UNHAPPY SPAIN.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 130, 3 June 1937, Page 17

UNHAPPY SPAIN.

N.S.W. RELIEF FUND. ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING. COlV'r AC-SICK FOR SUFFEBfK",. I ;'r 'in Our Own i '"rr".-pniicli-nt.) SYDNKY. M.iy '20. Th' -i.iTerin'js of the unfortunate peo!>i'' ; -■.nil. «i rimy! in<! in the throe* of ci> il ir.ha ve made a profound iliiprc--: :|» ■'! I In 1 chili-cd world, and Sydii'-y i- not far behind other great I pith- in 1.-'i' ->'iipatiiy for these hapless.' folk. | L.i-t \|..i day a well attended public j incri if. ■>■■• ■' • i' ''■' .i! t lie Tow u ! !.i II to | con-idcr i utter, and '.t was decided I to e-taiiii.-ii :i New South Wale-; council I for the relict' of lii-Mie--. iii Spain. The] fund- .•"llecfed in this State are to be! forward."! to the National .bunt Com-! mitti'c ;'•>!■ Spanish Kelief in bondon. An executive cmii'iltee was set up indud-, a number of distinguished church-j men an I public men and women: and assuraui"- v. "re received that the Spanish b'eliet' t ommittee. an organisation already at work in Sydney, would be glad toco-operate with the newly formed council. The proceedings were marked by unanimity and enthusiasm. At one stage objection was raised from the body of the audience that Labour had rot hen consulted about the organisation of the new body and that it was pot represented on the council. I The Eon! Mayor, who presided.' pointed out that the committee had! power to add to its numbers, and that I room could be found for representatives j of Labour who might desire to j co-operate. At the same time he repudiated the idea that the new council is in any way partisan or that the movement represents one political body rather than another. Sir Frederick Stewart, who has always taken an active part in philanthropic movements here, put the case for the new council admirably. He assumed that all present, if they were honest, would admit that they did not know where tho merits of the Spanish struggle really lay. But they were not concerned with that. What they needed to know was that thousands of. womeli and children are suffering untold miseries, and he urged the people of New South Wales, quite irrespective of political prejudices, to listen to this appeal.

Cannn Hammond, "the most practical philanthropist in Australia," reminded the audience that the \nsk of relieving the distress caused by the Spanish war was far beyond the powers and resources of Spain herself, and that the number' of refugees from Spain was already estimated at over 1,000.000.

On the whole, the new council started en its career under the best possible auspices, and the argument that some of the money raised will be used to purchase Australian foodstuffs for the use of the destitute may have some effect on those who pride themselves on being impervious to merely sentimental considerations.

It. is not often that events taking' place at so great a distance from outown land have so deeply stirred public feeling in Sydney, and the audience applauded loudly the speech of Dr. Pilchcr (Coadjutor .Bishop of Svdncy) when he told them that ''it would not be in accgrd with either the traditions of Christianity or the traditions of Australia if the people of New South Wales were not given an opportunity to contribute their share toward the relief of the stricken Spanish people."