The Delta independent., 1920-09-17

| rlSQL 10 wear lLS uuilOIA anu Aoi
free access to it's records and all
it's work. Nothing should be
CLOSED for my eyes. / would
write what and when ! liked, If
indeed / wrote at ALL My manu-
script should be handled by my
own publishers only, and should
not be submitted to any member
of the Y. NJ. C. A. on either side
of the ocean, for criticism or ap-
proval, before 1t appeared in
final form. l specifically empha-
sized my intention to state the
facts as found them, to the best
of my judgment, without regard
to whose feelings they might
hurt
Her terms, it must be admitted,
were quite as stiff as any investiga-
tor would expect to impose, and she
says that, almost to her regret, they
were accepted at once-a readiness
which at least implied clear con-
science on the part of the organiza-
tion that was asking to be investigat-
ed. Miss Mayo adds that they have
been scrupulously Observed
On her arrival in France she went
at once to Paris and spent good
deal of time there, chiefly talking to
enlisted men of the A. E. F. and alb
sorbing soldier impressions Of the
Overseas Y Her talks and observa-
tions there confirmed her previous
suspicious. With ironical good hui
NOR she says of herself at that time
|, Following a human if ingenu-
Gus inclination, believed almost
anything any doughboy said, in
cluding the battle stories OF
charming, child-eyed young Mum
chausens covered with decora-
tions bought on the Quai Voltaire
and in moments of danger slipped
into pockets. because they make
people ask how you won EN-
and no soldier wants to brag.'
From those same mercurial lips
| I heard with wrath and loathing
the most heart-breaking accounts
of the meanness, the stupidi-
| ties. the little big cruelties Of
| that damn Y
And the result OF it all was that she
almost decided not to undertake the
1
that the job was hopeless. that the
organization couldn't be cleaned up.
that it was too bad to save and that
the best plan would be TO lat it 70
ahead and wreck itself as it seemed
, to be doing. Then she reminded her.
self that Paris was whispering gal
I lery in which nobody ever heard a
good word about anything, and that.
in Justice, she must go out and see
for herself exactly what the Y was
doing and find out with her own eyes
Just how bad 1t was. So. in that
mood, she Set forth and travelled
\ north, south, east and west, all over
France, England. and finally our Ger
man occupied territory" going where
she would and staying as long as she
liked. In all. she spent Is months
on her investigation. and n goodly
part of that time was with the SER
vice where 1t directly touched the
men. But she studied the Y work in
all its aspects and came into contact
with Y workers OF every type.
It Is necessary to have this thoro
understanding of the frame OF mind
in which she started upon her work
in order to appraise at their full value
the conclusions to which she finally
came. And those conclusions as set
forth and substantiated in the four
hundred pages OF her narrative make
a glowing and enthusiastic tribute to
the spirit and the worth of the SER
vice that was rendered to the a. r.
F.. by the Overseas Y-the that was
so universally damned by the a. +.
F. A the end of the book Miss Mayo.
in order to show by cold figures just
what the Y did, reduces It all to
matter of percentages. Her pages
have already explained why the Y
worked at such n disadvantage. and
have proved the quality of its service
She has just spoken of some of it's
many handicaps and then goes on:
Yet, in spite of all this. our Am.
erican Army actually enjoyed at
least four times more welfare
service than did any other army
in the war. This was rendered
by the various welfare societies
associated with the A. Il. F. And
80 per cent Of the whole was, ac-
; cording to official army reckon
ing. performed by the Y alone
With 40 per cent of the required
ocee tonnage, with 30 per cent
of the land transportation re.
|, quired for covering job, the Y
performed 80 per cent of all well
fare work done overseas for .he
best served army In the war.
What that service was she tells
with much dafail of Inafancn md In