The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol. 1, January 9, 1915: What Americans Say to EuropeVarious
Philosophy
The New York Times Current History of the European War, Vol. 1, January 9, 1915: What Americans Say to Europe
Various
World War, 1914-1918
Children are born in the hugger mugger of such conditions, but the good
Holland citizens see that the children are cared for and that the babies
have milk. Devoted priests teach the children, and the value of military
organization illuminates the whole panoply of misery. Yet the best of
the refugee camps would seem to American citizens like the dark and
dreadful life of an underworld, in which is neither work, purpose, nor
opportunity. It is a sight repugnant to civilization.
The saddest, most heartrending thing I have ever seen has been the
patience of every Belgian, whatever his state, I have met. Among the
thousands of refugees I have seen in Holland, in the long stream that
crossed the frontier at Maastricht and besieged the doors of the
Belgian Consul while I was there, no man, no woman railed or declaimed
against the horror of their situation. The pathos of lonely, staring,
apathetic endurance is tragic beyond words. So grateful, so simply
grateful, are they, every one, for whatever is done for them.
None of the Refugees Begs.
None begs, none asks for money, and yet on the faces of these frontier
refugees I saw stark hunger, the weakness come of long weeks of famine.
One man, one fortunate man from Verviers, told me he could purchase as
much as 2s. 8d. worth of food for himself, his wife, and child for a
week.
Think of it, American citizens! Sixty-six cents' worth of food for a
man, his wife, and child for a whole week, if he were permitted to
purchase that much! Sixty-six cents! That is what an average American
citizen pays for his dinner in his own home. He cannot get breakfast, he
can only get half a breakfast, for that at the Waldorf or the Plaza in
New York.
This man was only allowed to purchase that much food if he could,
because if he purchased more he would be taking from some one else, and
they were living on rations for the week which would represent the food
of an ordinary man for a day. A rich man can have no more than a poor
man. It is a democracy of famine.
There is enough food wasted in the average American household in one day
to keep a Belgian for a fortnight in health and strength. They want in
Belgium 300,000 tons of food a month. That is their normal requirement.
The American Relief Committee is asking for 8,000 tons a month,
one-quarter of the normal requirements, one-half of a soldier's rations
for each Belgian. The American Committee needs $5,000,000 a month until
next harvest. It is a huge sum, but it must be forthcoming.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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