The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1946 MILLIONS WILL DIE UNLESS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 9, Issue 63, 15 April 1946, Page 4

The Bay of Plenty Beacon Published Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. MONDAY, APRIL 15, 1946 MILLIONS WILL DIE UNLESS

FIVE years of war have plundered Europe of its foodstocks to such an extent that it is estimated, ten years; of intensified effort will be required to attain pre-war stability. Five years of utter destruction and total war have so eliminated the systematic distribution of essentials and manufactured goods that reconstruction is estimated to take twenty y e^ s ef^ e normal supplies are available. Five years of slaughter unceasing have so deprived Europe of her finest manpower which is the fundamental means of livelihood, and production that millions will be doomed to death this year unless speedy help is forthcoming from those countries have been fortunate enough to escape the halocaust of battle and to maintain equilibrium. Those facts may be but vague comparatives to us in sunny New Zealand but the call now a desperate one which includes even our own kinsfolk in England itself. Dare we turn deaf ears to a cry which rises from the tortured heart of humanity itself. We who have never felt the real scourge; we. surrounded by plenty; we who breath the pure air of freedom without fear, we who bv a miracle were spared the horrors of invasion. Here is our clear line of duty. Action is needed and our avenue is through the organisation known as C.0.R.5.0., the volunteer section of the great U.N.R.R.A. movement for the relief of distress and the administration of foodstuffs. Tomorrow evening the first meeting of delegates to the newly sponsored C.0.R.5.0. branch has been convened by the Red Cross, lhe work is one to which every person can contribute, mainly by putting an end to wastage. If every home undertook to save its waste fats, to collect its unused food and clothing coupons, -to hand in its unwanted garments regularly to the organisation which is about to be set up, Whakatane s response would be magnificent. C.0.R.5.0.’s task will be to organise, collect and despatch. Finance will come into it, but on the main.it,is donations in kind which the average family will be most likely to assist in. The Patriotic instinct which raised such substantial funds in this district throughout the war years,'is no longer the necessary spur for contributing towards the prosecution of a war. But the new campaign is an even higher and nobler one. It is dedicated to the relief of distress and suffering which New Zealanders (apart from our returned men) cannot hope to imagine. Publicity is necessary now, so that as soon as the campaign is instituted there need be no delay in hastening our own contributions overseas- Everyone, men, women, boys an girls can help in this direction. The task lies ahead. Our efforts will not be lacking.