FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Colonist, Volume LVII, Issue 14165, 16 August 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

FINANCIAL STATEMENT.

Mr.. D. R. Edwards, the Finance (Minister, then made the following announcement :—May it please your gracious Majesty to receive from me, your Minister of Finance and humble servant, the result of the financial campaign with which I have been entrusted. It had been the hope and endeavour of your Minister's to have ■raised by this, cannonade the full sum of £25,000 required by Your Majesty. | Many handsome donations have been I received, and the liberality and patriotI ism of many of your subjects hath been j proved,' but further effort is required lon the part of your Ministers to raise jifche sum Your Majesty has set your j heart on, to do justice te Your Majesty and to the dominion over which I you hold sway. To his end your Min-1 isters pledge themselves not to rest content until Your Majesty's wishes and hopes are realised; and," while the cannonade is at an end, your Ministers will continue with all due diligence to strive to reach the goal aimed at by lour Majesty. I shall now at your Royal pleasure call upon our trusty and \vell beloved JVlward. John Allen to place at your disposa»,sfor the use of our brave" derenders and their dependents, the suiu of £23,000, vhichihe combined armies have raised. -. This was duly done by Mr Allen.

PROCLAMATION BY THE MINISTER I OF WAR. Mr. H. Everett, Minister of War, then made the following proclamation: 0 Yes! 0 Yozf 0 Yezf Hear Ye! Hoar Ye! Hear Ye! All ye loyal citizens draw near. Hearken! The! Silver Bullet Cannonade is ended. Inspired by the spirit of patriotic duty, and evoked by a n attractive scheme of friendly rivalry, this city and the countryside adjacent thereto' hath subserib- ! tcci the sum of £23.000 towards the sum of £25,000 called for and re- j quired by Her Gracious Majesty Britan-1 ma as a free-will duty offering to our brave and patriotic soldiers from the ' jwople whom they are defending with their hte'r. blood The raising of this sum lis an achievement of which those who ; have subscribed thereto may be justly proud, and those who have not rightly ■ashamed. Every person who by work or gift has contributed in fair measure to this result is justly entitled to the name of patriot; and those who, havinothe ability, have not, or will not, are lustly entitled to the contempt of all honourable men. Poradventure it may be that some of those "who have not yet given have not fully realised l their duty, and opportunity will still be given to all to purge their consciences of. the stain that will otherwise lie for ever on them of being accounted un-1-worthy ..of the traditions of a exeat and honourable nation, which drew the I sword in the cau.se of liberty and justice, and shall-nob sheathe it until'the power of the tyrant and arch-fiend be lor ever broken. Let no man.be accounted unworthy of the race that bred him. It may be that in this battle some offence hath been given. If so, let it be forgiven and forgotten; and [ let us remember only the cause and ! the justice of the cause —the cause of j the maimed, the cause of the widow i and the cause of the fatherless, who were made such that we might remain! a free, ju=?t and honourable nation. And j let all mea<i men be for over accounted! unworthy to be« called Britor.s. By command of Britannia, I shall now deliver to you Her Majesty's gracious acknowledgment and thanks.

.BRITANNIA'S REPLY. The Minister of War then delivered Britannia's reply us follows:— ; Greeting. It hath, pleased Her Gracious Majesty •to command, depute, and appoint me, as her Minister or" War, to deliver, declare, and proclaim to all her dutiful subjects here assembled her gracious thanks for their hearty expressions and signs. of loyalty and goodwill in the diligence" and labour bestowed in her service in and about and concerning the scheme which Her Most Gracious Majesty has had at heart in the interest aml welfare of such of Her Majesty's subjects as have flocked to her colours to defend her honour, her person, and her realm. Now, therefore, know ye, ye citizens of Nelson and -ye inhabitants of the Counties of Waimea, Takaka, Colling-, wood and Murchison and all boroughs, towns, villages, hamlets, and fruit farms therein, and all dependencies of, adjoining or pertaining thereto, that by the valour of our army, for whose loyal and devoted services, we shall be for ever grateful, we have been appointed, elected, and ordained ".Britannia." and i m token whereof my trusty and well- ! beloved Alfred ■ Gould bain placed this j helmet upon our head and this trident j m our royal hand, that justice may prevail within our kingdom and that all our judgments be tempered with mercy. _.

Wherefore it hath pleased us to send' pur royal greeting-to great and small in fall the borders of our land, from sea to sea, and to the utterir. ost parts of the earth under pur Sovereign's s\v ay; to the officers and members of our glorious army; to the officers and j members of all armies within our i -borders—our. allies, 'who, though equally valiant, -were less fortunate in the glorious and ever memorable struggle for Hill £25,000; to the tireless toilers in Paddy's Market, and through the highways and byways and country\ roads in the pursuit and manufacture of munitions of war, and tlio enrolling of soldiers in our royal army service"; to the countless hundreds, nay, thousands, who, in all parts of our dominion, submitted willingly to he fleeced and wro ffave and bought (and were sold) with^ open hands and generous hearts; to tV executive and all committees, organisations, and individuals who by word or deed aided, abctt^nl. assisted, and produced for us, our desired end. , Now, all yo peoples, Lear ye further our royal command! Inasmuch as on*royal pleasure; desire, "and, demand hath

not been secured, accomplished, and obtained, we, by this our royal command, impose, empower, and lay upon all and singular our loyal and generous subjects our desire, wish, and -will that ye do continue with diligence and .goodwill your labours in this great and glorious patriotic cause, to the ' end that, though the battle is ended, the fund, which it is our royal pleasure to raise within our domain, may continue to increase and grow until- it shall do honour to our- worthy and wealthy subjects within the prosperous territories over which it is our proud privilege to reign. Let there cease to be within our boundaries any man shamed by his parsimony. Let each man feel that he hath done justice to himself. -Let each man know that he hath done his du^y. Then indeed, and then only, shall we, and our loyal subjects, be honourably known throughout the length and breadth of -this Dominion as a people who have reached tho standard of the nation— "Duty and [ Sacrifice." Let these words be engraven on the hearts of our loyal people, that our royal pleasure may be accomplished, and we may holdup our head amongst the honourable of the earth. 'It rejoices our heart to know that we haive within our borders such, loyal", patriotic, and dutiful subjects as the executive committee, who have given of their time to the sacrifice of their' business in the cause of justice and humanity. And in all reverence we pray that the God of all Justice reward them. In His hands we leave "them for their reward. We tender'to them our special gratitude. Jo those faithful workers in our cause, whose name is legion, we tender our thanks. They have given freely and worked ungrudgingly in ..a noble cause—the cause of our gallant defenders tiie cause of the widow and the fatherless. Let this knowledge be their best reward. Let it be a memorial to them before the King of Kings, before Whom we, and all our. loyal subjects, ()o\v in reverent homage while we unite m the prayer.

The -<-eremon,v then concluded with tlv presentation o f a Silver Bullet memento to- Britannia' by the Mistress of the nm °n hehlili of th? Executive. lhe ceremony was successfully carried out under the direction off ho organiser (Mr W. Lints').