A GREAT PATRIOTIC WORK.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLII, Issue 10114, 23 October 1917, Page 2

A GREAT PATRIOTIC WORK.

On Thursday and Saturday of this week. | the annual street collection i" aid °' ' l -\ Hftihardo's Homes will be held it* Pahn. cr ?' | ton North, and evervone who Unpws any-, thing of (be patriotic'work which the homes i Inivc now carried on for over fifty year* will wdeomo the opportunity of helping, 'l'hi' value of Ibis work |,aif been emphasised bv press and pulpit throughout the Empire, particularly of late, and recently several Patriotic ll'-d Cross committees in New /oa. land have organised local efforts in «J»PPOrt of the Homes. 'I hat nearly 10.000 old Barnardo boys have rallied to the Royal, Nuvv, the Army, and the movr.antdft marine is bill one proof of the_ spiomUd use which this institution ha, made of tue moneys entrusted to it.. Of these IU.WU bravo fellows, who are now a source '> strength to the Empire, how many would have had the .stamina or character to pass the army or.navy standard if the Homes had not taken them by the hand when they were children. It is 'reasonable to suppose that a large number of them would have been a burden and a menace instead. In "Our England' in" the Shadows," Mr Arthur Mee writes:—"You may not have thought of it perhaps.'but how many thousands pi little English ragamuffins, found starving in English gutters and snatched from misery by charity, while Parliament looked on, are giving up their lives for England now'Xhey owe nothing to any Government ol England, for our Governments let them .starve, but they were ready when knglaiin cdled', and many have died. ' Uld Barnardo boys" have taken part ill » l ; arl >: cverv naval fight in the Great War. At least ten have won commissions, and when the Anzacs retired from Gallipoli, three of four men mentioned in despatches tor braver j in bringing'out the wounded under tire were Barnardo boys. . . It. is a patriotic work to care for the little ones of the men who are lighting, for us. In June last 1021 children of so titers and sailors had-been admitted to the Homos since the war began. "Many a soldiers heart," said the Duke of Somerset, has been comforted and bis mind set at rest l>v tho knowledge that I)r Barnardo s Homes were.sheltering his little ones. U. m the providence of God, he return when the war is over, thev will bo restored to hun; should he fall he has the unspeakable comfort ot knowing that the future of his dear ones ,S Further: As the children of today are the citizens of tomorrow, their care and training are of Imperial importance. \Viio can replace our fallen heroes bat the boys now growing up in our midst?. England, said the "Guardian." "can no longer ajtord to tolerate anv conditions that lends towards wastage 1 of child-life; and it should therefore not be difficult to find a ready response to the claims of such an organization a* Dr Barnardo's Homes, which at this very moment are engaged in the work so essential to the future of the .Empire. < hildren a,re entitled to all that goes to make strong and healthv intelligent men and women. That the boys and girls in the Barnardo Hoifics are so provided for is proved by the low death rate of the inmates, which las year was only 6.46 per thousand against an average of 15 per thousand for the whole of England. .. ~ Offers of assistance in (be street collection will ge gladlv . received by Mrs ( arter. 19 Campbell street, Palmerston North, and donations „,av be sent to Mr U N. I lausen.