THE WHISPERED “WHEN?”

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1383, 8 April 1915, Page 4

THE WHISPERED “WHEN?”

Thii following' article L one of a ■Serbs. which lias appearci) in ’the London Time* desenbins 1 ii«? state of Belgium in the grip of Germany u ll el the inea-riirM taken. by Attnrivan helpers and the Belgian,? themselves to mitigate the lot af the stricken people. The v. rit. t says: When? When will the Allies eotue V The «•>»•* of every Belgian .".-fined to ask as they lighted with the tveogtiition ot -xinifthing in my countenance, manimr, or dress which vim factorized my race. I cairn to think of the whole nation breathing this word as the last at night add the first in the morning. 1 heard it when I went into a shop to ask ior a cigar; at the Cathedral door from a woman who was going to pray ; from the, flowerwoiiiun in front of Hit.* Hotel do \illc in Hrutwid*; from a waiter who bent dose to my fit I us he kept a lookout that no German should overhear him ; from people leaving the hread line with theny dailv rations. ' Usually it was whispered. The hubti of whispering grows on a people under a martial rule of a All one could answer was. “Patience 1 England is making a big Army. The French Army gets better every day. Spring- is coming I” The victory of the Allies means not only the return of freedom to the Belgians, but of their means of earning a living. Cote ditiotis for the Belgian people at home must continue to grow worse until the Gerrmn evacuation. Every month will see mote idleness: every month will se more families foteed to ask for their hread in charity Ik-cmusc their saving-arc exhausted. On that happy day when the Allies raise tiic Belgian flag ugain over Antwerp, Belgium wil ask no further aid. Her credit is such with the world that it will buy supplies until her factories, once more running, send forth tbeir products into the world’s markets to teadju-t her trade balance. Then her own relief committees or tier own Gevernmem will take over the burden of the friend* who have come to her rescue and the aclministratiyo work now done by the American Commission for Relief in Belgium. RELIEF WORKS.

If those in the world "be most deserve help iiit; those who art 1 willing to help tliemscls os. thou iln: Belgians at home arc uortliv of all that ha* been done for r.honi. The well-to-do Belgian' of all classes, with their- incomes fill or altoget her stopped, with business enterprises at. a land-till. and the future uncertain, have gone into their own pockets to assist in feeding the poor. Their subscriptions to the relief fund amount to £f46.000. The British Government has given £IOO,000; the New South Wales, New Zealand. and Governntenls £30,000; the Glasgow and West- of Scotland Belgian Relief Fund £20.000; miscellaneous public subscription.- £63.000; Uanadian gift cargoes (est imai ei I) £157,000; the .Spanish Redid Fnnd£4,l34; and from tin- United States, through the Kockfoller Foundation and the different. State Goimnitlees,. Jut? come £840,000. . T .. r There are two departments ol the rebel, the benevolent and the provisioning. 'I he benevolent looks after those who hate no funds and are utterly dependent on charity. At au average cost of 121. pet capita a month for their bread, this class requires an outlay, including the cost ol maintaining the canteens, and the purchase locally of meal, potatoes, and clothing, of £660,000 a month. The provisioning department sell* bread to those who have Urn funds to pay for il at Ihe ruling' price of the day in l.undon. !■ torn tinmain oliioes at 5, London-Wall building' the Uoininisaion ditvcla the collection ol funds, tht purchase of supplies, their transport. and their distribution. At this writing 40 ships are being hauled in American ports, or on their wav u> Rotterdam with cargoes. Each Statu of tho United Slate- iiue its own relief organization. Certain Stares committees hove undertaken to loud one ship. Many of the gift- from the United States and Canada are either in grain or flour. When money in subset’bed the Commission turns it into supplies on the American market. Except tor clerks and stenographer* all the uorlors of the Commission have volunteered their services. Il it a practical, businesslike organisation, directed by men of business and professional experience who were best suited for tho prompt establishment of agoing concent of this kind. From the railways of the I nirod States and Holland, it has secured concessions in ratcn. Thanks to this, and to many economies due to the world’s generosity and saving from middlemen’s profits, it is able Vo make a profit of £156.000 a month by the sale of bread at the ruling London price to those who cun all’ord to pay, which means that the well-to-do, by paying no more than the Londoner lor his loaf, are giving £150,000 monthly to feed their de-aiuiu fellow-countrymen. To ensure economy in distribution, as a. matter iff sound administrative policy, a small contribution is now lieing levied on the coin mu ties, which promises to yield about £75,000 a month. Tims some £400.000 a month is left to he collected by public subscriptions. Including lie? three mouths it has been carrying on the wink and the cargoes ol flour on flu* way, the Commission is aiiead.v committed to tin expenditure of £1.100.11(10 in oxaess of the present cash resources, inline confidence that the world would never permit Belgium io slime. The United Simas has so far given enongh food for two months. Though the .subscriptions continue, (heir volume is decreasing. Times art* hard in America: New York has its own bread-line end a record number of unemployed. (.Inly in the great grain-growing districts or where war material anti army supplies are manufactured is there prosperity. A friend writes from home—“l have given to the Belgians and I ahull give again. But after all, Belgium is far away, and h is Ameii-ear-s. uot Belgians, who ask nm in the .streets of my own town for bread." Tll ]■: ’german attituhe.

