The Hawaiian gazette., 1915-10-26
American Generosity

lust about year has passed since charitable
j Americans began sending money, clothing and
food to victims of the European war, and the vari.
Gus committees, commissions and societies in
charge Of the work have taken advantage of sea-
Of preparation for further activities this win
ter to make public reports covering their work sc
far From preliminary data collected by writer
in the New York Sun, it is estimated that about
Slo00OO00 may represent roughly the sum Of
American relief 1t will probably never be knows
just how much has been contributed by Americans,
for local relief societies to the number of a thoh.
sand more have not kept strict account Of their
donations. They were organized to furnish relief
and many of them had no time to estimate the
value of commodities which they furnished. The
large national relief commissions, however, kept
close account of everything sent abroad and it is
on their figures that the estimate is based. For
instance, many local societies consigned cases OF
clothing and food to the American ambassador al
Paris These consgnments were shipped to
Havre, where the customs officials opened and
examined them. They came by the shipload and
returning travellers report that the docks piled
high with and that all available storage space
in the city was exhausted before the goods could
be moved on to the sufferers.
ne commission lot the renet OF Belgium Is a
worldwide organization keeping up an efficient
system of accounts by which it is seen that under
its auspices about $80OOOOOO has been raised. II
is fact not generally known in this country, that
wealthy Belgians contributed over half of this
amount to relieve the suerings of their less fortu-
nate cQuntrymen. France and England
raised another large share, and about 100000
came from this country, Canada and the rest OF
the world. Hardly had it become generally known
that the German invasion of Belgium was to cause
suffering among the natives before grain and other
food to the value of 100000 began to leave New
York. The money to meet this bin raised in
Belgium Belgium has population of about T.
100000 people, and the impression prevails in some
quarters that the United States is feeding all these
people. AS matter of fact, however, only about
100000 Begians are receiving free food, and
while much Of it is being given by the people OF
the United States, much more is being purchased
here with money raised abroad.
The relief clearing house, which is handling
most of the gifts from Americans reports that il
is constantly receiving shipments from about ESQ
regularly organized societies in this country. The
gifts came in large numbers at first, and it was
predicted that interest in the decreased the
donations would decrease, but such has not been
the case. Every month shows a gain over the
previous month. During August of this year the
clearing house has received at its warehouse al
most as many supplies as it received between the
first of May and the last of August. Through this
agency great many artificial limbs are being sup
piled. Since they must be made to order, persons
wishing to supply them are provided with a com
plete set of measurements and photographs made
in the war hospital The donor then employs a
physician to Superintend the manufacture of the
limb in this country and since this service is often
rendered without pay, it is clear why difficulty is
experienced in estimating the value OF Americas
gifts to the war victims.
The American ambulance hospital maintained in
Paris has spent about $4,000, but this does not
express the value of the service rendered. for none
OF the surgeons accepts payment for his services
and the $50 American students running ambu
lanccS and serving Stretcher bearers also serve
without pay, even paying their own expenses while
at work and their own way to Paris 1t costs
about $500 to buy and rebuild an automobile
suitable for ambulance and Americans
have sent over 100 such ambuances for the relic
of French and German soldiers From these fig
ures it is evident that while it is easy to arrive
at an estimate OF Americas generosity far as
cash contributions are concerned, there is no way
OF telling its true extent as measured in gifts OF
clothing made by hand, in personal donations OF
food, or in personal aid which entails an amount
of sacrifice not easily expressed in terms of dollars