The West Virginian. [volume] (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1914-1974, 1917-08-29
1fssd WIl Il y gIsat enough 8 embrace "a
ABOUT CIVILIAN RELIEF.

n EFORE the soldiers are assembled in eantonmenh NE
ID problem Of Civilian Relief will already have present.
ed ITSELF Illness, accident business reyerses, etc, Will
have overaken the families Of many who were mdepend
ent at the tune Of enlistment consumption. Already the
public reading about this and that organization being
formed for relief Of the families of such and such reg-
ment or such and such class Of soldiers Our allies have
found, after having weathered exactly the condition
of affairs. that the undertaking Of this relief work must be
assembled and ystemadzed in the most perfect manner
possible. This can only be made effective by turning the
problem over to the care and attention Of one body Of
workers.
Canada, endured trying ordeal before she finally com
peted her relief plan, which is now thoroughly whipped
into shape and doing wonders. The multitude of vOun-
tee relief organizations resulted in untold confusion and
waste Money was distributed without intelligence or In
Vesdgaon in numberess instances, and thousands OF dol
lars were expended without appreciable result This prob
lem too spendous for any volunteer work or local relief
to reach 1t mus; be handled by great corps Of trained,
efficient people under government supervision Already
agents of the Red Cross which body has assumed this
duty for the u. S. government, are busy in the principal
cities Of Canada getting instruction and ideas about the
intelligent handling of this enormous work.
Before Canada could assemble her forces to meet this
situation the women were letting the interest on mortgages
20, allowing life insurance lapse, notes were not renew
ana general III DuSllSSS ""'
ing more involved every day. There probably no nation of
women as whole who pay less attention to business con-
dtons than our own American women. he last ten
wears have witnessed more progress along the line OF busl-
ness education for women than all the years preceding
Consequently the work of looking after these affairs will
be no small part Of the problem The Canadian Patriotic
Fund as their organization termed saved over two huns
bred thousand dollars in life insurance money in one year
for the families Of the Canadian fighting men, he Amer
lean Red Cross will bend every effort to meet the situation
but means that the civil population must work with the
relief department and not independentythe funds Soic
tied must be assembled and conserved in the most careful
manner These families are not charity cases. nor habua
dependents they are only momentay he pess they need
ADVICE direction encouragement as much they need
money The women will be anxious to aid in their own
sunnot: in many instances short business course will do
wonders toward restoring people to self support Every
cas will need separate attention Every Red Gross Chap
ter will have its own civilian relief department. which must
be carefully chosen If this work is properly developed
the families of the soldiers will be found at the end OF the
war in condition of economic independence never before
witnessed in America.
The funds for the Red Cross relief work must come
from the public as it is entirely supplementary to to, the
amount allowed by the government in cases OF need there
will be thousands Of cases where the government allow
ance will not suffice and this is where civilian relief steps
in IN lift the burden. The Canadian motto is Give until
II hurts" Montreal alone raised $849 900 at one stroke
Americans must think about this problem and must see
that every dollar they give for this purpose goes into the
right hands and does its full dollars worth OF good