PATRIOTIC EFFORTS

Southland Times, Issue 24818, 10 August 1942, Page 4

PATRIOTIC EFFORTS

Sir,—Your correspondent W. J. Bennett asks for a statement from me, but I can only repeat what I have . been saying for the past two years. His insinuation that the Red Cross and the Joint Council “refuse to promote” the interests of the sick, wounded and prisoners-of-war whom they- “profess” to serve, is a base and ignorant calumny which will be refuted by any returned man or the next of kin of any prisoner. The tremendous amount of work performed by the voluntary workers of the Red Cross and Joint Council—many of them devote .over 20 hours a week to their duties—has its reward not in the cheap criticism of the purblind partisans of other bodies but in the very genuine appreciation expressed by the men concerned and their relations. Nevertheless, Mr Bennett certainly owes them an apology. In the performance of its duties the Red Cross must scrupulously observe the basic principles of its organization. In particular the Red Cross must not be used in any way for the benefit of .fit soldiers. It will be agreed that a Bed Cross ambulance or hospital ship must not be used for the transport of munitions, or even “soldiers’ parcels.” Similarly the name and purposes of the Red Cross should not be used to raise moneys for the comforts, etc., of fit soldiers. Yet that is exactly what is being done by the Patriotic authorities. If Mr Bennett, or the. general public, desires any specific evidence of this it will be made abundantly available. The Red Cross can neither participate in nor approve this breach of the Geneva Convention, to which New Zealand is a signatory. It has long since registered its disapproval and made its attitude clear, but is seriously apprehensive that our prisoners of war may suffer through our failure to observe our international obligations. The International Red Cross is the only body that can alleviate the conditions of these men—the Government and the Patriotic are entirely powerless. The whole difficulty would be obviated if there were distinct, separate, Dominion-wide appeals—one by the Patriotic for the fit men and the other by the Joint Council for Red Cross purposes, including the sick, wounded and prisoners of war. This has been consistently advocated .by the Red Cross, and many Patriotic leaders support the idea, but the Government can see nothing beyond its own pet offspring, the Patriotic Fund. F. G. HALL-JONES.