FOR THE WOUNDED

Otago Daily Times, Issue 24296, 13 May 1940, Page 6

FOR THE WOUNDED

There is a spirited element of challenge in the decision reached by a representative meeting in Dunedin to ask the public to subscribe in a period of three weeks the £25,000 which will form the local contribution to the fund for the wounded. Citizens will be well prepared for the appeal which is to be launched to-day, and should be more than willing to assist it freely and with good heart. The £250,000 which, it has been decided, is to form the nucleus of a New Zealand fund for sick, wounded and distressed servicemen is, it will be recognised, none too large to provide a proper basis for the work of succour that is an inevitable necessity in war-time. The people of New Zealand will certainly not desire that those thousands of men from this Dominion who are taking upon themselves the grim front-line burdens in the defence of democracy should, in their need, become a charge upon the funds of the International Red Cross subscribed from beyond the shores of their own country. Rather, they will consider that the assistance which is given should come directly from their homeland. In joining forces the New Zealand Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John have created an organisation in the Dominion that is the best guarantee of the' efficient administration of moneys collected for the merciful labours that are their especial charge. Instead of being faced with a multiplicity of appeals, the public is being asked to subscribe to only a select list of funds for patriotic purposes, and among them the urgent needs of the Red Cross must stand high in the regard of the community. The campaign for which the support of the people of Dunedin will so soon be requested

is being inaugurated in a spirit of confidence, and there is no reason to doubt the readiness and capacity of the citizens to justify the bold expectations of the organisers. •