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page-break-inside: avoid; + clear: both; } + div.titlepage {text-align: center; page-break-before: always; + page-break-after: always; } + div.titlepage p {text-align: center; text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; + line-height: 1.5; margin-top: 3em; } + .ph2 { text-indent: 0em; font-weight: bold; font-size: x-large; margin: .75em auto; + page-break-before: always; } + .x-ebookmaker p.dropcap:first-letter { float: left; } + </style> + </head> + <body> +<div style='text-align:center'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77327 ***</div> + +<div class='tnotes covernote'> + +<p class='c000'><strong>Transcriber’s Note:</strong></p> + +<p class='c000'>New original cover art included with this eBook is granted to the public domain.</p> + +</div> + +<div class='titlepage'> + +<div> + <h1 class='c001'><span class='xlarge'>THE WORK OF</span><br> THE WAR REFUGEES COMMITTEE</h1> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c002'> + <div><span class='large'>AN ADDRESS</span></div> + <div class='c003'><span class='small'>GIVEN BY</span></div> + <div class='c003'><span class='large'>LADY LUGARD</span></div> + <div>TO THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF ARTS</div> + <div>MARCH 24th, 1915</div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<img src='images/i_title.jpg' alt='[Logo]' class='ig001'> +</div> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> + <div class='nf-center'> + <div>LONDON</div> + <div class='c003'>G. BELL AND SONS, LTD.</div> + <div class='c003'>1915</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<div class='chapter'> + <span class='pageno' id='Page_3'>3</span> + <h2 class='c004'><span class='large'>THE WORK OF THE</span><br> WAR REFUGEES COMMITTEE</h2> +</div> + +<div class='figcenter id001'> +<img src='images/i_003.jpg' alt='[Logo]' class='ig001'> +</div> + +<p class='drop-capa0_0_6 c005'>I have been asked to speak to-day about the +work of the War Refugees Committee.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The work of the War Refugees Committee is +intimately associated with what will, I believe, +hereafter be regarded as one of the most acutely +pathetic chapters of our island history. Because +we are an island, because a stretch of sea lies +between us and Europe, because, above all, we have +a Navy which for a thousand years has known how +to defend that strip of sea, we have been able, not +for the first time in our history, to offer refuge to +a people stricken and driven out from their proper +home.</p> + +<p class='c006'>There is no need for me to speak now of what +Belgium has done—we all have the knowledge in +our hearts. In the Titanic struggle in which we +are engaged Belgium bore for a time the burden +of the world, and the world can never forget, and +never repay.</p> + +<p class='c006'>We all remember the shock of horror with which +we read the first accounts of the atrocities perpetrated +at Visé and Liège. But we have almost +<span class='pageno' id='Page_4'>4</span>forgotten that only a few days before the outbreak +of this war our eyes were turned towards another +theatre of disturbance, and the outbreak of civil +war in Ireland was the catastrophe we feared. For +a moment I must recall it in connection with the +refugees, for, strange as it may seem, the War +Refugees Committee is, in a sense, the lineal descendant +of the Ulster Council.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The preparations of Ulster in the early summer +of last year were sufficiently public to be known +to anyone who chose to be acquainted with them. +Like most Irish Protestants, I was aware that in +view of coming contingencies arrangements had +been made for the removal of many thousands of +women and children from the area which was likely +to become a theatre of war. These arrangements +had been made with great thoroughness. Registration +and all other necessary forms had been prepared, +transport had been organized and safe homes +had been secured in England. The outbreak of +European war mercifully averted the misfortune of +war in Ireland, and when the news of the first +atrocities came through from Belgium they suggested +the idea, “Why not use the Ulster organization +to get the Belgian women and children out if +possible from under the German guns?” At that +time we had of course no conception of the development +which the Refugee movement was ultimately +to take. The thought in my mind was mainly +of women and children. I telegraphed to Captain +<span class='pageno' id='Page_5'>5</span>Craig to ask whether, if such a scheme proved +feasible, he would let me have the use of the Ulster +organization. He telegraphed back immediately +that everything they had was at my disposal for +such a purpose. He sent me all their registration +forms—forms which we are to-day using at the +War Refugees Committee—and put me immediately +in touch with people who had the necessary +information. In twenty-four hours I had the embryo +of an organization in my hands.</p> + +<p class='c006'>But it was evidently necessary to change what I +may call the “sentiment base.” The next step was +to approach the Catholic Church and to ask of +Cardinal Bourne that the Catholic institutions of +Great Britain and Ireland might be circularized in +order to ascertain how many homes of undoubted +security could be placed at the disposal of Belgian +refugees. I was received with a cordiality which, +I would like to say here once for all, the Catholic +Church has constantly maintained towards the +movement. I was assured by Monsignor Bidwell, +whom Cardinal Bourne deputed to discuss the +matter with me, that assuming the movement to +be properly organized and to be viewed with favour +by the Government, the Catholic authorities would +be very ready to help.</p> + +<p class='c006'>With this amount of preparation I approached +the Foreign Office, and was assured of the sympathy +of Sir Edward Grey. The Local Government +Board signified their approval, and the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_6'>6</span>Foreign Office was good enough ultimately to +arrange an interview for me with the Belgian +Minister, directing me that in placing the scheme +before him I was to inquire what steps his Government, +in the event of their viewing the proposal +with favour, would take to make the scheme known +in Belgium. In accordance with these instructions +I laid the scheme before the Comte de Lalaing, +and in due course an answer was received from the +Belgian Government accepting the proposal with +gratitude, and saying that they would make the +scheme known in Belgium, and would direct intending +refugees to come to Ostend, whence they +understood that we would take steps to bring them +away.</p> + +<p class='c006'>While these negotiations were in progress the +position in Belgium was becoming every day more +acute, and efforts which had already been started +in other quarters to alleviate this distress were suddenly +brought into line with my endeavour. Lord +Lytton had begun collecting contributions towards +the Belgian Relief Fund from exhibitors at the +recent Brussels and Ghent Exhibitions. This had +led Mr. Wintour, of the Exhibitions Branch of +the Board of Trade, to pay a visit to Ostend, +where the homeless refugees were already congregated +in large numbers. On August 22nd I was +informed by Mr. Reyntiens and Mr. Wintour that +they had the promise of a transport, from the +Admiralty, with which they were immediately +<span class='pageno' id='Page_7'>7</span>going to fetch over refugees, and that they hoped +to return on the following Monday with a ship-load. +I asked Mr. Reyntiens how many they proposed +to bring back. He said “As many as we +can get—anything from 100 to 1,000.” To the +inquiry “What do you propose to do with your +refugees when you bring them back?” his reply +was, in effect, “We leave that to you!” There was +no time to discuss the matter; it was necessary for +him to go at once and get his papers ready, and I +was left on Saturday morning in full sympathy +with the adventure, but with the knowledge that +on Monday I might be expected to receive in +England 1,000 refugees.