Need for for Continued Generosity in Aberdare T HE word I
like., best-in ,the Prince of Wales's appeal for the miners, which I see now placarded on so many walls, is the word " continual." _He says . that continual. effort is ,required. Not just one subscription and then forget abOut it ; not gifts for, a week or. two and then no more. Continual effort, steady „effort If we are going to pull these comrades of ours through the -difficult time between: now and Easter, we must , help them with something- of the same regularity, the same persistence, that we put into taking care of ourselves. It isn't easy, I know. When the first flush of enthusiasm has paled, when the first warm rush of sympathy has cooled, continuance-in-the good work becomes less inter- esting, maybe irksome; That is the time to pull ourselves together, .to recollect, what , slackening mean... . .. Suppose you saw a family here in Aberdare .kept just above the hunger-line by the .S..peetator _Fund. I could take you to such families in every street, in every other house almost. Imagine them at their dinner-time. What is it going to be ? Will there be enough of it to go round, or must father and. mother make ghastly pretence of not being hungry, so that the children. may have enough ? Your help may- just make the difference between semi-starvation rations of bread -and tea and something which. may fairly' be called a meal...
,-Your help, in the form. of vouchers to be presented at local shops, will not only put a little more on that table. at. May perhaps save the shopkeepers .frornthe.Bankruptcy Court, from a break-up- of. their -business,- from wretched wandering forth to try and .start afresh, humiliated, depressed. If you could see how pathetically anxious everyone is in Aberdare that' the kind, generous aid which th6y have 'had Since just before 'Christmas may' not dry Nfryet, you Would not Mind " continuing you woad be only .too glad to give to the. utmost of your power so that those wistful, expectant eyes might not bediramed by disappointment, those grateful hearts made sick by hope deferred... . . It is not often that we have to say to ourselves.: " If I forget, if I am selfish, if I prefer my. luxuries to, providing Others with necessaries, it is certain that suffering will ensue. Thewithholding of my assistance means definitely that children will be under-nourished (call it half-starved and you come nearer the fact), that men and women will grow weaker, will lose heart." No doubt that is very often true,- but when appeals are made on a vast scale, we do hot "see it. In this case the scale is small enough to bring our personal responsibility home to every one of us. While we are continuing to eat heartily at our usual times, continuing to enjoy our usual comforts, continuing to amuse ourselves, people in Aberdare will be continuing in 'cold, in hunger, in despair.
There are still a great many families 'to 'be blesSed with five shillings a week until Easter. There is still"a vast hole of want ' and wretchedness into which Our General 'Fund must be poured. If you can continue for a couple of months, adopt a family. If You FlOn't able to do that, send a contribution when you. can. In nny case continue to think about these poor folks, upon whom distress, bitter and cruel, has fallen through no fault whatever of their own. Remember the' man on the road from JertiSalem to Jericho. Rethernber. the Samaritan who took care of him, bound up. his wounds, paid for him to be looked after. And recollect the words which came at the beginning and end of that moving story : Go. thou and do likewise, for thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself."' YOUR' SPECIAL COMMISSIONER.
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