LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE UNION JACK CLUB.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECT&TOR."1 Sin,—Although I am aware that the Spectator does not usually open its columns to ordinary appeals, I venture to hope that you will make an exception in favour of the Union Jack Club for sailors and soldiers which is to be erected as a national memorial to those brave men who fell in South Africa and China. And I ground the hope on the fact that the Spectator has consistently championed the cause of the private soldier, and has insisted on his right to enjoy every possible privilege of an ordinary citizen compatible with the discipline necessary to barrack life. The proposed club, which has the warm support of the highest Naval and Military authorities, and is fortunate enough to possess Sir Edward Ward as Chairman of its most representative Executive Com- mittee, will supply a very real need to the men of both Services ; indeed, it seems incredible that up till this moment no serious attempt has been made in London, the very heart of the Empire, to supply so widely felt a want. Thousands of sailors and soldiers on furlough arrive at Waterloo Station every year from Southampton, Portsmouth, Aldershot, and elsewhere, some with plenty of money in their pockets, others with only a few shillings, but all more or less like schoolboys set free from restraint, high-spirited, sociable, and bent on having a good time. At present their oppor- tunities for enjoyment are largely confined to the cheap lodging-houses and public-houses abounding in the neighbour- hood, which are widely patronised, with results easy to imagine. The Union Jack Club will not trespass on the ground of the existing soldiers' homes ; rather it will seek to make them still more widely known ; but it will fill an inde- pendent position of its own, and be a club in the exact sense of the word. It will possess at least three hundred cubicle
bedrooms ; comfortable reading-rooms, smoking-rooms, and writing-rooms ; a restaurant, and, indeed, everything that can supply the material and social needs of its members. A. music-room, too, will exist somewhere, for when did a group of sailors or soldiers ever get together without starting a " sing-song " ? A library also is already in process of forma,. tion. Pictures of the great men who have led our sailors and soldiers to victory in bygone days will look down from the walls, and one artist has generously offered to decorate a room with paintings that shall help to be an inspiration for heroic deeds. The whole object of the club will be to give the best of every- thing to the men, in the form most attractive to themselves, and that without any suspicion of patronage or charity, for it is fully intended that the members shall take an active part in the management. The nation is asked to provide the building : experience has shown that afterwards the club will be self-supporting. Past experience has also proved how warmly the men will co-operate in such a scheme. I can honestly say that I have never known the smallest breach of discipline in any soldiers' institute; on the contrary, the loyal support of the members has been unfailing. The camarad,erie which exists, and the bond of the King's uniform, make the internal management of such a club peculiarly easy. For the moment funds are the all- important question. At least 260,000 must be raised, surely not a very large sum considering the debt of gratitude we owe to these men ! It has been suggested that many people will be willing to give 2100, which amount will build and furnish a cubicle to be called by any name desired by the donor. What could be a better memorial to some brave heart now stilled, to some young life willingly laid down for the sake of that flag to whose inspiring name the club is dedicated ? The Spectator finds its way to all corners of the Empire. Is it too much to hope that from all those distant quarters promises for at least one cubicle may come in, so that in every sense the scheme shall be a worthy "national memorial" ? I will gladly pass on any donations, which should be addressed "Miss Brooke. Hunt, 45 Albert Gate, London, S.W."—I am, Sir, &c., [We most cordially welcome and support Miss Brooke. Hunt's appeal, and trust that the Committee of the Union Jack Club will receive through her a large number of contributions towards a work so truly Imperial. The club should be, and we feel sure will be, no dreary, desolate, drab-coloured institution, but the brightest and most inviting of club-hotels, which the men will feel proud of, and against which no ordinary public-house will have any chance to compete. We hope that there will be as few rules as possible—none, in fact, except that the men must behave as gentlemen, which is how all but one in a thousand will desire to behave—and that once inside the club the wearer of the King's uniform will find himself in a miniature Republic, for that is what every club ought to be.—ED. Spectator.]
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