The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1915-03-07

alone having subscribed SoO, 900 .OOu so
far for Belgian Government expendi-
lures.
on the other hand. Herbert c.
Hoover. chairman Of the Belgian Re-
lief Commission. has ssued a state
ment to the effect hat food is not 10
10 bought in the occupied provinces
Of the stricken little kingdom, that the
entire civilian population, including
all classes. are completely dependent
on the commission. which is feeding
them with individual daily rations.
Mr.. Hoover says that American char
,ty is successfully wsrding off the
threat OF starvation. And so, al a
superficial glance. one should Judge
that Belgium is being sufficiently
cared Tor. what by her allies, what by
us.
But here is n great Belgian lady,
the Countess l.. de Hemptinne. who
has come to this country on another
GRAND of mercy with n plea for an
other charity movement.
What you W. done and are con
tlnuing to do" she says. lis noble and
admirable. hanks e you our people
are kept alive during this time Of SUI
prcme duress. But what will those
millions Of destitute wretches do when
Belgian soil begins to he evacuated bit
BY bit and they return to he spots
where once stood their homes? Then
(, is that we shall need your help
more than ever to enable us TO re-
construct Belgium.
THE relief commissions task OF
feeding our ~beggared people is 50 tre-
mcndous and the demands upon Nour
charity for the accomplishment Of this
task arc so considerable that I'fcar
there will scarcely 10 a thought giv'n
20 that other task. tho reconstruction
OF our devastated land. | cannot help
bat think of that most of all. IT You
could realize, If I could evoke before
your minds eye the hopeless horror of
the situation. YOU would ne appalled,
and moved t. even greater generosity
Imagine for a ome the sight
Belgium presents now, after seven
months of war on almost every inch
Of her soil cities partially ruined;
towns, villages and hamlets totally
wrecked: farms in ashes. factories
DESTROYED: fields aid waste-and ali
the land one vast cemetery. Flanders
l. under water. II will take years
Of constant toll 10 bring II beck To
- former state Of prosperity. 10 make
4 weld again the good harvests 81 old.
"As soon a. the enemy begins to
Withdraw from Belgium eastward our
refugees will return. and Immediately
the work of reconstruction must be
started. They will be like pioneers
IN n wilderness. whore one they Wer"
AZ home. but with one difference. Be-
Fore they can build they must clear
away the w~reckage, and b. fore they
can Till they must dispose IT the
dead.
I'm their hasty aothn the Germans
e I'VE but little care t. their fallen.
They bury them IN shall.w graves,
with not more than a foot of earth
10 cover them--if they can manage
10 hury them at all! over and into
these graves the shells continue to
Nv. and where they fall they open
q wide crater. scattering tie I'M
earthed bodies over the fields. These
will have to be gathered and in
cinerated to avoid pestilence. which
would inevitably set in with the warm
weather. Then we shall also have TO
our W dead. a. iar as
possible. in limited gr~avcyards. We
cannot plant our crops in q cemetery.
-Where will the workers find shell
Ter while they do this first Shastly
clearing. and even after: We shall
need thousands Of tents for them,
portable woodsheds, tools, cots, mat
'resses. blankets and what not-Just
te very first necessities for human
bodies. The people will have to or
san,zA themselves in provisional tent
colonies while farms. villages and
towns are being rebuilt.
And where will they get the raw
rnsteria'o Not a brick XIII in Belgium
that has not been destroyed. Those
mus, he nut up again first OF all. Ma
ch,nerv must be replaced. There will
ha an "ypense Of millions Of francs
necessary before n work can be
started And where can We turn 10
rar mis- money IL not to YOU who have
a,,eadv shown such admirable gener-
.,,ry, Won arc an essentially efficient
ra.on and Won will readily see the
a~,-n'u,o urgency Of his first outlay
y, order ia raise a fund for that pur-
v.eo have now come TO YOU with
nu,y,rc,cbed hands. begging in the
nam. NJ : 0oO oo0 Belgians.
.NI NAV obiec, that all YOU give