It goes without saying that the Americans who subscribe to Belgian relief are not Gennim-Ain-ricans. They mean to lie sure that the oppressed and not the comjuerors receive their gifts. The word ot the German Government on this score will not satisfy their scepticism. Letters of. imiuiiy continue to pour in on Mr Whitlotk, tlw* American Minister at Brussels, . asking if he is 'piiti! certain that the German* urc keeping faith and how the ( 'om,mi<Hoii i* able to prevent them from breaking it il they choose. These lire the r|iieMion» every Englishman will al-o ask. The moment the German* take so much as one baking for their army the Cora mission will withdraw its relief and tell the world the reneone. This it niU'l- do for it* own protection, lost it be overwhelmed by tin; indignation of Americans at home. No philanthropic (v.iii; was ever more carefully scrutinized by the subscribers than this which is ono rating between the naval forces of one Vielligereni. and the land forces of another to succour the victims of war.

i’hiw fur Gormans have* nbaolutoly kept faitli. Not only that. but the Comminion lias wen red tin order that no more catilo or fodder, or any form of provender for muii a ml boa si, will bo requisitioned while ihe Commission continues its work. Wiii'n some bakers were found to be sifting out the white flour for sale to restaurants and hotels, and mixing the residue of bran with that given to llie people, the German authorities offered their a*ristiince it; punishing the culprits. Reasons of cold policy infiuonco Gorman co-operation with the Commission. Without out side aid either the Germans mint allow the Belgians to starve or feed them from their own stores. In that ease starvation would be the alternative: for Gorman public opinion, let. alone Gorman economy of resources, would not ghe a mouthful to the dci-pbed and loyal ally of the hated British. Then u tarnished population would riot and throw themselves against German bayonets; and. to force mbtnissiou through bloodshed whjeh would revolt humanity would require increased numbers of Landcturm guards. If Germany’s only interest in keeping Belgium from starving is opo of policy, then the duty of the rest of lbs world’ in succouring Belgium is one of conscience. Vet- isn’t if possible, von m«v ask, that, while the conduct of their right hand is oiemnlary. the Germans are secretly forcing tribute from timorous bakers with thoir left ? Thev are not, because every baker who has tiie privilege of baking from (ho Commission must now produce an amount. o ( br«id in keeping with the quality and quantity of the flour .which he receives. They are not. because of the eharncier of llie ’men who supervise the work. Tlli? AMERICAN STUDENT. (\cil Rhodes. little dreamed when he founded the Rhodes Scholarships at Ox lord that the American students would be employed in an inspectorial eapmuy lo make sure that (ho hungry people of littlo Belgium who had sacrificed t.hemfitthos as fiw ally of France and England should receive alf the loaves which the English-speaking world gave in the impulse of kindred generosHr. Besides these men, chosen for Oxford after they have linished their college courses in the United States, there nr« other Amm-

