H.A.C.B. SOCIETY.

New Zealand Tablet, 3 February 1916, Page 51

H.A.C.B. SOCIETY.

To the Editor..

Sir, —I am afraid Bro. Kane (district secretary) is so obsessed with the injustice of the district executive in moving the postponement of the triennial movable meeting for 1916, that he has not taken time to read or digest my last letter in your columns. If he will re-read that letter he will find that I have never hinted at or suggested anything so absurd as asking the branches to reverse their votes of August last, and now vote for the triennial movable meeting to be held in Westport. The action of the district executive in bringing forward their motion at a half-yearly meeting of proxies, and the subsequent neglect of the district secretary in referring tto the Registrar of Friendly Societies the appeal lodged by branch No. 95 against the postponement, have effectively killed any hope of holding the meeting at Westport this year. What I urged on the branches to do was to send a direct representative to the annual meeting, which should be held in Auckland next month (but which I now learn has been postponed until late in April), and thus enable the business of the society to be carried out in an efficient manner, and I still urge on branches to do this. In order that branches may fully understand my reasons for such an appeal I would ask the district secretary to immediately circulate the order paper so that they may see the important business to be brought forward, which business should command something better than the silent vote of selected proxies.

The magnanimity of the district executive in. refraining from voting on the postponement question reminds me very much of the little boy, who, knowing where there was a decent boulder near the top of a hill, and one day wishing to see it roll down the hill, called some of his friends to see the fun. He gave it a push, and started it on its downward course, relying on his friends to see that it reached the foot of the hill. When the resultant damage was assessed, the boy denied all responsibility, as he only started it rolling, whilst the other fellows pushed it down the hill. The district secretary has made much of the branches having voted for the postponement, but if members will take the trouble to look at the -halfyearly report of the meeting in August, 1915, they will note on pages 3 and 4, that 61 branches were represented at the meeting when the roll was called, of which number I take it some dozen members, whom the president specially welcomed (pages 4 and 5), were direct representatives. A vote taken from such a full meeting would have been interesting, but we find that through some bungling on the part of some member or members of the district executive the meeting was adjourned until the following evening (page 7), and that when the vote was actually taken only 46 branches, instead of 61, were represented (page 13), the voting being 23 branches (counting 33 votes), for the postponement of the triennial meeting, and 13 branches (counting 22 votes) against. An analysis of the voting shows that out of the twelve delegates welcomed by the president (presumably direct representatives of their particular branches), only two voted for the motion, whilst five voted against, the remaining five riot being present when the vote was taken. Of the 23 branches supporting the postponement I would like to ask the district secretary to say: (a) How many were directly represented at the meeting ; (b) how many were represented by proxies; and (c) of the proxy representatives, how • many were selected or chosen or suggested by the district secretary or any member of the district executive. Perhaps the district secretary would also oblige by saying what became of the appeal from v; branch No. 95, and whether it has ever been sent to the Registrar, and, if so, what was his decision. I ' regret, Sir, the necessity which compels me to so encroach on your valuable space.-— -I am, etc., J. J. L. BUBKE. v Wellington, January 16, 1916. v