THE BUSH RELIEF FUND.

Waipawa Mail, Volume IX, Issue 905, 13 March 1886, Page 4

THE BUSH RELIEF FUND.

DISTRIBUTION AT MAKOTUKU.

A meeting of the District Committee to the Bush Relief Fund was held at Makatoku on Thursday last, when a number of members were present. The Hon. J. N. Wilson, Mr Coleman and Mr Tiffen also attended. The last three gentlemen are members of the Central Committee at Napier, but they were induced to meet the Local Committee on account of a deadlock which had occurred, owing to the conditions which had been imposed upon the distribution of relief to the settlers. The cause of complaint lay in the following resolution, which was passed by the Central Committee :—That no relief be afforded to any applicant who shall be indebted to a storekeeper, unless that storekeeper enter into an agreement binding liimself from demanding payment of that debt for a period of 12 months ; interest at the rate of 7 per cent on the amount being chargeable.” This was at least the spirit of the resolution. Subsequent to its being passed, the District Committee were authorised to commence the distribution of relief. The members, however, met at Makotuku, and crane to the conclusion that it would be exceedingly inadvisable to distribute relief under the 6tated conditions, with the result that no action in that direction was taken. In the meanwhile a number of settlers were in great distress, and general dissatisfaction was expressed on all sides. The Central Committee then held a meeting in Napier, at which they stated that their resolution was only intended to apply to debts incurred in the interval which bad elapsed between the fires and the present time. They did not wish to be accepted altogether in the hard and fast terms which its wording might imply. Still, however, the district committee refused to act. They considered that relief should be given without any conditions whatever, —that it was unfa’r to ask storekeepers to wait so long as 12 months before even rendering an account for debts that were owing previous to the dry weather, and that altogether the conditions were unreasonable and absurd. This opinion was shared by the settlers themselves, —as well as, of course, the business men. It was fiually agreed that the three gentlemen referred to should meet the district committee at Makotoku, and endeavor to come to some arrangement. This was done. The subcommittee consists of Webber, Towers, 11, Smith, Gundrie, Petersen, Gribble, Stevens, Parsons, and the Itev. A. S. Webb. Most of these were present on Thursday. Mr Tiffen took the chair, and business was commenced at once. Quite a hot discussion ensued on the matter of the resolution. It was stated that the district committee had met and resolved that unless it was rescinded they would all resign office. Mr Gundrie spoke plainly on the matter. He held that the resolution was not only unworkable but caused a slur against the district committee. The Rev. Mr Webb supported Mr Gundrie. After the discussion had cooled down, it was decided that the resolution could not be enforced in its entirety, and relief was distributed without any restrictions whatever, excepting in one instance, when a storekeeper voluntarily agreed not to render an account for 12 months. The total amount of funds allotted for distribution in Makotuku, Ormondville, aDd Norsewood, was £1)11. Out of this, £417 was distributed on Thursday, there being eight cheques of £lO each, four of £3O, two of £2O, one cf £5, one of £22, one of £6O, one of £4O, one or £SO The* applications were divided into three classes before being considered, viz :—Class A, extreme cases, class B, cases that were genuine but not urgent, and class C, cases that were not deseiving of relief at all. In class A, one half of the several amounts applied for were granted ; in class B, one quarter ; in class C, nothing. The sum of £77 still remains with the committee who have power to distribute it in such a manner as they deem fit, in the Makotuku district. In reply to questions it was stated that there were two or three cases in which the applicants were really destitute, their furniture, cottages, and all effects having been consumed in the fires which were raging in the dr}-season. The majority of the remainder of the applicants were in need of some assistance, although they might possibly have struggled on without it; and there were a few cases in which the applicants were absolutely undeserving of any relief whatever. One or two of the settlers were very reticent in asking for assistance, the idea being prevalent amongst the more sensitive of them that it was charity. These did not get so much money as some others, although they were quite as deserving of it. The committee could, of course, not help this from occurring. One or two of the applicants did not like the questioning which took place in the committee room, and refused to answer all the enquiries made as to the amount of their private indebtedness to storekeepers &c., preferring to go without relief to accepting it under conditions of that kind. However these cases were few and far between. We are able to state that the Rev A. S. Webb has taken a deep interest in the matter of obtaining relief for the settlers who suffered from the fires, often walking long distances, and going to personal trouble and expense, in order to aid the cause.