</p> + +<p class='c006'>No Committee had as yet been formed. It was +evident that between Saturday and Monday a +Committee had to be created. I will not delay +you with a relation of the details of that Saturday +and Sunday afternoon, interesting as they were at +the moment to those engaged in the work. The +only condition which I made was that the Committee +should have no politics and no religious +distinctions, and it is enough now to say that +thanks mainly to the exertions of Mrs. Alfred +Lyttelton and Mr. H. E. Morgan a Committee +was formed under the required conditions and in +the required time, Lord Hugh Cecil consenting +to be our Chairman and Lord Gladstone our +Treasurer.</p> + +<p class='c006'>By the kindness of Mr. F. Norie-Miller, General +<span class='pageno' id='Page_8'>8</span>Manager of the General Accident Fire and Life +Assurance Corporation, Ltd., offices were placed +at our disposal entirely free of charge. The nucleus +of a clerical and typewriting staff was secured. A +name was chosen. An appeal was sent to the +papers on Sunday night, and as a net result of +our exertions we were enabled on the following +Monday morning to take possession as a Committee +of the empty offices which have since developed +into the well-known headquarters of the +War Refugees Committee at Aldwych. That first +morning we had hardly pens and ink, we had not +chairs to sit upon, the offices were almost entirely +without furniture, and while we were trying to +organize our immediate plan of operations the response +to our Appeal, which had appeared only in +that morning’s papers, took the embarrassing if at +the same time encouraging form of no less than +1,000 letters, all containing offers of hospitality +and help.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The response of the country to the movement +was absolutely phenomenal. The 1,000 letters of +that day became 2,000 on the following day, then +3,000, then 4,000, then 5,000, and on the day on +which we received 5,000 letters there were also +1,200 callers at the Office. Every letter and every +visitor brought proposals of help in one form or +another. Within a fortnight we had at our disposal +hospitality for 100,000 persons. Cheques, +clothing, food, offers of personal service flowed in +<span class='pageno' id='Page_9'>9</span>upon us. I could spend hours rather than minutes +in telling you the details of that first outpouring of +public generosity. The sense of the country was +made absolutely clear that if it could not share the +acute suffering caused to the people of Belgium by +the war it desired to diminish that suffering by +every means that it possessed. These offers came +not from one class nor from one place, but from +all classes and from all places. Catholic and +Protestant, Jew and Nonconformist, high and +low, rich and poor united, all unaware, in a spontaneous +tribute of sympathy and respect. Nations, +like individuals, have their moments of unconscious +self-revelation. It was a moment which unmistakably +revealed the heart of England.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The enthusiasm and volume of the movement +were cheering, and no offers touched us more +deeply than the hundreds we received, often on +postcards, from the very poor. But the suddenness +of the movement brought with it accompaniments +which it must be admitted were difficult to cope +with. We were soon accused, and justly accused, +of not answering our letters, of not acknowledging +our cheques, of not receiving our visitors with due +consideration. It was all true! though it remained +so only for a few days. To have done otherwise +was a physical impossibility, for what were we +among so many? We were only a willing company +of amateurs suddenly called upon to deal with the +conditions of a large business created in twenty-four +<span class='pageno' id='Page_10'>10</span>hours. And while this volume of external +business was pouring in the true object of our +existence remained in our opinion the providing of +homes for our coming guests. We contented ourselves +with safeguarding our cheques, and gave +our thoughts to the refugees.</p> + +<p class='c006'>They began to come on the first day. They +increased in numbers, not being immediately +brought in ship-loads, but trickling through on +their own account from various sources to the +number of perhaps 100 or 150 a day. Our first +difficulty with regard to finding homes for them +was met by the kindness of Sir James Dunlop-Smith, +who obtained from the India Office permission +to place at our disposal a small house at +49, St. George’s Road, usually occupied by the +King’s orderlies, but standing at the moment +empty and furnished. This was the first place of +refuge offered in this country to Belgians. It +seemed to us a suitable coincidence that it should +come, even indirectly, from the King. The Borough +Council of Camberwell was, if my memory serves +me rightly, the next to offer us beds for Belgian +refugees. They had organized Dulwich Baths as a +hospital, and they placed at our disposal between +80 and 100 beds. Battersea followed their example. +Private offers were added to these, and in two or +three days we had a couple of hundred beds upon +which we could count.</p> + +<p class='c006'>We reached the third day of our existence before +<span class='pageno' id='Page_11'>11</span>any news came of the ship-load of refugees for +whose reception the Committee had been so hastily +organized. It was on Wednesday evening at about +half-past seven o’clock, as we were separating after +a heavy day’s work, that a telegram was brought +in saying, “One thousand refugees arriving Folkestone +to-night. Can you take 500 in London tomorrow?” +The moment had come. We afterwards +discovered that this was not “the” ship, and as a +matter of fact Mr. Wintour’s refugees never did +come over in a special transport chartered for them. +I give you our impressions, however, only as we +received them then. We had provided with the +greatest difficulty for 250. To provide suddenly +for 500 more seemed at first sight impossible. But +to let you have one instance of the early work I +will describe how it was done.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Among the offers which had been made to us +was one from the Army and Navy Stores proposing +to lend us an empty shirt factory conveniently +situated just opposite Victoria Station. It was in a +perfectly sanitary condition, clean, with gas, light, +and water laid on, but stark empty. At eight +o’clock on Wednesday evening we accepted the +offer. Mrs. Walter Cave took direction in this +particular act of energy, and I believe she was up +all that night. The Army and Navy Stores let us +have beds at cost price. The Chairman of the +Rowton Houses lent us crockery and linen. Willing +help came from every side, and the result was +<span class='pageno' id='Page_12'>12</span>achieved that before three on the following afternoon +the shirt factory had been converted into a +hostel, where 250 beds were made up with clean +sheets and pillow-cases; a kitchen was arranged +downstairs with eight cooking-stoves; dining-tables +were ready laid; and a hot dinner for several +hundred people awaited the arrival of the refugees. +Our first batch of 250 arrived there that afternoon. +We disposed of the others in different places, and +from that day, though we continued to receive +refugees in London at the rate of several hundreds +per day, and were often at our wits’ end what to +do, not one who reached our hands was ever left +without food and lodging.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The experience of this first week gave us the +formation of the principal Departments of the War +Refugees Committee. I do not propose now to +detain you with any full description of our organization. +For anyone who is interested the details are +recorded in the Blue-Book issued by the Departmental +Committee of the Local Government Board +appointed to consider and report on questions arising +in connection with the Reception and Employment +of the Belgian Refugees in this country. I +will indicate merely the framework of the machine +which circumstances immediately brought into +operation.