LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE CHILDREN OF BELGIUM. (TO THE SOTTO% Or THE " SPECTATOR.") Sia,—During my year uf office at the Mansion House nothing has impressed me more than the unflagging generosity with which my fellow-countrymen and the Press have responded to every appeal on behalf of those who suffer through the war. This last appeal
which I have the duty, as Lord Mayor of London, to make, le en behalf of the children in Belgium. There are over 2,575,000 Belgian children held captive by the Germane in Belgium. More than a million and a quarter are under twelve years of age. For over two years they have all been loyally awaiting deliverance. For over two years they have only been kept alive by the humane intervention of the neutral Coramission for Relief in Belgium, of which Mr. Hoover is Chairman, and which distributes a bare minimum of food provided by the Allied Governments and the benevolence of the world. Two years of intolerable captivity begin to tell their dreadful tale. Tuberculosis, according to Dr. Lucas, a well-known American specialist, who was recently allowed to visit Belgium, is rapidly on the increase, especially among the older children of the working classes. Throughout Belgium the tuberculosis sanatoria are overcrowded and the waiting lists are increasing. Rickets, among the younger children, is becoming epidemic. The babies born now are pitifully less in weight and measurement. The Belgian mother can barely nurse her child for seven instead of nine months, as heretofore. Hunger, suffering, and sickness have fallen upon mother and child.
As Chairman of the British National Committee for Relief in Belgium, I urgently ask that on every British dinner table this coming Christmas Day there shall be an "Envelope of Mercy." And into this I ask that, as a thank-offering for the security and comfort in which their Christmas dinner is eaten, every one will put what they can spare to save the oppressed children in Belgium. These Envelopes of Mercy can be obtained from the National Committee at Trafalgar Buildings, Trafalgar Square, or from its branches throughout the Empire. I have received from the religious leaders of the nation the important letter which I append. The incoming Lord Mayor, Colonel Sir W. H. Dunn, cordially endorses my hope that on Christmas Day no dinner table will be considered properly laid unless it has an Envelope which will carry to the children in Belgium a message of sympathy, hope, and loyalty. For the proper distribution and collection of these Christmas Envelopes in London, I ask for ten thousand women workers to volunteer their services. I should be glad if those in London who are willing to help these suffering children would kindly send their names, with references, to the National Com- mittee for Relief in Belgium, at Trafalgar Buildings, Trafalgar Square, London, W.C. And I might mention that there has been no flag day in London for any Belgian cause while I have been Lord Mayor. I have asked during my twelve months of office often, but never in vain. I am confident that at Christmas there will be such a response from the Empire as shall make it possible to send to these hundreds of thousands of tyrannized children in Belgium that additional nourishment whereby alone the ravages of tuberculosis can be stayed. In this way, and in this way only, the rising generation in Belgium can be preserved to reap atone- ment for a national sacrifice that will be for ever glorious.—I am, Lord Mayor of London.
The Mansion House, London, E.C., November 7th.
Every one who has looked into the facts must be convinced of the extremity of Belgium's present distress, and the dire need of further aid; especially the provision of food for little children. Nothing could be more appropriate than that such gifts should be a Christmas contribution from our home circles throughout the Empire, and we very cordially wish God-speed to the appeal.
RANDALL CANTUAR. F. CARDINAL BOURNE.
JOHN BROWN, d. H. SHAKESPEARE, Moderator, Church of Scotland. President, Free Church Council.
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