FOOD FOR SPAIN
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR]
Sit,—All over Europe the cold has been intense these last weeks, and Republican Spain has been suffering more than anywhere ; not only the soldiers in the icy trenches, but the refugees shivering in old schools and old theatres, the women and children of the cities, without adequate clothing, with no heating for their houses, and wit'i the desperate food shortage.
The food that is obtainable at the moment—the strict bread ration, white beans, Lntils, and occasionally horse-flesh—is completely deficient in the properties most necessary for withstanding the winter's cold. No fats, no proteins, no vitamins.
This deficiency is above all harmful to the children. Already of the r,000,000 children in Catalonia alone there are 835,000 suffering from malnutrition. Rickets, practically unknown in Spain before, is gaining ground. In the Madrid region the lives of 30,000 babies are in immediate danger.
Here is one way of sending food to these children and giving them a chance of life. There is a standard parcel
service to Spain, started by the Spanish Government, by which we can send parcels to the value of 6s., I2S., 20S., 20., con- taining varying quantities of condensed milk, lard, sugar, rice, soup cubes, chocolate, soap, &c. There are lists at the Spanish Commercial Office in London of children, women, professionals, chosen from various organisations in Spain as being all the most desperately needy cases. We can be given a name or names, and send parcels regularly every month, and really save lives. And there is no danger of parcels being lost, because as the orders come in from abroad, the food is bought in France for a store-house in Spain itself, and the food is distributed from there, and in time the donor gets a receipt direct from the person in Spain, so we can be sure that our help has arrived. All orders should be sent to Daniel Fernandez-Shaw, Spanish Commercial Office, 21 Cavendish Square, London, W. r, or to the Spanish Consulates in Liverpool, Glasgow, Cardiff and Southampton, and any further information needed can be obtained by asking for the special leaflet from these addresses.
I hope that all readers will remember the suffering people of Spain this season of bitter cold, and help save a child or an adult from death by starvation.—Yours very truly,
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