THREEFOLD OBJECT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 139, 13 May 1940, Page 6

THREEFOLD OBJECT.

£250,000 WANTED. THE COMBINED APPEAL. It has become increasingly evident in the crowded months since the present war began that the outcome of the struggle will depend as much upon the efforts of the people who stay at home as upon the fighting forces in the front line of the battlefield. The maintenance of production, the distribution and dispatch of supplies and the continuance of all the internal organisation necessary to keep the national war machine running smoothly and efficiently—all of these uemand the service and co-operation of all sections of the community. New Zealand has never been backward in its war effort on behalf of the Empire, and among other things it has been the traditional practice in this country for those who stay at home to undertake the task of caring for those who suffer in the conflict —the sick, wounded and distressed. To-day the appeal has gone forth for a. special effort in this direction. Commencing this week, the Joint Council of New Zealand Red Cross and the Order of St. John are launching a campaign to raise £250,000 for this purpose. The objects are explained in the title words, “The Sick, Wounded arid Distressed Fund Appeal,” and the disposal of the money raised will have the widest possible application within the scope covered by the work of these joint organisations. Sponsored by His Excellency the Governor-General, Lord Galway, and under the patronage of Lady Galway, the appeal is designed to cover every phase of life within the Dominion in order to ensure an opportunity for all to take an active part in this .side of the war effort. Already much lias been done under the Joint Council since the present war began, and in fact so far ahead is the organisation that under special* financial arrangements with the National Patriotic Board it has actually spent more than it has received. Large quantities of goods of various kinds were sent for despatch with the First and Second Echelons of the New Zealand Second Expeditionary Force, and in prompt response to a pressing need £SOO sterling was sent to Norway to assist in alleviating distress in the present conflict there. In launching this appeal the organisers have assured the public upon two important points. One is that the administration of the funds is entirely removed from Government or political control, and the other is that the channels through which the money is to be distributed are officially approved by the national body specially set up for this purpose. The first point whs: made perfectly clear by the Governor-General, Lord Galway, when speaking to the National Patriotic Fund Board at Wellington recently and dealing generally with war fund appeals. There was no political influence and no political trend; His Excellency said; if there had been, lie would not have been associated with it. His Excellency mentioned specifically the appeal to be made by the Joint Council of the New Zealand Red Cross and the' Order of St. Johri. for the benefit of the sick, wounded and distressed, and expressed the nope that it would receive the greatest possible support. METHOD OF DISTRIBUTION. . On the second point—the approved channels of distribution —donors are assured • by the fact that the money collected 'in this appeal will pass through the hands of the National Patriotic Fund for record purposes and will be handed back as required to the Joint Council for administration. The disposal of the funds, in which the public will be chiefly interested, is arranged iii accordance with the usual procedure in the Red Cross and the Order of St. John. It covers a wide field, and includes grants to hospitals and mobilisation camps, fortress troops, and Air Force stations' troopships, ambulance transport and hospital ships, hospital and convalescent stones, after care of sick and disabled. etc., expenses for tracing wounded arid missing men. grants overseas to the British and Allied Red Cross, and the hundred and one comforts and small services which are designed to bring comfort arid consola-

tion war sufferers after the State has fulfilled, its. obligation of providing them with -essentials. Political and social authorities in England have indicated tue likelihood of greater calls for this class of work if the war is to he fought to a successful conclusion, and the importance of efforts on the Home Front have been the keynote of recent speeches by Government leaders there; The new joint appeal for £250,000 to assist the sick, wounded and distressed has the dual merit of being sponsored by authoritative sources arid administered oil lines which have proved to be sound. The committees engaged oil tlim effort have been working strenuously and consistently for a considerable time, and the result of their efforts is a Dominion-wide organisation of local and district committees, each of which has been charged with a definite responsibility iti playing its part in the general scheme. The appeal commences to-day, and it will run for from three to four weeks, closing shortly after the King’s Birthday holiday on June 3. It is launched at a time when public leaders are impressing upon the people the urgency of full national co r operation in all spheres of life. The Sick, Wounded and Distressed Fund Appeal gives an opportunity to all, without exception of class, creed or circumstances, to do ..something really worthwhile as a gesture of goodwill and gratitude to those who must, bear the heat and burden of the battleii'out. ~' ' \ ' A./ i-.j'-i;

Donors are notified by advertisement that • their offerings may be paid to the joint committee in their own district. or sent direct to the “St. Johnlied Cross Appeal” Headquarters, Vivian Street,'Wellington. A point emphasised by the nromoters is that any donations sent" direct to headquarters will be credited to the local Appeal Committee as a donation from tlieir province concerned.