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The Second Stage of Our "Campaign Comforts " Fund.

9th September 1915
Page 4
Page 4, 9th September 1915 — The Second Stage of Our "Campaign Comforts " Fund.
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

World-wide support for our " Campaign Comforts " Fund, which 1:11.ind was inaugurated in our issue of the 22nd October, 1914, has been disclosed, from month to month, amongst the names of supporters of this journal who hove sent gifts, both in cash and kind, to help us effectively to carry out our programme of centralized interest during the war in the officers and men of the M.T. We publish elsewhere in this issue (page 39) further references to the_ current and prospective programme, together with the list of additional donetions, the latter carrying us to the end of August. We have already intimated that it is our intention to close the first financial period at the 29th inst., and thereafter to issue a copy of the audited accounts to that date. The audit will be undertaken by the honorary auditors to the Fund, Mekssrs. E. Bishop and Co., Chartered Accountants, Jermyn Street, S.W.

More and More Men to Look After.

We are much gratified, although the opening term of the second stage of our " Campaign Comforts " Fund is yet a few weeks off, to have received welcome testimony to the readiness of members of the industry again to identify themselves with our voluntary undertaking for the benefit of the men at the Front. There were fewer than 10,000 officers and men in the M.T. Columns of the Any Service Corps, on the occasion of our taking up this branch of war-time activities, to which, as readers will have realized, members of our staff have whole-heartedly devoted themselves for nearly a. year. The total strength of the Columns and detached units has steadily grown, pari passu as the new armies have been raised by Lord Kitchener, and as new Divisions have been sent to France, Flanders, Gallipoli, Persia, and elsewhere. •

The Official Fund.

We have now received two official intimations from the Director of Supplies and Transport, MajorGeneral S. S. Long: one is, that our fund is now the recognized and only central fund for the supply of campaign comforts to the officers and men of the Mechanical Transport Columns of the Army Service Corps; the other is, that we may for the time being refer to the strength of the personnel as " something considerably in excess of 30,000."

Why the Men Deserve to be Remembered.

We most sincerely invite our readers to continue to help us. We are sure they will .do so, if they will only examine the case for not failing to do something for the officers and men of the A.S.C., M.T. The fact that some of the men are paid at relatively-high rates, compared with the men of the infantry, is no excuse for doing nothing. The fact remains that approximately 15,000 A.S.C., MT., n20 men receive only is. 20. a. day. Were it true, however, that the whole of the men were so skilled that they were paid at the rateof 6s. a day, we should not accept that fact as a jest plea or pretext for leaving the men out in the cold. Our " Despatches from the Front " have repeatedly shown that these men are subjected at times to considerable risks from shell-fire. They at all times undergo the hardships of travelling over crowded and damaged roads, with surfaces which are frequently in a state which literally beggars description. The thousands of men who are carrying shot and shell for the troops as part of the numerous Ammunition Parks, and.are thereby fulfilling the important strategic requirement of mobility for high explosives and other agencies by which the enemy can be defeated, are known to pass through long and trying periods of merely standingby. They are at such times far removed from villages in which they can make purchases, even though they had the money in their pockets. Those are the times, amongst others, when they think of home, and are grateful to receive any gift from those who are left there. That " glad-I-came out '' feeling, to which one of our correspondents referred in his despatch of last week, is revived in their hearts whenever a. box of " Campaign Comforts " is brought up from the base for distribution.

There is no better way for an employer to help than by his encouraging amongst his men allocations to our Fund from depot and works collections. When the committees in charge of such funds hear the case. summarized, as itis in this article, they will, we feel sure, give a share to us.

The Gifts are Appreciated.

One o.f the latest and typical letters of acknowledgment, this particular letter being from a lancecorporal, which we happen to have opened in the course of writing this article, reads: " A line to inform you that I have to-day become the grateful recipient of an extra. pair of socks through the kindness of yourself and your subscribers. These little acts of kindness mean a very great deal to us out here in our little Somewhere.' At the same time, would like to thank you also for the pleasure your cricket set has already provided for us. Please accept this note as an expression of real appreciation, not as a mere polite flippancy." Again, in so far es we contribute, and we do contribute materially, to the maintenance of the men's fitness, by sending out comforts of the recreational order, it must not be overlooked that the general efficiency of the fighting arm is aided.

What 6d. per Man per Month Means.

If we accept the strength at a figure which is too low, and place it at 30,000 officers and men, a simple calculation will show that an average expenditure of fid. per head per month requires a total expenditure of no less than ..750 monthly out of our funds. The extent of our satisfaction, in regard to advance_ promises, for the next 12 months of the war—to


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