cans who were already in Europe or hastened across the Atlantic from America to enlist in an appealing enterprise. These young men talk of tbeir provinces like -o'rnany sympathetic rulers and ot canal boat cargoes us if they had been in the transportation business all their lives. They have the activity of youth in moving hero and there in the Commission’* motor-can contributed from America, on their errands of practical philanthropy. The sport of it, if nothing else, would make them prompt in bringing to book any German commander who might be tempted to purloin, u consignment of flour. . And they are the mast professionally neutral of all neutrals. Before entering Belgium they are warned that the one thing they must, not have is an opinion on the war ; the one question they must now answer is one about the war. They are not even supposed to know that there is a war. Theirs is the mission of humanity, of feed ing Belgium, regardless of the causes of Belgium’s suliexing. Even that question which the Belgians continually whisper, "When are the Allies coming they must avoid answering, in order to keep their pledges to the German Government. BELGIAN 'WORKERS. Both the American Commission and the Belgian leaders and officials rualise the danger of creating a dependent class by charity and the importance of providing work wherever possible for the population. Lack ot occupation only encourages Belgian bitterness to feed on itself these grey winter days. “Anything to keep the wind oil' . . .’’ How often 1 hoard Belgians say ihat, without finishing the sentence. "Anything to kuc-p the mind ofl' I have tried to convey the finiwh ot the Sentence in what I have written. Belgian women arc as busy with tbeir bona- rebut problems us English women with theirs. In the company of otic of the women's committee in Brussels I went to the great skating rink, which has been transformed into u clothing depot. Mere I saw bores fuim England and America being opened, and men’s and boys’ caps and suits, and women’s skirts and cloaks, and babies sweaters, and about every article of clothing in flic category being removed, classified according to nature arid serviceability, and piled in separate bins. In the sewingroum 1 was shown many women busy making repairs t-o worn garments. Men -s suits with holes in the knees and elbows were being cut down and tornado into serviceable Ivovk’ suits. “It all gives work, week- which helps to keep their mind off ’’ said mv companion, She took rue in'o the boot department, where all manner of destitute, from childr«n to old men and women, were being served from a row of shelves. There was some leather in the country whieh the Germans had not, reqiisitiomtl (she says), so we "el our shoe factories going with the money we sub-scribed. Every customer who can a fiord it pays cost price. You notice that all arc- required to leave their old shoe" behind and walk away in the n-w oin>, Sometimes the old are capable of repair, and lids gives occupation to Cobblers. And who do sou think acts as our clerks in trying on? Why, those who fastened on the skates in happier days. \Vhou I parted with her it was to liav* a look at n queue of mothers with their bailies in antes receiving their dailv rations of I why food in another part of Bru-e sc.b. Pinched, worn, old-looking' habit*! and chubby, foie-ebeeked babies were welcomed with impartial smiles bv the volunteer women worker* of dillVreiit classes of society, who have forgotten ail taste in tlie hour of distress. Ever.vw le-re. I was stniek by the practical administration of the re-dn-t.riid people. The bread-lines an- long Vet. tint drawn lief, reflective of n highly organised infaces I lie MiddeM, win re the factory population is largest. In Liege 1 stood for two hours watelling u line go past. The smaller the community the less company there is in the general misery, the more closely the military guardianship is felt, yet there is no diminution in loyalty of tin- mli'emi-s to the Alliea’ cause. WHAT OF LOUVAIN V And what of l.oiivdn'.’ von may ask. For Louvain eliai'actei'ises Belgium's ordeal to the outside world. In the company of M. Alfred N<-rine\. tbe provisional burgomaster, 1 strolled among-l the ruins, (til seine of the house duel' was still to be seen U)e notice; —“This house is not to bo burned without order-.’’ As we paused tuul looked tit. (he blackened walls of the University he said, eonlidenl |y, "We shall rebuild it.’’ He had been ;be professor ot international law there. Alter the burning and its accompanying hon-org the regular burgomaster, who was old and in failing health, with other refugees from Ids town, went, to Holland. Then it was that the scholar turned man of action at. the call ol the helpless ami stunn*-d people who were without a leader. Across from the old cathedral, rent and smoke blackened. In bis olliee tit the Hotel vie Ville, which stands intact, lie practises international law in his dealings with the Germans for the proii-etion of bis people, whom he, in turn, direct,, and advises with a wisdom which the last live months have proven him to possess. He allows no man who is strong enough to labour to gel free bread. If Louvain were to be rebuilt the lime io begin was immediately, reasoned M. Nerinex. Whoever was able in and »vaild not help dean the -peep ;; ,-id pile micka deserved to go hungry, for be me no true Belgian. The spirit shown at Louvain, in keeping with the glimpse 1 had of more than ora* man at work living to make a home torn by shell tire habitable, is- too fine to be allowed to die for want of bread.

11r-1 xi ll[ll i> not compiercil. 11 • • ii- is it vieuuy of iniml over llie bayonet* that fence 1m• r in. Slie is Mili a. buffer for England

.uni Era nee against her enemies ; a, moral Unci' indomitably Mailing on their side; a more t>Hiiigr eMiniple than Alutce-Lor-iiiin*- of the futility of trying to rule a civilised people auuinst their will in this