SAVING THE SOLDIERS.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LX, Issue 17110, 11 October 1917, Page 6

SAVING THE SOLDIERS.

DANGERS OF LEAVE IN LONDON

WORSE THAN ENEMY BOMBS

HOW THE V.M.C.A. COMBATS THE

STREET PESTILENCE

(By TRIANGLE No. 1.)

LONDON, June 20th. When the-House of Commons reassembled a week ago Mr. Pemberton Billing asked pointed questions whicn inferred that the aerial branch of the Service was not being conducted with a maximum of energy. Some New Zealand soldiers visiting tha Hoiiso under V.M.C.A. auspices were surprised to note that the questions were not taken seriously either by. the Minister who replied (Mr. Bonar Law) or by a majority of the members. Since then London has experienced one of the worst raids on record, and when references are made to the matter of aerial defence the tone of the House is much more serious, Mr. Bonar Law has gone so far as to state that the Government is :n communication with the Military concerning the advisability of raiding certain specified places in Germany". The facts of ■■ Wednesday's air raid will have been cabled to New Zealand. At high noon a dozen or more aeroplanes approached in two formations and from an estimated height of 1500 ft. rained bombs on the Hast End, killing 104 and injuring 510 persons, many of them children in attendance at a County School. Within a hundred yardis of where one bomb exploded several New Zealand soldiers were sightseeing with a V.M.C.A. party aad they rendered great assistance in helpng to remove the wounded "I used to think," said one, "that r shored like to be in London when an. air raid occurred, but never again." The scenes were more pitiful than can be imagined, and it i& sm ill wonder that on the day following the raid a public meeting was held on lower Hill to demand reprisals. Some of the parents of the slaughtered innocents were present.

THE BLACKEST BLOT

The object of this article is not so much to dis.cuss.-the aerial menace as to illustrate the difficulty: of moving Parliament by anything short of disaster. If the most wide awake man ill1 London were asked to name the gravest danger of the hour he would probably say the enemy of the streets. This the true position. England is not decadent, neither is the greatest metropolis in all.-Hie. world, but a crisis'has been reached when the nation must grapple' with the demon that has come as _.* legacy from the easy-going past and is novy thriving on the opportunities afforded by the calling home of so many of our sons of Empire. On the four winds came the call to proteo. those sons. Trie only response up to the present has been the passing of legislation: which is sadly difficult to enforce. The stumbling stone is the old fetish of -f the benefit of the doubt" Meanwhile, the skeletons of wrecked lives are piling- up; the isolation camps for soldiers fuller than ever; and the tragedy is that nothing is being done to isolate the sources of infection What- of the future of the race " unto the third and fourth generation!"

'SAVE THEM FROM THEMSELVES." .

"We must save the soldiers from themselves; we must save the next generation." writes Max Pemberton in the r course of a stinging article in the ■Weekly--P.jcpatch.'- The writer pays a a-arm tribute to Dho V.M.C.A. workers who are striving to protect the soldiers and pleads.withI'those'in authority t.) ' act immediately with that'- sanity; and common sense for which the Britsh people are famous." Yes, the I.M.C.A. i* tackling the social pro>»lem m London with the same tireless energy that has made its efforts no successful in other spheres of action. Not: the least energetic is the New Zealand section of the Association ■•which specialises on the care of the men from " God's Own Country." And they are wcrth caring for, co-npariho1. as tl-ey-da with i\\e best.. As in the case of all mixed armies, however there are flyaways to be curbed and weak ones to be strengthened. A glass of wine, a taxi ride, and a tempting supper start off many a fine fellow on the downward slope to remorse. A few evenings ago a lad with a fiance in New Zealand allowed himself to be 00-lea away by two girl s in their teens. Heedless of advice he went his way and next morning was without the price of a/ n ie- i *Jr -'tne three remaining days ot lis leave he was dependent' upon financial help. This is but one of ■ thousands of such cas?s. They are happening eyerv day and night in full view of all who have eyes" to see. But the 'authorities'see not.

THE COUNTER STROKE. The V.M.C.A. plan of action, is to got into touch, with the men as they reach the city—New Zealand troop trains are always mot—and so fill ik> ths four days of their leave that thsy have neither the time nor. the inclination to fall in with undesirable companions. The great majority of the raon < readily accept 'invitations to join parties, for sfeht-seeing, visiting trie homes of worthy people, or passing away odd .hours -t places of healthy amusement. Thus are they guided past the death traps of the streets and on through these more wholesome parts of London so rich in. historic interest and in the'inspiring examples of great •liv-ss. The-British and Oversers Guide to London department of the V.M.C.A is cliro^to'J by n committee of four, representing the British, Australian/New Zealand, and -Canadian-- associations. "Each for all and all for each" i,-, the motto." In addition to the numerous accommodation.'and canteen huts (with the'r wonderful staff.; of honorary ■women workers) inquiry kmsks have been erectel at various strategic points in the city ~ mrghig traffic where outdoor workers keep constant viail, hefriendino; the lonely and warning' the wayward. Every d'av fifty honorary guides are available for showing soldie;-, round the places of-Greatest interest, either by corch or foot; in the afternoon parties are taken to tea at «nme of the best homes in London (how "they do appreciate the atmosphere of home lifp'V; and in the evening free s^ats are obtained for large number-s of the men at the bent concert halls and theatres. Euter+ainments- are also .provided at the V.M.C.A. huts by the best talent in London; Messrs Pa the Freres give without charge t>"> use of their cinema theatre in "Wardour- • F>""of, ; f, n .i for +h e snecinl benefit of polrl'ers and their lady friends the V.M.C.A. now conduct's the one-time famous nidit club—Giro's. When the crowds are leavinsr the theatres the night motor transport .'of the'Y.M.C.A. l)ecomes busy, no lei? than sixty honorary motorists participating in the rescno work. Dnrrn.c the six' months just on^l 80-Pns soldier, h's.ve been carried toHaces of safety between midnVht and davliHit. When these big pff.n-ts are b^irko'l by nfiVal as *ooneror later they surely-must. London will be a cleaner and grander Em jure city.