BELGIAN RELIEF FUND

Otago Daily Times, Issue 16982, 19 April 1917, Page 8

BELGIAN RELIEF FUND

URGENT CLAIM UPON 'HIE PEOPLE. MOKE MUST BE DONE. A meeting of tho / Public Appeal Committee, of the Otago'Patriotic mid General Welfare Association and the Women's Committee that has boon conducting a house-to-houso canvass in Duncdin and suburbs in connection with the Belgian Relief Fund was hold lust night in the Bristol Music Hall* to discuss matters in connection with the fund, which has not lately been meeting with the amount of public support it demands. Mr J. A. Johnstono presided in the- absence of the Mayor, who was unable to be present owing to a. meeting of the City Council.

Tho Belgian Consul (Mr G. L. Donniston) gavo a brief address, thanking the ladies lor their steady, conscientious, and successful work in collecting all through the tinio of war, and emphasising the double debt the world owed to Belgium—the debt of humanity, and the special debt on account of the heroic services rendered by Belgium in tho early days, which gave breathing time to the Allied armies, lie assured the ladies, from different sources, that thero were between 3.000,000 and 4,000.000 Belgians absolutely dependent on foreign assistance to stand between them and starvation, and that the need was nevgj more urgent than at tho present moment. Mr Johnstone said that tho Public Appeal Committee had invited the lady collectors of the collecting- teams for the J3olgian Relief Fund to meet it in order that tho committee might hear at first hand wJiat. in the opinion of the collectors, was best to be done to restore to something like their original state the monthly contributions to the lund. It was in the month of April, 1915, that these monthly collections wore inaugurated in Duncdin and oat-' lying suburbs. At tho same time country branches of the Patriotic Association wvro invited to co-opcrato in the movement, and the committee how gratefully acknowledged the help that they Had been to thn cause. For many months past, however, both in town and country, there had been a great falling off in the inflow of contributions, and so far as he had boon able to ascertain there had been no justifiable cause for the withdrawal of help from the people who, beyond all others, wore the most deserving of practical sympathy and continuous support. Surely, after two years and a-half of tho most cruel and devastating war of which there was any record in .history, it was not necessary to plead the. cause of the women and children and the old men of Belgium. No people had so great a claim upon us as had the inhabitants of a country which was almost entirely occupied .by our common enemy and most inhuman and implacable foe. The plight of the unhappy Belgian people was to-day more desperate than ever, for now $hat America had joined the Allies the great organisation which she had formed for tho relief of the down-trodden Belgians had, to some extent at all events, had its efficacy impaired, and its food ships were no longer immune from attacks by enemy submarines. Fortunately, however, Holland had taken over America's merciful work, and was doing all that lay in her. power to see that the starving and semi-starvihg millions of B> lgium were fed and clothed. According to latest advices, Holland's efforts were not being seriously interfered with, and as long as we had reasonable and authentic assurances that the food and clothing our contributions wore used to purchase were reaching the destitute Belgian's we should fool it both a duty and a privilege to keep up, even at a personal sacrifice, our subscriptions to the fund. Not only that, but people possessed of a humane spirit, who were in a position to give, should feel that they could no longer hold back from helping so urgent and so noble. a cause. He would ask all present, and all who might road these words, to consider for a few moments what, in the light of past and present events, would undoubtedly have been our plight if the heroic little Belgian army had not opposed and impeded, but for a few days, the tremendous fighting force that the skill and science of modern Germany had devised for the torture of the world. Wo, who were of British blood, would not, under any pretext whatsoever, ourselves from responsibility in the matter for Belgium's action undoubtedly saved us at least from grave disaster. Even 'though we in New Zealand were thousands of miles away