</p> + +<div><span class='pageno' id='Page_13'>13</span></div> +<div class='section'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c002'> + <div><span class='large'>LADY LUGARD’S HOSTELS</span></div> + <div><span class='large'>FOR BELGIAN REFUGEES.</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='lg-container-b'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><i>Committee</i>—<i>Lady Lugard.</i></div> + <div class='line in11'><i>The Hon. Mrs. Roland Leigh.</i></div> + <div class='line in11'><i>Stuart Hogg, Esq.</i></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +<p class='c006'>These Hostels have been instituted by Lady +Lugard for the reception of Belgians who have hitherto +lived on their private means but have come to the end +of their resources. Also for some of a poorer class who +have received hospitality offered for a definite period +which has now come to an end.</p> + +<p class='c006'>There are at present eleven houses, accommodating +a total of about 400 people. Two of these are +more in the nature of hospitals, the rest are carried on +like private hotels or boarding-houses. Care is taken to +make the life as pleasant as possible. Guests are placed +in the different houses according to their social rank; +there is a capable manageress in every house, a Belgian +cook, and to a large extent the other servants are Belgian.</p> + +<p class='c006'>In many cases, where the refugees have some +small means of their own, it has been found desirable +to assist in payment of the rent of flats, or by direct +contributions. At present 125 are helped in these ways.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Lady Lugard’s aim has been to make each house +a “little corner of Belgium,” as one of the guests +happily expressed it. There is a committee of ladies, +who visit these houses regularly and see that the +inmates are as happy and comfortable as possible.</p> + +<p class='c006'>All expenditure is accounted for to the Central +Committee, and care is taken that there is no waste.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The scheme has a certain amount of financial +help from the War Refugees Committee, but all expenses +of furnishing, rent, lighting, and general upkeep are +borne by Lady Lugard’s Committee.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Your help is asked to carry on this undertaking, +which is one of the attempts to repay a small portion of +the immense debt we owe to the unhappy Belgian nation.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Cheques and postal orders should be made out +to Lady Lugard, and addressed to her at</p> + +<div class='lg-container-r'> + <div class='linegroup'> + <div class='group'> + <div class='line'><span class='sc'>51, Rutland Gate, S.W.</span></div> + </div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + +<p class='c007'><span class='pageno' id='Page_14'>14</span>Our first need was obviously a Card Index and +Correspondence Department. This Department has +since been placed under the very efficient management +of Mr. Arthur Chadwick, assisted by Mr. +Berks and Mr. Barsdorf, and with the Cashier’s +Department under our excellent cashier, Mr. +Bourne, has completely rescued us from the reproaches +of the first days.</p> + +<p class='c006'>We needed a Transport Department to meet +refugees at the stations to convey them to and from +the Refuges. We were helped at first by Mr. +F. M. Guedalla, who also did yeoman service with +Mr. Basil Williams and others in the reception of +the refugees at Folkestone. By the kindness of Sir +Albert Stanley and the London General Omnibus +Company the services of one of the officers of that +Company, Mr. Henry Campbell, were placed at +our disposal, and under Mr. Campbell this Department +has become one of the most important +and efficient branches of our practical organization. +Mr. Campbell’s grip and comprehension of the work +of the War Refugees Committee is so complete +that I believe if the whole Committee were swept +away and Mr. Campbell were left standing, the +work would still be satisfactorily carried on.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Our next obvious need was an organized system +of fitting the refugees into the offers of hospitality +which were received for them. This has remained +from the beginning the most complicated and +difficult work we have had to do. A Department, +afterwards known as our Allocation Department, +was organized at once under Lady Gladstone, +Mrs. Alfred Lyttelton, and Mrs. Gilbert Samuel, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_15'>15</span>who have been assisted in the work by an army of +willing volunteers. The work of this Department, +of which a beginning had been made in the Belgian +Consulate even before the War Refugees Committee +came into existence, has since been carried +on in four main divisions. There has been our +Central Allocation Department, of which the direction +has remainded in the hands of Mrs. Gilbert +Samuel. There has been a very important development +of subsidiary branches in the Rink under +Mrs. Alfred Lyttelton, helped of course by many +willing workers, to all of whom she would, I am +sure, wish to offer a tribute of gratitude. There has +been the Allocation of the Belgian Consulate, also +carried on at Aldwych, under the direction of the +Misses Rothschild and a group of helpers, and +there has been the Allocation of the Catholic +Women’s League, under the direction of Miss +Streeter, working always in co-operation with +Aldwych, but carried on from their own headquarters +in Victoria Street. In addition to these +there has been also the Allocation, carried on independently +of Aldwych, by the Jewish community, +who from their own private offers have provided +for upwards of 6,000 people. The Catholic ladies +have allocated upwards of 6,000. In the Miss +Rothschild’s room at Aldwych some 30,000 have +been either allocated or helped in other ways. Our +own two branches of Allocation have since the +beginning of the movement arranged for the placing +<span class='pageno' id='Page_16'>16</span>of between 50,000 and 60,000 persons. In all its +branches the War Refugees Committee has found +homes for about 100,000 persons.</p> + +<p class='c006'>A Department taking its rise in the same necessities +as the Allocation Department proper is the +Department of Local Committees, which early in +the movement formed themselves throughout the +country for the better management of local offers +of hospitality, while working in correspondence +with Aldwych. This Department at Aldwych has +been from the beginning under the supervision of +Lord Lytton, who has directed it with an ability +and devotion for which the War Refugees Committee +have every reason to be grateful. The +number of Local Committees with which his Department +maintains touch is now nearly 2,000.</p> + +<p class='c006'>To these Departments one other of great importance +was added in the first days. It was our +Clothing Department, with headquarters at 23, +Warwick Square. Here Lady Emmott, ably assisted +by Lady MacDonnell and other devoted ladies, has +been enabled by the generosity of the public to +distribute nearly a million garments, including +much-needed boots and shoes.