The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE. TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1915. BELGIAN RELIEF.

Taihape Daily Times, Volume 7, Issue 152, 2 March 1915, Page 4

The Taihape Daily Times AND WAIMARINO ADVOCATE.

TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1915. BELGIAN RELIEF.

(With which ia incorporated Tho Fai hapo Post ;ii3 VVaimarino Nowa.)

The publication in this issue of the names of the contributors to the various patriotic fnucls, and the amounts given by the respective donors, seems to furnish a. fitting opportunity for a word* of comment on the voluntary efforts of the people of this district towards rendering some assistance to those who arc doomed to suffer most from the terrors of the greatest of all the world’s great conflicts now raging in Europe l . More especially as the desperate need of the Belgian people has so vividly been impressed upon us by the. intensely pathetic appeal that has been wrung from the Commission which months ago took upon itself the noble task of finding food for the starving, clothes for the naked and shelter for the homeless. Almost from the commencement of the desolation of Belgium by the worse than savage German invader, and long before this heart-rending cry of the Belgian nation reached them, the people of this Dominion, be it said to their eternal credit, made universal organised effort towarsds doing what was at that

time thought to bo all that was necessary to effectively stem the tide of sorrow and suffering that had begun to sweep over the Belgian people. Still, an appeal terrible in its urgency is made to New Zealanders for further aid. We arc told that, there is no milk in Belgium, and mothers have to keep life in their infants as long as _ possible with a little soup which is doled out to them daily; that those maimed by war, the blind, the legless, the armless and incapacited must die of .starvation unless something more can be done in the future than has been done in the past. Without any shadow' of doubt Now Zealanders have heard the cry from Belgium, and so soon as food, clothing and other necessities can be got to her people, past the murderous hordes of German invaders, they will joyfully do all that has been asked of them and;

have done in the past there need he no apprehensions about the. future. And, although it was not our intention to discuss how the necessary relief should bo raised, we may say that we cannot conceive of any more effective and economical method than that conveyed in a resolution unanimously adopted at the recent Agricultural and Pastoral Show social, which was to the effect that Government should levy an equitable Avar tax over the Avhole Dominion.

In looking down the list of Taihape contributors to the various relief funds, sent to us by Mr. Murrell, and which we publish in another column of this issue, one cannot help being greatly impressed with the generosity of Mr. J. F. Btudholmc, of Ruanui, who gives to the Belgian Relief Fund no lesis than twenty pounds each and every month so long as the war lasts; his minimum—not maximum—contribution is to be £250. Mr. Studholme’s humane and generous spirit seems to be fully shared by those ' employed by him, for they are giving ten per cent, of the total wages they receive to help the stricken Belgians. The honour and good name of Taihape should never suffer while it possesses men like Mr. Studholme and his employees to sot an example so humane and generous. Particularly noticeable are the gifts of a number of Te Kapua farmers, who, by donating one or two fat sheep each have added over forty pounds to the sum acknowledged. The Rangawaea people’s effort might he copied by other settlements; by a social function promoted by Mrs. Jas. (tarmonsway and a few others they helped th° fund oil by upwards of thirls pounds An example worthy of emulation is the self-denial of the Methodist Sunday School children, who gave up their annual picnic so that the money might go to the help the homeless and foodless Belgian children. With the Taihape Athletic Club’s donation and a few other sums the total contributions now acknowledged by Mr. Murrell, the secretary, amounts to £1,212; but that sum does not neary—not half—represent the money available. To it may be added the splendid work done under the auspices of the local branch of the Farmers’ Union, members of which have collected fat sheep at least to the value of £l,llO nett. These sheep arc to be despatched as soon as the -Wellington freezing works can take them. Then there is the result of the glorious and gratifying effort of the ladies who gave, superintended, and waited upon the lunch and afternoon tea on the ground at the agricultural show, by which they have added upwards of another £IOO, This, with the returns from the sale of stud and other sheep, which will he about £25, the total sum contributed by Taihape will reach not less than £2,500, No account is taken of what the ladies have done with respect to the Lady Liverpool. Fund and the British and Belgian Fund, which would, of course, add materially to the sum total. Taihape’s contribution may not seem a large one when, compared with what has been given by some other towns, but when the circumstances are considered we have no hesitation in saying its people have boon no less mindful of the misery of those who are in the thick of the battle that is being fought in the common cause than peopU elsewhere. This is a very recently settled district ; many of its farnmrs have not yet gol pas: the struggling stage, and in (Ins respect it is unlike older settl'd territories where there are a hundred rich men to Taihape’s one. Proportionte to ability we believe our people have contributed as much, perhaps more, than people in much richer and older settled territories,

CHANCE FOE LADIES. The officers of the Hibernian Club’s Sports have expressed their willingness to allow an afternoon tea booth to be conducted on the Reserve, dur-

ing the currency of their- annual gathering on St. Patrick's Day, 17th March, in aid of the Belgian Relief Fund. This kind offer gives a splendid opportunity for a committee of ladies to raise another fairly good sum of money for a noble and humane purpose. We suggest that leading lady residents should confer at the earliest convenient moment to discuss ways and means, so that organisation may be completed and the utmost possible success achieved It need scarcely be said that there are many ladies in our midst who would only be too glad to assist in every way in their power and it only requires one of them to pul the matter in train by discussing it with a few friends and arranging a meeting whereat details can bo formulated. We trust that one, at least, of our ladies will take the matter in hand, as, if everyone waits nothing will be done.