The Daily News. TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 1900. MISMANAGEMENT OF THE PATRIOTIC FUND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXII, Issue 170, 26 June 1900, Page 2

The Daily News. TUESDAY, JUNE 26, 1900. MISMANAGEMENT OF THE PATRIOTIC FUND.

We recently drew attention to the dissatisfaction prevailing in England over the management, or rather mismanagement, of the Patriotic Fund, and mentioned that it had been found necessary to appoint a committee t6 enquire into the administration of the various war funds. It also came within the scope of this committee's proceedings to consider how these funds may be distributed to the best advantage of those for whom they were raised. We learn from our latest Home files that several sittings have been held, at which Lord Justice Collins presided. The most prominent objection to the administration in question and its most severe critic is Mr. Hudson Kearley, M.P., Liberal member for Devonport. In the course of the inquiry Mr. Kearley said he had read the evidence as to the Patriotic Fund, but his evidence would be to disprove absolutely the evidence of Lord Nelson and Lord Chelmsford. At the outset he would lay down that whenever there was a fund subscribed by the public it should be administered according to the intentions_of the subscribers, irrespective of the amount. His next point was that the surplus of the old funds should be applied for cognate purposes, such as for the benefit of the widows and orphans of those who fell in South Africa. In that connection he would like to draw attention to the misapplication of large sums for permanent endowments, which had the effect of limiting the allowances to widows and orphans. He anticipated, if the policy of only spending the interest; were continued, there would be a large surplus. Last year the surplus was £17,000; and this year he expoctodtW amount would be nearly £25,000. Referring to the "Victoria" fund, for which £7 5,000 had been subscribed, Mr. Kearley said : —" Though the ship went down in July, 1893, it was November before relief was given, and then only 3s 6d per week was allowed to each widow and Is for each child." Passing on to deal with other figures in this connection, Mr. Kearley stated that the Patiiotic Fund had received from public subscriptions to the end of 1898 £1,471,000, and its income to that date had been ,£1,510,000, making a total of £2,981,000, or nearly £3,000,000 from all sources. The Commissioners had paid for 40 years a pension of 5s per week. In his opinion, if the money had not been misapplied, this pension could have been doubled. In the case of the Crimean fund the Commissioners had sunk large sums in educational endowments, whereas there was no Crimean child in 1867. The benefits of this fund must, therefore, have gone to other children. Now, as to the legitimate application of the Patriotic Fund, the total sum paid to the widowsand orphans was £1,851,834, i so that out of the £3,000,000 according to his figures they had only paid away a legitimate sum of £1,851,000. But they had paid away in the construction pf schools, education expenditure, and maintenance £419,000, and thpy had expended in management over the period from 1855 onwards £141,000. Therefore, the total expetfdfture of all kinds, legitimate and illegitimate, had been £2,413,268, leaving' a balance of £588,614 ijot disbursed, or nearly one : fifth of the total amount available. That balance was mad/ up in this way:—Patriotic (Orimeaf>) fund, £207,261 ; Patriotic (Genial) fund, £117,500 ; Royal Victol.4 Pension Asylum, £157,666; Roman Cvl)fi!ic orphans, £35,504; and the nominations, £46,000, making a total of £563,932. Besides this the Commissioners had 42 acres of land at Wandsworth, said to be worth £IO,OOO an acre, but which would certainly bring £5,000 an acre. He contended, 1 therefore, that the Commissioners had an available surplus of £BOO,OOO. The chief defender of the administration of these moneys was Colonel Young, secretary of the Patriotic Fund, whose attempt to answer Mr. Kearley's charges was not calculated to set the public mind at ease. He sa : d lie had brought to the notice of the P.uke of Cambridge, the president of the Patriotic Fund, the evidence given before the committee. This went to show that there was an impression that the Patriotic Fund w.as not worthy of confidence. The Duke was much distressed at such a feeling being abroad, and he (the witness) wished to place before the committee some facts to remove the impression. He submitted that in all cates the intentions of the original donors had been carried out, and if there had been any failure the blame should rest on Parliament, which had in 18S7 decided how the funds should be applied. Later on, Uolorfel Young said Mr. Kearley had stated they had received three millions of money, but he (witness) had taken out the figures, and found the available [funds were £503,761 less than had been stated. The management had also cost £10,570 less than alleged. In his view, aftairs could not continue j

as at present, and he J scheme with a view of providing I against the present overlapping and waste in the administration of these funds. He proposed the creation by Parliament of a New Royal Commission for the relief of widows and orphans and the maintenance of thß wives and families of wounded officers and men. He suggested that the Commission should be appointed by Parliament, and should include representatives of the Government, of the services, of the municipalities, and of business men. He would, at the same time, render illegal the collection oi distribution of relief by any other society. All this sounds very much like locking the safe door after most of the money has been stolen. It will be in accordance with the spirit of colonial legislation if, taking warning from the mistakes of the Old Country, our present New Zealand Parliament takes prompt and effectual steps to prevent any maladministration of our special patriotic funds, There is also need for a vigilant watch oyer the interests ofthe relatives of those of our men who have fallen, and of the others who have suffered through wounds or sickness.