THE APPEAL FROM BELGIUM

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2392, 23 February 1915, Page 4

THE APPEAL FROM BELGIUM

No one oan read unmoved the pitiful appeal that has now reached the Dominion _ "on behalf of seven million starving Belgians." The position of these brave but unfortunate people who have suffered so terribly at the hands of the German forces has been to some extent indicated by the harrowing details published of the ruthless and brutal' behaviour of. their self-constituted enemies; but even with the information available it is impossible to picture the full horror of their lot. Mothers who have lost their sons; wives who have lost their' husbands; children made orphans; homeless, foodlcss, hopeless. Their, lives a terror, their future—how can; people so dreadfully oppressed with the woes, and sufferings of" to-day think of the future 1 women; mutilated men; helpless children—all living in the deepest distress of mind and body, and in most,cases unable to help themselves? Dependent for the barest means of subsistence on the help of those more fortunately situated, they are forced to appeal for relief from their terrible sufferings— so far as such relief can be afforded by a sufficiency of food, to staye off starvation. A cry for help has come across the seas direct to the people of New Zealand, and the people of the Dominion, apart from- their humanitarian instincts and their natural sympathy with the helpless women and the foodless little ones crushed by the merciless methods and cruelties of German militarism, are in honour bound to respond generously to the appeal made. It cannot, it must never be lost sight of, that Belgium's dreadful position to-day is mainly due to her trust in and friendship for Britain; and that the sacrifices she hae made have been of incalculable benefit to us and to our Allies. We are pledged in honour to see Belgium righted, and equally wo are pledged to lend all the assistance possible to lighten the load of misery which is crushing /the hearts and torturing the bodies of her people. New Zealand's part in the relief work must necessarily be relatively small, but we cad at least bear our full share of the'burden. Already many citizens have responded generously to the call for assistance made tnrough the Belgian Con-sul-General for the Dominion, and the Government has also made a, contribution to the Relief .Fund; but it is quite plain that if anything like an adequate sum is to be forwarded monthly, as is so urgently sought, it will have to come through the Government. Ministers should have little hesitation in undertaking this responsibility. They may consider it necessary to first communicate with the Hign Commissioner on the subject, or with the Belgian . Consular authorities here, as to the exact position; but New Zealand cannot stand idly by while the horrors which have come to the women and children who remain in Belgium are aggravated by the agonies of starvation. It is after all a small sacrifice for us to make a monetary contribution compared with the terrible sacrifices which our Belgian Allies have made—we owe it to ourselves as well aB to them that this responsibility shall be fully and freely met.