from tho scenes of carnage, destruction, and devastation, did wo owe Belgium no debt? In tho namo of a common humanity, was it not- obPgatory on our part to continue to succour tho people of Belgium? If they were not a first claim on British subjects tho world over, then he for one would begin to doubt if we in these distant parts of the Empire had ever truly learnt the meaning of the golden rule of doing unto others as we would bo. done by. There was none of us, if we lived in Bolgiim during this time of horror, but would bo looking for aid from the countries of the civilised world that were not stricken by tho cruel hand of war. The Belgians looked to us, as to other British communities, to sustain them in this dark hour. Would we deny them? He was sure, if all the collectors engaged in this noble work were imbued with a spirit of enthusiasm for the Belgians, they would succeed in their efforts to help, and ho was absolutely confident that, if they stated tho plain facts of the case to those upon whom they called, few would refuse to assist them. Anything that was worth doing in life was worth doing well. Ho had had considerable experience of collecting himself, and admitted that it was not always exactly agreeable work; but, in his judgment, there was no method to bo compared with this direct moans of raising funds, especially in a time of • great crisis. . For people who gavo undoubtedly liked to know that the whole sum they subscribed went without deduction to the object for which it was subscribed. Tho principal questions that should trouble a collector were: Was It a worthy object; and wero the people to be called upon in a position to assist? If these questions could be satisfactorily answered, then the way was comparatively ole-ax. In tho case of tlio Belgian Fund ho thought no one would question that the_ work of feeding and clothing tho sorely stricken Belgians was worthy and of paramount importance. No better cause was ever presented to tho people of a pros>perous land. As to the second question, the captain of the collecting team should always bo ablr> to indicate tr> hnr collegers tbo individuals,! firms, or companies whoso circumstances were such that it was undesirable that their assistance should be sought. Ho ' know an'te well how many other claims there were upon the-people, but ho thought the olnirn of Belgium stood first, and. apart from • that view, be believed it could truthfully bo said that few in the community, nn mattor'how generous they had boon, had done all that it was possible for them to do for the help of ptho-rs in the tragic times through which we were passing. Tho bank returns for the past year disclosed that the people of the dominion had wirings to tho extent of £38 OCO 000. and in the Post Office- and other savings banks the eerd't balances amounted to £25.000.000. Lot each one ask what expensive personal habit had boon curtailed because of the war and because of the sufferings of others. If wo coiild not say that we had dene any one or all of these things, then wo might say of ourselves that wo had failed in our duty. In connection with tho Belgian Fund they had aimod at colat least £1000 per month, but in one month only—May, 1915—had they ever approached that sum. In that month the Fubcriptions_ reached £988 Is 8d Since then the decline h:>d boor! frradml and continuous, until in February of this year tho subscriptions readied only £43? 13s 10d. " Of course, that monthly eollont-'on did not represent bv .any moans all thnfc had boon done for tho B"ljian- Fund in Otairo. Tho total amount received under tho hnnso-to-canvass sehomo was £"564 15s Id. and throncf) tho other ofFortr. of tho Patriotic Association and tho Of-.-i.jm Dn.flv Times working t.OGrnl;h«i\ £72.9 M 15s had boon raised. making a nr.ind totii of £81.534 10s Id. His. earnest hirne was tint the :mmodi■nto future would witness a prompt and spontaneous effort on the part of larcro numbers of tho inhnbitnnts of Otago to help to augment t.h-n fund.

Mr C. Starlit -nrWross"d tho in survnrvrt of tile ofFrrrt tn n, Tl n-"if>rit t>lo fund. On fli» TTioHon of ft-Pss Runriman. swvnnrlnrl by TWro .Tnckson. it 7t\as msnlvod that t.ho moTiMilv for til" TV>l<"<iTi TTiiiul It-> 1,-ont un. n-nd t.Wt a nT»otin<r b" cilW for Pnrly : n Mo-v in-v:t,:.i-T "11 svTn™tfv«prs -itli f\, n fnnd "to Tnoot tho. ennvruffrr-p. w'fll n to rorolV<.t.:ons in certain distrcts that, had become vno/int.