SAVING THE SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3182, 5 September 1917, Page 5

SAVING THE SOLDIERS

Y.M.C.A. COMBATS STREET PESTILENCE THE DANGERS OP LEAVE INj LONDON London,' Juno 20. If the .most wide-awake man in London wove asked to namo tbo gravest danger of tlie hour lie would probably Bar tbo enemy of tbo streets. This is the true position. England is not decadent, neither is tlio greatest metropolis in nil the world, but a crisis has been reached Mien the nation must grapple .with the demon that has come as a legacy from the easy-going- past, and is now thriving on the opportunities afforded by the calling home of 60 many of our eon of. Empire. On the four winds comes the call to protect theso eons. Tho only responso.up to tho present has been the passing of legislation which is sadly difficult to enforce. Tho stumbling stone is tho old fetish of "tho benefit of the doubt." "We must save tho soldiers from themselves; wo must 6ave the next generation," writes Max Pemberton, in the •course of a stinging article in the "Weekly Dispatch." Tho writer pays a warm tribute to the Y.M.C.A. workers, who aro striving to protect the soldiers, and pleads with those in authority to "act immediately with that sanity and common sense for which tho British peoplo is famous." Tho T.M.C.A. is tackling the social problem in London, and not the least energetic is ,the Now" Zealand section. Tho Y.M.C.A. plan of action is to «et into touch with the men as they reach the city—New Zealand, troop trains are always met—and so fill up the four days of their leave that they have, neither the time nor inclination to fall in with -undesirable The great majority of tho men readily, accept invitations to join parties for sight-' seeing and visiting, or passing away odd hours in healthy amusement. Thus are they guided past the death-traps of the Btreets. ~ The British and Overseas Guide_ to the London department of the T.M.C.A. is directed by a committee of four, representing the British, Australian,- NewZealand, and Canadian Associations. 'In addition to the numerous accommodation and canteen huts (with their wonderful staffs of honorary women workers) inquiry kiosks have been erected at various strategic points in the city s surging trafiio where outdoor workers befriend the lonely and warn the wayward. Every day fifty honorary guTffes are available for showing soldiers Tound tho places of greatest interest, either by coach or foot; in the. afternoon parties are taken to tea at some of the' best homes in London, and' in the evening free seats aro obtained for large numbers of the men at the best concert nana and theatres. Entertainments are also provided at the Y.M.C.A. huts br the best' talent in London: Messrs. Paths Freros give, without charge, the use of their kinema theatre in Wardour Street, and for the special benefit'of soldiers and their lady friends the Y.M.C.A. now conducts tho onc-timo famous night club Ciros. When the crowds are leaving the theatres, the night motor transport of the Y.M.C.A. becomes busy, no less than sixty honorary .motorists participating in the work. -During the six months just ended, 30,808 soldiers have been carried to places of safety between midnight and daylight.