WAR WIDOWS

Nelson Evening Mail, 27 May 1916, Page 6

WAR WIDOWS

a salvation'army scheme.

Provision, for-the orphans of. soldiers does not mark the limit of &£*££ Army endeavour in regard to those left destitute by the war. From the start of the war there nas been manifest in this country a laudable desire that her brave defenders, their women-folk, and. children, should be adequately provided for under all contingencies. This sentiment is the more gratifying because in- the sanjrainarv struggles of other days much suffering, misery, and loss has, for one reason or another, gone unrelieved. Ohe public rightly feels that it does not wish to see a repetition of this kind' of thine; indeed, probably no one -would •be found to-day Who -would not join in the crv "How best can the victims of this wide-spread, and devastating strife be helped?" , . , , . ~,, The widows and their helpless children are probably the most pathetic sufferers of all, and their present distress and future well-being have to be taken into account. The nation has before it no more appealing problem, and its solution is heavily freighted with consequences for the whole British Empire be its responsibilities Tecognised never so keenly. State maohinery must always be more or less cumbersome, slow-mov-ing, expensive, and lacking in the essential of a sympathetic personal touch, and so General Booth, wath expert advice, has formulated a scheme to provide for the transference of widows with their families, from the British Isles to the King's Dominions overseas bv utilising the organisation which the Salvation Army have developed in connection with the Darkest England scheme" in co-operation ™th the respective Governments at Home and abroad. . ... It might not-be out of place m this connexion to remark that the Salvation Army Emigration Department &™? largest Emieratior* agency m the British Empire, and has, in the course of \£ years, directed the transference of Inearlv 90.000 .British people to -he oversea Dominions, with less than one pev cent of failures over all. In the case of war widows and their children who mav be sent it is stated that widows would only be sent to towns or districts where arrangements could be made for their welcome by some responsible person authorised by the Salvation Army; who .would) see them comfortablv initiated m their new homes and guide assistthem until thev were established.'... The Armv ■would standi ibv every, case for which it assumed responsibility for four years. Non-success is contemplated as a very remote and exceptional contingency, bnt the Armv would brans back to the place from which they emigrated, any widow who proved a failure. In the ' event of the death of a widow, the care of the children would become at once tfc* business of the Army local representative. ■■'.'. , Benorts regarding the progress ot the families emigrated, would be furnished to the Public Trustee at least owe a year for four years. This scheme is not being advanced as an- experiment toy any means. All the pioneering work has been: done, and the machinerv for dealing with this class of work has been in operation for years 'and is in full working order. in carrying out the scheme, the Salvation Armv would work on approved tones, taking fullest ad<vanta<™»s of existing facilities co-onerating with Governments and other authorities and utilising its own machnery to the maximum capacity, wlril* imparting into all its en*«rprve* that svmuathetic nersonal touch which ia the hall mark of all interested service* ■* On- readers are doubtless already famiKar wi«i the question of sex in- ' eoualitv in England, which wjll be much intended bv the war. and for all who are Vw«irin"«- for t*« British Empire idwl this scheme will be accepted as a solntion of one treat problem The T>r««encp too of Sir Rider tta*rgard> ii> these Southern Island reminds ™ all that h~—*<* an authority—car*fnlhr. inßoect*d the Salvation Armys Emieration at Horn* __ and siKroad. and heartily commended it m his official reoort, Thu= the Dominion can rest :><wnred that +sie transference y wil! «be effort*"* under" the be=t of conditions and a*l humanly speaking, that is. possible will be done this end. to enable "the readiustment to. take place without any-serious dislocation.