POPPY DAY PROCEEDS

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLVI, Issue 26, 30 December 1925, Page 11

POPPY DAY PROCEEDS

SUCCESS IN BRITAIN. SUM OF £400,000 REALISED. LONDON, Nov. 21. Field Marshal Earl Haig’s Poppy Day appeal on behalf of tho British Legion was remarkably successful this year. It is estimated that the collections from the sale of poppies on Armistice Day will amount to £400,000. This is £50,000 more than was collected a year ago, and nearly £300,000 in advance of the amount raised when tho appeal was inaugurated in 1921. The steady rate of progress is seen in the figures for tho four previous annual appeals: 1921, £106,000; 1922, £204,000; 1923, £259,000; 1924, £350,000.

These figures, if they do nothing else, show that the national sense of. indebtedness to the disabled ex-service men has been awakened to a remarkable degree, and the record set for this year is eloquent testimony, if such were needed, that the public is in sympathy with and approves of the efforts which Earl Haig is making to ease the burden for those who gave so much in their country’s cause. So considerable is the work entailed by this annual appeal—most of it voluntary, it should be noted —that there is practically no break between one collection and the next, and already tho headquarters staff is perfecting its plans for next year’s appeal. Tho manufacture of poppies goes on all the year round at the British Legion’s workshops, and for this year’s appeal 26,000,000 poppies were sent out, against 21,000,000 last year, while requisitions for supplies were up by as much as 33 1-3 per cent. What is believed to bo tho highest price- paid for a singlo poppy was obtained by Florence Lady Garvagh, who was in charge of the depot at tho Ritz Hotel. Noticing that Princess Arthur of Connaught was wearing a posy of the little scarlet flowers, she asked permision to auction one, and, her request being granted, she succeeded in inducing the guests in tho hotel to bid up to £3O, at which figure it was knocked down to a lady from America.

The only regret of the organisers is that they have been unable to prevent tho sale of unauthorised poppies, which they know took place to a very considerable extent. In this connection tho street hawkers wore not tho only defaulters, quite a big business being done by florists in supplying wreaths of poppies similar to, but unauthorised hy, tho Poppy Day organisers.

“Wo do not blamo ,tho florists altogether, ” said Captain. Willcox, organising secretary of the fund. “Theirs is not a deliberate action to exploit the demand created by Earl Haig’s appeal; in most cases it is just thoughtlessness. But there is no excuse for tho makers of these poppies, who for months before Armistice Day have travellers out soliciting orders for bulk supplies from florists who make a feature of supplying wreaths. It is only necessary to make a tour of the local war memorials where wreaths have been deposited to realise the extent of this trade.”