HELP FOR LONDONERS.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LX, Issue 246, 14 September 1940, Page 6

HELP FOR LONDONERS.

When any part of the British Empire is visited Avith disaster there is invariably a spontaneous response by other more fortunate sections to alleAfiate the suffering and help repair the damage. That is one. of the privileges and responsibilities of relationship under the common flag, and it has perhaps never been so Avell exemplified as in the present Avar Avith the wholehearted rally to the cause. But in a peculiar way London—the very heart of the Empire, the symbol of its strength and supremacy—is today in dire need. The ruthlessness and inhumanity of the Nazi air attacks, levelling countless homes and commercial buildings, inflieffing death and suffering in their train, call for a fresh response of a particular nature. Already it is being made. The Lord Mayor of London has opened a Mansion House Fund, and as has frequently been the experience in the past, the Royal Family have given their people a magnificent lead, His Majesty donating £IOOO and the Queen £SOO, Avhile other Royal personages have also contributed. Quick to realise the need, Australians have responded splendidly, too, Brisbane raising the excellent sum of £12,000 in less than twenty-four hours. New Zealand has quickly answered the call through the agency of the National Patriotic Fund Board and the Joint Council of the Order of St. John and the Red Cross Society, the immediate provision of £IOO,OOO having been agreed upon. This is a worthy _ gesture, typical of the humanitarian spirit of the societies concerned, but many people will feel this is not sufficient'. Spain, Poland, Norway. France, Belgium, Holland—all have had the horrors and desolation of war brought to them. But noAV Britain —the embodiment of all our race holds most dear —and London—the biggest, most loved, and in many, respects the most beautiful city in the world—are in the throes of destructHe combat. New Zealanders will be pleased to plav their part nobly in alle.A 7 iatina the distress, and the Government should not hesitate to encourage their generosity.