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The creation of our different Departments was, +as I have said, immediately imposed upon us by +the conditions of the problem with which we were +dealing. The general work of direction and coordination, +and the creation of new means of meeting +each new necessity of the situation had also to +<span class='pageno' id='Page_17'>17</span>grow from the simple beginnings of the early days. +It was soon found that it was desirable to place +the Management under one direction, and it was +decided to ask Lord Gladstone, who was prepared +to give the time and devotion necessary to such a +work, to accept a position which is, I suppose, +equivalent to that usually held in a commercial +company by the Managing Director. Mr. Morgan +was at first associated in this direction, but found +himself afterwards unable to devote the necessary +time, and Lord Gladstone has from the beginning +borne the brunt of the central work of the Committee. +It is only in a later chapter, to which I +shall have occasion to refer, that he has been +assisted in a Management Committee by Lord +Lytton, the Rt. Hon. W. H. Dickinson, M.P., +and Mr. A. Allen, M.P., to whom was added in +the capacity of Honorary Secretary Mr. A. Maudslay, +who has been from the beginning one of the +most constant and devoted of our voluntary workers. +I should mention here that Mr. Maudslay was +among the most active of Mrs. Lyttelton’s helpers +in the first organization of the Rink, and that at a +later period he succeeded our first Secretary, Mr. +Hennessy Cook, as Honorary Secretary to the War +Refugees Committee. Lord Gladstone’s position has +been no sinecure, and we all, if I may be permitted to +say it, give ungrudging recognition to the absolute +sincerity and unselfishness of purpose with which +he has performed his work. We do not claim as a +<span class='pageno' id='Page_18'>18</span>Committee—and I am sure Lord Gladstone would +heartily agree with me—to have been perfectly +organized or perfectly directed, or that our staff, +amounting at one time to upwards of 500 devoted +volunteers, have always perfectly understood or +perfectly carried out the intentions and instructions +of headquarters. We are willing to accept in a +chastened spirit all reasonable criticism. The only +claim we are concerned to make is that the War +Refugees Committee throughout has been a willing +instrument. In ourselves we have been nothing. +The power by which we have been worked has +been the country. We are proud only to have been +privileged to represent a movement which may +claim to take its place in history as the consolation +of a nation by a nation.</p> + +<p class='c006'>It is as a task of consolation that we have from +the beginning conceived of our work. I regret to +have detained you so long with a description of the +machinery by which the work was done. I take +you back now to the days when the first refugees, +fleeing from the terror of fire and sword, began to +reach our shores. These refugees were different +from the refugees who are now arriving. They +had actually borne the first onslaught of German +fury. Men had seen their wives and daughters +shot, and worse than shot, before their eyes. +Fathers and mothers had seen their little children +trampled to death under German feet. Old and +young had alike been driven before the bayonet and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_19'>19</span>placed as shields to protect the enemy from Belgian +bullets. Some had been forced to dig graves, +and even to bury men who were not yet dead. All +had been smoked and burned out of their pillaged +homes, holding themselves lucky if they were not +forced back to be consumed in the funeral pyres +of their domestic possessions. It has become the +fashion now to cast doubt upon the authenticity +of deeds fit only for the annals of the Middle Ages. +Those of us who helped at that time nightly to +receive the refugees as they arrived can never forget +the tales of inconceivable horror which were poured +into our ears, nor the convincing simplicity of +narration which made it impossible to doubt their +general truth. I remember the first refugee with +whom I happened to speak about herself. It was +not a horrible case—on the contrary, quite simple—but +it brought home to me with a shock of realization +what was happening within an ordinary day’s +journey of London. It was only a mother feeding +her child with a basin of bread and milk in one of +our Refuges. I asked her where she came from. +She said “Charleroi.” “Then you have seen the +fighting?” “Oh, yes, I carried him—indicating +the baby—out under the German guns.” It was +nothing. She had had the luck to escape, but the +contrast between the peacefulness of her actual +occupation and her words brought home what she +had escaped from. In the same Refuge on a later +day there was a man whose face was like the face +<span class='pageno' id='Page_20'>20</span>of a tragic fate. He did not speak, he did not +move. The ladies who were working in the Refuge +approached him for some time in vain. One reminded +him that he had his wife, while many had +lost their wives, and at last he spoke. “Yes,” he +said, “I have my wife! But we had five children, +and we have not one left. Four of the little ones +were trampled to death under the feet of a German +regiment, and my little girl, my eldest, fourteen +years old, was given to the German soldiery, who +misused her before my eyes. Afterwards they took +her away with the regiment.” And he fell back +to the only thing he seemed able to say, “We had +five children—we have not one left.” The stories +which we heard at that time, daily and nightly, +from not one alone, but from practically every +refugee who reached us, were such as surpass all +imagination of horror and brutality. We heard +them; we became in a sense accustomed to hearing +them, but the details of many were such as I could +not possibly repeat in a public assembly such as +this. An observant friend who accompanied me +one day to a Refuge said, as we came out, “These +people look as if they had all seen ghosts.” They +<i>had</i> seen ghosts! They had seen spectres of +carnage, cruelty, lust, and brutality—such evil +spirits as, thank God, are not often let loose upon +the face of earth. You will readily understand +that to us who were with them at that time, who +heard these stories every day, no extenuation of +<span class='pageno' id='Page_21'>21</span>German conduct which can ever be produced will +efface the impression that these awful things were +literally true. It was also abundantly evident that +they were not the isolated acts of brutal or drunken +individuals. Evidence was unanimous, and to our +minds conclusive, that the crimes were committed +in pursuance of a general order from above.</p> + +<p class='c006'>I will not hold your imagination in this atmosphere. +Let it be placed to the credit of twentieth-century +civilization that the universal abhorrence +aroused by the conduct of the German army towards +civilians was such as to force German +authorities to a recognition of the mistake they +had committed. Orders to terrorize the population +were apparently withdrawn, and, so far as we are +aware, the brutalities of the first weeks of the +campaign have for the present ceased.</p> + +<p class='c006'>It was on the 24th of August that the War +Refugees Committee received its first refugees. +Until the 9th of September they were received, as +I have told you, in our own Refuges, where we +tried to make them as comfortable as we could. +Some little difficulty and hesitation existed at first +as to the question of facilitating the transport of +refugees from Belgium. But this and all other +doubt upon the matter was set at rest by the public +offer of the hospitality of the nation which was +made, as you will remember, by the Prime Minister +in the House of Commons on the 9th of September. +From that day the Government has stood behind +<span class='pageno' id='Page_22'>22</span>the movement, and the War Refugees Committee +has worked in close and friendly relation with the +Local Government Board.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The first chapter of Government intervention +was to relieve the War Refugees Committee of the +expense and difficulty of providing Refuges in +London.