11 JANUARY 1908, Page 3

The papers of Wednesday contain an appeal from Lord Roberts,

which we wish warmly to support, on behalf of the surviving veterans of the Crimean War and the Indian Mutiny. It is proposed, with the full approval of the King, who has consented to become patron, to raise enough money to enable the old soldiers and sailors who are in poverty to end their days in moderate comfort and respectability. The King, with his customary generosity, has opened the list of subscribers with a thousand guineas. The vice-patrons of the fund are the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Connaught, and Prince Christian. Lord Roberts says that when inspecting the Indian Mutiny veterans recently in Hyde Park he dis- covered that "no small number of them" had come from the workhouse, and had only the workhouse to look forward to for the rest of their lives. The Times very sensibly suggests that the scheme should include those who fought in other wars of about the same period. It would certainly be wrong to withhold help from men who served their country bravely and faithfully merely because they did not happen to do so in a campaign with a resounding name.