SICK AND WOUNDED SOLDIERS' FUND.

Colonist, Volume LXII, Issue 15345, 8 April 1920, Page 6

SICK AND WOUNDED SOLDIERS' FUND.

MEETING OF ADVISORY BOARD

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The monthly meeting of. the Advisory : Board of the Nelson Sick and Wounded Soldiers' Fund was held last evening in the Mayor's room. .Present: Mr W. W. Snodgrass (president), Mrs Pogson, Messrs <*. J. Robertson, H. :Win, J. Hunt, R. P. Riley, Dr. Bett, H. Tunnicliff, E. J. Alton/W. S. Snodgrass, N. A. Vercoe, R.SA. representa/tive, and the secretary (Mr EL Sauniders).

Apologies for absence were received from Messrs J. A. Wallace, W. C SHarley, and H. Everett. _; Mr W. S. Snodgrass reported on the business transacted at the Dominion Advisory Board held in Wellington, on •which board he represented the Nelson society: — "As requested, I attended the meeting of the Advisory Board held in Wellington onr"March 4th as representative of the above fund. The principal business was the proposal to amalgamate the various funds existent 'in the Dominion and draw ut> a scheme of bene-

fits or allowances to cover the whole of ■New Zealand, so that- a man should not Ife penalised because lie enlisted in a "poor" district (like/say, the. West Coast) as against a "rich" district (say /Wairarapa). Figures supplied by the Government show a total available .throughout New Zealand of £1,082,914, as on December 31st. In addition there is a total of about £500,000 in other patriotic funds, of which it is possible that about £350,000 may be made available for the sick and wounded returned men. The balance is ear-marked for specific purposes, such as the Trentham Scholarship Fund, etc. It ■was decided to call a conference of the Advisory Board of the V.M.C.A., •Red Cross, Salvation Army aiid other associations who hold funds subscribed for the benefit of our army, to see if a national scheme could be formulated. The conference is to be held after the Prince of Wales's visit. Very strong opposition was shown by the Auckland representative, who claimed that because that district had a, big fund the other folk wanted to steal it for their own benefit. He claimed a total' of over £200,000, but considering that the population of their district is just about a quarter of a million, it does not work out to an equal amount per capita as the previously quoted total (practically £1 per person). It is not' likely that the other funds mentioned ■would hand over to anything else than sj, national fund, which would then average about 26s to 27s per capita. This was pointed out to the Auckland •man, but he still persisted in opposition. Southland also opposed—just because their representative was so instructed.' Taranaki is disposing of its {fund in a wholesale fasliion. They hope to clear the whole thing up this year toy distributing the fund in lump sums. ♦As your representative, I upheld the theory that the funds should b& conserved for the benefit of the men who, after getting back to "work as soon as possible after discharge, will later

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t-he result of their "war

rea s sen-ice, but because they have got a clear receipt from the Government will not b© entitled to a pension. I suggested that 20 years would not bo too short a period to carry on. Apart from purely focal questions, the only matters that cropped up was the question of providing tor neurasthenic cases. Tho representative of the U.S.A. told the meeting that they had taken up the matter with the Government, and were satisfied that everything possible was being done, but. of course, in a quiet manner. Later I wrote the chairman of the Advisory Board pointing out that institutions such as banks, insurance, companies, etc., would not contribute locally, as their head offices were giving lump sums to tho National War Fund, and" suggesting that this fund might be made available for a national scheme." Mr Snodgrass was thanked for his< report. A number of applications for loans pnd grants were considered and in most cases wore granted.'During the interim between, meetings tho executive dealt with 87 cases, assistance granted amounting to £250. Tt was decided to hold the annual meeting on April 28th. Mr Allen (hon. treasurer) road n statement of the financial position of the society.