The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-03-19
WHAT THE Y.M.C.A.
 DID IN FRANCE
pr. Woods Hutchinson, Well Known Scientist, Praises Vel
 fare Work Overseas.

war, which was beyond all praise, l and second, what the war had done 1 for the 'fY," which was scarcely less. 1 should feel ashamed of myself if I 1 didn't speak out and add my mite to 1 clearing up this cloud of superficial
 criticism which has been allowed to 1 overshadow the magnificent achieve
 rlent of the Y. M. c. A.
 Most of the criticism against the 1 "Y" as brought back and written
 home by our boys in France seems
 based on comparatively superficial l charges. have not the slightest hes 1 itation in saying that If all the com 1 plaints were true, the balance In l favor of the soldier would still be
 ninety-nine percent of the entire war service performed by the Y. M. c. A.
 It's work as saw 1t from Belgium to | tte Adriatfo. and from the home training camps to the front line trenches was simply magnificent. | While, Of course, mistakes were
 made, they were on the whole fewer than those of most other organiza- tons operating under such difficult circumstances, not excepting the mil itAry authorities.
 In my judgment, 1t was the "Y" and Its splendid army of volunteer
 minister workers that saved, the face" of the earth in this war. If was practical Christianity in action and did mora to humaniEe the church and
 delegate creed and rituals to the back shelves than anything that has hap pened !n fifty years.
 These grave, quiet, bravely cheer full and happy, sinple-mindsd boys of
 CUTS, who looked like cherubs and fought like devils. had already made the supreme sacrifice, had offered | their lives to make the world safe for their loved ones and for the children | Of the future. Greater love hath no man than this, that 8 man will lay l down his life for his friend" There vas no cruciNx that could be held be- | fore those boys that they had to look | up to see.
 It was the bravest, gayest. most l loyal, justest and kindliest brother 1 hood was ever admitted to, and l they're going to tear this gray. | greedy. selfish old world of ours at i home 10 bits and make 1t over again and better. And God be with them in
 their crusade and God help anyone 1 who stands in their way!
 1 Through them & great humanizfng l process began, by which the r. M. O. 1 A. has been fairly transformed, with
 splendid augury for greater and
 more efficient service in the future 1 than 1t has ever performed in the I'ast- Its programme was early rec ognized as essential to military ef- hciency ard I violate no secrets of the military authorities, not only of i the American army but also of the 1 French and Italian armies as well, when I say that the "Y' programme | could not have been dispensed with
 except at the cost of prolonging the war and delaying the victory.
 And l may add that they seriously considered the possibility of organiz- ing soms other force to do this work in the camps, and ended by turning everything over the Y. M. c. A. and giving the Association carte blanche i and hearty support. The French
 looked at 1t for months askance on account of the ''C'' in the name, but ended by asking for 1000 French speaking American secretaries and
 
 was already burdened by the service demanded of 1t in the American Ex- reditionary Forees, the response was in the affirmative and today the 'Y' supervtses the operation of 1.500 Foyers du Soldat in the French army. The Italians did the same and more than 25o American workers are now in Italy, where three times that num- ber of natives have been assigned to assist in the carrying on of the ''Y" programme and operate 1t when the 1 Americans withdrew.
 saw the "Y'' in operation from | Belgium all the way across the west
 ern front, on the two fronts in Italy, on the IsonZe, and in the mountains of the Trentino. By its casualty list 1 one may estimate the ser ssce which | the workers rendered in the most
 dangerous sectors. Nine dead by 1 skelI fire and gas, total of 109 cas-
 ualties, 54 of whom died, 12 men 1 awarded the Croix de Guerre. two 1 cited for the same honor. 10 given the i distinguished Service Cross,-these figures tell a story of heroic service. | So vita1ly and pricelessly valuable
 
 | rale of the troops that the German | General Staff declared it a combatant 1 and ordered it's front line stations and | huts sheiled just as it did the dress ! ing stations and field hospitals. This work at the front was spec 1 tacular. the kind that newspaper
 readers like to read about But the
 routine work in the ports. in the | training and concentration camps and
 in the great leave areas was even
 more basically important.
 The "Y" programme repu1sed the | greatest enemy of an army. the bore com that settles over fighting forces l between battles and over such | branches as the s. o. s. and as such | was 8 great war-winning contribu
 ton. The gave the soldier | home, a club, library, g concert | Lall church. theatre, and an ath-