<a id='r1'></a><a href='#f1' class='c008'><sup>[1]</sup></a> The Government took the Alexandra +Palace, and in that and other available public +institutions it organized immediately, under the +Metropolitan Asylums Board and the Board of +Guardians, Refuges which had a total capacity of +about 8,000 persons. After the fall of Antwerp, +Earl’s Court Camp, with a further capacity of 4,000 +persons, was added to the government Refuges. +Up to the middle of September the War Refugees +Committee had had difficulty in receiving as many +as 500 a day. Since that time, so far as the great +majority, which consisted of working class refugees, +are concerned, the War Refugees Committee has +been relieved of anxiety. The first needs of shelter +and food were supplied, and admirably supplied, +by the Government Refuges. I should like in +passing to offer my tribute of praise to the splendid +work done by the officials alike of the Metropolitan +Asylums Board and the Board of Guardians. I +was for many weeks in close relation day and night +with what was being done, and I can speak from +<span class='pageno' id='Page_23'>23</span>personal observation of the devoted zeal, the kindness +of heart, and the untiring industry with which +the work of receiving, housing, and feeding the +refugees was carried out.</p> + +<div class='footnote' id='f1'> +<p class='c006'><a href='#r1'>1</a>. For a full description of what was done by the Local +Government Board the reader is referred to White Book, Cd. +7763.</p> +</div> + +<p class='c006'>The organization of the Alexandra Palace, where +at first about 1,500 were received, may be taken as +a sample of the rest. The Alexandra Palace, as +you know, is a large glass building originally +intended for public recreation, and conveniently +situated in its own grounds on a hill overlooking +the North of London. Its central halls, with their +merry-go-rounds and swing-boats, lent themselves +readily to the reception of refugees, and in the +early days visitors who went to condole with the +victims of tragic misfortune were usually saluted +with shouts of delight proceeding from children +profiting with all the unconsciousness of their age +by the unusual opportunities of enjoyment! The +glass roofs of the building admitted sunshine to +every corner. One of the central halls was converted +into a great dining-room, where sufficient +and comfortable meals were served with order and +regularity. Beyond the dining-room there was a +nursery and hospital, bright with white beds and +flowers. Beyond the hospital a large hall has been +converted into a bathroom with curtained cubicles, +where upwards of 100 baths, fitted with hot and +cold water, are at the disposal of the refugees. +Another large room is used as a schoolroom and +kindergarten for the children. A cinema theatre +<span class='pageno' id='Page_24'>24</span>was converted into a chapel. Rooms were set aside +for workrooms and the distribution of clothing. +The many rooms surrounding the central halls +were converted into dormitories holding each from +60 to 100 beds. In one room the beds had pink +coverings, in the next they had blue. Screens +covered with chintz gave a certain privacy to groups +of beds. Crucifixes were fixed on the walls. Everything +that could be done to give a homely and +pleasant aspect to the place was done with the utmost +goodwill. These were the arrangements +made before the fall of Antwerp for the general +mass of refugees. Upstairs in a more private +wing of the building there was accommodation, +with a comfortably furnished sitting-room and +dining-room, for about 100 persons who might for +any reason on their first arrival be distinguished +from the ordinary crowd. Before the fall of Antwerp, +since which period the rush of refugees has +caused too great a pressure of overcrowding, there +was a grace, almost a certain charm, in the arrangements. +Her Majesty the Queen showed her sympathy +with the refugees by visiting them in the +Alexandra Palace, and expressed her gracious approval +of the arrangements which had been made +for them.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Alexandra Palace was, of course, only one place. +The spirit which dictated its organization presided +also over the organization of the other Refuges. +At Alexandra Palace the ladies of Wood Green +<span class='pageno' id='Page_25'>25</span>and the locality gave devoted service in the development +of Clothing, Sewing, and other departments +designed for the comfort of the refugees. At Earl’s +Court Camp the ladies of the Local Government +Board have taken these departments under their +charge, and have devoted themselves to the development +of educational and other facilities.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The first refugees arrived usually in a state of +absolute destitution. Their constant prayer was +that they might be immediately allowed to work +and to earn for themselves some portion back of +what they had lost. But an opinion was at that +time held that no attempt should be made to obtain +employment for these refugees in the ordinary +labour market of the country, and the lavish hospitality +which was offered to them encouraged the +hope that they might be amply provided for by +private beneficence during the continuance of the +war.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The first work of the War Refugees Committee +when the refugees arrived in the Government +Refuges was, therefore, to supply them as far as +possible with immediate necessaries. They needed +everything. Besides the substantial requirements +of clothes and shoes, they wanted combs, brushes, +soap, hair-pins, boot-laces, braces, needles, cotton, +thimbles—everything that even the poorest find +necessary in daily life. The men, of course, urgently +wanted tobacco; the women wanted knitting-needles +and wool to knit. We did our best to +<span class='pageno' id='Page_26'>26</span>supply all these, and among the small articles +which at that time were distributed freely none +were more eagerly accepted than rosaries. We +gave them away by thousands. The exodus had +been so sudden that they had apparently in many +cases been left behind, and men and women alike +among the first arrivals from the Walloon country +seemed anxious to possess themselves of this usual +accompaniment of prayer.</p> + +<p class='c006'>There are subjects about which one hesitates to +speak in public, yet I would like just to place on +record the impression we received from these first +refugees of simple faith. They seemed themselves +to realize, in the tragic extremity of their distress, +that they had lost everything except their God, +and I cannot easily convey the touching fervour of +the prayers in the chapels of the Refuges at which +I once or twice incidentally assisted. Piety, +courage, extraordinary fortitude, and overflowing +heartfelt gratitude for all that was being done for +them in England were the principal characteristics +that enlisted our sympathy and admiration for our +guests.</p> + +<p class='c006'>I know it may be said that the heroic note has +not been consistently sustained. That is only to +say that human nature remains human in all circumstances. +And I would ask, if Oxford had +suffered the fate of Louvain, if Canterbury had +been destroyed instead of Rheims, if Manchester +or Birmingham or Leeds had been bombarded and +<span class='pageno' id='Page_27'>27</span>their population driven out homeless and penniless +to foreign shores, do you believe that the whole +exodus would have been an exodus of heroes? +From the days of Israel onward some members of +every great migration have been found to murmur +and to cry for quails as well as manna in the +desert. None grieve for this occasional backsliding +more sincerely than the majority of the better-disposed +Belgians themselves. I only wish to bear +testimony to the other side, which I have myself +seen and admired, of patient and even magnificent +endurance.