BUSINESS MEN'S EFFORT

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 16673, 18 October 1917, Page 7

BUSINESS MEN'S EFFORT

APPEAL FOR ,£50,000. .; ACTIVE WORK STARTED. . The.Businoss Men's»Committee, set up to raiso funds for. the ' Red a Cross,,; is ■ now actively at work ' The executive seeks to impress: on the ■ community... that the . Bed Cross Society is practically, part and parcel of the British* Wt.r Department. :\ ■ ■~,'' ■ For many years past the establishment in time of war ,of the British, Army has always included the organisations rof the Bed Cross Society and' the St. John Am-1 bulance Society, no . essential \ units, and no I Expeditionary Force has; during tho present century, left England without Red Cross equipment. .The great war : has • seen this branch of humanitarian work grow to unheard-of proportions, and the more it grows the more effective becomes ■ its service ■'. • ' /, ... •:.■;. ■',-

Extraordinary efforts are now made to reach and relieve men' immediately after they are wounded, and thousands are alive to tell their experience of going into action at daylight, being wounded, succoured by Red Cross men . and sisters, placed on ambulances, : passed through dressing stations and hospitals to trains and steamers, and of arriving in London on the afternoon of the day they ■ wero injured, The Red Cross members recognise that promptness in attending to the wounded, oft-times means the saving of a life, and they are quite aware that it can only be done by having tremendous equipment and sufficient, helpers available. Tho War Department supplies the bulk of the necessary plant, but there still remains a 'truly astonishing list of necessaries ' and comforts to mitigate suffering which .the Red Cross Society makes it a duty .'to supply. The British Army has so long relied on the Red, Cross for this special service, and the people of the British Empire have becomo so convinced that the labour of love is incapable bands, that the different communities of the nation have subscribed huge sums to supplement the Rod Cross disbursements of the War Department. It is stated that the London Times Fund for this purpose has exceeded £7,000,000 for the present war. Canada reports £8,000,000 for tie same purposo ; from about 8,000,000 people, while New Zealand, with its grand record for subscribing money for other patriotic purposes, finds its name at the bottom of the, list of British dependencies, and Auckland tho least responsive of New Zealand provinces to the Red: Cross needs. Auckland business men .feel, therefore, that citizens must see to fit that they do •' their fair share in this great work, and even if pases occur in which some waste or duplication may be pointed to, it should, they say, be remembered that) Where urgency requires prompt action expenditure is always liable to bo less economic, but that the need justifies the extra outlay. _ The committee now seeks to place this matter before the Provincial District, of Auckland, , and ' hopes to impress every person with the urgent need of assistance to the. Red Cross work, the expenditure on; which, outside of the . commitments of the War Department, reaches. an enormous sum. The committee, therefore, considers that nothing less than £50,000 should' be aimed at as Auckland's share of the British Bed Cross war work,' arid the campaign for this purpose is: intended to be short and sharp. . • ■•; ' ; ; Mr. ;.C]iarle3 Rhodes has ; been appointed deputy-chairman of '.the . executive committee^ ;.. <■' :