R. MiT -Birrell, J. Brown, G. , Stock, J. , JJ.' G, C. Mirans, and Captaiit Pitt.; ■ . x X Writing m reply to a letter from' the •committee, the secretary of the Advisory Board said the committee were notified on more than one. occasion .that regular contributions for tbe New Zealand .-soldiers .abroad. were,, «ot.,.required. >.Regarding travelling expenses of delegates to the Board's meetings he was referring the matter to the chairman of the Board for his consideration, s ,, . .AA Replying to the committee's letter r,eli-. fciv-e to contributions iY to the New JSeaBaiid Comforts Fund^for, providing extra comforts for New -soldiers* *-' the 4 Under- Searetavy of the Department of Internal Affairs said" that as sufficient funds were m hand to meet immediate •requirements further contributions 'were mot required, at.pvcseut.— lt was decided to discontinue the contribution of £50 a month m the meantime. '

The Under-Secretary- -o|< ; the v "Qepar.t-, -ment of Internal Affairs wrote "acknow- - hedging receipt of £136 for the Belgian .fund, and expressing the appreciation ot the Government fpf^th 4 © 'donation. Regarding the committee's contribution to this fund the circular issued ih March, 1915. showed' the basis on which- the quota contributions were raised. • Thb Auckland contribui*tojr***wa-s set down as £1325, but as the -Poverty Bay district <iesired to contribute s^pair^ly,' the,, Auckland contributiorii-. was; ■reduced , to £1125, as Poverty Bay's 'propoftioh on' the population basis amounted to £200. On February. 24. last a sum 01. £55 was received fromi the Gisborne Committee for the B^lgianc; fund, and this amount was being used for'tKe : 'April quota which left £135 required 1 As per his telegram. In accordance with the wishes expressed by, the Gisborne.. Committee on May 20 laet-the-balanceJof the. Poverty Bay's contfltJution-T'* then on hand was cabled to .London as a, special donation. As tbe committee was' practi-' cally the only contributor to «the Belgiatf fund m the Gisborne district it wouldappear that m order to continue- the Poverty Bay's payment it; i would - be necessary to look to . th'efoottimittee for £200 per month. — Mr StpckA said ■/"•When they asked the balance, m hand "to be cabled Home it was "supposed -.to be pri'| furtherance of the. monthly donation,",] and that until that sum was exhaustedno donations were-feo -be- asked- >f <*v~ r i rona>| Gisborne. — It was" **m* 4^idned 'that- thef sum cabled Home was somethingAlike£sooo.—Mr Brown said they asked that, that sum should be- ..-, cabled Home, .so: that it could be used.— -The 'chairman •t-'ud the committee's enquiry was Whether the monthly donation was to be , coft-j tinued ; the reply.JEt^^hardly 'what, was wanted. — The mimrteyof the meetttig' orMay 16,, 1916, wer«U*^£&riU stated-' that the sum' was to be-^btedvEs » 'Special"; grant.— Mr BirreU^rllEaMust haye^beeiv more generous jto££hoqe< t days.-^fessrs; Brown aiid Stockt«aj.d; Th£y livtopp pejfe'ct^ ly clear that thi'l^bfljfo'ry contoibution vas not to be stAt^ntil the- cibledssuni' was exhaustjd.^Tii^ iacting-se<f etary' said £200 a mon t^ha£?;been sent, sjnee. then.— lt was deciltebY to* refer the matter to the Finance Committee- (when appointed) to go into.i , . ; Regarding the proposed amalgamation of efforts to raise patriotic funds between the Returned Soldiers' Association and the Defence Committee, the secretary of the R.S.A. wrote stating the "Follies" would appear again oh May 30 and 31 m His Majesty's. Theatre. .'■' Before they could stage this a certain amount Of expense, must, be met inPthe. shape .oft scenery, electrical appliances and effects,, costumes, etc, and this would amount to approximately £100. If the committee would donate (or failing that to loan) to the R.S.A. that ajrn6j»it ; to ha»&*,oysrj to the "Follies" Cbmftany^.they M^ubAbe" pleased to guarantee the committee's fund 50 per aent. of the; net proceeds of the season's concerts", which would not be ' less than fouV performances. It was the asociation'^ wjsh to work hand m hand m these efforts, to raise funds for the common cause.^MMr Stock said Mr Fahey, secretary of the Follies* had explained the 'position"'' feci : i;h'ini i^Truateps had been appointed to control theFollies', funds. They wanted: the committee to lend" them £100," whiehc.'weuid- faytthe first call on tlie proceeds. Mr Stock said, the committee : shottl^ have no hesitation m conipl-ying with''thesrpiquest,' as. they did .'not stand' to-^pse^ibut should benefit materially, pts 1 ' tHe pr^iotis- entertainment giyen by - th# Eollieinetted over filOO.-rCapteiri * Pitt "Said*-' the* chair-, ; man , (Mr Shen-att) Eatl &•§&- that he was in' favor of 'makiri'g^av grant of . He ' (paptainv Pitti preferred •it .. should be. a loan. ' 'He.-,th'6ugh*t -'.'the, p-coceeds would coijrie. -to^wWO^r-^j^fWjJW 'Mr Stock sajd^ he. saw Mr ; SHer-catt^aftep Mr, Fahey hajd; 4p*oi^^to^ l b*h*ny and Mr Sherratt favored a l6aijl r --Ji<[r,. r Munps said he understood the strggestioii was; tha*U it would, be) ;a .jgiacic^s ; on -tT-ie; committee's part to grant ahe : £IOO,- -^By' doing this they would _get into closer touch with the. assooiSQbn. .*X3& '3&&s Jjfitt as though the conTlnittree*:-wOttld^iot get' it back m the long run. He moved that the committee make a grant of £100, and that the offer of 50 per. cent, of the proceeds be accepted.r- : "?>I"r, Stocks" pointed out that this was i& matter : came from the Foliiea, .' and . riot from the R.S.A., although the Follies were wprking for the.R.S.A. The. request fforr r a ; loan came from the Follies before the R.S.A. was mentioned.-rCaptain'Apitti said the R.S.A. secretary ,iirfd^^ organised, the. Follies originally to raise funds for the association. -Since -Mr. >lunns walted : on the associationrthey agreed to assist the committee to *»a*se JEuiids. If there was going to be any trouble he would* prefer it to bo aldan-r-^lr Munns >aidi the R. S. Ai desired' a loa*n 4 ;— Th e' ac^ipg- 4 . secretary (Mr F. Gumming), who v is a member of the Follies," explained "that, the company had "been- reorganised to give entertainments for .patWotic purposes. It was a separate organisation altogether from the Soldiers. Association. The request was fo£**u~loan to the Follies, not to, the R.SvA,~"tn reply tq,Mr Stock. Mr Cumming said i ithe proceeds' would go through the committee, to be disbursed as the Follieq.;,. desired' — Mr Stock moved, and Mr.-Brown seconded, that a loan of £100 be granted the Follies, to be repaid from the proceeds.- — Captain Pitt pointed out. that that'appeared to be ignSi'i'ng the association's letter. — Mr Munns said his jpotion^ had not been secondeJJ. Hef saw: trouble already between tjie committee arid the R.S.A. The Follie^had' not applied .for a. loan/, the letter .'j^^lf^.the^^Ai .rr-Mr Humphreys, -said he. could .not -.see

