Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1920-02-14
MONEY REQUIRED
BY RED CROSS To
ND Elk SOLDIERS

AT the request of F. O. Wester-
| field, a committee has investigated
| the activities of the home service
section of the Red Cross to Judge
whether a proposed move TO raise
| funds is necessary, a number of
! bankers visited the rooms of the
| home service. The following re-
port was signed by the investiga-
| tors:
THE undersigned committee, at
the request of f. O. Westerfeld,
chairman of the Red Cross cam
! paign, has carefully examined the
work being done by the home serv-
ice. We called Thursday unan-
nounced, at the home serv-
| ice offices, and arter careful ques-
| tioning of the home service work
ers, present the following facts for
the consideration of the citizens of
Albuquerque:
81. The home service is ham
ding, in our opinion, very efficient
! ly, a large number of unfinished
cases arising out of the military
service of citizens of our county.
These cases involve claims for gov
eminent compensation on account
of casualties or injuries to health,
adjustment of government insur-
ance, rehabilitation of families Of
soldiers who lost their lives or
were disabled, claims for back pay,
verlfication of death records, and
other matters of like nature. AS
nearly as we have been able to as
certain, the home service is the
only agency through which such
! cases can be handled.
"2. Should our eX-soldiers be
deprived of the help of the home
service in handling their cases, We
are convinced that many serious
| injustices and hardships will fall
upon them or their families.
"3. While splendid progress has
been made in cleaning up these
cases there are a great many of them
still in process of adjustment, and
we believe that $4,000 is a reasona-
bic estimate of the cost of finishing
this work in Bernalillo county
"a. We call attention to the fact
that but for the aid which the
home service is rendering and has
rendered to our eX-soldiers, many
of them or their families would
have become public charges and
as such would eventually cost the
community much more than the
work of the Red Cross is costing.
The question of supporting the Red
Cross is therefore, to a large de-
gree, a question of putting these
men on their feet now, or paying
taxes later to support them as OBJ
jects of public charity.
rs. since these cases are war
cases, our community, in our opln-
ion, is under just as heavy a moral
obligation to handle them now as it
was to handle them during the ac-
tual period of the war.
"6. We are convinced that
through the work of the home
service a great many of our eX-
soldiers have been made self-sup-
porting and self-respecting citizens. |
The object of the Red, Cross has |
been to restore men to the same |
useful citizenship as they had be-
fore entering military service, and |
we believe that this object has |
been largely achieved.
~. We recommend to the Citi-
zens of Bernalillo county that they |
subscribe to the fund of SO, 500 now |
asked for to complete this work. |
We call attention to the fact that !
if everybody does their share to-
wards subscribing this fund, the |
burden will not be heavy on any in /
dividual person or firm.
IS. We recommend that any cit
izen of Bernalillo county not fully |
convinced of the accuracy of the !
foregoing statements should call |
personally at the offices of the !
home service the postoffice build
ing and satisfy himself as to the |
work that is being done. He will be |
welcomed by the home service |
workers as we were welcomed and |
we believe will go away fully con-
WINGED that the work of the home
service is invaluable to our COM
munity.
Respectfully submitted,
-. b. HERNDON,
-. w. LEIGH.
&c. S. WHITE.
"Members of the Committee"