19 
LAND & WATER 
June 15, 1916 
Extension of the Union Jack Club 
Our Special Appeal to Readers of Land & Water 
By the Editor 
THE Union Jack Club was presented by the 
nation to the Navy and Army as a memorial to 
those of the Services who fell in the South African 
war. As everybody who lives in London knows, 
it stands in Waterloo Road, close to Waterloo Station, 
the terminus of the London and South Western Railway, 
which serves Aldershot, Portsmouth, Southampton, Ply- 
mouth and Devonport, so it is placed as it were, at the 
main gate of L(jndon, from the point of view of its 
momters. The Union Jack is a Club in identically the 
same sense as the " Rag " in Pall Mall, or the Atheufeum 
or the Bachelors in Hamilton Place. The same 
tacilities and advantages are offered to its members by 
it as by them. It is run on strict business lines ; the 
Club pays for itself, and has each year a small balan cc 
to the good, but only a small one, for the right principle 
is that profit should not be made out of members. A 
difference, besides the 
range of prices, which 
exists between the 
U.J.C. and those 
Clubs we have men- 
tioned, is that it pro- 
vides much greater 
sleeping accommoda- , 
tion. During 1915, the 
actual number of 
members who passed 
a night at the Club 
were 211,445 of whom 
33,921 were sailors, 
2,948 marines, and 
174,576 soldiers. Bet- : 
ter testimony to the 
appreciation of the 
Club could not be 
given. Where think 
you, would these men 
haveiv slept if the 
U.J.C. had not 
existed ? Yet the 
melancholy fact has 
also to be inen- 
tioncd that some hun- ' 
dreds of men had to 
be refused, regretfully 
refused, sleeping ac- 
commodation just because there was no room for them. 
Let us try to understand not only what the U.J.C. 
lias done for Navy and Army, but the light it 
sheds on certain social problems of which many 
good people arc apt to take the gloomiest view. 
Before it came into existence the sailor and soldier 
who found himself on leave in London, usually with 
a bit of money in his pocket, had nowhere to go to 
provided he had neither home nor friends. Was it any 
wonder that he turned to the nearest public place of 
refreshment that was within his means ? Unfortunately, 
our Licensing Laws have more or less compelled public- 
houses to be mere drinking-dens, and the man on leave 
often only too quickly got rid of his cash and made of 
himself in the process cither a beast or' a fool. Then 
society blamed the man. Which was wrong. It should 
have blamed itself for not providing its defenders on 
their rare holidavs with a place where they might live 
decenth' and amuse themselves rationally. A sensible and 
healthy man never gets drunk from mere love of getting 
drunk. The idea that he does so is a foolish and 
wicked delusion. Outside occasional conviviality, intoxica- 
tion is directly due to a desire to escape from uncongenial 
environment. Change the environment, make it con- 
genial and drunkenness disappears. The truth of this 
statement has been proved over and over again, but there 
IS no stronger testimony in existence to-day than the 
success and popularity of the Union Jack Club. There 
are other obvious evils from which the Club saves men 
who would otherwise be on a loose end in the streets. 
Members of the Union Jack Club 
In this connection the ability of the Club to provide a 
bedroom to every member who requires it is urgent. It 
is pathetic to have to send away a self-respecting man 
to a doss-house or cheap lodging-house for a night's 
rest. That is so at all times either in war or in peace, but 
it is doubly pathetic at the present when the man perhaps 
has just come in after a spell of wild weather in the North 
Sea, or may be from a hght with enemy, or if he be a 
soldier straight from the trenches and continuous pound- 
ing night and day by big shell. 
As we advance in life the clearer do we behold the 
eternal truth underlying the saying, God made all men 
equal. Inequality between the natures of different men 
and nations largely arises from the conditions which man, 
through his laws, customs and traditions, has made for 
himself. Men may laugh at those who believe in ideals 
and would constitute life on idyllic conditions, and 
call them unpractical. 
But such persons are 
far wiser and more 
sensible than those 
others who judge 
human nature at its 
lowest and treat man- 
kind accordingly. We 
stand in need - of 
golden-tongu d saints 
to preach the doc- 
trine of original 
good, instead of origi- 
nal sin. It is closer to 
the truth. Bear in 
mind the old parable 
of the sower ; the good 
ground that bears 
fruit a hundredfold 
is there for the tilling 
in the heart of each 
one of us at birth ; it 
is human society that 
tramples the seel 
underfoot or denies it 
the moisture it needs 
or permits the fowls 
of the air to devour it. 
If only we moulded 
our lives more closely 
on this principle the world would be a happier and 
better place to live in. But, we can at least make a 
beginning, and when we find institutions, which acting on 
this principle have proved its truth by their practical 
success, give them the fullest support within our power 
and the most generous pecuniary help within our means. 
Such an institution is the Union Jack Club, for the exten- 
sion of which we make this special appeal. The four mem- 
bers whose photographs we give here arc typical of all ; 
their cheerfulness is a good suggestion of the pleasure 
all derive from their Club. Let us briefly describe tln' 
Club-house, a photograph of which is overleaf. It is :i 
fine building, but not big enough. Within there is a 
barber's shop where are sold tobacco, match' s, cleaning; 
materials, shirts, socks, caps, etc., picture postcards 
Baths hot and cold cost 2d., including attendance, 
towels and soap ; shower-baths are free. Members are 
given blacking, etc., to clean their own boots or they can 
give the Club boot-black a penny to do it for them. 
There is a large and comfortable smoking-room, but no 
standing bar ; members order what they want and are 
attended by waitresses. All kinds of drinks are served. 
A member can have his glass ol beer or brandy and 
soda if he prefers. In the billiard-room are six lull- 
sized tables. The library, also the writing-room, contains 
two thousand volumes ; writing materials are free : they 
cost the Club last year just £100. Then there is the 
dining-room, open from 7 a.m. to 10.45 P-m., where 
prices are most reasonable. Last year waitresses weie 
first mtroduced : they have proved so successful that 
