The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1919-02-13
ANSWERS CRITIC.
ISMS OF Y. M. c. A.

In answer to the criticisms that are
being circulated against the Army Y.
M. C. A. it might be wise to give the
verdict Of men that were in France,
yet not as Y. M. c. A. secretaries.
This from Burge Johnson:
''All of the criticism against the ~
that heard in the field, and l heard
a good deal, fell into one or the other
of two groups. It was either due to
the unsuitable personality of an indi-
vidual or it was an attack upon meth
DDS Of canteen work.
AS to criticisms due to the canteen,
they were of many sorts, yet almost
invariably without Justification. The
enlisted men were crowd of normal
boys who thronged the canteens and
were naturally kindly in their judg-
ments, but they came in an endless
stream, and where there was an ex-
PLANTATION for some apparent fault it
was almost impossible for the canteen
workers to repeat the story over and
over again throughout the day. The
boys who heard it would weigh it and
accept it. The ones who did not hear
it would 60 out silently, grumble,
Let me cite one typical criticism.
When the "Y" warehouse for the I'd
Division was at Toul there had been a
prolonged shortage of chocolate. Fin
ally several boxes were received and
divided pro rata among the secretar-
les in the field. The secretary with a
battalion of the 9th Marines got his
proportion. the secretary with an en-
gineers' outfit got smaller supply.
They planned to make it go as far as
possible by limiting each purchaser
to half a cake The boys always I'M
derstool these limitations and coop
Grated helpfully But imagine the
Engineers secretary, with his canteen
near the front, suddenly raided by a
crowd of tired, muddy, hungry ma
rines, begginfi for chocolate, and too
tired too hunt their own canteen. The
secretary could only say: Here is all
the chocolate that I've got, and it's
meant for the engineers" l can I'M
agine the marines turning away dis
appointed, or angry: and saying
"What is the 'Y' for? Is it for the
army. or just for the engineers ?"
Or, supposing the secretary decided
to let his supplies go to the first COM
ers. Then along came the engineers
to whom he was assigned. They knew
him. He was acquainted with most OF
them personally. 81 am sorry" he
says, ''but gave all my chocolate to
the marines, although they had a sec
rotary, with their share of the sup
plies, somewhere in the neighbour
hood" Whichever way the secretary
acted lot Of boys were sure to feel
aggrieved.
| heard many criticisms due to such
a situation. Why did it never happen
in the case of the Salvation Army, for
instance? Because the Salvation
Army, splendidly effective as it was,
honored by every one who dealt with
it's representatives in the field, was
infinitely smaller in size and in obli-
cations. The United States Army had
not requested it to take over the can
teen. It purchased materials up to
the limit of its funds, made pies and
doughnuts as near the front as it
could, and gave them away to all COM
ers while they lasted. It's representa-
tives were not assigned to different
units. If boy got doughnut and
helpful word, he was grateful. II he
did not get the doughnut or did not
see Salvation Army man, he had no
possible or fancied grievance.
Statements as to profiteerlng and
undue cost are not worth answering
specifically here, because any one
honestly DESTROYS Of knowing the
truth can get army reports showing
that every cost was subjected to Off
cial investigation by some one APP
pointed by General Pershing, as well
as by the War Department; that the
budget of expenditures Of the "Y''
was frequently studied and approved
by the military authorities.