Abilene weekly reflector., 1922-05-04
HOW RELIEF MONEY GOES
J. N. EngIe Says American Funds
Arc Wasted Abroad

J. N. EngIe Says American Funds
Arc Wasted Abroad
4 A letter from J. N. Egle, written
from Lode, Poland. gives some
startling opinions on the waste of
money contributed by Americans for
relief OF Russia and Poland. Mr..
Engle is with the Y. M. c. A. and
this is what he says:
EVERY man, believe who knows
must say with John Mott, The for
eign work of the Y. N. G. A. has be-
come a world power. Our buildings
It home are thronged with young
men as never before and so on, yet
l know personally that there Is lots
of mis- spent money, lots of ineffi-
cheney, and lots of wrong minded
secretaries In the work over here and
II criticism on welfare or relief So
cieties were started, 1t should not
begin with the Y. have bumped
up against the American Relief Ad-
ministration fellows, the Y. w. G.
A. women, the Methodist mission
folks, ETC., and they all seem to be
spending the generous American
givers' money more freely than the
IL. Between you and me and st.
Peter, it's almost a crime the way
they sQuander. Just today dined
with the A. R. A. man. He has a
Cadillac to go everywhere, and Joy.
rides when he likes. His talk Is
more about wine and women, good
clothes and poker than about relief
for the needy. At Warsaw the Y.
w. women have big new Buick
and they are very free in inviting
the Y wives for pleasure drives and
the Red Cross are notoriously free
with the peoples money. One can
see their many cars flying around
any time. When I mention autos I
mean that all their works are car.
ried on In the same high flowing
style. There was an A. R. A. girl
in q room next to us In this hotel
who had a big car for herself to run
to Warsaw and elsewhere, and the
same A. r. administration sent six
Of their girls back to the states this
month for q six weeks leave. That
will cost little money. If l should
ask for such a leave I'd be told to
60 to the United States and stay. At
best the Y. gets a Dodge car but
usually a Ford. There is much work
and three Y. secretaries at this point
have nothing but rickety Ford
canton and then are sent word not
to use it for pleasure riding-as II
one could have any pleasure in such
vehicle-but, even though some
war waste methods are still used
over here, like the war it will result
in mixed benefits. The general ef-
feet Of the service is good and the
real spirit Of America is shown.
II will not try to tell you the facts
about Poland or Russia. Facts you
know are stubborn things. The diff
Guilty is to get the truth and nothing
but the truth in this jumbled chaotic
condition over here. doubt not
that any Philadelphia paper can give
you more straight facts about Poland
than l can. I myself think Poland
Is in a heck of a condition and Rus
sia very much worse. The rates
of exchange in the two countries tell |
a bookful. Sometimes dislike
these Polocks, and again I admire in
some things. They are struggling |
to govern themselves and have too
big a job. They started in with no
debt and now have billions of it.
They have the enmity Of Germany,
Russia and Czecho- Slavakia and
went out of their way to tackle Rus
sian territory and got nearly wiped
off the map. Industrially they
should be prosperous but politically
they are rotten and personally there
are too many dubs and dumkopfs
among them. Notwithstanding Boil
shevism, admire Russians much
more as 1 believe all foreigners DO.
1.-The break up Of Soviet govern
ment as such l think has come, and
a new regime must take its place.
Lenine and Trotzky are at logger
heads and Lenine may lean far
enough to the right politically to stay
awhile by revising his lniquitous
system-but I really think he should
be shot-the American and other re-
lief agencies now going in is the
wedge in Russia to work toward
sanity and to help prove to these
dreamers and idealists that funda-
mental principles, capital or no cap
ital, cannot be violated, economically
speaking. The wonderful country Of
Russia and her wonderful people
have been set back for a quarter Of
a century but believe they will |
rise-the best and right will soon
come to the top. I have now been
among Russians. of all degree for
over eleven months and have a
of the language and so
many friends among them that /
would very much like to go into the
country proper. OF course all OF, the
country we are now in was former
1y Russian Territory but was inhab- |