The Dominion. WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 20, 1915. HOW BELGIUM IS BEING HELPED

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2597, 20 October 1915, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY. OCTOBER 20, 1915. HOW BELGIUM IS BEING HELPED

Those people in New Zealand who have contributed so liberally to assist the unfortunate Belgian population in their terrible time of agony and distress will be gratified to learn that the contributions are being spent to good purpose and under an excellent system of administration. There is always some uncertainty as to how such funds will be administered, ancl it is therefore most reassuring to have a detailed ancl businesslike account of what is being done in this matter which has touched us so deeply. By the mail which arrived here on Monday evening last we received from the Chairman of the Commission for the Relief of Belgium a copy of the Commission's report giving an account' of what had been accomplished up to June 30 last in the way of assisting the Belgian people —that is to say, during a period of about eight months. The work has evidently been carefully planned and carried out in a most systematic manner. A relief problem of great difficulty and unprecedented magnitude had to be grappled with. Towards the end of last year an organised effort to deal with the position was inaugurated. In explaining the nature of the emergency which had to be faced the report points out that the total oc-. cupation by a hostile army of so intensely develo :d an industrial State as Belfe. .in was, dependent upon imports for food, and the siege of this army, and incidentally of the civil population by other military forces, created a situation unparalleled in history, and gave rise to problems not hitherto contemplated cither in strategy or international convention. The nation had lost practically bverytbing—except its soul. Starvation stared tho people ii She face. The Relief Commission to work to help 2,750,000 of the population who had been reduced to destitution as the result of industrial paralysis, and another 500,000 who would have been destitute, even had food supplies been available. Some 2000 organisations abroad for tho collection of food and money have been established, and 4000 separate committees in Belgium are engaged in''the work of distribution. Three distinct functions are being performed, namely, the provisioning of the entire population, the conduct of financial relief and exchange operations, and the care of the destitute.

The functions of tie Provisioning Department are quite distinct from those of the Benevblent Department. The work of the former is of the nature of a commercial transaction. The foodstuffs are sold at a profit to those people who are able to buy them, and the profits earned are given to the Benevolent Department for the support of the destitute. They arc in the nature of a tax on those Belgians who have means for the benefit of those without means. To revictual with necessary imports 7,000,000 people—nearly seven times the entire population of New Zealand—is a gigantic task. Some idea of what this moans is conveycd by the fact that up to Jufie 30 the Provisioning Department had, either delivered or in stock, over 600,000 tons of foodstuffs, of the gross value of over ;£9,<100,000. The profits on the sale of these foodstuffs amounted (up to August ill) to no less than i'OST.OOO. This gratifying result, has been made possiblo_ by the volunteer executive, commercial, and transportation services. It is, as the report states, the measure of the. value of such voluntary work. The charitv of wei'ld u »dmi!iii>t;t;wtl hv tli* Benevolent Department on behalf of

the destitute. This relief expenditure is proceeding at the rats of about .£1,000,000 a month. The report sets out the essential facts in such a clear, comprehensive, and businesslike style, that it makes one feel that everything is being done in a thoroughly capable and conscientious way. The thousands of people throughout the British Empire who have contributed to the Belgian funds will have the satisfaction of knowing that their gifts are being put to the best use. We are told that the response of the American, British and other peoples to the appeal for help "has Been without parallel in international philanthropy,'"' amounting: by the end of August to nearly £3,000,000 in cash, food, and clot-lung. In' cash donations up to June 30 the British Empire had contributed £1,000,120. Of this total £308,052 was given by the United Kingdom, New South Wales coining next with £264,565, then Victoria with £188,<156, New Zealand being fourth on the list with £134,231. AVe must not, -however, imagine l-hat there is no need for further help. The need is as urgent as over it was. Though the war has multiplied, the demands upon our generosity, wo arc in honour bound to do our utmost to lessen the sufferings of the- Belgians. It is impossible to exaggerate the debt of gratitude which" wo owe to them for the gallant stand which the.v made against the Germans during the early days of the war, and we must not forget that the Belgian Army is still fighting .alongside the British troops in Flanders. The Belief Commission reminds us that unless the •assistance from abroad is continued the efforts which are being made to prevent starvation will bo sorely handicapped. "It must continue, for day by day individual reserves and local resources becomc less and less."