THE ONLY REMEDY

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXII, Issue 147, 7 June 1932, Page 8

THE ONLY REMEDY

A NEIGHBOURLY SPIRIT ALLEVIATING LOCAL DISTRESS. THE WILL, BUT NOT THE MONEY. Captain Kirby, the Church Army Missioner who recently conducted a mission in Hastings, made a strikingly vivid statement when, m an address to men, he said that the ills of the world could not be cured by the sending of deputations to Wellington, or by the levying of taxes, or by any merely political action; but that the only remedy was the universal exercise of neighbourly kindness, and the carrying into the common actions of everyday life the Christian spirit of unselfishness and generous tolerance. There are roughly 800 unemployed adult men in this town, and about the same number in the rural areas skirting it. No register of unemployed youths or of women is kept, and it would be rash to estimate the totals in those two classes. It needs little imagination, however, to see that the unemployed and those dependent upon them ui affected in some way by their financial distress must number easily two thousand, which is a ■ pitifully largo proportion of a population of littlte more than 12,000. AN EARNEST ENDEAVOUR. The Hastings Red Cross Society for many months past has been earnestly endeavouring to relieve distress among those in need, and especially to give assistance to families and to women who have to seek, and too often to seek in vain, for the work that there is no one else to do for their support. So that the whole of the work might be co-ordinated, and therefore done more economically and to the greater satisfaction both of the helped and the helpers, such organisations as the Plunkot Society and the District Nursing Association have handed over the whole of their relief work to the Red Cross, and the various branches oi the Women’s Division of the Farmers’ Union and the Women’s Institute have linked up with the Red Cross for the purpose of assisting in the relief of distress in the rural districts. All those bodies, and other relief organisations, are now working in complete unity, and the result has been that the Red Cross, among the members of which are included representatives of the bodies mentioned, has what might be described as virtually a monopoly oi relief work in this town and district. SOCIETY COMPLETELY POWERLESS. To-day it is almost completely powerless to continue its activities, and recently the Red Cross Clothing Depot had to be closed down for want of clothing suitable to issue to those in want. There is no lack of summer clothing at the depot, but there is a complete lack of warm underwear for men, women, and children, and oi working clothes and boots suitable to issue to the men who have to go out on relief works. The wdnt is real, and it is urgent; and hundreds of people are suffering something a good deal worse than discomfort for want of sufficient clothing. That is a statement that will be readily verified by those who carry out investigation work for the Red Cross. They have been so long accustomed to their work that they are not over-persuaded by sentiment to exaggerate the conditions in this town, and they are able to quote facts to support their plea that the situation calls for immediate relief. £5OO NEEDED AT ONCE. But the Red Cross has no money with which to carry on its excellent work. A minimum of £5OO is needed at once, and this week the society will ask the public to contribute that amount. The matter of financial needs has been gone into thoroughly, and the Relief Committee is convinced that no material relief can be given without that amount. On Saturday a collection day will be held in Hastings and the adjoining district, and Mr G. A. Maddison has been put in charge of the organisation. During the week Mr T. Pickett will make a collection throughout the area which the committee has decided to canvass, but Saturday will be the chief day. Everyone who then or beforehand gives 2/6 or more will be issued with a badge indicating that the giver is not to be asked again. Collectors have been appointed to make a collection throughout a wide area, and country residents are asked to remember that the Red Cross Relief Committee’s work deals fully with distress in tho country as well as in the town.