NBWTA Report 1904-031
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58 FINANCIAL 59 REPORT. ' « NE of the surest tests of the advance of our association must, il it can think, of necessity be the increased amount of income () either money on affiliati of show in affiliation fees, because the increase paying members proves that new branches have been formed or that r may be said whateve and e, have been added to those already in existenc excep- by-and-bye in the discussion on our agenda in favour (in some hly thoroug have who all think I ship, tional cases) of a non-paying member those that me with agree will work Branch into entered fully and thought are the who pay up their subscriptions regularly, whether rich or poor, tor solid rely we whom upon and s meeting our to rally who s member It is therefore very and efficient help in propagating our campaign. gratifying to look back during the years that have passed, and to see the let rapid and steady advance we have made in this direction, and do not and us forget that we largely owe this happy result to our conscientious painstaking secretary, Miss Gertrude Hunt. Those of us who see behind In the scenes know how thorough and how careful her work has been and tion applica ous continu and nt persiste this respect, for it is only “dogged as does it” when fees are in arrears. I find in going back to the year ending 1892 our accounts show the affiliations fees paid in as £151 from a total of 304 Branches. ‘This With year affiliation fees paid in amount to £407 from 768 Branches. the exception of the years 1894 and 1902, our balance sheets show a quick and steady advance each year as follows :— Affiliation Fees for the year ending 1892, 4151; 1893, A195 5 1894, £4189 (decrease of £6, in Consequence of the secession of a 1895, L291 306 4357 change and as 4393 certain number of the Branches at the time of the division) ; 4219 (increase of £20); 1896, A279 (increase of £60); 1897, (increase of £12); 1898, A302 (increase of 411); 1899, 1900, 4327 (increase of 421); 1901, (increase of £4); £298 (the decrease 1s only owing to 1902, £30); (increase of in the financial year—we closed accounts one month earlier all arrears are paid up the last month, hence the deficit) ; 1993; 1904, 4407 (in these two years we really advanced 432); (increase of £14). Seeing that the affiliation fees so clearly prove the growth and well- being of eur Association, and are, indeed, the mainstay of our work financially, it is evidently most important that they should be paid promptly and up to date. You will hardly believe it, but sometimes our Secretary has been obliged to apply séx times; and there have even been cases when, after writing many times, she has not been able to Of course, this surely does not apply to obtain a reply to her letters. any one here, but will all our County Union Secretaries please make a note of it? This isan important matter of instruction to the smaller Branches at the County Union meetings, and please also make it definitely known that it has been decided in future very strictly to enforce the rule of our Constitution on page 17, section 5. It runs NTS eed “The ° Treasurer shall let the Secretary know how many delegates every Branch is entitled to send to the Annual Council according to the amount of fees paid,’ and that, of course, means adsolutely that no Branch is entitled to send Delegates to the Council unless the fees are paid up to date. There has been some amount of grace shown about this in the past, but we have no right to deviate from the Constitution, and it has been decided that the rule is to be strictly observed in the future. And now as the number and efficiency of our Branches is so obviously a matter of the greatest moment to our work, it follows that we cannot over- estimate the importance of seeking to raise a steady fund for organiza- tion purposes. We are greatly indebted to Lady Carlisle for her kind gift of £50 to this part of our work, and to the other ladies for their generous donations, but we cannot count on these gifts for another year, and I still venture to beg our friends to help me in forming a permanent fund. I have written a great many letters during the past year for subscriptions, but I don’t think the total gained will be more than 470 or £80, and our donation fund is fast dwindling away. Happily, our two Trade Departments, the Literature and the Waz#e Ribbon, are doing very well. Besides the money in hand from past years, the sale of literature has this year made a profit of £91, and the White Ribbon during the last two years and three months has made the delightful profit of £394; the profit this year is £157. The paper is evidently much appreciated by the Branches as the sales have gone up very rapidly. It has been decided to pay in the profits from each of these Departments into the Central Fund, leaving always a working balance in hand of £100. I would suggest that these profits should be definitely set apart for organization work. I think it is a weakness in our great Association to have only one or two organizers. It will be good for our work when every County Union shall see the way to appoint its own organizer, and I think if real effort were made to do this it ought to be quite possible for headquarters, under certain definite conditions, to make some grant towards the expense. How splendid it would be if we could plant our standard in every town and village where drink abounds, and where there are no kindly hands stretched out to save and help the tempted and the fallen. Mary C. GoruHam, Hon. National Treasurer. |