THE COLONIST. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1917. THE SICK AND WOUNDED FUND.

Colonist, Volume LVIII, Issue 14337, 13 February 1917, Page 4

THE COLONIST. TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1917. THE SICK AND WOUNDED FUND.

The difficulty which arose in connection with the constitution of the Sick and Wounded Soldiers and their Dependents Fund Society is now in process of settlement in a way which as far as the method is concerned must satisfy everyone, even if the result does not. We are sure, however, that the decision of the' plebiscite of subscribers which is now being taken will be loyally accepted by everyone concerned, the more so as the dispute was rather as to the manner in which a certain object was" to be attained than the object itself. This, we have. gather<sd, was the rock upon which the repeated conferences split, and it was the bone of contention in the long and animated j newspaper controversy which followed. The subject is so fresh in the minds, of the public that it is hardly neceasary to make a. long story of it now. The Advisory Board • which held office prior to the first annual meeting had the responsibility of framing a constitution for the future administration of the fund. This work took a considerable time, and the draft. Tvas circulated only a few days prior to the annual meeting of subscribers with which lay the decision as to its adoption or otherwise. The draft constitution was found to enlarge what was understood by many of the subscribers to be the scope of the fund, and certainly to extend it much beyond the limits implied by, its name. The principal phanges proposed were an alteration of the name of the fund, and extension of its benefits to soldiers who were neither sick nor wounded, but whose circumstances or the circumstances of their dependents called for financial assistance. The legality of such, a change .being made in such a way was questioned by some subscribers, among them some who had subscribed largely to the Silver Bullet Cannonade effort, which provided fully two-thirds of the total funds which the Advisory Board now administers. Among those who desired to have the draft - con stitution amended were meiuV bers of the executive of the Silver Bullet Cannonade, %hd a conference between the two bodies took place on the eve of the annual meeting. This conference failed to reach an agreement on the legal question involved in some of the proposed constitutional changes (chiefly those already mentioned). On each side there was forensic talent which oh the one hand argued strongly that the procedure was incorrect, while on the side'of the Advisory Board it. was admitted-that the strict legal view of the matter was against the Board's proposal. /The objection a number of those who were present at the conference took to the Board's proposal was taken entirely on the question of legality; they were not, nor are they now, opposed to the extension of the scope of the fund to include necessitous soldiers, provided it were done in a way to which no exception could afterwards be taken. Failing to reach a. conclusion oh this subject, the conference proceeded no further, but left the whole matter open for the general meeting on the following night. At that meeting a committee of subscribers was set up to prepare, in conjunction with the Advisory Board, a constitution for <mbr mission to a future meeting of subscribers. This was done, and the constitution wss submitted in due course and approved. As regards the object of the fund, the new constitution preserved the original intention, as implied by its name, Vu.t empowered the extension of its scope by a vote of the subscribers;. The proposal to alter the naoie of the fund had been vetoed ty the Minister in charge of war funds, ajp ihat subject was no jionger <an issue. The vote thus provided for is now being taken, and as the subscribers are scattered throughout the length. and'breadth of the province, the process1 is by no means a simple one. The

effect of the constitutional amendment upon which the vote is being, taken is to fetter the Advisory Board as little as possible in dealing with the cases which will come before it. It makes the main function of the fnnd "The relief, assistance and benefit of -soldiers and their dependents and the dependent of any soldier who may have been killed or who may have died." This gives the Board the discretionary power we think it is highly desirable that the administrators of such a fund' should possess. The necessity- for widening the scope of the fund beyond what is held to have been the original j intention has. become evident in #ts|: operation up to the, present, f Tho < Board has been constrained to refuse assistance in several cases which, did1 not come within the strict interpreta- ' tio'n of the objects of the fund, but . which nevertheless were not excluded; j by the spirit in which the vast majority : of the subscribers gave to it. They, '< we are sure, had no wish that highly ( deserving, cases' should bo passed over because the necessities of- the appli- < cants ai'ose from other causes than < wounds or sickness. The subscribers would be well content to leave the determination of what were deserving cases ( and what the appropriate relief to the discretion of their representatives on the Board. /The opportunity is now ] presented ■to them of removing thu limitations which have been found to exclude from the benefits of the fund q most deserving cases of soldiers who a have made great sacrifices to discharge I their highest duty to the State, and whoa find themselves in necessitous circum- i

stances through causes other- than wounds or sickness which overtook them while on active service. We are confident that none of tho subscribers to the fund would require assistance to bo withhold in such cases, and we are sure that the subscribers will grasp at tho opportunity of placing tho matter for the future beyond 'doubt by voting for the amendment and leaving the prudent administration of the fund in the good hands to which year by year they can entrust it. Wo cannot leave this subject without referring to the invaluable work of the late Advisory Board, and especially the honordry secretary, Mr Wallace Snodgrass. Upon him the major part of tho administrative work has1 devolved, and he has brought to it a "fund of energy and enthusiasm which nas1 been inexhaustible. Mr. Snodgrass possesses a knowledge of the working of patriotic organisations which is certainly zinique as far as Nelson is concerned, whose representative he is at the Conference of Delegates of New Zealand Patriotic War Relief (Associations which • meets periodically at Wellington. From the beginning of the war Mr. Snodgrass has cheerfully sustained a burden which no voluntary worker' could reasonably «c asked to bear. The work of the Sick and Wounded Fund has now assumed such great proportions that it is out of the question that the secretary's time should be occupied with routine matters which 6hould properly be attended to by a salaried official. We consider that the supervision of an honorary secretary is indispensable to the efficient and sympathetic administration of the fund. We are equally convinced that Mr. Snodgrase' retirement from that office would be a serious misfortoyie to the fund, and we earnestly hope to see him retain the honorary secretaryship of the enlarged fund.