FOR A DESERVING CAUSE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2941, 29 November 1916, Page 6

FOR A DESERVING CAUSE

Writing home from France, where he had been visiting our troops near the firing lines, an exNew Zealandor now living in England made this comment: "I hear that you people in New Zealand are "doing well by your soldiers. That is all right; but take it from me, whatever you do you cannot do too much for the men who return.... You can never fully make up to them all you and all the Empire owe." It is fitting that 'these words should be recalled to mind at the presenttimc, when a special appeal is going forth for assistance for an institution which returned soldiers have established, and which should prove of great value to all New Zealanders who return from the war. It would be a mistake to regard the Returned Soldiers' Club, the institution in question, as merely a place of social recreation for soldiers who have served their country in the war. It would command support on that ground alone, but ,it has a much stronger claim to the assistance of the public. It is probably the very best institution in the whole of the Dominion for enabling men newly returned from the front to got their bearings again, and adjust themselves onco more to civilian conditions. Few people realise how difficult it is for a man after months, perhaps years, of the discipline and routine of soldiering, to settle back again into the old ways of life. The Returned Soldiers' Club is a rendezvous—a, sortof half-way house between the soldier and tho civilian—where the man just back from the front can meet with and profit by the experience of those who have gone through exactly what he is faced with. ,He can get the best advice there as to the best course to pursue; he can bo supplied with information by men who have felt the need of the samo information themselves. ■ The Returned Soldiers' Club, indeed, can bo of immense service to returned soldiers in a multitude of ways which the civilian who has note g*no through the experience can hardly realise. But to_ reudor this service, and to make itself the big factor'in promoting tho wolfare of returned soldiers that it is capable, of being the club requires to be placed on a sound financial footing. "You cannot do too much for the men who roturn," remarked tho writer before quoted. It is not asking very much of the public to seek their assistance to make the movement in support of-this club a financial success. The control of tho finances of the club is in tho hands of a committee of responsible citizens, acting in conjunction with representatives of tbo returned soldiers, so that there is a guarantee that the money subscribed or raised

will bft put to proper use. Tbo immediate effort is to raise funds, »y subscriptions which may ho sent : direct to the hon. treasurers of tbe ! club, and also by means of sales of goods at street stalls, and by a big entertainment and sports gathering at -the Basin Reserve. The street sales will take place next Friday, and the demonstration at tho Basin Reserve on Saturday, and the manifold attractions preparod for the occasion have beeu fully set out from time to time in our news columns. Our purpose in referring to tho matter hero is to impress on the public tbe fact that the cause is one deserving ef their liberal support and assistance. The Baiurned Soldiers' Club is not merely an institution for tho benofit of the men already back from the front; it is for the benefit of all who may return in tho future as well. The stronger its position is made the greater th l e service it will bo able to rendor the brave men now in the.fighting lines when they in turn find their way back to us. In assisting to place tho club on a sound financial basis those who contribute are doing something of a practical nature for the men • who have been or are now fighting their battles abroad.