Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1914-12-20

Belgium wants food. She wants Il
on scale. with an urgency, and with
nm intensity which tho imagination
can hardly conceive. Even when aided
hy the vivid yet strictly busincss!ikc
reports furnished by the representa-
tivcs OF the Commission for Relief In
belgium, We find 1, difficult TO grasp
what the situation really il.
y multitude OF BclGinns haze taken
refuge IN Holland. and have been re-
ccivcd with noble hospitality. An
other multitude have succeeded In
reaching Great Britain, and Great Brit
ain is doing her best for them. Blu,
the bulk OF the nation Is still or its
own soil-not merely or mainly for
lack of choice, but by command OF their
King and hts ministers. They cannot
leave their country dcrelict: they can
not let their claim to 1t 20 by default
They must stand by the ship, however
fierce the tempest
They are noncombatants. these peo-
ple--womcn, children. and men not
eligible for military service. II is the
civil population of Belgium which SUIT
fers famine and Is threatened with alb
solute starvation. And their number
amounts TO some 1000, 900 souls.
Seven millions. To victual them for
q day needs the cargo Of good big
ship. But they have TO he victualnd
for months. For. as matters stand with
her. Belgium can grow nothing, make
nothing. sell nothing. buy nothing. Con
scuucntly she can eat nothing, and must
dic--unlcss somebody comes To the res
cue. True. she is doing what she can
for herself. belgian Relief Commit
tees and Belgian men OF means have
guaranteed 100000 towards the work
OF tho Commission for Relief: prncti-
Cally every efficient person In Belgium
has volunteered for relief work. Ad-
mirablc as these efforts are, they arc
totally inadequate TO meet the case
they do not dctract from Belgiu $
claim on the worlds generosity; nay,
they strengthen IL.
4 Country That Can't Help Itself.
Who is to help. then? Noighborly
Holland is doing all and more than
could be asked Of her; herself a small
country, She can do 10 moro. Ger
many. Austria Hungary, France and
Great Britain are nil bclliscrent pow =
ers: that fact stcrnly limits both their
means and their opportunities. For
example. Great Britain, though she
welcomes refugees, and though she is
in position to give assistance in
money. finds herself obliged, for mill
tary reasons. to prohibit the export of
foodstuffs TO Belgium. Who is to help.
then. and who can help in n measure
really adequate? That question WAS
asked some weeks before started to
write these lncs--askcd and answered
TIL" answer came with all tho charac-
teristically national clcarncss. prompt
tudc. and coniidencc-"Why, America
OF course"
Wonders have been achieved--it IS
not to my interest to cNaggcTate, and
7 am not c2nEEeratine. \ network
of organization covers Belgium from
tho capital TO the remotest districts
Thirty-cighs steamers, aEgreEating
10000 tons. arc, or shortly will be.
no doubt they will be by the time
Is.@.
$4,000 tons Of relief supplies, valued
at over sS.000.o00, and involving an
immense expenditure in transport
Very large sums OF money have been
received. in Brussels alone 500, 900
meals a day are being provided. An
organization has been built up IN the
United states capable Of dealing with
and forwarding into stricken belgium
about $1,000, 900 worth of food every
month, while, at the other end. the
Belgian organization Is adequate to
secure its proper. honcsi and careful
distribution. such results, achieved in
so brief II space OF time, prove that
for once, anyhow. committee can
act not only wisely and cncrgctically
but--quickly! y matter OF moment
when famine is the enemy ii 1ghts
Hurry tho Fleet Of Mercy.
II YOU glance through the reports
which tho commission receives from
it's representatives. in Belgium. you
come on striking facts simply stated.
III Brussels, rich and poor stand In
limo waiting for meals at a half
penny a hcad--to those who can pay
so much. population from Ter
hagen states that for three weeks
/ they have had only potatoes to eat
there At Wcttercn. an Industrial
town ot about 1900, people, above H.
( 900 are without resources"
AT IIamme iioiir is hardly to he OBJ
taincd. meat and corn will not last
{ out tho month. petrol and coal are un-
obtainable--with. winter coming on;
the soldiers families canno. get their
allowances paid work cannot be re-
sumcd at the factories.
At st. Nicholas 10000 people arc
/ without bread and without work" At
Charlcroi men, maddencd by hunger,
attacked Il German military train laden
with provisions. At Namur. Dinant ans
Malines the poor have no shcltor.
At Malines above 10000 mouths have
TO be fed every day, and "thc chill
dren come to the German soldiers and
tear the bread from their hands-the