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The refugees were supposed to remain in the +London Refuges for a period of only three to five +days at the outside. Once rested and re-fitted it +was the work of the War Refugees Committee to +pass them on to the permanent homes so cordially +offered by the hospitality of the country. It was in +these homes that their real reception awaited them, +and in these that was prepared for them by the +kindness of individual English hearts the “haven +where they would be.” With what happened after +they left our hands we had, of course, little +or nothing to do. Everyone gave to his own +guests according to the fullness of his means. We +received many letters of enthusiastic thanks expressing +the content and joy of the refugees, but our +business was only to organize the passing of the +refugees from the London Refuges to their homes.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The brunt of this work fell, of course, on our +<span class='pageno' id='Page_28'>28</span>Allocation Department, which, as the pressure +grew more and more acute through the months of +September and October, was obliged steadily to +increase its forces. It employed at one time upwards +of 100 volunteers. The work of these ladies +and gentlemen consisted in receiving from the +Correspondence Department overnight cards upon +which the offers of hospitality made to the Committee +were indexed. With the cards they went +on the following day into the Refuges, and subsequently +into hotels in which better-class refugees +were housed, and their object was—acting with as +much tact and sympathy as possible—to find from +the information given on the cards the most suitable +accommodation for the many differing parties +of refugees who presented themselves. At the beginning +of the movement refugees had to be dealt +with only at the rate of 100 or 200 per day. From +the date of the public offer of national hospitality +made by the Government, the number increased +steadily until, during the rush created by the fall +of Antwerp, which marked the maximum pressure +of the movement, it became necessary for the +Allocation Department to deal with upwards of +2,000 persons every day. It is difficult for the +public to realize the magnitude of the task thus +performed. It involved not only the delicate personal +decisions which had to be made by each individual +Allocator, but it carried with it all the +complicated arrangements of registration, transport, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_29'>29</span>and warning of hosts. All four branches +of the Allocation Department were at this time +worked to their utmost.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The arrangements for transport of these separate +branches fell upon the Transport Department. +Every refugee who arrived from the Continent had +to be met and taken to a Refuge or a hotel. Every +refugee who left one of the Refuges or a hotel to +take up the hospitality allotted to him in the +country had to be provided with a pass over the +railway, had to be convoyed to the railway station, +and his host had to be warned at what hour and at +what station he was to be received. During the +stress created by the fall of Antwerp, when upwards +of 4,000 refugees arrived in one day in +London by trainloads from the Continent, and as +many as 2,000 had to be sent in small individual +groups to different stations of the British Isles, a +total of 6,000 had to be handled every day! It has +been estimated that during this period as many as +8,000 and 10,000 refugees crossed the Channel +daily to our shores. No warning nor preparation +could be given as to the numbers to be dealt with. +While the crisis lasted they poured in day and +night, taxing the energies of the whole organization +almost to breaking-point. Not only Transport +and Allocation, but Clothing, Correspondence, +and Local Committees, with all their subsidiary +branches, were heavily overworked. They bore the +strain. There was no break-down. We were able +<span class='pageno' id='Page_30'>30</span>to meet and deal with the crisis. It may readily be +imagined that in work of a delicate nature accomplished +under such pressure, some mistakes were +inevitable; but we worked with the consoling +thought present to our minds, that if the public +could have realized the conditions under which the +work was done, it would have been surprised +rather at the few than at the many errors into +which we fell.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The fall of Antwerp brought us to a new chapter +of our work, of which I would have much to say +but that I have already kept you longer than I +would have wished. I must touch only as briefly +as possible on the aspects of the question which +now present themselves.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The crisis lasted only a couple of weeks. The +occupation of Ostend by the Germans on October +17th closed the Belgian coast and stopped the +daily transport service. Since that time refugees +have been only able to reach us by way of Holland, +and though this country has continued to provide +such facilities as are possible for their transit, the +figures of the daily arrivals have fallen considerably. +The total for November was the lowest for +any month since the beginning of the war. In +December and January the numbers again mounted, +giving a total of 12,000 for December and 14,000 +for January. Refugees are still, notwithstanding +the dangers of mines and submarines and the prohibition +of our blockade zone, arriving in numbers +<span class='pageno' id='Page_31'>31</span>which are to be counted daily in three figures. But +the rush is over. We are no longer working under +the same conditions of pressure.</p> + +<p class='c006'>There are noticeable also some other remarkable +differences. We are working now with a different +class of refugee. The simple country folk of the +first exodus have given place to the urban population +of the great towns, and they come to us under +different conditions. The early refugees had, as I +have told you, suffered in their own persons all the +worst horrors of war. Since the fall of Antwerp +the flight has been rather—though not of course +wholly—from “the wrath to come.” Many refugees +are fleeing from what they fear may happen +rather than from what has actually happened. I +speak chiefly for the moment of the working-classes. +Many of those now coming have been attracted to +this country by the accounts sent back in the first +moments of relief and gratitude by the earlier refugees. +In the Refuges and Hostels we saw many +of the postcards written by the first refugees, and +they represented this country and people as something +so near Paradise and the angels, that expectation +based upon such description could hardly +fail of disappointment. It need not therefore be a +matter of surprise if some difference is observable +between the attitude and tone of the refugees housed +in the Government Refuges to-day, and those with +whom the same Refuges were filled in the earlier +stages of the movement.</p> + +<p class='c006'><span class='pageno' id='Page_32'>32</span>The gradual development of the situation which +has brought us a different class of refugee has also +brought about a very important modification of +opinion with regard to the conditions of their reception. +It has been decided that the employment +of refugees instead of being deprecated should now +be encouraged, and that instead of depending for +subsistence on the hospitality of the country they +should, as far as possible, be enabled to support +themselves. A Government Committee has been +appointed, as you know, under the Chairmanship +of Sir Ernest Hatch, to consider the conditions +under which effect can be given to this new view +of the situation. Belgian Labour Bureaux working +in connection with the Central Labour Bureaux +have been established in the Government Refuges, +as also in the Rink at Aldwych. Recruiting Bureaux +have been established in the Government Refuges, +by means of which Belgians of military age are +enabled to join their colours and return to the front +at Flanders. By these agencies in conjunction +with the Government Refuges, and other forms of +Government Relief for urgent cases the problem +of the reception of working class refugees may, I +think, be said to have been met and disposed of.