Children Were Innocent But First To Suffer In War-Torn Countries

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 44, 7 May 1948, Page 5

Children Were Innocent But First To Suffer In War-Torn Countries

In every country swept by war, -the children were the first to suffer. As surely as the hope of the world rests with their generation, they should now be the. first to be given help. - The prime responsibility for the rising generation lies naturally with the Governments of the countries in which these children are struggling to live. There is hardly one of these Governments for which the problem is not a matter of the highest national interest. Their first task is to ensure adequate food supplies. But tragically enough, the home production from which the bulk of the food must ordinarily come is clearly insufficient. Every counrty which was a-victim of aggression,, wifii the single exception of Denmark, must rely on imports for the feeding of its children. Even those nations which before the war had a surplus of food now face critical shortages. And few of them have the foreign exchange with which to buy food elsewhere. Relief organisations based in countries less seriously affected are giving help on a considerable scale, and efforts are being made to intensify their work. But, however generous and widespread is the work of voluntary agencies, help for the children must go far beyond it. The appeal rests on the hope that people everywhere will be willing to give the fruits of a single day’s work to the relief of children in greatest need of help. It looks to the wage-earner to give a day’s pay, the employer to give a day’s profits—for everyone to. give a day out of the present for the sake of the future of mankind. In New Zealand, the slogan “Give a day—Save a Child” will be the keynote of the ■campaign. ________