The distribution of so much money in the Bush district cannot but have a beneficial effect upon the latter. Indeed, there is no doubt that the district, taken as a whole, will be no loser by the fires, but rather a gainer. The logs have been burned away to an immense extent, thus preparing the way for pasture next spring, and in every way making the land more valuable. The only fear was that the settlers—being thrown back by the destruction of their crops, and being put to the unexpected expense of purchasing grass-seed to re*sow the burnt land, might not be able to struggle through the crisis, and hence the reason for the Bush Relief Fund being set on foot. The liberal manner in which the wealthier settlers have aided the poorer ones has caused much good feeling to exist between the two classes.

Of course there are instances in every money transaction in which attempts are made to abuse good things. Thus at Makotuku on Thursday, there was a man •who had a good round sum allotted to him, but who, in answer to questions, did not seem inclined to remain in the district as a permanent settler, if he could get the cheque handed over to him. The committee considered it was their duty to replace what the lire had destroyed, and not hand over a cheque for the man to do what he liked with, so they decided upon the former action. Of course there is always this danger in handing large sums of money to those who have no stake in the place and who do not seem decided as to what they intend to do with it ; a man may decide upon Reeking fresh fields for his energy and ability, and in the hurry of packing up a swag and the sorrow of having to part with old friends, he is apt to forget all about the bother.-ome bill that he owes the storekeeper, and the result of that is that he goes away without paying it ! Such a vexatious occurrence as’this has been known to happen—although not in the Bush. We are pleased to hear* that none of the applicants for relief showed the slightest intention of doing anything of the kind, most of them

being settlers who have some sort of stake in the place.

As to the resolution which was the cause of all the bother in the first instance, there is not the slightest doubt as to its absurdity—that is evident on the face of it—but the settlers and district com mitteo are unanimous in saying that the Central Committee passed it with the best intentions in the world. They argued that the public had subscribed the money to assist the settlers out of difficulties-which had been caused by the tires ; that the funds placed in their hands for distribution could ouly be applied for the one purpose for which they were intended, and that the ouly way to make sure that all the relief was not ahsorded in paying off old debts, was to make it impossible for storekeepers to demaud payment for any money for twelve months. Of the modification which the Central Committee subsequently made was if anything more ludicrous than the original motion itself. The concession was to the effect that the committee only intended the resolution to apply to debts contracted since the fires. Well, it will be readily seen that the settlers were more pressed for money just after the fires than they had been previously to that time ; and moreover it was extremely liberal on the part of the storekeepers to give them credit at that particular lime, because it was well-known that the fires had caused the settlers much loss, and they would in consequence be less able to pay their debts. If the storekeepers were looking forward to the relief which was being publicly subscribed for the payment of their accounts, they were not to be blamed fordoing so, but it would have been very hard indeed to make them suffer for being too liberal. One business man—a butcher—put it in this light : “ A number of settlers came to me and said they hadn’t a penny, and begged me to continue supplying them with meat as before. I didn’t want to treat anyone roughly, but I must get a certain amount of money in to keep the business going. However, I said it would be all right, for I had heard that there would be a public suscription got up to assist these people out of ilieir troubles.” And when the public suscription was completed, the first impulse of the distributors was to prevent the tradesmen from getting any of it in payment of accounts that were owing. And yet it was those very tradesmen who kept the settlers going when they were in distress ! A nice reward for their help ! Good sort of gratitude ! However, all has now been arranged to the satisfaction of everyone. The people in the Bush recognise the fact that the members of the Central Committee did what they considered best for the settlers, and that their labors were entirely dis interested. It is with feelings only of gratitude that the poorer people who suffered by the fires, now look upon the assistance which the people of Napier and Hawke’s Bay generally rendered them in the time of their distress.