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Outside these questions the problem with which +since Christmas we have been most acutely preoccupied +is the problem of giving suitable help to +the urgent needs of the propertied and professional +classes. This is a class with which I have myself +<span class='pageno' id='Page_33'>33</span>been thrown into close and constant touch, and the +sorrows and difficulties of their position are very +vivid to me. They have suffered, of course, horribly +in regard to their material possessions, and the +numbers increase daily of persons accustomed to +live in the comfort of comparative affluence who +are reduced to absolute penury. Such cases call +for the sincerest sympathy and for practical help. +Where only material possessions are concerned +they do not, it must be recognized, make quite the +same poignant appeal to elemental emotions that +was made by the earlier refugees. But there is +seldom a day in which some special case does not +present itself. A day or two ago it was a case of +a man of good position and once ample means +who had seen his wife and daughter shot by the +Germans, and who came in search of some educational +facilities for his little boy, the only member +of the family now left to him. He was entirely +penniless. The next day it was a manufacturer +from Louvain who had shared in all the horrors +attending the destruction of that town. His town +house and his country house, with all that they +contained, had been destroyed. He himself had +been taken as a hostage by the Germans. He was +three times blindfolded and ordered to be shot, +and three times at the last moment the order was +countermanded. He was beaten and spat upon. +He was forced to march with other Belgians as a +covering rank in front of the German advance. As +<span class='pageno' id='Page_34'>34</span>he said in very quietly relating these experiences: +“It is doubted whether the Germans really used +Belgian civilians as a covering-shield for their +soldiers. I <i>know</i>, because they have used me. +They put us in the front of their attack, and +bullets whistled between us as we advanced.” But +these things were all as nothing to the anguish of +knowing that the soldiery which had marched him +away in one direction had taken his wife away in +another. It was impossible for him to know anything +of her fate. After some days of marching in +front of the German troops they came in touch +with Belgian outposts. He was able to effect his +escape, and he reached Antwerp through the +Belgian lines. Still unable to obtain any news of +his wife, he advertised in the hope that the news +he gave of himself might reach her eyes. It did. +After long delay the news was brought to him that +she was alive, that she had escaped without serious +injury from the Germans, and that she was in +hiding in the neighbourhood of Louvain. To +reach her he went on foot from Antwerp to +Louvain, passing as he could through the German +lines, hiding at times in ditches and swamps, wading +through rivers to avoid the guarded roads. He +told me the whole story with absolute calm, and +only when he came to the climax of their meeting +he suddenly broke down—“My wife!” he said, +“she had been living in the woods and fields +with practically nothing to eat. She was a black +<span class='pageno' id='Page_35'>35</span>skeleton, mere skin drawn over her bones.” He +could say no more. I didn’t wish that he should. +My business was merely to find him some means +of living now that he and his wife were together in +a place of safety. You can understand that after +hearing such a story one’s only feeling is that +peace and security must somehow be assured.</p> + +<p class='c006'>In the early part of the movement such cases as +these were provided for by private hospitality, and +I come now to the greatest change of all which +the movement has undergone. The movement of +private hospitality, which has provided from first +to last for a figure approaching to something like +a quarter of a million refugees, has, as was to a +certain extent inevitable, exhausted its first impulse. +About Christmas time we began to realize that the +offers of hospitality had ceased. No fresh offers +came, and hosts who had previously had Belgians +in their houses wrote that they would shortly be +needing this accommodation for other purposes. +Our Allocation Department became a Department +of Re-Allocation. Gifts of clothing also sensibly +diminished.</p> + +<p class='c006'>The funds of the War Refugees Committee, +which have been devoted to the relief of Belgians +in England, have never been very great. Public +contributions in money have been more usually +given to the Belgian Relief Fund, which is entirely +devoted to the relief of Belgians in Belgium. We +have sometimes thought that the public did not +<span class='pageno' id='Page_36'>36</span>clearly understand the distinction between the two +Funds. Our wealth has consisted mainly in offers +of hospitality and gifts in kind. When these began +to cease we saw ourselves in danger of being unable +to continue our work for want of means, and +this situation introduced the present and latest +chapter upon which we have entered.</p> + +<p class='c006'>I am sorry that I am not able at present to enter +into a full explanation of schemes which are as yet +imperfectly developed. A time will come when all +necessary information will be freely given. For our +present purpose I will ask you only to take from me +that we have under certain conditions a command +of funds which enable us to give relief in cases of +strict necessity. The money so available is not to +be regarded as a substitute for, but as a supplement +to, private generosity. It is in certain cases +sufficient for the necessities of a working man. The +part of private generosity for better-class refugees +still remains to bring the bare necessities of life up +to the standard which the nation would wish to +offer in such cases as those I have just now cited.</p> + +<p class='c006'>There are many obvious ways in which this can +be done. Among the most generally successful so +far has been the organization of large houses on +the basis of gratuitous hotels. I have myself +organized two or three such houses, notably, +one at Harrington House in Kensington Palace +Gardens, lent to me for the purpose by Lord Harrington, +another at Hambro House in Prince’s +<span class='pageno' id='Page_37'>37</span>Gate, lent by Mr. and Mrs. Eric Hambro, and a +third in the King’s Weigh House Parsonage, furnished +and lent by the congregation of the King’s +Weigh House Church in Duke Street. In these +three houses I have been able to receive about 120 +refugees, who make with regard to them very +charming expressions of content. What I have +done has also been done by many others. Houses +of this description are springing up like mushrooms +through the country, and it has been thought that +many people who are no longer able to entertain +Belgian refugees in their own homes may be willing +to contribute towards a system of organized +hospitality under which suitable homes can be +provided.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Another way of meeting the necessities of the +class of refugees of whom we are now speaking is +by paying the rent of furnished flats, in which a +very small grant is sometimes enough to render +domestic life a possibility. Among the propertied +and professional classes there are some who have +still some small resources. For these the active +brain of Mrs. Lyttelton has devised, in consultation +with Lord Gladstone, a scheme which she is +administering as a branch of the War Refugees +Committee, of flats furnished by the Committee, +and placed at the lowest possible prices at the service +of the refugees. The scheme deserves a fuller +description than I am able to give it. In all schemes +of hospitable relief the National Food Supply, the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_38'>38</span>Belgian Refugee Food Supply, and other charitable +organizations, of which the gratuitous food is +in great part contributed as a free gift by our +Colonies, play an important part.