Decorah-posten og ved arnen., 1918-06-18

DccD p1tpdIcu. Inc IdtSot Pupli'atiOi
OF the Commission is an eight-pag'
bulletin, entitled Our Lutheran Boys
which contains a great deal of in
formation about the work of the Com
mission, its finances, a list of Lutheran
chaplains and camp pastors. etc. ]
is the purpose of the Commission tC
publish this bulletin regularly as
bi-monthly, and to give it as wide
circulation as possible among oui
pastors and workers at home and II
the camps. In order to secure second
class postal rates, it is necessary &c
have a number Of subscriptions, anC
ii is to be hoped that a great many
will send a Thrift Stamp to pay foi
the subscription for one year.
1t has constantly been the purpose
OF the Commission to send a persona
message to all the Lutheran boys Will
the Colors, and thus try to enlist then
in active Christian service among
their companions. This has beer
done, to a certain extent, but has
been greatly hampered by the fac
that 50 many of the pastors, in spite
Of repeated requests from the Com
mission and Synodical authorities
have failed to send to our Office {
list of the boys from their Churche,
in the service. To date less thar
10000 IN have been received, al
though a conservative estimate OF the
number OF Lutheran men with the
Colors is 100000. The importance o.
having such a list on file cannot wei
be over-estimated, and much more
could be done for the Church and the
boys if such lists were available. II
is also of vital importance that this
list be furnished and kept up to date
with all changes OF addresses noted
in order that our office may send &c
the various camp pastors the names
of Lutheran boys in the camps where
they are working. All pastors oil
Churches should be urged again tc
comply with this reasonable request
which is of such great importance for
the success of Our work.
Another important field of work is
the large number OF military hospitals
that have been opened and that are
under construction. Two men have
been assigned already as supervisors
of work in the hospitals, and 1t is our
purpose to give all Lutheran boys III
these various hospitals an oppor-
tunity to be ministered unto by
pastors of their own faith.
A Women's Committee has also
been organized and is actively en-
gagged in encouraging the ONE OF
the Churches to prepare useful gar
ments that may be distributed by the
chaplains and camp pastors, as they
find that the boys need them, and
furnishing material for this purpose.
1t is evident that the extensive work
of the Commission, which has in part
been outlined above. and which is
constantly increasing, has demanded
and will require considerable funds.
The work is, naturally, eN-
penslvc than regular local Church
work, because of the unusual circum-
stances under which it must be
carried on. The question of securing
funds was, therefore, from the very
beginning a burning one, and various
plans were suggested, and several
smaller collections were gotten under
way. 1t was finally decided that a
general campaign for funds should be
carried on, and the time was set for
February 18th to Goth. 1913. This
time was chosen in order that our
campaign might NOT III any way Gun
hict with other national campaigns
for war purposes. The time for pre-
pairing such a large and new under
taking was too short. Other dith-
c%ulties, such as heatless Mondays and
express embargoes, did much to re-
tard the progress of the campaign.
Nevertheless, through the untiring
efforts and self-sacrihcing work of
the headquarters committee, the
various state and local chairmen, the
great army of canvassers, as well as
the splendid response OF the Churches,
the result OF the campaign far ex-
ceeded the fondest expectations of
most of those that watched its pro-
gress with great interest. Although
the goal of the campaign was TO raise
$750,000, the sum al Sl,3lS.459.6S has
been reported as subscribed.
On the oath of May, the total
received in cash by the
of the National Commission
was $S65,S25.l8.
The expenditures to date are as
follows: