126 



THE INDIA RUBBER WORLD 



[December 1, 1918. 



Why the Red Cross Needs Hundreds of Millions. 



THE Army and Navy represent the will of the American peo- 

 ple ; the Red Cross represents the American heart. What 

 the Red Cross has already accomplished in Europe will go 

 down in world history to the everlasting credit of America, but 

 what is being done out of sympathy for suffering humanity be- 

 comes insignificant in comparison with what duty calls upon us 

 to perform for our own men and comrades in arms. 



The American Red Cross has been a vital factor in winning 

 the war. Its mission is primarily to alleviate suffering and re- 

 store health and strength to the sick and wounded at the front, 

 but the present situation is so extraordinary that a great amount 



(C) Comnultce on Public Information. 



The Red Cross in No Man's Land. 



of other civilian relief work, at home as well as abroad, must 

 be undertaken on a scale greater than the world has ever seen. 

 This work presents to the whole people an opportunity and an 

 obligation for sacrifice and service which every patriotic man, 

 woman and child will gladly seize and generously fulfil. The 

 cessation of hostilities will not diminish but rather increase the ' 

 activities of the Red Cross, whose aid will be of vital moment 

 in the great work of rehabilitation and reconstruction so urgently 

 necessary in all the European countries. 



The boys in our Army and Navy, 3,000 miles from home in a 

 country partly devastated and sorely afflicted, must be assured 

 of adequate medical attention and every possible comfort in 

 the hour of need. Not only must doctors, nurses, ambulances, 

 hospitals, medicines and vast quantities of supplies be provided, 

 but a still broader humanitarian service must be undertaken. 

 As long as it is necessary for our armies to remain overseas the 

 Red Cross canteen service must be maintained in hundreds of 

 hospitals, camps, railroad junction points and cities where the men 

 go on leave. In these canteens hot drinks, sandwiches and to- 

 bacco are served and opportunities to bathe, sleep, read, play 

 games or chat with the women workers are provided, all of which 

 mean much to our boys and are regarded by army officers as of 

 inestimable value in maintaining the morale of the men. Music 

 and entertainments are also being abundantly provided in order 

 to vanquish those dangerous foes, homesickness and temptation. 

 Unlike the soldiers, of England and France, our men cannot 

 return to their firesides during short periods of relief from 

 trench duty, and the Red Cross must often become the foster- 

 parent of their dependent families. 



Thousands of towns and villages have been destroyed in 

 the various war zones. Millions of men, women and children 

 are homeless and suffering for the barest necessities of life. 

 They need clothing, agricultural implements, domestic animals, 

 seeds, fertilizers, tools, bedding and stoves, which can be pro- 

 vided with Red Cross funds and distributed through Red Cross 

 agencies. The spread of tuberculosis, now prevalent as a result 



of privation and trench warfare, must be checked to protect our 

 armies. Humanitarian assistance of this character to hearten 

 and strengthen the afflicted peoples of Europe will go. far 

 toward establishing law, order and stable government which 

 pave the way for permanent peace. 



Public interest in the rehabilitation of men disabled in battle 

 has reached a high point. No longer will the responsibility of 

 the army, the Government, or of industry cease by merely pen- 

 sioning a man. He must and will be refitted to take perhaps 

 even a higher place in the community than he occupied before 

 his injury. A better education will be provided to offset the 

 physical handicap, and it is the intention of the Government not 

 only to pension every disabled soldier, but to teach him a trade 

 whereby he can support himself adequately — if possible, a trade 

 or employment in which his former experience will count. The 

 Government will not discharge from the Army or Navy any 

 crippled man until he has learned to be self-supporting. 



A definite program has not yet been developed, but the Red 

 Cross Institute for Crippled Men in New York City has taken 

 the initiative in experimental vocational training and has dem- 

 onstrated how the problem can be worked out. Men who have 

 lost their legs are being taught the manufacture of artificial 

 limbs, oxyacetylene welding, motion picture operating, mechan- 

 ical drafting, printing and jewelry work, while those who have 

 lost an arm are being supplied with new inventions which enable 

 them to engage in a great variety of work. 



It is to maintain the foregoing and many other forms of serv- 

 ice to our fighting men and to their families through home 

 service that the American Red Cross will conduct a Christmas 

 roll call during the week of December 16 to 23. What finer 

 message could be cabled to our boys on Christmas Eve than that 

 virtually the entire American people have enrolled in the Red 

 Cross. Such a message also would mean a wonderful inspiration 

 to the civilian populations of Europe because it would show that 

 the American people are no less responsive to the needs of their 



The Rkd Cross Canteen Is a Popul.\r Spot with Our Boys. 



fellow men in peace than in war. All anvbody needs to answer to 

 the Red Cross Christmas roll call is a heart and a dollar, but 

 many larger contributions are needed. 



The Red Cross is the most deserving charity of the times and 

 merits every material assistance, active cooperation and con- 

 structive suggestion that individual or corporate beneficence 

 can devise. Good use can be made of as mucii money as can be 

 raised. 



