The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1919-05-21
y.M.C.A.'S WORK
FOR ARMY ABROAD
Report of George w. Perkins on
Activities of the 0rgani.
cation in Europe.
CRITICISMS were NOT JUST
Arose Usually From Difficulty Of Sc
curing Competent Workers and
From Confused Conditions Of
Transportation-FaiIures Few,
Practically Unavoidable.


New York, May I'm a report made
public today George w. Perkins, chair
man of the finance committee of the
Y. NJ. G. A. war work committee, tells
of the results Of his recent inyestiga.
ton OF the work which the Y. NJ. c. A.
has done in Europe.
First explaining the difficulty Of Sc
curing efficient workers and the care
exercised in the selection of the IL 200
persons who were sent abroad, Mr..
Perkins says:
Much has been said about the in
efficiency of some Of these workers,
and, without doubt, a number of them
were inefficient. In any form Of or
ganization in civilian life, whether it
be public schools, chain stores or cor
porations, If 80 per cent Of those
originally employed make good, the
result Is regarded as highly satisfac-
tory. If 10 per cent of the 1929
people operating in France for the
Y. NJ. G. A. were inefficient it would
mean that there were 1,122 men and
women who were more or less of a
| failure. l do not believe that any
| thing like this number Of people were
unsuccessful; but if under the close
| scrutiny which the soldiers give these
welfare workers even per cent of
them were failures, it would have put
| a large amount Of criticism in circula-
! ton, and the work of the 50 per cent
| who were successful would be forgot
ten in the publicity given to the 5
| per cent who were unsuccessful.
THAT the workers as whole were
brave and unselfish is shown by the
fact that IA Y NJ. c. A. secretaries
were killed and 12f others were
wounded"
Why canteen Prices Varied.
The report relates the troubles and
expenses met by the =. NJ. G. A. after
1t undertook the management of the
army canteens at tho request of Cen
eral Pershing and the confused cOndi-
tons that made 1t impossible to arrive
at an average cost price of the goods
sold to the soldiers. 1t continues:
1.-THE Y. M. c. A. never solicited
money for the purpose of giving away
Its canteen supplies. II the Y. NJ. c. A.
had given away canteen supplies in
France on the scale Of it's sales. it
would have spent in this activity alone
ut least as much money as its entire
expenditures in France for all its &C
tivities. The constant policy of the
Y. NJ. G. A. was to sell canteen sup
plies at as nearly cost as possible, and
to bend every effort. when fighting was
front with supplies free of charge
where it was at all possible to get the
goods to them.
"Some have criticized the Y. NJ. G..
A. for not giving away more articles,
such as cigarettes, chocolate. etc. Its
policy has been not to give away gen.
orally, but only in special and needy
cases. From June. 1918, to April. 1919,
the Y. NJ c. A. handled in France
alone upward Of 2OOO,OOO,OOO pack
ages of cigarettes. 32,OOO.OOO bars of
chocolate, 100000 cans of smoking
tobacco. 100000 cigars. 100000
cans of jam, 29OOO,OOO packages Of
chewing gum, and 100000 packages
Of candy. These are only few Of the
items handled, but the size Of these
figures should convince anyone that it
would be financially impossible for the
Y. NJ. c. A. to give its supplies away
! generally. Furthermore, the army
does not favor any such policy. 1t
| thinks that 1t is far better for the men
to spend their money on such articles
as these than to spend it in other
ways. For the most part the men hold
the same view."
Its Varied Activities.
In considerable detail Mr.. Perkins
| relates the varied and extraordinarily
| extensive activities of the Y. NJ. c. A.
abroad, including the manufacture Of
much of its supplies, the establishment
of many hundreds of huts, with ath-
letics, moving pictures and various
other forms of entertainment; the
management of sightseeing tours for
soldiers on leave; the immense work
Of the educational and religious de-
| partments and the distribution of read
| ing matter. In conclusion Mr.. Perkins
| says:
1.-THE Y. NJ. c. A. undoubtedly made
mistakes, but what 1t tried to do was
to respond to every call that the army
made on 1t. 1t never hesitated to
tackle any job 1t was asked to under
take; it did not sidestep any task 1t
yaS oh RI pprform