A FUND FOR THE BELGIANS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 10, 29 August 1914, Page 7

A FUND FOR THE BELGIANS.

[To The Editor Stratford Tost.J Sir, —At the request of subscribers here, I am asking you and the editors of other influential journals to open a fund for the relief of Belgians ruined by the German invasion. King Albert’s brave people have the first call upon us on the following grounds: (1) That having taken up arms to light the common foe, the Belgian nation is sacrificing its finest manhood, has laid its flourishing provinces under the booted, heel of the callous invader, the people’s homes have been violated and many of their towns have been wrecked.

(2) If instead of offering armed resistance, they had accepted German bribes, the enemy would have carried out its plan of campaign without hindrance, have invaded Franco and established strong strategic positions during the early stages of the war. (3) The stubborn resistance of Belgium has prevented this, has in fact bent the edge of the German sword and considerably added to the Allies’ prospects of ultimate victory. This has saved the Allies many millions sterling, and must reduce their death rolls considerably. (4) Belgium’s noble service to civilisation perhaps lies in the fact that she is lighting for the principle of international honor. From the first beat of the drum, she fully recognised that even with the best fortune of war she could not keep the armies of Germany out of her fair land. By unsheathing her sword, Belgium again became the cock-pit of Europe,

(o) It is therefore the first duty, aud it should be the pleasure, of the people iu the Overseas’ Dominions, living in peace and far from the awful held of conflict, to do all that lies in their power to recoup the Belgians for the supreme sacrifices they have made.

It is proposed that the fund now being instituted shall be known as the Belgian Belief Fund. To keep it distinct from the other patriotic aud relief funds in this Dominion, it is suggested that it should bo coinducted by the Press, actng in conjunction with the Mayors of towns, chairmen of county councils, and chairmen of other local bodies. The distribution of the fund shall he at the discretion of a committee to be set up, with the Hon Charles Johnson, Belgian Consul-General, Wellington, as its chairman. l*o make the appeal a success it must have the full sympathy and support of the Press, and I think I am right in assuming that you will lend your valuable paper and your influential pen to the object in view,—l am, sir,

W. C. WHITLOCK, Editor Hawke’s Bay Tribuuee, Hastings, August 26.