Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1916-02-10
CHANCE FOR ALL
TO HELP BELGIUM.
Will Irwin Tells of the Win
ter's Need Among the Des-
titute There.
PEOPLE ARE IN RAGS;
CLOTHING is URGENT
Work of Commission for Relief Is
Explained and Call for Aid
Is Sounded.
BY WILL IRWIN.

Only the larger issues of this war
have prevented Americans from know
ing more about the commission for re-
lief in Belgium, our own most import
ent part, SO. far, in Anna geddon. An
aeroplane fight is more interesting. es-
sentially, than an operation in high
finance, and battle always draws
more attention than a social movement.
Just at present the human race is con-
stituted that way. So very few, 1 sup
pose, really understand that a group
of Americans is running over in war
torn Europe the greatest charitable I'M
dertaking the world ever saw, and
running it in such a manner that it
may change and overturn the old meth
DDS of organized charity. Lord Curzon,
member of the British cabinet. said last
spring at the Mansion House that hith-
erto public relief on large scale had
been Synonymous with incompetence or
corruption, or both, and that here. for
the first time, the work had been done
with absolute economy and efficiency.
1t has been a miracle of organiza-
ton; less than / per cent of the money
has gone for overhead expenses. Men,
such as Hoover, the chairman, and
Bates, until fecenlS the American
chairman, have let worldwide personal
interests go to pot in order to work
without salary for the commission. 1t
has been miracle of speed Less than
three weeks after the call came the
commission had begun to cut red tape,
and was pouring stream of wheat
into Belgium. 1t has been a miracle of
diplomacy. The commissioners have
been walking tight wire between
the conflicting hatreds and suspicious
of three warning powers. The whole
story will not be told until after the
war. We have thirty young Americans
running food districts in Belgium. They
live in the midst of pathos and humor
and even personal danger; but they
cannot write about it, because they are
pledged to hold their tongues and pens
Caspar Whitney is down in northern
lance. special advocate of the COM
i,.ission with the German great stan
] aimed reporter that he is he, too.
works under the pledge of silence. But
some day we shall know it all. and 1t
viii be great and romantic story.
Complex Problem to Be Met.
The problem is very complex. The
active executives of the commission are
volunteers. Most of the underlings are
working for bare expenses In that sense.
It is all charity. In another sense, it is
not. Early in the game the commission
found that 100000 people could not be
fed with certainty by the charity Of the
world. Ways were found to hypothecate
Belgian property paper currency was is
sued those who had anything left were
ea;:b led to pay their way. There re-
r: med. however, two or three million
factory operatives who had been out of
N5.k since the war began. and who had
: ching at all. The outside world has
f.cen obliged to pay for feeding them. l
Wi II j might say that America has done
i',ost of this. but cannot. Up to October
ise; We had given only cents per capita,
whereas New Zealand had given dollar
and quarter per capita. At that, the
commission has had to strain every re-
source of charity.
Now arises another emergency-curious.
distressing, yet in some aspects humorous.
There is a general embargo on wool and
cotton, well made-up clothes.
Not a Belgian loom has turned since the
war began. In short there has been no
new supply Of clothing for seventeen or
eighteen months. That industrial popula-
ton would get no garments even had they
money. Rapidly they approach nakedness.
The schools in some factory towns arc
closed because the children cannot dress
to go out of doors. All over Belgium
three or four children of large family
are lying abed SO that the fourth or fifth
child may go out and play in the only
garments which remain to the family
They are a people in -ags-without
patches Patches take cloth, and there
IT, no spare cloth.