FOR THOSE IN NEED.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIX, Issue 18089, 13 May 1922, Page 1 (Supplement)

FOR THOSE IN NEED.

WINTER'S HARDSHIPS.

BY ELSIE K. MORTON..

The near approach of winter, with its menace of increasing unemployment and added hardships to the sick, tho poor, and tho aged, directs the thought and sympathy of all kindly-hearted men "and women of Auckland to tho dire need of those whose lives are spent on the borderland of poverty. Many people feel a stirring of compassion, aii impulse to stretch out a helping hand, when this ever-pre-sent need is made known to them, but all too often tho impulse is allowed to pass unheeded, the help is withheld, because they are not quite certain bow to mako tho effort which their kindly natures would impel. To men and women such as these, tho commercial travellers' collection, and clothes "drive" to be held noxt week offers a splendid opportunity of putting into effect tho good intentions long ignored, while to tho great body of the people who pass on their way with never a thought of tho unbappiness and distress of those in their midst, tho effort will como as a sharo reminder oi a dm,y to which they must for once give heed. Bad as the times are for many, thoro are few, apart from the actual victims of misfortune, who will bo actually unable to spare a small contribution in money or in clothing, to mako this lino offort tho success it surely deserves to be. Of all tlioso who refuse tho appeal of tho collectors on Friday next, there will be very few so poor that hunger has looked at them from tho eyes of their little children, few so deeply sunk in misfortune that they cannot stretch out a helping hand in ono small effort to lighten tho burden of affliction which presses heavily upon so many of their fellow men and women, •• Cases of Urgent Need. How heavily this burden presses is known only too well to every social worker in tho city; a day spent in company wit u any ono of them would convince tho hardest-hearted and most sceptical that thero is very' real and urgent need for the effort to bo made next wock in aid of the good work being done so quietly and thoroughly in our midst. Tho social workers are now having to meet a need different from that to which years of experience have accustomed them. It is the urpent. fear-stricken call of the woman who for tho first time in her life finds herself face to face with destitution, whose soul is torn with the terror of starvation for her little children, of finding herself homeless, her breadwinner thrust suddenly by a cruel fate into the evergrowing ranks of the unemployed. "These are tho people with whom we are finding it hardest of all to deal said one of the city's best known social workers yesterday. "There is so little wo can do to relieve them. We can give them temporary help, but we cannot remove the cause of their distress. They are people, frugal and honest living, who have always managed to keep going because the husband has had work. Now for the first time, he has lost his place among the workers, and there is nothing for them to fall back upon. Can you. imagine what this means to these poor women, who have never had to beg or borrow in their lives? It means a husband tramping the city day by day vainly seeking work, the tiny store of money growing less and less, and before very long a call upon charity for food to ward off actual starvation for their children, for the means of keeping a roof over their heads. In the face of disaster such as this, it is no wonder these poor women become frightened and desperate. One hais to be taught to endure suffering, and it has come upon them suddenly, and they have not yet found the strength arid courage to meet it. Most distressing of all is the case of the expectant mother. Every woman will understand what all this "trouble means to the unfortunate mother who must bring another soul into this world under such cruel conditions. One of these poor women came to mo onlv yesterday : she already has seven children, tho eldest only 14.

E fleet upon Home Life. An insight into the effect which the present unhappy state of affairs is having upon the home "life of the community, was given hy another -worker, who stated that never within years of experience had she known of so many cases of wife-desertion as were occurring at the present time, a phase of social distress that has also been brought strongly before the notice of the Relief Committee of Charitably Aid Board » The conditions of overcrowding under which so many poor people arc living at the present time are in no small degree responsible for this breaking up of family life. One can readily imagine what it means to a man, discouraged, sometimes sick with worry and disappointment, to come home to one wretched room in wheh the wholo family must live and eat and sleep, to be greeted by hungry, crying children and a disheartened wife. Social workers have been pointing out for a long time past the serious effect which these wretched conditions were going to have upon social life, and sooner or later a vory unhappy harvest will inevitably be reaped Another proof of the desperate straits to which many poor people are reduced, and of the corresponding need for liberal supnort for the social workers, is contained in the fact thn.t the clothes depot run in connection with the Grey Street Mission has been closed down lately for weeks at a time, so greatly have the demands exuded the supply. And every day now, v, s mission creche is filled with little children, whose mothers thankfully leave them here while thev go out. to scrnb and wash arid toil in other women's homes, willing breadwinners in a time of anxiety and stress. But it is ikjS only the women who arp. suffering as a .■nsu'lfc of hard times, although their h :rden is always the heaviest. To bo out of work, homeless, bopeless,- and pennies is a state from which any man may well pray to bo delivered, yet this cruel fate has apparently overtaken a number of men in Auckland late.lv. A social worker, whose home lies "not far from a secluded gully, has stated that in the early meaning she fremientlv sees men come stenhj * out from among the bushes, where they had lain all night: some oi these unfortunates have come to her as they passed bv, wet and hungry from exposure to the chilly night, and begged for something warm to put on. a bite of food to stay their hunger. "They are not tho tvpo of ordinary vagrant," she said, "but some of them mere lads, stranded, unablo t.: got work, and absolutely down on their lick. Thev are not looking for charity, and only soek it when too hard driven to withstand cold and hunger any longer. I hope Aiicklanders will think of these cases when the travellers arc making their clothes 'drive' next Saturday. Wo are very badly in need of men's boots, for men aro walking hour after hour trying to find work and save car faro, and when their boots wear out, they aro unable to pay for repairs."

Needs of the Aged. Tin I'd as winder is lo all the ranks of Hie poor, tliero is one class In which it ever brings still greater hardship, to i.ho old people who are passing their last years in loneliness and poverty. Every social worker in Auckland can give pitiful details of the plight of some of these poor old folk, some of them with not a penny in the world save their old-age pension. dependant on the kindly aid of the social workers for their scant clothing and the f©w meagre comforts they possess. Some of thorn have heen cast adrift, in their old age by ungrateful children, some are utterly alone, and a great number of them are feeble and ailing. The thought of thoir plight may well iitir to generosity the hearts of all to whom the fates have been kind, arid prompt not merely a passing impulse of uympathy, but a 'determination to aid to the uttermost next -week the efforts of those who are devoting their lives to the causa iq| tho poor, the sick and the distressed.