The Manning times. [volume] (Manning, Clarendon County, S.C.) 1884-current, 1921-04-20
WHY SEND MILK TO ITALY

There seems to be very general
impression that the Italian Babies arc
cared for by the Central European
Relief. This, however, is not the
case, as Mr.. Hoover has himself en-
phatically stated. The Central Euro
pean Relief, as its name indicates,
cares for the children Of Central Eu-
rope-Poland, Austria, Hungary and
these countries have been rescued
this iwntcr, but Italy too, needs help
and we must give both of our SYM
pathy and our substance to her in this
her hour of need.
The question is often asked-"But
why is Italy not able to take care of
her children ?" Under ordinary cir
cumstances, Italy could take care of
her children--but the circumstances
are extraordinary.
In Italy today milk famine exists
due to the fact that many cattle
had to be sacrificed the last year of
the war to feed the army. Later the
dread Mouth and Hoof disease broke
out and swept the country Of the re-
naming milk-givfng animals. This
has left them with no native milk
-Four years of devastating war had
left the nation with enormous war
debts, deprecated currency and
great scarcity of the necessaries Of
life. AS the currency went down,
the cost Of living went up, and for
the poor the conditions of existence
became almost unbearable. Foods
that in November last the Gov
crnment found it necessary again to
issue food cards-more stringent than
during the war, and much of Italy's
unrest has been due to the food situa-
ton.
Under these conditions, the Italian
mother, herself undernourished, has
not been able to nourish her baby
as formerly she was abundantly able
to do-and in Italy the unprecedented
has happened-Italian mothers have
had to feed their babies artifically
The artificial feeding of baby is
not the best way, but it can be sue
ceSsfully done if good milk is avail
able, but without milk it becomes a
question which scientists have not yet
been alb le to solve. There is no sub
stitute for milk-and the baby under
one year, deprived of it, cannot live
The little child over one year may
live but becomes an easy prey to
rickets, anaemia and tuberculosis
the hunger dscases-and with these
the hospitals are filled.
Three hundred baby hospitals and
institutions for children in Italy are
now being supplied with milk by the
American Free Milk Fund, and
through its dispcnsaries and milk
distributing centers 100000 babies
have been rescued but many prov
inces have not yet been reached, the
relief can go only as far as the milk
goes. The institutions already estah.
lished must be maintained and the
work can be extended only through
larger shipments of milk.
The situation in Italy is briefly this:
The people arc burdened with ire
mendous taxation necessary to pay
their war debts and the currency so
deprecated in consequence that they
cannot buy from us with the ruinous
exchange now existing. Few people
here realize that the Italian Ira,
which used to be equal to 20 cents in
our money, is now worth only 3 1-2
cents. Five dollars used to be the
equivalent of 25 lire. Now it takes
nearly $50 lire to purchase five dol
lars worth of American goods.
The milk that we are sending over
costs us here, wholesale II cents a
quart, but if it is sold to the poor
Italian, he must pay nearly &C cents
quart for it in Italy.
Can Italian babies be properly fed
with our milk if we sell it to them?
Italy's suffering babies are the vic
TINS of war-they are rcaping the re-
suits Of Italy's great sacrifice in "the
cause" which was "Our Cause"
Italy was our friend and ally. Shall
we be content to offer her no sympa-
thy, no aid? A cup of milk is all that
is asked in her name-that her babies
the future hope of the nation-may
not be dwarfed and stuntcd as re-
suit Of malnutrtion
Send your contributions, large or
small, to Miss Jane B. Evans, Flor
ence, S. c., State Charman-For
American Free Milk and Relief for
Italy, Inc.
EVERY PENNY COUNTS.
I., "