Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-04-06
SCH|FF TELLS OF
JEWISH WELFARE
WORK IN FRANCE
Well Known Financier Studies
Recreation Conditions for
the Army Of Occupation
"Over There"

New York, April 5.-(Special.)
Returning recently from tour OF
France and Germany, during which
he visited all the Jewish Welfare
board centers erected to serve the
American expeditionary force Nor
timer l.. Schiff, chairman of the
finance committee of the board, and
member of the committee of eleven,
expressed satisfaction with the ef-
forts being made by the various
welfare agencies, to supply the
100000 American troops still in
Europe with suitable recreation and
entertainment, and educational.
while I am member of the ex-
ecutive committee and the chairman
of the finance committee of the Jew
ish Welfare board, l went abroad
primarily as a member Of the COM
mittee of eleven" Mr.. Schiff said.
"As is now generally known, the
committee is representative of all
welfare organizations ministering to
the troops, and the chief work of
which has been to coordinate and
standardize the services and activi-
ties of these agencies. / am glad to
say that much progress has been
made in establishing better un-
Outstanding between them and that
agreements have been reached on a
number of the most important
points. I had the privilege of seeing
a good deal of our troops overseas,
and have been much impressed, as
has every other observer, by the
caliber of our men.
Soldiers Are Homesick.
"Now that the stimulus of actual
fighting is over, they are bored and
homesick, and it is just that which
makes it SO important that the
various organizations should work
together in providing the maximum
of leisure time activities. This is
thoroughly understood by our army
officers from General Pershing
down, and they are encouraging and
helping the work in every way.
'As to the Jewish Welfare board,
much progress has been made in
establishing it overseas on a basis
: broad enough to enable it to render
teal service, not only to the men Of
our own faith, but to all others as
we'll 1t must be borne in mind that
the function of the Jewish Welfare
board overseas is to supplement the
work of the other agencies so as to
provide specifically for the needs of
the Jewish men. We have therefore
laid great stress on cooperating
with the Jewish chaplains, of whom
there are now almost 20 in France,
in helping them with motor cars and
other assistance to meet the needs
OF the men irrespective of their re-
ligious faith, who they find they can
serve in one way or another.
Ten Centers Opened.
when | left France, toward the
end of February, 10 Jewish centers
had been opened, four more had
been authorized. and other were
under consideration. The amount OF
work which we can do in France is
limited only by the number of first
class work ers whom we can make
available for this purpose. At the
present time, we have over 100
such workers. and we are bending
every effort to add to this force,
accepting, however, only such as by
training and temperament would
seem to measure up to the highest
standards.
Il spent more than two months in
France and visited our Third army
the army of occupation in Germany
The scattered positions of many oil
our men in France make welfare
work highly important there, and in
the Third army, the extensive terri
tory over which it stretches in itself
calls for a very considerable force
OF workers. Indeed, this fact i'm.
presses ME in particular-that there
never has been a time when it has
been more important for the agen.
cies serving our troops to do Their
utmost to furnish them with recrea,
tional, educational and religious CD.
portunities and facilities. The Jew.
ish Welfare board is now equipped
to assume its share of this RESPONSE
bility and / believe that it is MAKING
a distinct contribution toward the
comfort and happiness of our troops
abroad, as it has done these many
months in the case of our troop:
here.