LADY BURGHCLERE'S PRISONERS FUND. (To ellS EDITOR or THE "

SPECTATOR.") 131B,—My fund for prisoners of war—Lady Burghclere'e Prisoners of War Fund—having now been finally wound up, the Committee desire to submit the following abstract of aocounts for your information and that of the many readers of the Spectator who have so generously subscribed thereto:—

RECEIPTS.

Subscriptions, Donations, dm.

Bank Interest ..

••

..

..

£52,077 19 le

489 17 9

£52,567

17 7

EX.PENDITfTRE.

Supplies and cash sent to prisoners :

Provisions .. .. .. .. £41,459 16 2

Tobacco, cigarettes, &e. .. ..

847 0 8

Clothing and sundries .. .. ..

832 14

6

Remittances of cash (Turkey) .. .. 8,292 7 3 45;931

18 6 5,498 9 4

Grants and Loam made to prisoners on

their return home ..

Lars repayments

160 14 3 5,837

16 1

Grants made to Societies for the benefit of prisoners :

Young Men's Median Association ..

600 0 0

Veterans Club ..

100 0 0

Church Army „. 20 0 0 820

0 0

£51,889 13 7 Administrative Expenses:

Postage, printing, stationery and ac- commas charms

235 5 4

Secretarial expenses (from January 1st,

1919) .. 295 0 0 530

5 4

£52,419 18 11 Balance in hand ..

147 18 8

£52,667 17 7

Prior to January 1st, 1919, all clerical, postal and sundry charges were defrayed privately, with the result that out of the .252,077 19s. 10d. received, £51,899 19s. 7d., or 99.6 per cent., of the amount contributed was directly devoted to the relief of the prisoners. The administrative expenses charged to the fund from first to last have amounted to £530 5s. 4{1., which have been almost covered by £489 17s. 9d. received for bank interest; 130,748 parcels were despatched up to the end of December, 1918. At that date a sum of .26,575 12s. 7d. was still available, which has been expended in grants and loans to enable repatriated prisoners to restart businesses, obtain clothes and tools and defray medical and other urgent requirements.

Three hundred and seventy grants have been made for these purposes, and I hope we may claim that these grants have not been useless. Out of a mass of similar letters I select a typical one from a man who says that " till I got into touch with your fund I had tramped the town for three and a-half months looking for a job, though, as you know, I had excellent refer- ences." Now, he gratefully declares that not only is he earn ing his own and his wife'e livelihood, but he is putting money for a rainy day, and his cherished bits of furniture have returned from the pawnshop to make his little house the home of which he dreamt in the prison camps of Germanv. And this home is one of many little oases of contentment in a troubled world, which have been made possible by the generosity of your subscribers. The Committee propose, after defraying certain small liabilities, to pay over the balance in hand, £147 18s. 8d., to Lady Victoria Herbert's Prisoners Fund. —I am, Sir, &c.,