</p> + +<p class='c006'>I would like to have been able to do justice to +other institutions for the assistance of refugees +which have from the beginning of the movement +developed as branches of the various Departments +at Aldwych. I can only permit myself just to name +the Education Department, under Lady Gladstone, +Mr. Englehart (of Leper Island fame), Father +Christie and the Abbé Michiele, where, by a movement +of Educational hospitality offered by the +public schools, the Catholic institutions, and the +universities of the country, free education has been +provided for nearly 2,000 Belgian young people. +In this movement I am glad to be able to say that +Eton, Oxford, and Cambridge have handsomely +done their part.</p> + +<p class='c006'>Another branch of activity which has been of +the greatest value throughout the whole movement +has been the Health Department, which, under +Mrs. George Montagu, assisted by Miss Page, the +daughter of the American Ambassador, has given +help and relief to hundreds of cases of the sick and +otherwise disabled. In connection with this department +there is also a dispensary, where gratuitous +medicine and medical advice from Belgian +doctors can be obtained. Nor is it only in the +Allocation and Health Departments that secondary +<span class='pageno' id='Page_39'>39</span>branches of utility have blossomed forth. The +Rink is full of useful minor institutions, brought +into being by the necessities of the situation. The +Transport Department has many subsidiary activities. +Work done for <i>réformé</i> soldiers who have +served their country to the limits of their strength, +and work done for “undesirables” who can serve +no country, are at different ends of the scale, alike +branches of benevolent utility.</p> + +<p class='c006'>A Department which is probably doing in its +way as much humane work as any other is what +we call the “Missing Relatives” Department. It +is divided into two sections—the Poste Restante +section and the section which deals with Lost +Relatives. We receive a great number of letters +addressed to refugees, care of our Committee. For +a time they lay unclaimed. Then our Correspondence +Department conceived the idea of endeavouring +to trace their owners, in order that they might be +forwarded. We have, of course, now registered the +addresses of many thousands of refugees. By the +courtesy of the Registrar-General we are allowed +to search also daily the files of Somerset House, +and in the last three weeks alone over 500 letters +have been traced and forwarded to their owners. +In the “Lost Relatives” section all urgent cases, +such, for instance, as a father or mother searching +for their lost children, or a husband his wife, etc., +are handled immediately by our Correspondence +Department, who make every effort to trace the +<span class='pageno' id='Page_40'>40</span>missing person. The machinery which is used for +tracing the letters is put in operation, and I am +glad to say that we frequently succeed in finding +and uniting the members of families who have lost +each other in the flight.</p> + +<p class='c006'>In the Belgian Consulate room Monsieur Grumbar +and the two Misses Baschewitz, with their helpers, +continue to earn the gratitude of their compatriots +by their constant and willing service. Of the Consulate +as such I do not, of course, venture to speak. +From the beginning of the movement it has had +offices under the same roof as the War Refugees +Committee, and has been closely associated with +our work. Its own work is outside the scope of +the present paper.</p> + +<p class='c006'>I cannot leave this branch of my subject without +mentioning collectively, as I only wish I could +mention individually, the admirable quality of the +voluntary work which has been freely given in +every department. The few developments I have +enumerated only serve to indicate the activity that +exists, and they have nearly all been carried out +by volunteer effort. Those of us who happen to +be at the head of Departments are spoken of, and +our work obtains recognition and gratitude often +far beyond its deserts. I would like to say that +our work would have been absolutely impossible +had it not been for the devoted, generous, and +regular support of hundreds of volunteers who +have given every bit as much as we have given, +<span class='pageno' id='Page_41'>41</span>and who have been content to do it—to come +early, to stay late, to work day after day unflinchingly +at the least interesting tasks, to spend +their strength, their emotions, their money, and +their time in the background, so to speak, of our +organization, without a thought of anything but +the help that they could give. These volunteers +have come from every rank. I have mentioned +500. Had we wanted 5,000 we could have had +them. I am almost ashamed even to speak of +thanks or recognition where it has been so little +sought. I would only say of many of our unmentioned +helpers that their names should be written +in letters of gold, were it possible that any true +record could be kept of the service which this +movement has called forth.</p> + +<p class='c006'>All the Departments I have mentioned and many +others are still active at Aldwych. Lord Gladstone, +Lord Lytton, Mr. Dickinson, and Mr. Allen, who +have been associated in the Management Committee +since the opening or our latest chapter, have their +time fully occupied. There is no sign of any +diminution of work. Neither is there on our part +any diminution of energy or of interest in the work +which still remains to be done.</p> + +<p class='c006'>You may be inclined to think from some of the +particulars which I have given you of the latest +chapter of the work that the heroic moment of +the movement has passed—for England as well as +for our guests. I would only venture to say that +<span class='pageno' id='Page_42'>42</span>in heroic moments resolutions are conceived—it +is for subsequent acts to give them shape. In +the details which I have given you we are simply +working out the national resolution that the exiles +now in our midst shall be cared for, helped, and +protected to the limits of our ability until the day +dawns for them, when they may return to the +homes they love. We see no end, and we desire +to see no end, to our exertions but the day of +repatriation. Be that day near or far, it is our +hope to continue our work till it is reached, and +we look with quiet confidence and absolute assurance +to the public we know to give us the full +support of its sympathy and its help.</p> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c002'> + <div><span class='large'>CHISWICK PRESS: PRINTED BY CHARLES WHITTINGHAM AND CO.</span></div> + <div><span class='large'>TOOKS COURT, CHANCERY LANE, LONDON.</span></div> + </div> +</div> + +<div class='pbb'> + <hr class='pb c003'> +</div> +<div class='tnotes x-ebookmaker'> + +<div class='chapter ph2'> + +<div class='nf-center-c0'> +<div class='nf-center c009'> + <div>TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES</div> + </div> +</div> + +</div> + + <ul class='ul_1 c002'> + <li>Typos fixed; non-standard spelling and dialect retained. + </li> + </ul> + +</div> + +<div style='text-align:center'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 77327 ***</div> + </body> + <!-- created with ppgen.py 3.57e (with regex) on 2025-10-19 23:08:40 GMT --> +</html> diff --git a/77327-h/images/cover.jpg b/77327-h/images/cover.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3177fda --- /dev/null +++ b/77327-h/images/cover.jpg diff --git a/77327-h/images/i_003.jpg b/77327-h/images/i_003.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f982ab2 --- /dev/null +++ b/77327-h/images/i_003.jpg diff --git a/77327-h/images/i_title.jpg b/77327-h/images/i_title.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a3a0a71 --- /dev/null +++ b/77327-h/images/i_title.jpg |
