Charitable Aid.

Wairarapa Standard, Volume XX, Issue 2043, 16 March 1887, Page 2

Charitable Aid.

The matter of District Charitable Aim is now engrossing the especial attention on all the local bodies iu tbe Wair&rapa and! elsewhere in this colony. During tha tasll few weeks a circular has been forwarded fronn tbe United District Charitable Aid Board at! Wellington to all the local goyerning ioslilu-1 tiuns in this valley claiming a share of I a liability toward the support of the varioua Charitable establishmeuts, aud tbe amount claimed purports to be based upon tbe representation allotted to each county or borough radius. The share that the Borough of Greytown is asked to contribute for tbe year now nearly expiied (March 31) is the modest amount ol TIO'J Now were the Borough account iu credit this disbursement would b* a most serious Hem iu the expeudituie for one year, and tba- expenditure going away from tbe town foi no earthly equivalent at all, us it is a question it any resident in Greytnwn has for some years been unfortunately compelled to sick relief from any! public institution having Wellington for itfj head quarters. Consequently that being tbpj case why, in all oouscier.es. in this! enlightened nineteenth century should tb*| burgesses of this fairly prosperous inland] town be required to contribute u sum beyond I aii reason towards supporting tbe destituta,! imbecile, improvident, immoral. auhealihyJ and incompetent dements of p pulatiuW which heid together iu all large centres aott more pailiculany seaport towns, where tU residuum of population from all parts ol |S world may, from time to lime, be expected It te interspersed with tbe inhabitants by Mpu timid inflexion and from vessels bMM hither aud thither fiom other parts. TbeeMm on the various Country local bodies hw utterly übsuid aud so supremely ndiaaUfii ou the face of it that it would be aitaS waste of time to endeavor to fathom HP' method upon which the application is baiad| in fact, it is quite within tbe bounds 9t probability that those who computed tbs portions that each body should be asked lac, are quite as much iu tbe gloom ol mystiflestion as those to whom the application has beeu made. The Bouth County Council at their meeting on Saturday, deputed their chairman aud clerk to proceed to Wellington and endeavour to elucidate some explanation of tbe matter from the Chairman and Secretary to the United Board. If on their return theae two gentlemen can satisfactorily enlighten their fellow settlers upon the plan now being pursued by the Central Board, they will perhaps remove the present perplexity and at the same time afford ns an opportunity ot settling the queetion as to how in the even; of this precious scheme being carried out, we can conveniently raise the money to meet this extraneous demand. When a esse of sudden bereavement or destitution el a peculiarly exceptional nature takes place iu any part of the Waitarapa tbe settlers gene rally, when called upon, take the matter iu hand and without murmur most ungrudgingly respond to the invitation iO assist. About three years ago the bread winner of a family met with a fatal accident while attempting to cross one of our treacherous rivers, and within the space of a very few weeks the band, some sum of i 000 was subscribed in sympathy. This is genuine soul-warming charity, a charity begotten of tbe best dictates oi tbe human heart, not tbe cold straight laced and parish union kind of article that is usually served out by paid officials, who sometimes look upon tbe destitute fellow creatures in tbe same tai-hiou as the law instructs tbe policeman to do those having no oulw. d and visible means of support ; namely, as tbe rogues, vag moods aud tramps who are only worthy of still more degradation. Our argument is a sound logical and practical one. If we have poverty within our districts, let us deal with our troubles iu that direction . let us administer to our own local wants. We have a far better knowledge ol the leqnirements of our own district poor, aud we oau supply mere solid and suitable assistance towards distress in out midst than can strangers in Wellington who cannct poosibly be acquainted with the true circumstances of the unfortunates requiring rrlnf. We do not wish to repudiate any connection wi;h the valuable asylums provided for the poor in Wellington, but would assist them to ai-y reasonable extent. There ate very few persons in this Valley that would refuse to give assent to assistance being given to the metropolitan centre iu the maintemcce ol tiieir cbaiitable institutions, and at the same time we do not wish to disregard the fact that the doors of these establishments ate always open to receive our sfll cled and depressed, but all we ask is, that the city working bees be required to do mote for their drones in proportion to their demands, We, as a community here in tbe Waitarapa can help ourselves iu the maintenance of ours, and can and should also supply our quota towards ihe laige preponderance ol city distress. Let ns have fair play. Let I lie Government look to this. Our member, Mr Buchanan f night a bard tight iu the cause ; ho won -lie mule in the House by a unj uav of two ; but by a sortie, through a slight daw in too clause which passed the House of Representatives, tile Stout Government turned that victorjd the next day into a defeat, Mr BuchanAnol, being prepared to rally his loices bad the mortification of being beaten ; aud thus the United Board which be a United Biard now imposes to impose aa unfair harden ratepayers of the Walrarapo. It policy and an UDworth«rO>oe, amaß| must resist it tooth ami nailttjm not having the funds in believe, pause corthe dirty work of rating already mad ly taxed other purpose than to bolster and mantelligablo which every lei I and true demand tha.l be promptly altered We have our tbe Loans to Local Bodies Act surely no honest government think of impounding such u robbing Peter to pay Paul of supply, i.V.'OTg ki (lie this morning, beto/e P. M. Wood, charged by Eccleton with being illegally on of Edwin Ticeburst. 3ptea«ed to bard labor.