the difference. — Mr Munns: If you hand j it to the Follies you are ignoftng the R.S.A. — Mr Bridge thought they should consider the R.S.A. The Follies had been formed to help the returned soldiers, and so far tlie Follies were not officially before the committee. After all the £100, whether given of loaned, would ultimately be spent for the benefit of returned ftoldiers. A great many people might misinterpret their action if they gave a grant of £100, whereas a loan could not bo objected to. — MiBrown thought it 1 was splitting straws whether they gave the £100 to the R.S.A. to build to the Follies or gave it direct to the Follies amounted to the same thing.— Mr Stock concurred He said a cheque for the £100 by way of loart- could be sent to the R.S.A. to be handed to the Follies, the money to be made the first charge on. the proceeds of tho Follies' entertainments. . Mr Stock amended his motion accordingly, and this was carried.

Consideration of the Wairarapa Patriotic Association's resolution urging the Government to provide improved land for returned soldiers (held over from last meeting), was further deferred. i It .was reported that -the following resolution had been passed by the Gisborne Competitions Committee, a meeting of which was called as the outcome of a discussion at the previous meeting of the Defence Committee on the subject of increasing tho patriotic funds : — "That this committee consider it undesirable to hold the competitions this yeai*;^much as they would like to assist the patriotic funds, because they con-' sider the -results would not be com-j mensurate witb the demands on the public." ■■■'.. Following were the receipts from l-ApplfTrto 28 :— Mrs A. F. Kennedy £l (sale of flag), Miss F. Campbell £11,' (iPAB. Agricultural and Pastoral Associai I ti6n"PCSBB Os 6d, W. D. Lysnar £10 (sale of flag), refunds £6, Matawai De-! [fence Committee £40 9s, F. B. Bark-ei' £15 (sale of flag), J. Graham (Rototahi. yards) £6 2s, Anzac Day collection £62 Is Id, E. F. M. Burgess £2; total, £742 2s 7d-. The payments for the same period totalled £250 7s 6d. • Mr Birrell referred to the work of the Claims Sub-Committee, and urged that that committee should be larger. The bulk of the work had fallen on him and Mr Broadhurst, and it was a big tax for them to attend every day. People had no idea the amount of work there was to. be done.- Be was a Borough representative, and his term was up, but even if the Borough Council re-appoint-ed him he would have to resign from the sub-committee^ Continuing, Mr Birrell instanced case's where soldiers had been badly treated by the Government .and the. committee had had to deal with the injustices, and two members of the 'committee ' could not deal with all the matters that required attention. During the past 20 months, he had tried to do his 'bit,' and they had had all sorts of criticisni, for the work they had been doing - was intensely practical. — Mr Humphreys spoke m warm praise of the ;work Mr. Birrell had done, and expressjed^the hope that he would reconsider hia decision and consent to reappointment to -th? sub-committee. — Captain Pitt: Hear, hear.) — Mr Broadhurst said he could support Mr Birrell's suggestion that the l Grants Committee should be reorganised. ,j3ie hqped they would not lose Mr Birrell. • It was too much for a man to attend the depot every day. If the committee were enlarged the members could take turns at attending; but they must have members , who would attend. — MiBrown also expressed' the hope that Mr Birrell would .be reappointed by the Borough. He (Mr Brown) did not intend to consent to. re-nomi nation to the sub-committee, Snot that . he wanted to shirk his duty, but because the Work had become so large that it required men who had'the time to devote to it, and do justice to the returned soldiers. It was nat- altogether a pleasant duty, but somebody had to do j.t.~Captain Pitt said Mr Birrell had been a good friend to the returned soldier, and if he adhered to his intention of resigning then the returned soldiers and other soldiers would be losing a good friend. He (Captain Pitt) was sorry he could riot attend the sub-committee meetings regularly, but he had his business to attend to. He was always willing to do what he could to help. ' ■ X