CIVILIANS’ DEBT TO SOLDIERS

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 77, 12 August 1942, Page 4

CIVILIANS’ DEBT TO SOLDIERS

Wellington, This Day “Some people have not subscribed to the National Patriotic Fund appeal or have given only a small donation because they do not realise the extent of the work that is being done by the patriotic funds.” said Monsignor Connolly, chairman of the Catholic War Services Fund Board last night. “They-do not appreciate the fact,” he continued, “that the organisation controlling these funds provides them with the opportunity of paying a personal debt they owe the men of our forces, not a debt in the sense of being something that can be exacted in a court of justice. It is something more sacred —a sharing of one’s possessions with a comrade who is unprovided for, sick, wounded oi imprisoned. It is an expression of that human generosity displayed among those in common adversity. “You would share if you were a fellow digger in the desert, a neighbouring patient in a casualty station, or shut pp in a foreign prison caino Is it because you yourself are not experiencing these hardships or misfortunes that you cannot realise the need of your help? If so, wake up! Be assured that the gift you make to the Patriotic Fund surely finds its way to a man in need.”—P.A.