New Britain herald., 1917-02-01
HOOVER APPEALS
 FOR THE BELGlANS
Declares America Must Open
 Purse to Suffering Country

Chairman of the American Commis- 1 sion for the Relief of Belgium, has
 made in the United States since the
 war began was delivered today before
 the Chamber of Commerce of the
 State of New York, with an effort to
 impress upon the American people l now comparatively insignificant have
 been their contributions for Belgian 1 relief.
 | As compared with profit of ESQ., 100000 which has come to America l through the spending here of $150,- OOO,0O by the relief commission in the ] purchase of supplies for Belgium, the l public benevolence in America to- wards Be gium amounted to only $9,- 100000. Such were the figures MT. 1 Hoover presented
 "Gentlemen, Europe has begun to | take stock of us!', said he, in compar- | ing these figures with American claims l to idealism, devotion to humanity, and 1 great henevolence.
 1t was true that Americans had I opened the door to Belgium, but time and again the door had threatened to 1 close. and MT. Hoover declared that the financial future of the organ1za- l tion gave untold anxiety.
 Must Have More Money. Today" he said, i've must have 100000 to s1s,o0o,ooo a month
 an additional s3,OOO,00O to $5,OOO,OOO over the subsidies which are now be- ] ing received through the allied gov l ernments.
 | Five months ago we appealed to l the American people to find only $l,- | 00O,oOO a month towards the cost of | the extra imports needed for little | children, but despite the efforts of l thousands of devoted supporters in 1 the United States the apathy of the ] country caused failure even for this l moderate sum. Yet within 8 month l
 have stood ashamed before a thou l sand Belgian children who, on my en- 1 trance upon their daily meal warbled i the opening stanzas of the Star Span l gled Banner"
 l Mir Hoover concluded by asking the l American people for a truly "proper l representation in the provision of
 s6,o00.o0o a month with which to
 support the destitute, and added: "I
 want the American people to be pre- l pared in emergency to loan another
 10.0O0,O0O 8 month which will be
 repaid"
 l To help in the visualization of con- | d1tions in Belgium MT. Hoover began l his address by asking his hearers to
 assume that New York city and envir- | onments were occupied by enemy
 army. He said:
 l Your boundaries would be marked
 with a wall of steel You would be.
 from military necessity, blockaded of
 imports. The daily flow of seventy
 per cent. of your food supplies to your
 cities from beyond the wall of steel | would cease and your markets and 1 11J n, oil
 zen and every village would hoard | food to themselves. You would be in | terdicted from movement outside of
 your own ward or village or from as-
 sembly in any manner without per l mission. Your railways would be talk
 en over for military purposes. All ! communication would cease with the l outside world. Your Post. the Tele- l graph, and the Telephone would he l suppressed. Your factories would be 1 closed and half your people rendered l destitute overnight through their loss l of wage and income. Your normal 1 newspapers and periodic press would /, be suppressed. The theaters would 1 be abandoned: your whole intellectual l activity smothered. The normal seats :, of administrat ton would he occupied l bv enemy soldiers. A sentry would ! l cross road and the instinctive feeling I of security Of every free man in his l right to be heard in justice would be l submerged in the practical power of | life and death by the enemy army. I You would be called upon to contrib i ute to the cost of the occupying army. l Tn a word. the whole economic. intel 1 1ec+,1al and governmental functions of
 ordinary life would be suspended.
 "In a picture of such a situation
 vol, can imagine the indescriable de- | snair and terror of every citizen. the
 +error famed by the millions of
 rumors which shiver through the nonu1ation. Couple with this the tho very food upon which your wom- , err and children SurVlNe or o1e. ms is war.
 "Such has been the situation of l 10 900 900 people in Belgium and Northern France for over two years,
 but for the Relief commission. And
 thi, has been a relief not only to
 their physical being but to their ter
 TOT and a shield to their despair.'
 Growth of Organization.
 Mr. Hoover told how the relief or | ganization had grown. He and others
 who first Joined 1t thought that so
 terrible a situation could exist for ! only a short time. but I've found"
 he said. that we were confronted
 with task not merely over days but
 months, and an expenditure far be-
 yond dreams of any relief hitherto known It became clear that the rills of charity of the world would fail us and that banking measures we could 1 tablish in this situation were hope
 lessly insufficient. Ultimately, we se- cured the support of the allied gov ernments, and now. after 800 weary ! days. we look back on an expenditure
 of some s25O,000,000 of which $30,-
 OOO, 900 have been from charity, and