Untitled

Star (Christchurch), Issue 3438, 18 April 1879, Page 2

As we predicted when referring a few days ago to the action taken by the City Council in reference to the discussion on the question of the disposal of tho Kaitangata Relief Fund and their resolution on this subject, that body have received a decided snubbing from the Dunedin Committee through their Secretary, Mr John L. Gillies. His Worship the Mayor, in compiling his letter of enquiry as to who was who, and what the said who, intended to do with the money raised on account of the Kaitangata disaster, made the " feeler" aa mild as possible, and as far as the reply of Mr Gillies' is concerned to His Worship personally it was polite and courteous, but Mr Gillies' strictures upon the remarks which fell from some of the members of that peculiarly constituted body — the City Council — were as well deserved as they were severe. The writer recognises the right of any individual subscriber, or body of subscribers, to the Relief Fund to institute enquiries in regard to any matter connected therewith, but says : — " With reference to the remarks reported in the newspapers as having been made at a meeting of your Council, I take leave to say they were as uncalled for as they were rude and ungentlemanly, and therefore dismiss them as unworthy even of this notice." This is just what we expected, and may perhaps act as a substantial lesson to the Council as a whole to confine their attention more to the urgent civic affairs now demanding their attention, and to refrain from offering gratuitous public insults to gentlemen of high social standing. To all appearance, however, the rebuke fell like water upon a duck's back, for with singular inconsistency every member of the Council, either by silent consent or direct affirmation, agreed that the letter from Mr Gillies was " most satisfactory in every respect." Perhaps the wouldbe champion of the widow and orphan whose remarks were BO peculiarly olmoxious when the matter first cropped up, and those who agreed with him have, in their leisure moments, reflected upon tho absurdity of the stand they took, and their entire concurrence with the rebuke administered to themselves is doubtless a healthy sign that repentance has set in. If this is the case, and the lesson they have received leads to general reformation, then regret for their folly will be counterbalanced by joy at the ultimate result. Humble pie is a capital antidote to the evil effects of an overdose of conceit. Referring to the remainder of Mr Gillies' letter, dealing with whafc the Dunedin Committee have done and what they intend to do, it must be conceded that it is full and satisfactory. The needs of the widows and orphans have been, and are being supplied adequately, but no more. The Committee have wisely refrained from placing any large sums of money in their hands, and no doubt the way in which the money is at present being distributed will lead, as the Secretary hopes, to the cultivation of a spirit of self-reliance on the part of the recipients. No information ia given as to the intentions of the Committee in dealing with a permanent plan of relief, as that has not yet been decided upon. It is not definitely known how many persons will have to be provided for, nor the total amount from which they will have to be provided, but judging from what has already been done tho subscribers here and elsewhere will be reassured — if their belief in the integrity of the Diraedin Committee was ever Bhaken — that a wise and judicioua plan of procedure will be adopted by those gentlemen who certainly deserve the thanks of the community for their disinterested labour on behalf of the sufferers of one of the most appalling accidents which has ever huppened in this Colony.