The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1919-05-16
Report Of George w. Perkin. :,
Activities Of the 0rgani.
cation in Europe.
CRITICISMS were NOT pIsr
Arose Usually From Difficulty a, ..
curing Competent Workers ,,s
From Confused Conditions .,
Transportation-Faiiures Few,
Practically Unavoidable.

New York, May I'm a report ~
public today George w. Perkins ch.,"
man of the finance committee a, 49,
\. NJ. c. A. war work COMMITTEES. tsI,.
OF the results Of his recent invests.
ton of the work which the NC.
has done In Europe.
First explaining the difficulty n, -
curing efficient workers and the CO..
exercised in the selection of the II ooo
persons who were sent abroad NJ.
Perkins says: IT,
Much has been said about the q,
efficiency of some Of these worto-.
and, without doubt a number of tbor,
were inefficient. In any form Of Or.
ganizatlon in civilian life, whether !,
De public schools, chain stores or co,
porations, II 80 per cent of tboss
originally employed make good tho
result is regarded as highly satisfoc.
tory. II 10 per cent of the II ooa
people operating in France for Tho
Y. NJ. c. A. were inefficient II wop,d
mean that there were 1.122 men and
women who were more or less of a
failure. l do not believe that anv.
thing like this number of people were
unsuccessful; but If under the close
scrutiny which the soldiers give these
welfare workers even 5 Der cent ~
them were failures, it would have put
a large amount of criticism in circula.
ton, and the work of the 95 per cent
who were successful would be foruot.
ten in the publicity given to the s
per cent who were unsuccessful
THAT the workers as a whole were
brave and unselfish is shown by the
fact that IA Y. M. G. A. secretaries
were killed and 128 others were
wounded"
Why canteen Prices Varied.
The report relates the troubles and
expenses met by the Z. NJ. C. A. after
1t undertook the management of the
army canteens at tho request of Gen.
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:
THE Y. NJ. G. A. never solicited
money for the purpose Of giving away
Its canteen supplies. If the Y. M. C. A.
had given away canteen supplies in
France on the scale Of its sales, it
would have spent in this activity alone
at least as much money as it's entire
expenditures in France for all its ac-
tivities. The constant policy Of the
Y. M. G. A. was to sell canteen sup
plies at as nearly cost as possible, and
to bend every effort, when fighting was
In progress, to furnish the men at the
front with supplies free Of charge
where 1t was at all possible to get the
goods to them.
"Some have criticized the Y. NJ. C.
A. for not giving away more articles,
such as cigarettes, chocolate, etc. It's
policy has been not to give away gen.
orally, but only in special and needy
cases. From June, 1918, to April, 1919.
the Y. M. G. A. handled in France
alone upward Of 2,OOOOOO,OOO pack
ages of cigarettes, 100000 bars of
chocolate, 100000 cans of smoking
tobacco, 50,00OOOO cigars, 6O,OOOOOO
cans of jam, 29,OOO,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
Nj & n uiu
Furthermore, the army
does not favor any such policy. 1t
thinks that it 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
ng matter. In conclusion Mr.. Perkins
says:
Ihe 7. NJ. G. A. undoubtedly made
mistakes, but what 1t tried to do was
70 respond to every call that the army
made on 1t. 1t never hesltated to
tackle any job 1t was asked to under