NOT A COOL DEMAND.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume II, Issue 438, 6 July 1915, Page 11

NOT A COOL DEMAND.

COUNCIL AND BELGIUM FUND.

MAYOR'S ATTITUDE CRITICISED.

Statements which were made by the Mayor of Christ church at last night's meeting of the City Council, with regard to the request that the council should pay a monthly contribution of £l6O 0/2 to the Poor of Great Britain, Ireland, and Belgium Relief Fund, were criticised at a meeting of the Christchurch executive of the fund to-day. The chairman (Dr E. G. Levinge) outlined the manner in which the City Council had been approached by the committee. Three letters had been sent, the third being sent because no replies had been received to the previous two, although at least one meeting—in fact, he believed two meetings—of the council had been held since the first letter was sent. The Mayor had characterised the committee's request as a cool demand. It was not a cool demand. It had been decided by a conference in Wellington that a certain amount of money should be collected in a certain way. The local executive was the recognised organised body in Canterbury to collect money for the relief of the Belgians, and it took-it upon itself to ask the various . local bodies to make monthly contributions on the basis laid down. Other places "had sent their quotas along. One or two small bodies had not, but he was afraid that they had taken their cue from the City Council. It was hot a demand that the Mayor was unprepared for. He {Dr Levinge) believed he was right in saying that the Mayor, had; introduced, the matter of the council paying a monthly contribution, some time before, as a matter that the council would have to consider. Then the Mayor was reported to have said that the committee should have kept back the £50,000 collected in Canterbury, and spread the payment of it to the Belgians over four years. That money was found to be sent at once. Ashburton and Timarii asked that their contributions should be sent at once, and the executive had decided on that course, because it knew that that was the wish of a very large number of people.: Had it: kept back the money it would have broken faith. The Mayor was unaware of the facts, but made reckless statements. Practically all other local bodies in Canterbury were paying monthly contributions out of rates. A MISUNDERSTANDING. Mr F. H. Pyne: I can't think that when the City Council knows all the facts it will stand out. The Chairman: Since April 1 the other local bodies have been paying, so the City Council is three months in arrears—just on £SOO. Mr Pyne moved, that the matter be left in abeyance until after the next meeting of the City Council. He pointed out that Cr H. J. Otley had undertaken to get full information for the council, and the chairman of the committee could in the meantime acquaint Cr Otley with; the facts.

This was seconded by Mr James Jamieson. ;

The chairman thought that the Mayor's statements should not be allowed to go to the public without an explanation from the committee. It was always difficult to catch up with mis-statements. If the committee left it for* a fortnight, certain other bodies,' such as Woolston, might confirm the attitude they had taken up. Mr Jamieson: We don't want paper warfare.

A PLAIN STATEMENT

Mr O. T. J. Alpers: The gentlemen who speak of it as a cool demand should be met with a plain statement. We are an incorporated body, authorised by the Governor to do this work. We are carrying out the resolutions arrived at by a conference called by the Governor, and in the way decided by the conference. Speaking of it as a cool demand simply shows that the Mayor l is ignorant of the true position/ and that he is as ill-mannered as he is ignorant. > The Chairman: There is a great deal, no doubt, of personal feeling in the Mayor's remarks. But this talk does not injure me; it only penalises the Belgians, for whom we have been working during the past nine months. I Other members emphasised that the council misapprehended the position! BASIS OF ALLOCATION. \

The chairman said that there was another point, raised by some local bodies, who asked why their quotas were allocated on a rateable basis. Timaru had started the idea of a monthly quota, and had decided to make it on the rateable value, because that was least severe on those who were least able to bear it. This committee had come to the same conclusion, and had fallen into line with the rest of Canterbury. If the Christchurch City Council had been asked for a quota on a population basis that quota would have been about t'2so a month, instead of £l6O. In that the council had a distinct advantage. After further discussion, Mr Pyne's motion, that the matter be deferred until after the council's next meeting, was carried.