The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-11-17
Belgium -elief Committee IssueAppeal to Amer
 ican People
CHAT SUFFERING IS
 FEARED THIS WINTER
Secondhand Clothing Unacceptable On Account of Sanitary Laws Enforced By Nations Through
 Which Goods Pass

New York. November 16.--Over 3,d00 0O0 persons in Belgium and northern France, mostly women and young children, must be clothed and shod by Christmas. If the garments and shoes for these destitute people are not forthcoming at once, their sufferings during the winter will become desperate.
 Such is the note of an urgent appeal issued to the people of the United States by the commission for relief in Belgium The New York committee have received from Mir. Herbert Hoover, chairman of the commission, the following statement
 Tt appears to me that it is necessary for LIS to go frankly to the American people and ask them to clothe the desti- ute in the occupied areas of Belgium and northern France during the coming win ter.
 There are 9,O00,O00 people in these areas and of these over one-third are now either wholly or partially destitute and are today receiving their food either wholly or partially without payment
 Reserves Exhausted
 "As you know we have set up economic measures based on the ability of DOT tion of the population to pay for it's food which. with the contributions of other countries, enables us for the present to find the bare minimum of food supplies for the whole 9,0O0,oO0 people, but we have no reserves with which to provide cloth- ing for the destitute. We now plead for help on their behalf.
 Even if these 9,0O0,OO0 people had money they could not import clothes, or the raw materials with which to manufacture them, through the blockade into an area under military occupation. While the bet ter classes have some clothing with which they can get along, the destitute are composed of the working classes which naturally had little reserves of clothing when the war broke out. The only addi- tions they have received since then have Teen the generous contributions from America, Canada and elsewhere. By Christmas time all the clothing which we have in our various establishments will be exhausted.
 Free Freight Provided
 Tt is & certainty that the undue ex. posture of underclad men, women and chill dren to the bitter winter will greatly in- crease mortality. The clothing for these people can be provided only if we receive gift supplies for the purpose. We must depend upon the American people.
 We have arranged that the cost of transportation of clothes from any cen- tral point in the United States to Bel gium and northern France and of the dis- tribution will be paid for out of funds which have been especially provided so that the whole American contributions will reach the destitute without one cent of deduction.
 Tn the matter of the character of clothing for these people, we are sur- rounded with multitude of difficulties. In the first instance the drastic sanitary arrangements made by the governments through whose territory we must pass make the introduction of secondhand clothing, especially in the areas of the operating armies where the want will be greatest. practically impossible.
 Secondhand Goods Unacceptable
 We, therefore, must ask frankly for new clothing and more particularly for ,inmade material. Not that the destitute Tn Belgium and northern France are not intensely grateful for secondhand cloth ing. but as a matter of necessity, we ara forced to ask only for unworn stuffs
 Tt must be borne in mind that those for whom we appeal are living under al- most total industrial paralysis; that many millions of them are idle and that the cry we have from them daily is: "Give us something to do; give us something to work on. 50 that we may contribute to our support Therefore, if we can pro- vide them with materials they will make up their own clothing Furthermore the poor of Belgium and northern France can devise an extraordinary amount of clothing out of given piece of cloth and