LARGE SUM LYING IDLE.

Te Aroha News, Volume XLI, Issue 6598, 12 May 1925, Page 6

LARGE SUM LYING IDLE.

MAY BE USED FOR SEAMEN’S DEPENDANTS A MATTER OF £26,000 The Hon. E. Newman, M.L.C., wrote to the executive of the New Zealand Farmers’ Union on Thursday, saying he understands there is at present in the New Zealand Treasury, and likely to be overlooked, a sum of about £26,000 standing to the credit of the undistributed surplus of the Wool Profits Fund, which is the property of those New Zealand sheep farmers whose wool was sold to the Imperial Government between 1916 and 1920. This money is part of the sum of £1,619,069 received from the Imperial authorities in payment of the half share of profits made on the re-sale of wool up to March 31st, 1919. The amount represents about Is for every £IOO worth of wool, or (say) 3d on every bale sold to the Imperial authorities during the period mentioned. The sum which would be received by individual sheepfarmers would be trivial, Mr Newman considers, and largely would be swallowed up in . clerical work, etc. The fund was founded by the gifts of their share of surplus wool profits from 2600 sheepfarmers, so that a considerable portion of the sum of £26,000 belonged to the fund. Mr Newman felt that the sheepfarmers ( of New Zealand would be pleased if the whole of the money was handed to the trustees of the fund for the assistance of the widows and orphans of British seamen. The Union executive decided to support Mr Newman’s suggestion.